Reviews a book that presents the proceedings of three round-tables and descriptions of the goals and aims of the Language and Society section at the Moscow Institute of Linguistics (1988-90). (six references) (LT)

Examination of two sections of Benedetto Varchi's sixteenth-century document on Italian language usage reveals an uncommon appreciation for living usage, recognition of common linguistic practice, and a significantly greater awareness of social differentiation than that typically reflected in other sixteenth-century manuscripts. (31 references)…

An analysis of gender differences in the use of compliments in one genre of written discourse is presented based on a set of 47 peer reviews of academic papers written by graduate students in the form of letters. Women are found to make greater use of compliment intensifiers and personal referencing than are men. (49 references) (Author/LB)

Examines three perspectives on native and second language learning, attempting to integrate ideas from psychology, sociolinguistics, and linguistics into contemporary developments in language pedagogy and syllabus design, and giving special attention to such areas as socialization, self-regulation, and the role of school language programs. (95…

Outlines the principle teaching methodologies to come out of Great Britain in the last 15 years and their recommendations for teaching literature. Although six different approaches are described, all place emphasis on the importance of linguistics as a tool in appreciating and gaining an in-depth understanding of literature. (LET)

The applicability of the notion of "speech community" in urban centers where considerable dialect mixing takes place is discussed. Labov's model is examined and four speech community criteria are emphasized: nativeness of speech community members, uniform patterns of linguistic variation, shared evaluation of features, and close…

Reviews research on minority school failure. Contrasts work of microethnographers, which has resulted in"cultural difference" explanations, with more comprehensive work of Ogbu, who advocates a multilevel macroethnographic approach. Describes research in South Texas that does not support certain aspects of Ogbu's caste theory. Advocates…

Discusses the ethnographic investigation of a multilingual adolescent peer group in which various forms of second/other-language learner status had considerable social significance. The study illustrates the ways a repertoire of languages and language learner statuses serve as differentiated resources adolescents draw on to define community and…

Explores language as a cultural commodity through examination of the different values of rhetoric in Arabic- and English-speaking cultures, as evidenced by the language of the war against Iraq, and through examination of the role of language in determining economic status in France, the United States, and England. (18 references) (Author/CB)

Examines how the cultural revolution in China has changed, to some extent, the rules governing the use of address terms, discussing the close interrelation between the use of address terms and cultural values and how the change in mental outlook has led to the depreciation or appreciation of certain terms. (Author/CB)

Assessing and treating bilingual children with speech and language disorders is difficult given the relative paucity of data on the speech and language skills of typically developing bilingual children and those with speech and language disorders. The purpose of this article is to review the research that is available with regard to clinical…

This paper reviews issues and analyses in bilingual switching, or intercalation, and offers a topological model to represent the activity of code switching, sometimes under the same environmental conditions and with the same interlocutors. The topological notion of catastrophe is proposed as a means to model the various factors that influence code…

The status of pluralistic languages in the United States may be traced back to attitudes and policies developed in medieval England, where Norman French, Old English, and Latin were each associated with certain contexts and certain populations. English finally achieved dominant status in all domains, but this achievement came about through…

Speakers of Turkish and Greek make far more extensive use of formulaic expressions than do speakers of English. Many of these formulas are situation-oriented, and accompany anxiety-provoking events, happy events, and the act of establishing rapport. Illness, death, leave-taking, and good fortune are among events typically accompanied by formulas.…

At the llth Biannual Conference on French Language the subject of language planning and the future prospects of French language development were discussed. Promoters of French language worldwide concluded that francophone Africa will play a major role in French language development from the year 2000. (TR)