Linguistic landscape (LL) research seeks to account for the visible displays of multilingualism on public signage. While surveys of signage in the LL produce quantitative descriptions of language contact in a given area, such analyses shed little light on people's interpretations of multilingual signs. Moreover, even within more qualitative…

This paper explores how referent honorifics contribute to identity construction on a Japanese TV shopping channel program. Drawing on Ochs' twostep model of indexicality (1993, 1996) and Agah's proposal (1993) that honorifics are not directly linked to social status but index a "relative position within events of discursive interaction"…

Reports the results of interviews conducted in Sapporo, Japan, an area undergoing rapid urbanization. The study sought to determine the effect of urbanization on degree of intensity of interaction with neighbors, and on the use of honorifics. (Author/AM)

Personal narratives of 20 middle-class Japanese preschoolers, half of them 4 years old and half 5 years old, and their mothers were analyzed using stanza analysis and high point analysis. The patterning in stanzas yielded the following: (1) with regard to the proportion of three-verse stanzas, there were no differences between the groups of…

Most of the population of Japan remains ethnically Japanese. For this reason, bilingualism has never been a subject of significant concern in Japan. With the recent influx of new groups of non-Japanese speakers into Japan, the society is becoming more multilingual. This book introduces the way languages are used in Japanese interlingual families,…

A study investigated whether sociolinguistic rules are taught as part of instruction in English as a Second Language in Japan. It was determined that of three types of institutions in which English is taught, the private language institutes offer far better language instruction than public schools or universities, and that some of the instructors…

The working papers contained in this volume include the following: "Intercultural Communication and the Analysis of Conversation" (Nessa Wolfson); "Methods of Inquiry into Cultural Expression in Speech Behavior" (Ruth Benander); "'I Really Like Your Lifestyle': ESL Learners Learning How to Compliment" (Kristine…

The collection of essays on second language learning during study abroad includes: "Language Learning and Study Abroad" (Barbara F. Freed); "Predictors of Foreign Language Gain During Study Abroad" (Richard D. Brecht, Dan E. Davidson, Ralph B. Ginsberg); "A Canadian Interprovincial Exchange: Evaluating the Linguistic…