Sociolinguistics is a multidisciplinary field that studies language in temporal and spatial contexts, and observes language functions, identity and design, and considers the process of language learning and social controls on language. (CK)

This study investigates the applicability of the speech act theory to written discourse, specifically that of the press. A survey of Searle's taxonomy leads to the suggestion that the constituent statements of most newspaper articles belong to the class of illocutionary acts he calls "representatives." In consideration of the basic characteristic…

Advocates more scholarly attention to language planning processes in Israel. (PM)

Investigates the following as possibly related to the longevity of slang items in Hebrew: the language of origin, the category of content, structural characteristics and the background characteristics of the users. (PM)

This issue contains two feature items. The "SLANT Special Report on Current Research with Indochinese Refugees in the U.S." describes 14 research projects in progress. The article "Southwestern Applied Linguistics" by John W. Oller, Jr. and others presents an overview of sociolinguistic research in the southwestern United…

IN RECENT DISCUSSIONS OF THE PROBLEM OF LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY, BERNSTEIN (1961, 1964) EXPLORES THE HYPOTHESIS THAT SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS ACT AS INTERVENING VARIABLES BETWEEN LINGUISTIC STRUCTURES AND THEIR REALIZATION IN SPEECH. HIS FORMULATION SUGGESTS THAT THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS' ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL CONSTRAINTS GOVERNING INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS…

Takes the position that the use of creole and English varieties in Guyana is socially motivated. Examines the linguistic behavior of nine groups of individuals from three communities within a theoretical framework proposed by LePage. The framework shows these groups, and the individuals, exploiting the codal resources of their society to their…

Discusses the factors that led to linguists being able to present effective testimony in the form of an unified view on the origins and structural characteristics of the Black English vernacular at the Ann Arbor trial. (EKN)

A survey of the literature on children's language and reading, divided into three major areas: the child, the instructional materials, and the teacher. (DD)

Examines language frontier and transitional zones along the Belgium-northwestern France linguistic border as area occupying important position in linguistic contact research. Gives examples of variant forms in the morphosyntactic, semantic, stylistic, and lexical forms. (Author/BK)

Discusses how children in one society on the Papuan Plateau, Papua, New Guinea, learn about making and responding to requests based on a strategy of appeal. (FL)

A model of language transfer is proposed. It examines the nature of language transfer, identifies which language phenomena are transferred, and predicts conditions for language transfer occurrence. The model includes notions of language universals, language distance, and surface language phenomena. (PMJ)

Analyzes various apparently synonymous words for "friend" (e.g., "homes,""bro") as they are used by one former gang-member to persuade two current gang-members to stop "gangbanging." The article's analysis shows how the meanings of these disparate reference terms are made and remade through talk as…

Argues that applied linguistics should take as its central focus the concept of "language in the world." Emphasizes that it is necessary to examine the autonomy or interdependence of linguistic, cognitive, and social processes and to define research questions addressing the connection of these processes in an interdisciplinary fashion. (17…