Attempts to demonstrate that there is a "cultural communicative style" operating in the issuance of directives that is distinct for different cultures. Emphasis is placed on investigation of children's strategies in their total communicative behavior, both linguistic and nonlinguistic. (EJS)

Suggests that speech act theory can help researchers and teachers in professional communication to define indirectness more precisely and to determine when it is appropriate and can provide them with a means of analyzing texts and refining rhetorical principles. (ARH)

Identifies indicators of register or style in selected portions of two lectures presented in American Sign Language, and in the interpretations of each made by two interpreters. The indicators used are speaking rate, pausing, syntax, intonation, and lexical choice. Transcripts of data are included in Appendix. (Author/LMO)

Discusses psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic questions relevant to the development of language programs for foreigners, such as student motivation, language aptitude, learning styles, cultural differences, language styles, and communicative competence. Focuses particularly on the cultural problems faced by a foreigner, as a student, client, and…

Repudiates the theory that black dialect has African origins. Supports the British Isles influence theory. (FL)

Describes a study that tests whether the sociolinguistic differences observed in essays in German are a carry-over from the native Scottish English. A previous study is described which tested the hypothesis that social class influences linguistic behavior and could be a cause for errors in a foreign language. (AMH)

Describes the physical and linguistic structure of subcommunities of Hmong students in northern California with emphasis on communicative channeling and cultural mechanisms regulating information dissemination. Hmong students and their teachers use cultural/linguistic brokers extensively to communicate. (nine references) (Author/CK)

The influence that number naming grammar has on the understandings of two-digit numbers and place value of kindergarten children of European and Asian background was examined. Results indicate that Asian verbal/numerical representation patterns naming tens and units in order may be associated with distinctive place value concepts that support…

This volume of the annual review includes introductory remarks by G. Richard Tucker and these papers: "Current Issues in Bilingualism: An Update of Directions in Research" (Braj B. Kachru); "Psycholinguistics: Application. The Writing System as a Native Language for the Deaf" (Danny D. Steinberg); "Sociolinguistics: Theory" (Monica Heller);…

This is a reflection on certain aspects of sociolinguistic and linguistic problems of French in West Africa, particularly in Senegal and the Ivory Coast. The sociolinguistic section discusses the role French has played in Africa and still plays vis-a-vis African languages and English. Conditions in which French is used and attitudes both of…

This book discusses some of the functions, ends, or goals that language serves in religion; the various kinds of linguistic resources that are exploited; and some of the social processes that characterize the use of language. In section one, "Performance," three approaches to the description of verbal behavior are contrasted. This…

The dangers and misuses of literary dialect as a source of information for linguistic evaluation are analyzed. "Literary dialect" is used to refer to writing in which the main purpose is the artful construction of a narrative, where the dialect representation is apt to be concerned more with giving an artful impression of a dialect than…

This volume catalogs a series of tapes which are the result of a two-week session organized to enable professors of French to renew their contact with French language and culture within a sociolinguistic context. The participants interviewed 193 natives of Tours according to the following themes: municipal government, education, women in French…

This paper discusses the problem of language standardization in education. The areas to which standardization may refer - phonology, spelling, punctuation, grammar and lexicon - are discussed, and problems associated with efforts to standardize them in schools are pointed out. The position taken is that a decision to promote language standards…

Improvement of communication skills for junior college students is a valid goal, but traditional methods defeat it. A sociolinguistic approach maintains the goal but alters the methods, choosing to teach the skills in the context of relevant material: language against the backdrop of society, Teaching language sociolinguistically means including…