The Japanese system of honorification shows respect either to the subject or to the direct or indirect object of the sentence. The selection of the polite or plain styles of speech determines the level of honorifics. The increase in mass communication and public speaking has led to a search for a reasonably polite but not old-fashioned or pompous…

A warning about the alarming situation in which written Spanish finds itself, not only in the daily press but even in more literary publications. More and more popular expressions and corruptions are finding their way into the written language. Attention to this situation is recommended. (Text is in Spanish.) (AMH)

This paper traces the history of changing attitudes toward American English. Two approaches to language policy have always been present, the conservative one, which considers British English the only acceptable standard, and the liberal, which favors American English. (CFM)

Students must be familiar with current abbreviations, especially their appropriateness at varying levels of language. This paper discusses their formation and use, and includes a list of the abbreviations, initials, and acronyms most common in contemporary French. (Text is in French.) (DB)

The history of efforts to agree upon standard English usage is outlined here, with particular attention to the role of the National Council of Teachers of English. Controversy among teachers often meets the Council's attempts at reform. Efforts to balance policy between standard spoken usage and individual dialects are noted. (CHK)

Diglossia is characterized here as a pattern in which a culture recognizes different language varieties. This paper deals with implications of Arabic diglossia for the teaching of English to Arab students. (CHK)

Proposes a pedagogy of French grammar which takes into account the varieties found in spoken French as distinct from those found in written French. (AM)

An attempt to apply Blom's and Gumperz' model of code-switching to a small Swedish community in northern Sweden, Burtrask. The informants spoke standard Swedish, the Burtrask dialect, and a third variety which was a combination of the two. (CFM)

Presents six areas in applied linguistics that might be reformed: (1) the hegemonic nature of theories; (2) dictionary-making; (3) language planning; (4) linguistic nomenclatures; (5) the treatment of standard and non-standard varieties; and (6) the delivery of second language programs. Argues that if critical realism guided applied linguistics,…

Discusses two phonological features of standard French, mid-vowels and mute e, with respect to their formal description. The wide variation involved in the use of these features by native speakers is presented, and the way that this variation adds to the complexities of language learning and teaching is examined. (JL/Author)

Discussion of the Arabic version of "Sesame Street" addresses the choice of a simplified modern standard usage as the series' language, definition of this language variety in terms of its distinguishing linguistic characteristics, and the implications of this choice for the future of Arabic and Arabic language instruction. (Author/MSE)

Examination of the pattern of word stress in Nigerian Standard English suggests that progressive stress shift is the primary cause of the difference in stress assignment between Nigerian Standard English and British Standard English. (13 references) (Author/CB)

Deals with divergence on the lexical, phonological, and morphological levels in three dialects that were the same until the mid-20th century (Maaseiks in Belgium, Susters in the Netherlands, and Waldfeuchts in Germany) and that have changed under the influence of three different standard languages (Belgian Dutch, Netherlandic Dutch, and Standard…

This paper examines the claim that German-language syntax is undergoing a process of restructuring that will eliminate verb final position in sentences, resulting in a very English-style linear sentence structure. One particular structure is examined in interviews with 30 adults and 10 children: the finite verb in subordinate clauses that is…

This anthology on languages and standards was designed to serve two main purposes: (1) to provide an academic forum for linguistic scholars and language educators within and outside the region of Southeast Asia whose contributions would add substantially to an understanding of this important subject; and (2) to make relevant aspects of current…