This paper discusses difficulties in defining Standard American English, and the question of whether there is a need to define it. Several theories on why such a dialect should be defined are described. These are: the "propriety" theory, the "psychological" theory, the "power and prestige" theory, and the "better tool" theory, the "psychological"…

Investigates whether speakers of standard German and Dutch maintain their language variety better than speakers of German and Dutch dialects. Also investigates the phenomenon of diglossia in immigrant societies and shows that the type of diglossia prevalent in the immigrant's home country significantly affects the language situation in the new…

An exploration of the history and status of the English language around the world focuses on how beliefs and attitudes have shaped and continue to shape the role of the language. An introductory section examines how perceptions of standard English have paralleled a tendency toward increased linguistic intolerance in the twentieth century.…

Sets forth five principles that should be emphasized in programs designed to help teachers teach nonstandard English speaking students more effectively. (FL)

Discusses changes in the pronunciation of colloquial Brltish English, reflecting changing social attitudes toward traditional Received Pronunciation. Finds that a study is needed to determine a new standard for the use of future foreign students of English. A pilot study is described. (IFS/WGA) i

Surveys the distribution of "a" and "an" in both oral and written English. Journal availability: see FL 512 512. (AM)

Discusses the relationship in language and specifically in French between the standard language norm, the various registers and styles available to native speakers of a given language, and second language learning. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

This article reviews the situation of the instruction of French in Quebec, in terms of the role of French and attitudes toward standard and non-standard varieties of French, the acquisition of French by native French speakers. Bidialectal instruction is suggested as one way of dealing with non-standard varieties. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

Drawing on reflections of a teacher-researcher in a community-based adult ESL classroom in Toronto, Canada, explores the relationship between identity and intonation. Presents an account of teaching intonation to a group of predominantly Chinese immigrant women, and discusses an activity that develops awareness of sentence-level intonation as a…

Compares the ideology of English monolingualism with a standard language ideology used to position speakers of different varieties of the same language within a social hierarchy. The article discusses the connection between assumptions underlying linguistic ideologies and other social ideologies related to individualism and social mobility. (104…

Tests three hypotheses regarding the use of object relative pronouns by native (NS) and non-native (NNS) speakers of Standard American English: (1) pronoun choice by NNSs differs from that of NSs; (2) "wh", "that," and "zero" are used variably by both groups; and (3) increased exposure to native speaking environments…

This study sought to determine whether there is a variety of Nigerian English acceptable as a teaching model to prospective Nigerian primary school teachers of different ethnic groups. Results indicate that: (1) contrary to common belief, there are Nigerians of different ethnic groups who speak a variety of English acceptable to other Nigerians of…

A lexical comparison of four native speakers' spontaneous discourse in the Acadian French spoken in a southern Nova Scotia village with standard spoken French is described. This study is part of a larger study of four regional variations on Nova Scotia Acadian French and has as its objectives both linguistic analysis and improvement of standard…

This study continues a series of reports on the work of the team which has carried out a sociolinguistic survey of multilingual communities. This study deals with an early sample of the results of the St. Lucian survey, and in particular with the extent to which they provide support for the theoretical model of linguistic choice and change, and…

This volume contains twelve articles dealing with the French language as spoken in Quebec. The following topics are addressed: (1) language change and variation; (2) coordinating expressions in the French spoken in Montreal; (3) expressive language as source of language change; (4) the role of correction in conversation; (5) social change and…