The author, professor of philosophy at the University of California at Berkeley, investigates problems in the philosophy of language from the standpoint that language is a rule-governed form of behavior. He takes as his fundamental concept the "speech act," and gives an analysis of what it is to make statements, ask questions, make promises, and…

Piaget has suggested that a child's language reflects the degree to which he is able to take into account the point of view of his listener. His inability to do so results in what Piaget calls egocentric speech whereas what Piaget calls socialized speech indicates that the child actually adopts his listener's viewpoint and engages in an exchange…

Exploring the issue of black and white speech differences, the articles reprinted in this anthology span several decades and are to be viewed in a historical perspective. Turner (1948) examines Gullah, the creole language spoken off the coast of South Carolina. McDavid and McDavid (1951) attempt to identify the different influences on the speech…

A vocal register is a series or range of consecutive frequencies that can be produced with nearly identical voice quality. On the basis of research three fundamental registers can be defined and described: pulse, a low range of phonation; modal, a middle or "normal" range; and loft, a high range, described by some as falsetto. These…

Four nonstandard linguistic features used by five black children, ages 6-11 years, in 14 conversations were recorded and transcribed. The interviewers included male and female adults, Negro and white. The four nonstandard linguistic features were multiple negation, and absence of the Z suffixes marking noun plural, possession, and the third person…

Investigates how social expectations affect development of social functions of young children's speech, and concludes that children's expectations of appropriate verbal behavior are affected by differences in situations, age and sex. (MH)

Reports research designed to assess changes speakers are making in their language patterns and how speakers begin and evaluate these changes. (MH)

Subjects completed sentences of the form NP1 aux V NP2 because (but) Pro...(e.g., John may scold Bill because he...) with a reason or motive for the action described. A basic perceptual strategy was hypothesized to underlie the comprehension of these sentences which have a potentially ambiguous pronoun in the subject position of the subordinate…

Investigates speech norms in the United States by determining the effects of three American regional dialects on the attitudes towards speakers held by audience members from the same three regions. Includes selected dialects represented by General American, Appalachian, and Bostonian dialects. (MH)

Discusses prevailing ideas of how children learn language and addresses the argument of rules versus analogies in learning to form the past tense of verbs. Cites cases involving connectionist models. (ML)

The speech behavior of 14 depressed and 18 nondepressed mothers during conversations with their 3-year-old children was examined using the Automatic Vocal Transaction Analyzer. Mother-child dyads were observed in three settings for five minutes each: while mother was preparing lunch, during lunch, and while waiting for a doctor. (Author/BN)

Twelve preschool nonstutterers and their mothers were matched with 12 stutterers and their mothers. Analysis of intervention demonstrated that mothers of stutterers talked significantly faster to all children. Stutterers spoke slower than nonstutterers and severe stutterers spoke slower than moderate stutterers. Results revealed an interactive and…

High school students in algebra classes were presented lessons on direct variation and then tested on comprehension. The lessons were analyzed according to low-inference teacher behaviors. Findings show that lesson structure and categories of teacher vagueness were related significantly to student achievement. (Author/MT)

In finding an accurate method of describing school administrators' behavior patterns, draws on script theory from cognitive psychology and speech act theory from sociolinguistics to supplement the structured observation approach. (JW)