Outlines the language planning situation in Australia, makes a case for the establishment of a national language policy, and discusses the steps that must be undertaken if a successful policy is to be achieved. (AM)

Defines the practical functions of various types of grammars, and theoretical functions of linguistic grammars. Points out some differences between the two (stressing contrast between native and foreign languages), as well as differences in defining, finality, or variation of categories, and in psycho- and sociolinguistic components. (IFS/WGA)

It is suggested that the teaching of English will be benefited when future teachers are trained to view the mechanisms of their language from the standpoint of the total function of these mechanisms in human interaction. Linguistics must be taught with reference to the social bases of speech and to its primary purpose, the achievement of…

Discusses hypotheses and conclusions of an investigation carried out in the Paris area concerning language needs in the mother tongue as they relate to social stratification and social interaction. (Text is in French.) (AM)

This study examined bilingual children's performance in reading Persian and English at grades one, three, and six. Indications are that the bilingual children performed not quite as well as their monolingual counterparts in either of the languages despite the high degree of variation among the subjects. (Author/POP)

Describes the linguistic backgrounds of Sweden and Finland and presents a few examples of recent sociolinguistic research in these countries. (CFM)

Focuses on three issues: social evaluations of speech deemed patronizing towards the elderly in a language other than English, such as, Dutch; stereotypes about the elderly as a social category; and the empirical possibility of a link between evaluations of so-called patronizing speech towards older people and stereotypes about the elderly held by…

Explores the moral and political issues involved in the concept of language rights. Examines language diversity as well as insights into the relationship among language, human existence, and culture; elaborates the concept of language rights; and discusses the moral and political philosophy of language rights. (34 references) (Author/CK)

Focuses on an exploration of an alternative space adjacent to postmodernist work in language rights. There are numerous different positions on language rights. Extends a politicized version of language rights that proposes that these rights are subordinate to the structure of power and domination and that language policy is a form of covert state…

Reviews current research to investigate the way the power and politics of genre is often exploited by the so-called established membership of disciplinary communities to keep outsiders at a safe distance. Argues that the privilege to exploit generic conventions to create new forms becomes available only to those few enjoying a certain degree of…

Discusses how the terms, "discourse,""education," and "identity," are interwoven in the collection of papers in this issue as well as how, as theoretical constructs, they are differently inflected within individual papers. The article points out that all the papers engage with both the micro- and macro-levels of analysis. (8 references) (Author/CK)

Examines the sociology of the Esperanto community in the context of a review of 10 surveys. Active speakers reveal that Esperanto functions primarily as a means of informal oral communication and of semiformal written communication. Most speakers do not expect a wider use of this planned language in the short term. (11 references) (Author/CK)

Suggests that a sociopragmatic approach to the study of forms of address may shed new light on address behavior in general and on the use of forms of address in French and Dutch in particular. "Form of address" is used to encompass not only second-person singular pronouns, but also other devices that can be employed to make reference to…

Describes some aspects of "interlingual contagion" between siSwati and English in Swaziland, focusing on borrowing and code switching and the derived "Englishization of siSwati and Swazification of English. These phenomena are examined via a mode of bilingualism that presumes that all languages carry indexical meanings both on…

Argues that the sociological frameworks developed by Pierre Bourdieu provide a model for understanding the functions and consequences of literacies in the students' life paths. The article identifies implications for educators, administrators, curriculum developers, and teacher-educators, i.e., the need for broader public discussions and classroom…