This report identifies a set of research questions for linguistics related to the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) launched by the National Science Foundation to increase understanding of the nature and causes of problems related to improving human resources. It is argued that the broad scope of linguistic inquiry in the United States has significant consequences for the six designated HCI areas of concern: workforce; education; families; neighborhoods; disadvantage; and poverty. Specific research issues address: language acquisition, maintenance, and loss; caregiver language role; normative language development among minority language groups; factors in language acquisition and socialization; language acquisition and socialization as a lifelong process; communication breakdown (intergenerational, bilingual, related to disabilities); individual and group beliefs about linguistic diversity, both within and between languages; social groupings based on speech; communication patterns characterizing multicultural communities; language role in construction of identity; transfer of language skill; learning of appropriate language registers; language demands on students; literacy and literacy education; language norms; language patterns and needs in the workplace; language patterns and creation and maintenance of disadvantagement; and language dynamics and poverty. Methodological needs are also discussed briefly. (MSE)