Although W.E.B. Du Bois' impact on race theory is well-known among social scientists; his work is not widely incorporated into the sociolinguistic canon on racial identity through language. Moreover, one pervasive feature in sociolinguistic discourses is the paucity of literature exploring the Afro-Portuguese language. In addressing these…

Offers a sociolinguistic appraisal of the representation of languages (as "languages" or "dialects") in the Indian census, with special reference to the status of Maithili. Classifying Maithili as an independent language threatens the homogeneity of the "Hindi belt"; conversely, treating it as a Hindi dialect might…

Gives an overview of recent research on the Alsatian language in a contact situation and discusses the function of the language and state border. Contacts across the state border are analyzed and the function of various linguistic codes on both sides of the state border are described. Suggests that the the sole post-war innovation in Alsace is the…

Describes the situation of minority languages and Chinese dialects, discusses and analyzes language planning and language reform of spoken Chinese, summarizes language achievements made through China's educational system, and discusses the problems that remain for spoken language reform in China. (25 references) (Author/CB)

Traces the history and describes the present state of France's regional languages (Alsacien, Basque, Breton, Catalan, Corsican, Flemish, and Occitan) and analyzes the common problems encountered by speakers of these languages. (Author/CB)

General survey of history of Ingrian Finns and discussion of Ingrian Finnish dialect are presented. On the basis of morphological analysis of interviews with Ingrian Finns in Canada, Sweden, and Russia, an attempt is made to ascertain how Ingrian Finnish dialects have been preserved or changed in different parts of the world and under the…

Posits two hypotheses arising from the great immigration to Sweden and the immigrants' use and learning of Swedish: (1) Swedish as used by immigrant children may show certain features, related to a creolization process; and (2) the Swedish language may in future show signs of influence from the varieties used by persons with immigrant background.…

Study of Danish language needs of an immigrant student leads to the assertion that concepts pertaining to first- and second-language vocabulary need revision, particularly regarding certain minority languages and certain fields, including the distinction between "active" and "passive" vocabulary and first-language and…

Argues that language varieties represent an important aspect of the development of bilingualism. Analysis of migrant children's acquisition of German and their productive, reactive, and receptive competence demonstrates that children who fail in the understanding and use of language varieties often lack the necessary sociocultural knowledge.…

Summarizes contact-linguistic research on the Samis and Finns, the northernmost minorities in Scandinavia. The monolingual view of northern Scandinavian languages in the past is complemented with a multilingual perspective of the interaction between minority and larger languages. Among contact patterns discussed are North Germanic-Sami,…

Traces the history of the presence of black people's languages in Great Britain and also provides a contemporary perspective on current needs to define and articulate these language needs and to contribute toward the theory and development of language teaching, teacher training, and production of teaching material. (Author/CB)

Detailed analysis of frequencies of the primary auxiliary verb "be" in Scots dramatic texts leads to consideration of the typological relationship said to exist between different varieties of Scots and between them and standard English. (Author/CB)

Increased use of English in Singapore, a multiracial, multilingual country, especially its use for cultural purposes, has met with some controversy. This article traces the historical development of Singaporean literature in English and the sociocultural and political problems such literature faces in a country where the official languages and…