This paper problematizes the assessment of speakers' proficiency in endangered language communities. We focus in particular on processes of lexical production and elicitation as proxies for full proficiency assessment. Among linguists, it is standard to assess a speaker's knowledge of specific lexical items in order to set a baseline for further…

For the past five years, the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository has been documenting intricacies of the Alutiiq language with the help of Elder speakers and a grant from the National Science Foundation (#1360839). The project's primary focus has been recording vocabulary, grammar, and ways of speaking for this threatened Native Alaskan…

In the current conditions of globalization and the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF), the notions of pragmatic competence and appropriateness as well as pragmatic failure become of paramount importance to the language learners and instructors. The current article discusses these questions through an approximate replication of Jaworski's…

This study presents findings resulting from a comparative analysis of the system of nominal morphological markers attested by various researchers in the Surgut dialect and in the badly described Salym dialect. The analysis focused on the morphological markers that form paradigms of three nominal categories: case, number and possession. It aimed at…

Negidal is a Northern Tungusic language closely related to Evenki with two recognized dialects, Upper and Lower Negidal. This nearly extinct language used to be spoken in the Lower Amur region of the Russian Far East by people whose traditional way of life was based on fishing and hunting. While the number of remaining active speakers of Upper…

The concept of "resilience" originated in both ecology and psychology, and refers to the propensity of a system or entity to "bounce back" from a disturbance. Recently, the concept has found increasing application within linguistics, particularly the study of endangered languages. In this context, resilience is used to describe…

This article draws on longitudinal research of a linguistic ethnographic nature with four young women of Pontian Greek origin who migrated to Greece, from Russia and Georgia, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and who speak Standardised Modern Greek and Pontian Greek; a language variety of the former. The article focuses on the ways in…

This dissertation is focused on analyzing phonological contact between Slavic and non-Slavic languages in southeastern and northeastern Europe, with the particular goal of describing how the social context of language contact interacts with linguistic factors to shape the outcome of contact-induced change. On the basis of case studies drawn from…

The major objective of the study is to develop a framework allowing for the systematic investigation of the institutionalised varieties and performance varieties of English (also known as learner Englishes). This involves a detailed description of the forms of English spoken in India and in Russia as well as discussion of sociolinguistic histories…

I outline the concept of "Language Hotspots", seeking to direct public and professional awareness of the global language extinction crisis. The loss of a single language leaves the science of linguistics impoverished and yet even few linguists realize that the vast majority of "language families" will likely be lost by the end…

This paper starts by examining recent work by applied linguists who argue that creativity is not only a property of especially skilled and gifted language users, but is pervasive in routine everyday practice. Also variously addressing literariness, language play and humour, this apparent democratization of creativity contributes to a more general…

An important goal of research on specific learning disorders (such as dyslexia, or specific reading disability, or dysgraphia, or specific writing disorder) is to elucidate the universal characteristics and cross-linguistic and cross-cultural differences of literacy acquisition and disability. However, despite the acknowledged necessity of…

An overview of current knowledge about Russian Sign Language (RSL) and its use in Russia today notes that linguistic study of RSL is still in the beginning stages, defines issues that need to be studied, and suggests directions for further research. (28 references) (JL)

This work is a study of Arctic languages written in an interdisciplinary manner. Part of the Unesco Arctic project aimed at safeguarding the linguistic heritage of Arctic peoples, the book is the outcome of three Unesco meetings at which conceptual approaches to and practical plans for the study of Arctic cultures and languages were worked out.…

Surveys the actual state of Russian research on verbal behavior as seen from the field of psychology. The research is in four parts: (1) language and thought, especially internal language, (2) neurological aspects of language, (3) child language, and (4) psychology of language learning and teaching for native and foreign languages. (Text is in…