Investigates the role of accent in attributing guilt to persons accused of a crime. A 3x3 repeated-measures design required three groups to rate three accents (Received British Pronunciation, Broad Australian, Asian) on their probability of having committed a particular crime (embezzlement, damage to property, violence against a person). Results…

Discusses findings which suggest that frequency adverbs do affect the perceived aggresiveness of sentences at most levels of verbal aggression. (MH)

SINCE LINGUISTS HAVE ONLY RECENTLY TURNED FROM GRAMMATICAL ANALYSIS TO CONSIDER THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN SOCIETY, THE STUDY OF MODERNIZATION HAS BEEN LEFT LARGELY TO SOCIAL SCIENTISTS WHO CAN HARDLY BE EXPECTED TO DEAL WITH LINGUISTIC QUESTIONS. LANGUAGE PROBLEMS, HOWEVER, ARE KNOWN TO PLAGUE DEVELOPING SOCIETIES. IN POST-INDEPENDENCE INDIA,…

Investigates the ways in which the language used by gay men reflects and affects the relationships between dominant culture and subculture. (MH)

The concept of register refers to variations in language determined by function, medium and formality or style. An examination of the registers of verb forms and noun phrases yielded results important to the writer of English language courses. (CK)

Eighteen issues are outlined concerning theory and measurement of attitude, and language attitude in particular, and research motivated by these issues described. (RM)

Efforts to simplify language used in consumer documents come from the consumer movement and a public disillusioned with big business and government. Even before President Carter's 1978 executive order mandating simplification in government regulations, some agencies were revising regulations for clarity. However, these efforts were based on too…

Baby talk, also known as motherese or child-directed speech, refers to a set of speech modifications commonly found in the language adults use to address young children. The same functional motivations underlying adult speech to other adults also shape adult speech to children. These include pedagogy, control, affection, social exchange, and…

Legal language is discussed in the context of concern about the comprehensibility of consumer documents and the trend toward simplification of the language used in these documents. Specific features of legal language and its functions within the legal community and society are identified. As a primary tool of the legal profession, legal language…

Describes a study using matched-guise technique designed to (1) determine how West Welsh preadolescents would react to Welsh speakers reading a passage of prose in one of three language varieties (Received Pronunciation English, Welsh-Accented English, Welsh) and (2) to examine what effect language of testing might have on children's social…

Discusses ethnic speech styles in New Zealand, the extent to which they can be detected, and how they and English received pronunciation are evaluated by listeners. (EKN)

Examines the conversation behavior of mothers toward their children with respect to two hypotheses: that the mothers' underlying interactional intent can be inferred from patterning in their conversation and that the utterances having a directive or controlling function will show a negative relationship to those designed to elicit conversation…

Report on a research project to classify various language registers as related to advanced instruction of English as a foreign language; supported by the English Curriculum Section of the Language Bureau, Public Service Commission of Canada. (RS)

Paper presented March 6, 1971, at the TESOL Convention in New Orleans, La. (VM)

Current thinking about academic language and the variety of language appropriate to school and similar settings is discussed. Recent literature concerning academic language is explored, and common themes and significant observations that emerge when the concept is viewed from a sociological perspective are examined. The research reviewed includes…