This dissertation draws on both qualitative and quantitative approaches to investigate the linguistic practices of teachers and children who are learning Mandarin Chinese as a Heritage Language (CHL) in two dual immersion preschools in California. CHL children have been interpreted as novice members in local speech communities who actively explore…

Recent studies of Asian American youth language practices have presented compelling insights about the identities and migration experiences of young people of Asian descent. This article offers a detailed examination of the relationship between language use and select issues concerning Asian American youth, including social life, schooling,…

The address systems in Raymond Barrio's "The Plum Plum Pickers" imply sociolinguistic differences between the Chicano and the Anglo characters. The kinds of sociolinguistic situations, the number of dyadic patterns, and the quantity of the dyadic patterns strongly suggest the differences. (Author)

Presents theory of "audience design" which assumes that speakers design their style of talk for their audience, and examines how speakers do this. Also examines the effects on style shift of nonpersonal factors (such as topic and setting) and of referees (the class of persons with whom the speaker identifies). (SED)

The factors which underlie discussions of the legitimacy, pedagogy, and politics of the variants of Spanish spoken in the United States are discussed. [In Spanish] (Author/NQ)

This experiment using the matched-guise technique in a natural setting shows that listeners' cooperative behavior can be influenced by a speaker's style of speech not only in a face-to-face situation, but also on the basis of voice cues alone. Broadness of pronunciation also influences reactions. (POP)

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 the rise of classicism in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, and demonstrates how this concept represents a basis for social discrimination. (AM)

A study was conducted to examine children's use of social factors as bases for evaluating different patterns of code switching in dyadic social interaction. The factors were role-related and social norms, interpersonal accommodation, intergroup biases, and socio-cultural status. An initial study was conducted of monolingual and bilingual English…

Indian English is a variety of the English language used as a second language by Indian bilinguals. This paper reports on a computerized survey of the grammar of Indian English, consisting of the classification of 230 expressions "of whose standing there might be some question" by a group of linguists and teachers of English in India, in…

Roger Shuy and Ralph Fasold's introduction describing sociolinguistics as (1) a desire to refine linguistic theory, (2) an attempt to describe the sociocultural matrices of language, and (3) an effort to apply sociolinguistic knowledge to this monograph. Walt Wolfram contributes substantially to the development of sociolinguistics theory in…

A review of research concerning bilingual (English and Spanish) Chicanos' use of code-switching during spontaneous oral narrative indicates that such code-switching may be organized to achieve more dramatic effects through personalizing (as opposed to objectionalizing) certain parts of the narrative and through techniques of foregrounding and…

DURING THE PAST FEW YEARS INTEREST IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS, THE SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF THE RELATION OF LINGUISTIC FORMS AND SOCIAL MEANING, HAS GREATLY ACCELERATED. IN CONTRAST TO THE FIELD OF PSYCHOLINGUISTICS, MANY OF THE MAIN FIGURES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS ARE LINGUISTS WHO HAVE FOUND THAT SOCIAL FEATURES ARE CONTINUALLY CENTRAL TO…

The purpose of this book is "to familiarize the student of linguistics with the social context of speech, and to familiarize the student of society with language as a referent and dimension of social behavior." An attempt is made at a conceptual integration of the literature of sociolinguistics (with emphasis on work published in the 1960's) so…

Charles A. Ferguson's concept of "diglossia" (1959, 1964) is used in analyzing sign language. As in Haitian Creole or Swiss German, "two or more varieties" of sign language are "used by the same speakers under different conditions"--these are here called "High" (H) sign language and "Low" (L) sign language. H sign language is formally taught…