Quebec rap lyrics stand out on the world Hip-Hop scene by virtue of the ease and rapidity with which performers in this multilingual, multiethnic youth community codeswitch, frequently among three or more languages or language varieties (usually over a French and/or English base) in the same song. We construct a framework for understanding…

Among the 29 articles collected here are the following: (1) "On Markedness and Sociolinguistic Variation" (Amastae); (2) "On the Form of Bilingual Grammars: The Phonological Component" (Elerick); (3) "On Negation in Comparative Constructions" (Fries); (4) "Class by Value System: Implications for Bilingual…

The language or dialect used in a conversation will vary according to the social situation, the identity of the participants, and the conversational topic. Bilinguals will often switch languages to suit the topic or the listener; persons who speak both standard and dialect forms of a language will use the standard in formal conversation and the…

This study investigated the strategies used by westerners, particularly American, Canadians, and Britons, to assimilate linguistically with the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria. The report begins with a brief chronicling of the history of colonialism and English usage in Nigeria. The study is then described. Based on observation of…

Discusses the major directions taken by Sri Lankan English fiction in the 1980's in developing style ranges appropriate for the expression of new social realities. Four works of fiction are used to illustrate progress towards this goal. (42 references) (Author/OD)

In an important theoretical contribution to our understanding of language contact, Toribio elaborates on the familiar generalization, best known from the work of Silva-Corvalan, that contact varieties resemble monolingual lects of the same language in overall grammar, but differ with regard to (a) the selection of structures and (b) the…

A growing body of research recognizes the pervasive difficulties involved in accommodating multilingual practices in the English language classroom and acknowledges that one aspect of this conundrum is the role that languages play in the constitution of student identities. Such studies point to how students use off-stage spaces to covertly engage…

Maltese and English are used as media of instruction across the curriculum in Maltese schools. It has been observed that both languages are normally used within any one lesson and, as is here illustrated by a continuum of crosslinguistic influence, they are mixed in complex ways. As within Maltese society at large, a new variety called Mixed…

The linguistic interactions in the speech of bilingual children is systematically examined to determine their ability to differentiate between their two language systems. The speech samples of eighteen bilingual (Spanish-English) children aged two to six were examined for instances of deviation from the norms of the language of utterance due to…

This work is an attempt to synthesize the findings of the multi-disciplinary research on various aspects of Chicanos' use of their two languages, Spanish and English. After an introduction on notions of language, speech, and sociology, the text covers nine aspects of the question: (1) historical background on the relations between the English and…

Examines the linguistic features of Tok Pisin (the Papua New Guinea variety of Melanesian Pidgin) resulting from decreolization and the linguistic features of Papua New Guinea English. Discusses code-switching and transference between Tok Pisin and English and concludes that an English-to-pidgin continuum does not exist in Papua New Guinea or in…

Examines code mixing and borrowing across two generations of New York Puerto Ricans, and explores the possibility of existence of a lifecycle of language use in the community. (26 references) (Author/OD)

Examines how an understanding of the meaning of bilingual code-switching can be achieved and how speakers with very different abilities in (and attitudes toward) the languages communicate with each other in close and informal encounters. Particular attention is given to the marking of preference organization in bilingual cross-generational family…

Demonstrates that the patterns of Japanese/English code-switching found in Canadian Niseis' in-group speech are conditioned by the varieties of bilingual speech characterized in terms of base language. When Japanese is the base, English nouns are used; when English is the base, Japanese phrases and sentences occur sporadically. (38 references)…

Explores the usefulness of a typology of contact mechanisms for one type of contact setting: that of a typical immigrant language, in this case the variety of Turkish that is spoken in the Netherlands. Examines the relevance of insertional code switching to the genesis of mixed languages--Dutch and Turkish. (Author/VWL)