Basic linguistic concepts are presented and their links with second language learning and teaching are examined. The book is intended as a guide for teachers and others interested in second language instruction. Chapters address the following concepts: the relationship of language and linguistics, including basic terminology of discussion about…

A discussion of the situation of Idoma, a Nigerian language, begins with different accounts of the language's origin, referring to both local legend and cosmology. It then proceeds to a review of modern linguists' efforts, since 1927, to classify the language. A statistical overview contains information on the number of speakers of Idoma as a…

The Unit for Advanced Studies in Modern Swedish (FUMS) at Uppsala University has one of the largest collections of spontaneous present-day spoken Swedish and has housed many sociolinguistic research projects since the 1960s. The four studies generating the most empirical data are on: The Urban Dialect of Eskilstuna; The Child's Linguistic…

This paper focuses on language diversity in Chicano speech communities in the United States and its relation to the teaching of Spanish to Chicano bilinguals. Attempts to teach standard Spanish to Spanish-speakers in the United States have been unsuccessful for the most part, because the schools recognize only a single standard of "correctness"…

A comparison of the linguistic contexts of Scotland and Taiwan focuses on three aspects: (1) existence of two linguistic codes belonging to the same language family; (2) the status of one of those languages as the standard set by a larger, more powerful neighbor from whose perspective any other variety is likely to look like a dialect; and (3) the…

Puerto Ricans in the United States are often assumed to be bilingual, and most are to some degree. Among Puerto Ricans, frequent returns home are common, allowing for immersion in both cultures and communication in both Spanish and English. Despite availability of bilingual education, programs are too short for participants to attain even a…

Suggests that the variety of English spoken in Brunei (BNE), sometimes called nonstandard, is still at an early stage of development and there is little awareness among its speakers of some differences from standard English (STE). Results of a grammaticality judgment test administered to 106 university students, designed to find nonstandard verb…

Although the development of Kiswahili in Tanzania has had a number of stumbling blocks, it is slowly developing into a language of modern technology. Individual institutions have contributed greatly to its spread and promotion. More books are now published in Kiswahili than ever before, and scientific and technical terminology has been developed.…

Evidence exists that, in the past, phonetic variants functioned as sociolinguistic variables, just as they do today, at least in societies with comparable stratificational patterns. This paper presents the significant details of the sociolinguistic environment within which the beginnings of the Great English Vowel Shift were embedded. An attempt…

This collection of essays focuses on historical, structural, lexical, and sociological aspects of Romani and its regional variations. The focus is primarily but not exclusively on oral language. Essays include: "On Typological Changes and Structural Borrowing in the History of European Romani" (Vit Bubenik); "On the Migration and…

This paper describes cultural and educational characteristics of West African countries that may have implications for West Africans studying and learning English in the United States. Countries discussed include Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Benin, Niger, Gambia, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, and Mali. The structures of the systems of elementary,…

Two papers address different issues in linguistic theory. "Attitudes, Norms and Standardization in English: Some Aspects of the Language In Its Social Context," by Bent Preisler, looks at how attitudes affect language norms and ultimately, standardization in British and U.S. English. It begins with the attitudes and communicative…

From a consideration of variability in language-learner and language-user data, the concept of proficiency is considered in relation to models of second and foreign language learning. Proficiency is defined in relation to four separate dimensions: grammatical well-formedness, speech-act rules, functional elaboration, and code diversity. This…

Current medical practice expects the minority patient to bend his linguistic and cultural background to that of the physician, a situation which interferes with effective doctor/patient communication. This study examines the problems in doctor/patient communication in the cross-cultural medical interview, with a special focus on the black,…

This book incorporates a general discussion of bilingualism and its relation to sociolinguistic facts with a description of the Redwood City, California, bilingual education project, begun in 1969. Chapter 1 describes the phenomenon of bilingualism, while Chapter 2 deals with the concept of bilingual education. The relationship between…