Examines the variable distribution of word-final consonant devoicing (WFCD) among working-class speakers in the Roubaix district of northern France. WFCD is shown to affect coronals, labials, and velars in that order and to be favored by prepausal position. WFCD is primarily associated with female speakers over age 45. (40 references) (MDM)

Investigated the potential correlation of agreement marking with the expression of pronominal subjects in the speech of 10 Spanish speakers from Puerto Rico and 10 from Spain. The results show not only similar patterns of pronominal expression but also similar rankings of constraints on pronominal expression in both dialects. (MDM)

Explored differences in the spoken English of Texas women, listening to individual women rather than to populations or samples. The study attempted to determine how each woman used available linguistic resources, and it pointed out that every speaker is idiosyncratic and a variety of factors bear on how people talk. (SM)

Discusses issues in the role of non-native English variants as an endonormative standard in non-English-speaking countries, including the status of innovations in the nativization process, continued use of normative standards as a point of reference, ambivalence between recognition and acceptance of non-native norms, adequacy of pedagogical…

This issue contains articles ranging from a theoretical discussion of the nature of an international language to an assessment of the implications of teaching a local form of English. The following articles are included: (1) "International English and Language Variation," by M. Lester; (2) "The English Language, Ideology, and…

The three major dialect groups of Saudi Arabia are Hijazi, Najdi and Shargi. Hijazi is used for government and commercial purposes and is the most widely understood. This basic course uses the Hijazi dialect of Jidda, which is designated "urban" to distinguish it from Bedouin varieties. The book will provide students with the basic…

A study of dialectal variation in Mexican Sign Language (MSL), the primary language for a large segment of Mexico's deaf community, is presented. Signs used by nine different sources representing various locations, ages, and social groups are compared. The first section reviews a number of previous informal assessments of dialectal variation in…

This computer program, a mechanization of the handsorted techniques which geographical dialectology has been using, increases the number of hypotheses that can be explored and the various correlations that can be made. It can draw several of the kinds of maps that dialectologists have used in direct atlases. The hardware, software, and program…

This volume contains twelve articles dealing with the French language as spoken in Quebec. The following topics are addressed: (1) language change and variation; (2) coordinating expressions in the French spoken in Montreal; (3) expressive language as source of language change; (4) the role of correction in conversation; (5) social change and…

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…

Interviews with Arkansas fourth, fifth, and sixth graders revealed a blatant contradiction between the objectives of the language arts curricula and the children's opinions about the appropriateness of their language. While the students uniformly regarded their own dialects as satisfactory and unchanged by school, when questioned specifically…

The need to find which social contexts elicit children's fullest language repertoire generated this study of the effects of three social distance variables on language production, as measured by mean length of communication unit, vocabulary diversity, and use of black English. The social distance variables investigated included race and sex of…

Challenges the descriptive linguist to tackle the problem of Educated Spoken Arabic and its regional varieties, in particular in regard to aspect and the participle. (AM)

A series of activities to help junior high school students build a conceptual model of communication. Through games and reading selections, students become familiar with dialect and jargon; consider the thesis that language is behavior; and understand how easy it is to fail to communicate with other people. (Author/AV)

Traces the history of the presence of black people's languages in Great Britain and also provides a contemporary perspective on current needs to define and articulate these language needs and to contribute toward the theory and development of language teaching, teacher training, and production of teaching material. (Author/CB)