Knowledge about how language works is often considered superfluous by the public. In general, the public image of language is that language is in a serious decline and that outside influences on language have led it astray, views that are supported by false assumptions about language on the part of writers. Writers in newspapers and magazines note…

The developing relationship of linguistics to matters of current social concern, especially as it relates to the study of minority groups, is discussed. Problems in studying Negro/white speech differences are related to: The researcher vs. the researched; the unfulfilled promises of research and the dangers of knowing; the misassessing of facts by…

Explores the gap between adult writers and children readers and examines some misconceptions about writing for children. (HTH)

The current state of research on language learning processes is reviewed, and the implications of that research for language arts teachers are discussed. (HTH)

The formal study of social dialects has received increasing attention since about the middle of the sixties. In linguistics, the study of social dialectology has resulted in the clear demonstration of the importance of sociolinguistic variation in linguistic theory in contrast to the former preoccupation with linguistic universals. In education,…

Sociolinguistics is characterized by a concern for viewing language variation and for seeing language in real social contexts. It has a high potential for relationship and application to other fields such as education, sociology, and psychology. Sociolinguistics try to study the speech of a community, and instead of studying the presence or…

This paper outlines the development of an exciting set of changes going on in the field of linguistics at the present time. From studies of the ethnography of communication, generative semantics, variation theory, and pidgins and creoles has come a convergence of interests which highlights the concept of gradatum (rather than continuum) in…

The study of language is an interdisciplinary field, since language can be seen to embody characteristics of psychology, linguistics, literature, sociology, anthropology, education, and the sciences. Teachers of language can no longer afford to ignore useful information from any of the underlying disciplines. If language teaching is to be assisted…

As a result of its isolative pattern of development, linguistics is now beginning to suffer from not having a natural apprenticeship domain, making it difficult for new graduates to find work. The field has been lacking in entrepreneurial tendencies and unimaginative in developing either a potential clientele or a repertoire of uses. Linguistics…

Asserts that quantitative analysis facilitates the linguistic study of variability in language. The implications of such study for education are in the areas of individual diagnosis and placement. Quantitative analysis is less comfortable to linguists when it is used to generalize or obscure linguistic differences. The latter seems to be the more…