The Reporter's Test (DeRenzi and Ferrari, 1978), which investigates the expressive abilities of aphasics, is proven to be useful, through its use in two studies of features of Welsh, for sociolinguists studying language features. The test has great capacity for predicting syntactic forms and eliciting casual styles of speech. (Author/CB)

The article looks at idiomaticity from the semantic and syntactic angles. After a summary of the problems arising from a semantic definition, some recent proposals regarding the syntactic behavior of idioms are reviewed briefly and evaluated. There is a sizable bibliography. (AMH)

A synthesis of a research project treating the relationship between the comprehension of English words, the ability to use them and their actual usage by members of various social groups in Paris. Topics covered are: methodology, classification of words, reactions of informants and interpretation of data. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

Prison language, primarily the lexicon, at the Women's Correctional Center (WCC) in Columbia, South Carolina is described. This center is considered here as a speech community and a subculture. Inmates have developed speech habits and vocabulary which indicate the social structure of the prison and inmate values. They coin or metaphorically extend…

Drawing from experiences in teaching kindergarten teachers in Saudi Arabia to conduct "sharing time" or "show and tell" sessions, discusses the activity's affective and cognitive value, indicating that teacher and peer feedback promotes language development and the growth of curiosity and inquisitiveness. Makes practical…

Disciplines interested in communication have failed to describe adequately the comprehension or production of taboo or dirty words with the result that little is known about the phenomenon. A review of research leads to the assumption that taboo word comprehension and production are the result of some or all of the following elements of the…