This longitudinal study of 17 American learners of French lies at the intersection of 2 complementary fields of inquiry in second language acquisition (SLA): language variation and change (LVC) and language acquisition during study abroad. Studies in LVC examine the nature and use of linguistic features that have more than 1 possible realization…

Graduates who typically have L1 English, have majored in one foreign language (FL, L2) or more at university and have gone on to occupy FL posts in the UK civil service have reported mismatches between their pre-employment L2 learning and the tasks they face in the workplace. Such reported divergences in UK civil service capability have not,…

As expert intercultural communicators, translators constantly face the challenges of comprehending and producing language that is stylistically appropriate in various communicative contexts. To scale these challenges, they must acquire advanced levels of sociolinguistic competence. Although sociolinguistic competence is considered an essential…

Young Learners have less reinforcement to speak with others. One of the causes is the trend of formal or clumsy learning setting in emphasizing the speaking proficiency. Speaking based on the culture context also contribute them in increasing their motivation to express their ideas. "Casual style" as one of the language variations gives…

This study explores the question of whether native and nonnative listeners, some familiar with the language and some not, differ in their accent ratings of native speakers (NSs) and nonnative speakers (NNSs). Although a few studies have employed native and nonnative judges to evaluate native and nonnative speech, the present study is perhaps the…

Presents examples of misunderstandings in compliment exchanges in different cultural contexts and analyzes them as instances of pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic failure. Analysis of complimenting behavior norms forms the basis of a set of exercises designed to assist learners in developing the ability to recognize and use compliments…

Paper presented March 6, 1971, at the TESOL Convention in New Orleans, La. (VM)

This paper analyzes the process of intergenerational language shift from a sociolinguistic perspective and proposes a pedagogical model for expanding the stylistic range of heritage learners, targeting the development of writing proficiency. The model proposes that the curriculum should be organized so that students initially draw on their…

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…

This paper describes the English language problems encountered by foreign students at New Mexico State University, students whose previous educational experiences have included extensive use of British English. Specifically dealt with are West African students having lived in a situation where "transplanted English" was introduced by…

The papers in this volume discuss practical approaches to some of the current problems of degree-level language teaching. Section one discusses non-literary registers in advanced language teaching including the use of texts in teaching, suggestions for a course in practical sociolinguistics, and exercises for advancing from paraphrase to an…

This study examines the hypothesis that the French used by a large number of Franco-Ontarians represents a linguistic system (or several systems) that differs from Standard French. In addition, a review of previous research leads to the inverse hypothesis, that Ontarian French represents a body of different systems or sub-systems that are more or…

An ongoing longitudinal study, 15 years old at the time of publication, is reported. It is a sociolinguistic, developmental study of the acquisition of two languages, Spanish and English, by a boy from birth, with data drawn from direct observation and occasional tape recordings of speech. An introductory chapter outlines the objectives and method…

Discourse analysis has provided a methodology for the study of conversational interactions between language learner and native speaker. This study examines the verbal and nonverbal strategies that native speakers use when communicating with second language learners in natural, non-academic, "survival type" settings. The areas discussed include:…