Defines "Slurish" as the dialect which results from North American English-speakers'"tendency to eliminate less emphatic syllables and run together the sounds which are left, frequently omitting consonants"; includes a brief glossary of such terms. (Author/SW)

Study results cast doubt on the validity of a currently popular notion that ghetto children learn more readily when instruction is presented in familiar dialect. More study is needed before accepting Dialect as a language of instruction for black children. (Author)

Proposes to establish the correct Black cultural perspective on the role and function of personal insults in sounding and the boundary between play and nonplay. Considers different cultural consequences that would stem from regarding personal insults to be part of verbal play or not, and shows similarity in the structure and function of…

Discusses bilingual education from both sociocultural and sociolinguistic perspectives. Stresses the need for bilingual programs to accept and adapt to the dialects of Spanish, French and English spoken by Caribbean immigrants to the United States. (Author/GC)

Criticizes Herskovit's "Myth of the Negro Past" and Turner's "Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect" for their emphasis on trait diffusion, lack of any index of relative linguistic significance of specific items, failure to assess the importance of the dominant White culture, and failure to maintain historical and cultural…

Reviews studies relating to reading instruction for Black children. Points out several problems in methodology found in the studies. (FL)

Teacher attitude remains the crucial variable, and it spells success or failure for many students speaking Black English in the public schools. (Author/IRT)

Concludes from three studies that Black English speakers may not spell as well as standard English speakers and that Black English itself can interfere with spelling. (DD)

Describes the inroads made into Canadian French by English phonology, vocabulary, and syntax, and argues for a "refrancisation" which will preserve the unique flavor of Canadian French. (AM)

In New Zealand, interest in the local variety of English is increasing. Reasons for this are given. A brief survey is made of: semantic changes, the role of Maori words, neologisms and phonetic changes. Parallels are shown with the history of British English. (IFS/WGA)

Discusses the nature of the difference between dialectology and sociolinguistics and suggests that the findings of dialectology are relevant for use by sociolinguists. (30 references) (CK)

Considers the pursuit of language rights of speakers of English varieties, particularly those collected under the category of African American vernacular English. Describes how a lack of legal language rights for African Americans have left them to appeal to attitudes in the search for democratizing teaching policies. Concludes that attempts to…

A study investigated the effect of foreign accent and speaking rate on native English speaker comprehension. Three native Chinese speakers and one native speaker of American English read passages at different speaking rates. Comprehension scores showed that an increase in speaking rate and heavily accented English decreased listener comprehension.…

This paper summarizes some of the findings from a project in progress that researches teachers' sociolinguistic awareness in Wales. Some interesting differences between labels and scales data are considered, and issues of importance to language awareness are highlighted. (VWL)