Describes several successful lessons that provide students with new awareness of the English language. Includes lessons focusing on language change, onomatopoeia, slang, word origin, dialect, and language functions. (MM)

Results of a sociolinguistic analysis of bilingualism indicated a statistically significant difference in the amounts of English and Spanish used in two contexts: formal and familial settings. The data suggest that Spanish-English bilingualism is at a crossroads: youths are bilingual by grade 12 but appear to be shifting toward English as their…

Referee design offers a rich field for social and cultural analysis. The preponderance of foreign-dialect advertisements in New Zealand (NZ) broadcasting is discussed and concluded to reflect a small nation's focus on the prestige of other culturally powerful nations and the comparative lack of NZ linguistic diversity. (24 references) (LB)

Tests the relationship between corporation performance and the readability of annual reports. Shows that annual reports of good performers were easier to read than those of poor performers--good performers used strong writing, unlike poor performers but did not use significantly more jargon or modifiers. (SR)

Presents a language approach to outgroup homogeneity and discrimination between gender groups. Finds outgroup discrimination was confined to female respondents; outgroup discrimination resulted more from repetition of biased statements than from differential abstraction; and discrimination was strongest for topics for which the most distinctive…

The roles played by English borrowings in modern Japanese literary works are examined. After a brief summary of previous studies, this paper describes the style repertoire and the kinds of stylistic effects produced in Japanese literature by English borrowings, such as attention attractors and in-group-identity markers. (23 references) (Author/LB)

A social dialect survey of a New Zealand community documented a change in progress in the pronunciation of the vowels in words such as "air" and "ear." The data support a tentative interpretation that a shift to the variant with the closer onset for AIR words was initiated by middle-aged Pakeha women. (38 references) (Author/LB)

Four points in Ladefoged's discussion note in "Language" (v68 March 1992) are examined: arguments based on political considerations; the cost of giving up a native language to join a dominant language; the responsibility of a linguist in supporting the loss of a particular language; and the task of the linguist. (one reference) (LB)

Describes the diversity of spoken English in high school classrooms in America. Advocates coming to terms with matters of language diversity. Suggests ways that this might be accomplished. (HB)

Examines characteristics of literature used by Arab authors in library and information science based on a citation analysis of articles published in a leading Arab scholarly journal that was the first library journal published in Saudi Arabia. Language, time span, form of publication, and subject and geographical distributions are discussed. (LRW)

This study examined how 16 adult learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) in an intensive ESL program used tense contrast and time adverbials to produce reverse-order reports. The study found that the students marked reverse-order reports as deviations from chronological order by their use of tense contrast and time adverbials. (26…

Examines the interplay between "Deaf" and "Christian" identities in a large complex society. A group of Christians who strongly identified themselves as "Deaf" formed a separate "Deaf" church. Differences in religious beliefs, however, led some parishioners of this new church to found a separate "Deaf" Christian church. (22 references) (JL)

An investigation of the sociolinguistic features that govern contemporary use of the Italian formal ("Lei") and informal ("tu") forms of address suggests that teachers of Italian must help students become aware of the complex factors underlying the choice of form, rather than just drill them in usage. (12 references) (CB)

Asserts that learning to write and teaching writing are acts of socialization. Argues that African-American students must aspire to the dominant culture in academia, as well as remain true to their own home culture. Offers strategies for students to employ in the process of exploring the context(s) of culture(s) which govern their language use.…

Presents basic rules governing the use of German predicates that are interpreted as but not synonymous with "be" or "put" in English, focusing on the verbs' special characteristics and correct usage in authentic German sentences. (12 references) (Author/CB)