The language which is spoken and abilities in its social use are critical individual attributes in association with access to life chances. Sociolinguistic variables have been neglected by sociologists and language related social problems are neither recognized nor understood. (Author/RLV)

The purpose of this article is to briefly review recent findings on Ontarian French; to refute claims that it is not an authentic French dialect; and to examine some of the implications these findings may have for French language instruction in Ontario. (Author/SJL)

Reports on two experiments, one performed on infants, the other on adults, designed to examine the issue of categorical perception of speech contrasts in infants in relation to linguistic processing and the innateness theory of speech perception. (AM)

The need for assessment of the extent to which second language immersion programs develop students who have a good command of both languages is described, and a method is proposed for measuring bilingualism. A report is made of an application of this unit of measurement. (RM)

Discusses the problems involved in making room for language variation realities in the teaching of French. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

A complete methodology, based on a linguistic analysis, is given for teaching French pronouns to migrant workers in France. (Text is in French.) (TL)

Considers some of the obvious causes of our nation's verbal crisis. Presents methods for treating symptoms at the college and secondary level and prescribes preventive measures at lower levels that will heighten verbal awareness, interest, and skills. (Author/RK)

Linguists in the Wisconsin Native American Language Project are giving written form to five tribal languages to prevent their being lost forever. (Editor)

The new language program at Loyola University of Chicago is interdisciplinary, with a linguist giving lectures relating a specific language to the study of language itself. Goals emphasize reading as a key to culture. Options include courses in linguistics, literature, or oral and written expression. (CHK)

Pattern practice must not be regarded as the only approach to language teaching, but it has a place therein. Those who oppose its use on scientific-theoretical grounds tend to ignore the actual form of present-day pattern practice. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers must keep several things in mind when preparing materials. Linguistics is still a major descipline to turn to for insights. Recent language research too is valuable. Teachers should be aware of the many good materials already in existence which can be adapted. (CFM)

In a response to the preceding article, this one overviews an alternative approach to the study of second language acquisition (SLA). The article attempts to clear a pathway into other disciplines whose premises and empirical findings may help SLA researchers to reconfigure theoretical and pedagogical concerns with language and learning. (22…

Considers whether the charge of linguistic imperialism can be appropriately leveled against the British government during its colonial rule of Hong Kong. The article analyzes the concept of linguistic imperialism, considers landmarks in the history of the English language in Hong Kong, and applies the concept of linguistic imperialism to the…

Conversational data from a native speaker of European Portuguese from the island of Faial were analyzed to determine segmental and prosodic contexts favoring unstressed vowel deletion. Factors such as rhythmic preservation, syllable structure, and functional load are discounted in the analysis, suggesting vowel deletion is essentially a word-based…

Notes that English coronal stop deletion is constrained by the preceding segment, so that stops and sibilants favor deletion more than liquids and nonsibilant fricatives. Suggests the existence of an attractive theoretical integration of categorical and variable processes in the grammar to account for the constraint. (26 references) (Author/CK)