Cape Barren English is clearly the most aberrant dialect of English spoken in Australia. Descended from English sealers, whalers and ex-convicts and their Aboriginal wives, the inhabitants of Cape Barren Island, Tasmania, have lived in relative isolation for the last 150 years or more. Their dialect is not a creolized pidgin; it has a number of…

This paper deals with the counterexamples to the general principles that: (1) a sentence as utterance has only one illocutionary force, in the sense of J.L. Austin; and (2) performative verbs do not normally retain illocutionary force in embedded contexts. Various tests for illocutionary force are applied, such as substitution of another speech…

This paper examines language variation in terms of overdetermination and underdetermination of structural information as related to grammatical rules and the structure of social behavior. (CLK)

The so-called "threshold level," defined as minimum basic vocabulary, is analyzed. It is felt that the "Lexicon for Threshold-Level English" contains too many rare words and exemplary sentences that are empty of expression and sometimes unidiomatic. (Text is in German.) (IFS/MS)

Functional and linguistic aspects of the speech of Dutch-speaking mothers from three social classes to their two-year-old children were studied to test the hypothesis that simplified speech is crucial to language acquisition. Available from Plenum Publishing Corp., 227 W. 17th St., New York, NY 10011. (Author/RM)

Discusses the many uses of the honorific title of "Don" in Spanish literature and Spanish colloquial speech. It may be used to joke and express irony, as in the expression "don ladron" (sir thief), and forms part of many idiomatic expressions. (Text is in Spanish.) (TL)

Pronominal usage in spoken Bangkok Thai is described from a sociolinguistic point of view. Two phonological variants are indicated: one when a variant occurs in isolation and the other in natural speech. These two types of phonological variation generally are marked by different tones. (Author/RM)

Surveys the language problems encountered by teachers and students when the vehicle of instruction is not their native tongue and groups these according to five ad hoc headings. Outlines five parameters which offer a solution to the language problems. (GS)

Explains and discusses James Britton's model of the uses of language, tracing both its theoretical foundation and its usefulness to teachers in the schools. (AA)

Demonstrates the operation of the universal principles of lexical simplification, through an examination of its use in translation; second language learning and teaching, and simplified reading texts. (Author/AM)

Discusses grading problems encountered in southern dialect writers' themes and makes a distinction between regulative and constitutive rules. (MKM)

Discusses words in statistical theory and practice with emphasis on the reality that words get short shrift in most statistical teaching and exposition. Uses common misuse of statistical words as example. (Author/RK)

The process of value clarification may be defined in terms of specific patterns of language which students use and from which the teacher may reasonably infer that valuing is occurring. Provides an introduction on how one may incorporate a wide variety of media into valuing activities consistent with this approach to value clarification.…

A series of referential description tasks performed by normal and educationally subnormal children of equivalent mental age is reported, with the subnormal subjects consistently performing much worse than much younger children of normal intelligence. Aspects of performance and suggestions for improving communication skills are discussed. (MF)