Three linguistic theories (the creolist, the transformationalist, and the ethnolinguistic) of the origin and historical development of Ebonics in America are examined. (Author/MC)

Provides a survey of the linguistic, social, and educational situation created along the Swiss language frontier by the interaction between French speaking and German dialect speaking groups. Reports research data gathered on senior secondary students on the language frontier. Explains the "territorial principle" governing language use…

Interindividual and intragroup code-switching between the local and urban dialects is related to the degree of interplay among sociocultural factors of status, integrity and self-esteem present in the speech situation. In formal meetings, code-switching is governed by these factors with speakers manipulating the parameters of status while…

Suggests a holistic approach to the language of Black people involving theory and research, policy and planning, and implementation and practice, the ultimate aim of which is knowledge for liberation. (DD)

Discusses research about how Newfoundland dialect interferes with reading and spelling instruction and how teachers' attitudes toward dialect affect student language learning. (RL)

Proposes the study of Gullah as a means of discovering the African roots of Black English. (AM)

Outlines the history of the use of English in the Philippines. Discusses the Filipinos' reception of English and impact of English on current language policy in the Philippines. (JMF)

Analyzes a variety of French labeled "immigrant speech" by Nemser. Examines the method by which each immigrant worker learns this transitory dialect in order to define the requirements for teaching standard French to these workers. (Text is in French.) (TL)

Surveys the literature dealing with languages in Latin America and the Caribbean, and also outlines the efforts made by several countries of the region to study native languages, construct linguistic atlases and establish language standards. (CHK)

This paper analyzes a selected bibliography on the Chinese dialect literature. It discussed the role dialects have played in development of Chinese language reform; the form in which major dialects are written; subject matter written about, and statistical correlation between dialects, subject matter and forms of writing. (CHK)

Argues that definition of African American vernacular English is essential for linguists and for nonlinguists who define the language based on their personal relationships to the sociocultural matrix in which it is embedded. There is a need to resolve conflicts about the use of black English in the face of the complexity of responses toward it.…

Summarizes the Ann Arbor "Black English" court case, focusing on teacher attitudes, knowledge, and practice. Argues that three distinct constructs of teacher knowledge are evident in writing studies today. Concludes that pedagogical theory in composition needs to more adequately address questions of language diversity and race to affect…

The study discusses the position of the protolanguage in the hierarchy formed by idiolect, dialect, and diasystem. The article emphasizes that linguistic study contains a great many diachronic events and hypothesized synchronic features that are implausible, yet possible. (30 references) (CK)

Focuses on factors governing the choice of relative markers in restrictive relative clauses with relativized subjects from the 16th century to the present, using spoken and written data and including non-standard and regional varieties. The study addresses claims by Romaine (1982) that the "wh"-strategy has not affected spoken English,…