Research supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation.

Research in a Puerto Rican community in New York City was undertaken to explore the language climate in that community, which included the linguistic forms in use, their distribution and functions in daily life, community members' attitudes toward language, and the way in which language phenomena are influenced by various social factors. An…

English is spreading throughout the world far more rapidly than any other language; however, the level of sentimental attachment or genuine liking for English falls far short of the level of necessity-based desire to learn it. There is a possibility that the spread of English is decreasing: given some rapid economic or military change around the…

This study of a group of American teenagers living in Mexico uses a series of questionnaires to measure their degree of bilingualism (in English and Spanish) and biculturalism (in American and Mexican culture). The main hypotheses of this investigation were: (1) after five or more years in Mexico, the teenage subjects will be at least functionally…

The following essays on communication are presented: communication as a condition of survival, communication for special purposes, the means of transmission of communication, communication within social and economic structures, the teaching of communication through the press, the teaching of modern languages, communication as a point of departure,…

An outline of the implications for the Louisiana bilingual program of the Quebec-Louisiana Agreement on Cultural Cooperation is presented. In December 1967, a submission was addressed to the State Superintendent and also to the Special Legislative Committee, proposing a partial revival of the use of French as a language of instruction in…

This presidential address sketches the development of the Linguistic Society of America since 1924, indicates the motives for its formation, and surveys its progress, status, and impact in the field of linguistics, both in the lay and scholarly spheres. The organization's role in the study of foreign languages, English, and English as a second…

This paper deals with the cultural attitudes which one either learns or inherits as a speaker of English. It is a discussion of the attitudes observed as a student of English, in the use of English as an international and auxiliary language, and in the teaching of English as a second language. As English becomes an international language,…

In behavioral science research, language has been increasingly seen to reflect the concepts that the child has acquired prior to, and hence independent of, the acquisition of language. Analyses based on this idea are confined largely to words that denote clear perceptual referents. Language, however, contains many terms that have no portrayable…

To investigate the linguistic knowledge of Minnesota English teachers, a 100-item questionnaire based on nine basic language concepts was given to 647 elementary and 786 secondary teachers. The concepts were that language is (1) symbolic, (2) highly personal and social, (3) crucial to man's humanity, (4) dynamic, (5) learned, (6) oral, (7) used…

Two problems which the language arts teacher encounters are the effect of science on language teaching and the nation's commitment to "excellence for all" as measured by objective examination. Scientists, who value exactness, objectivity, and control, have imposed their values on language and have attempted to construct machines that will use and…

The purpose of this study was to establish score equivalencies between the College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and its Spanish-language equivalent, the College Board Prueba de Aptitud Academica (PAA). The method of the study involved two phases: the selection of test items equally appropriate for Spanish- and English-speaking students for…

The Cross-Cultural Attitude Inventory provides a means for measuring the degree of positive or negative feeling which Mexican-American and Angle students (ages 3 to 18) have for the two cultures. Present test validity is based on face validity and the rationale behind the item selection and construction procedures. The inventory also provides a…

This paper discusses the historical conditions and socio-political factors affecting the development of Japanese language schools in Hawaii. It traces the development of these schools from the time they were established to prepare Japanese children for their eventual return to Japan through years of legal battles and disfavor to the present, when…

This paper discusses some past and present interdisciplinary approaches to foreign language and literature (FLL) studies. It is argued that the current unpopularity of FLL studies in the United States is the consequence of falling away from viable traditions of scholarship and teaching in this area. A model for reform which reawaken interest in…