Defines the concepts underlying the semiotics of written texts and emphasizes the distinction between literary production (discourse) and technical writing (message), the former stressing the poetic and expressive functions, the latter the referential function. Describes the language of "messages" as based on unambiguous terms that reflect the…

In light of U.S. District Court Judge Charles W. Joiner's recent order regarding the treatment of Black English in the Ann Arbor, Michigan schools, the author reviews the development of Black English as a dialect, some of its features, and the debate over its treatment in the classroom. (SJL)

This report concerns public bilingual elementary schools for rural Indian (non-Spanish-speaking) children in Mexico. Materials production efforts as well as completed and projected research projects are described. (SJL)

Discusses the linguist's role in an adult education program and the need to define adult functional literacy. Describes communication problems with the many dialects and language variations in a multilingual country like India and explains that the linguist must help the literacy worker to integrate language and literacy with adult education. (MF)

Discusses the problems of language policy and planning in terms of past history. Two principles most basic to language policy orientation are: (1) principle of personality (the state accommodates itself to the individual's language preference), and (2) principle of territoriality (the individual accommodates to the language of the state). (JMF)

In order to test the effects of listener errors on scores on an expressive language task, a group of 20 Black and 20 White college students viewed videotapes of eight first-grade boys and recorded in writing the boys' responses to 10 vocabulary items from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. (Author/PHR)

Much of the debate surrounding strategies of what is now regarded as "compensatory" language education is focused on whether is advisable, or possible, to attempt to alter the student's idiolect--the language he brings to school. Examines the effect of policies designed to superimpose the patterns of the standard dialect on non-standard speaking…

Argues that the influence of dialect on the language of West Indian children may be much stronger than has been assumed. (Editor/RK)

Debate over use of Ebonics (Black English dialect) as a language of instruction in public elementary/secondary schools is outlined, with attention given to the controversial decision of the Oakland (California) school district to adopt Ebonics to help improve student learning. The evolution and political history of Ebonics are chronicled, and…

Discusses the sociolinguistic order in the new South Africa, traces the implications of English dominance in this order, and reflects on the difficulty of assembling an accurate picture of the sociolinguistic order of a society in times of rapid social change. Particular focus is on the processes of restandardization of standard South African…

This study tested a theory of null subject pronoun variation, based on a model of discourse connectedness, on the oral and written Spanish narratives of northern California Mexican-descent pre-adolescents. Results indicate the children with greatest depth of ties to the United States are less likely to use overt pronouns than children born in…

Discusses the language problems in Roch Carrier's French Canadian short stories, as well as his concise, nostalgic writing style. The article gives examples of vocabulary in his characters' dialogue; reviews the evolvement of French in Quebec and the question of "joual," in particular; and focuses on expressions posing difficulty for…

Reviews the findings of L. Koch and A. Gross (1997) and suggests that the positive perceptions of black children toward Black English reflect the dominant linguistic standard within their peer groups. Retention of the Black English vernacular is advocated because it is an expressively rich form of communication. (SLD)

Imposition of English in Torres Strait and Cape York Peninsula (Australia) schools led to the development of Torres Strait Creole (TSC), now widely spoken. Common formal errors that TSC-speaking students make in written English are described and related to linguistic transfer. Cultural vocabulary, core cultural values reflected in TSC, and the…

Examines the nature of language diversity in the small, isolated community of Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, where a lone African American family has resided for over 130 years. (57 references) (Author/CK)