The present paper discusses some linguistic correlates of early bilingualism, correlates which have implications for first cognitions about language. The paper also touches on the question of what linguistic environments are optimal for the very young child to acquire two languages fluently, testing the importance of a one-speaker/one-language…

This book discusses some of the functions, ends, or goals that language serves in religion; the various kinds of linguistic resources that are exploited; and some of the social processes that characterize the use of language. In section one, "Performance," three approaches to the description of verbal behavior are contrasted. This…

The Gender Antonym Replacement Technique is a computer assisted aid to determine whether a written statement about the condition of one sex does in fact speak to problems encountered principally by that sex, rather than to problems common to both sexes. The technique involves deleting gender-related terms in a passage, substituting an antonym for…

When children begin formal schooling, their fundamental communication skills, speaking and listening, are well developed but limited in scope and range; it becomes the teacher's task to assist the children in achieving communicative competence. A developmental project called "Developing Communicative Competence in Children" identifies four…

Prison language, primarily the lexicon, at the Women's Correctional Center (WCC) in Columbia, South Carolina is described. This center is considered here as a speech community and a subculture. Inmates have developed speech habits and vocabulary which indicate the social structure of the prison and inmate values. They coin or metaphorically extend…

Because the style and language of the black folk tradition have contributed significantly to the development of the English language, an analysis of black persuasive techniques and black communication systems can enhance the teaching of composition, rhetoric, and literature for both black and white students. Some of the persuasive techniques of…

The dangers and misuses of literary dialect as a source of information for linguistic evaluation are analyzed. "Literary dialect" is used to refer to writing in which the main purpose is the artful construction of a narrative, where the dialect representation is apt to be concerned more with giving an artful impression of a dialect than…

The nine modules presented in this paper are designed to guide students in a one-semester Shakespeare Course through the reading of three Shakespearean tragedies ("Hamlet,""Othello," and "Macbeth"), three comedies ("Midsummer Night's Dream,""Merchant of Venice," and "The Tempest"), and…

This is the third of a series of three volumes containing papers from a bilingual symposium held in 1975. Presentations and discussion at the symposium dealt primarily with suggestions for research which linguists should undertake to assist bilingual programs. This volume contains the following papers: "Sociolinguistics: Contributions to Bilingual…

The variety of language produced in school was examined with regard to the functions for which children use language and to elements of the context, emphasizing activities in which children engage and the expectations held by teachers and children. Language data was gathered from twelve children who wore a concealed, wireless recorder and were…

This study was conducted to provide descriptive, comparative, quantitative, and statistical information on the syntactic characteristics of two English registers: (1) formal and informal discussion and (2) administrative correspondence. In chapters 1 and 2 the background and purpose of the study are discussed. The composition of the major spoken…

The dialect of English as spoken by native Puerto Rican Spanish speakers is estensively influenced by interference from the speakers' native language. Since exposure to a language affects one's ability to use it, the speaker's position might affect his access to English and/or his willingness to speak it, and, therefore, his proficiency in it. It…

Question-answer interactions were chosen as an effective means of investigating the effect of the linguistic environment on language development. Research was reviewed indicating that the improvement in question and answer performance of a maturing child is based on the advancement of both his linguistic and cognitive abilities and that the adult…

It is not sufficient for students in foreign language classes to simply internalize the sound system and grammatical structure of the target language or to memorize the vocabulary. Speaking is not merely a linguistic event, but rather involves an extensive system of norms for the social interaction. The relationship between speaking and social…

The meaning of a word often cannot be formulated by conscious rules, because it is unconscious. Evidence on the verb "break" demonstrates this. The consequence for teaching is that teachers cannot supply meanings in words, but should present a wide range of uses of a word, so that students can intuit the unconscious generalization. (Author)