![]() ![]() At the same time, facts of practical experience (e. g., the organization of linguistic features in terms of verbal repertoires the role of social meaning as a determinant of acceptability and the “creative aspect of language use” the effects of personal identity, role, and setting as constraints on competence) point to severe limitations of present linguistic theory and stimulate efforts to overcome them. As to (2), note that findings about the organization of variation and the structure of speech acts-both are central to linguistic theory-contribute to the scientific basis that successful practice needs. As to (1), witness the current disarray with regard to arguments in syntax and semantics and to the place of semantics, intonation, and even phonology and lexicon in a model of grammar itself, as issues of empirical adequacy and validity are pressed against the dominant “intuitionist” approach-and as other, contextually oriented traditions of work are gradually reinvented or grudgingly rediscovered. But in the present state of sociolinguistics, I would maintain (1) that the scientific as well as the practical side of linguistics stands in need (2) that scientific and practical needs converge and (3) that steps taken during the past decade have brought us to the threshold of an integrated approach to linguistic description. Some of what is done under the rubric of sociolinguistics may be justified only in the sense that something is better than nothing, when need is great. If relevance to social problems were not recognized, sociolinguistic research would still be needed for the sake of an adequate theory of language. However, there are scientific as well as practical needs. The energetic activity in sociolinguistics is nourished in important part by the obvious relevance of much of its subject matter, joining other academic fields in which concern for education, children, ethnic relations, and governmental policies find expression. We are all familiar with the gap that can exist between public concerns and the competence of scientists. In one fundamental regard, I think, simply to a threshold. Where do we stand? How far have we progressed? In some ways, very far. The present meeting is in a way a culmination of the decade’s activity. There have been general symposia symposia on major topics notable major research efforts the launching of series of working papers books of readings, increasingly specific to the field textbooks even a series of collected papers of middle-aged men who find themselves senior scholars and journals. The subsequent decade has seen a great deal of activity. is frequently considered a 'luxury,' a subject taught to college-bound students, more frequently in affluent than poor school districts, and readily cut when math or reading test scores drop or budget cuts loom.The term “sociolinguistics” began to gain currency about ten years ago. governments expect their citizens to become fluent in at least two languages plus their native tongue. "I believe the main reason for this disparity is that foreign languages are treated by our public education system as less important than math, science, and English. ![]() Yet, despite these calls for action, we have fallen further behind the rest of the world in preparing our students to communicate effectively in languages other than English. policymakers, business leaders, educators, and research organizations have decried our students’ lack of foreign language skills and called for better language instruction. ![]() According to language research consultant Ingrid Pufahl, "For decades, U.S. One must conclude that, far from being exceptional, as many lay people believe, bilingualism/multilingualism-which, of course, goes hand in hand with multiculturalism in many cases-is currently the rule throughout the world and will become increasingly so in the future."įoreign Language Instruction in the U.S. Considering only bilingualism involving English, the statistics that Crystal has gathered indicate that, of the approximately 570 million people worldwide who speak English, over 41 percent or 235 million are bilingual in English and some other language. In fact, David Crystal (1997) estimates that two-thirds of the world's children grow up in a bilingual environment. To begin with, the world's estimated 5,000 languages are spoken in the world's 200 sovereign states (or 25 languages per state), so that communication among the citizens of many of the world's countries clearly requires extensive bi- (if not multi-)lingualism. ![]() According to "The Handbook of Bilingualism," "Bilingualism-more generally, multilingualism-is a major fact of life in the world today. ![]()
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