CREOLE AND DIALECT CONTINUA; Editorial page; Title page; Copyright page; Acknowledgments; Table of contents; Chapter 1. Introduction: Developmental Continua; Abstract; 1. General issues in linguistic change; 2. Aspects of acquisitional studies; 2.1 Universalist explanations of acquisition; 2.2 The acquisition of second dialects; 2.3 Social attitudes and language/dialect acquisition; 2.4 Linguistic bias; 3. The linguistic analysis of nonstandard dialects; 3.1 Labovian sociolinguistics; 3.2 Language in oral discourse and pragmatics; 3.3 Theoretical framework for oral discourse
Summary
Although there is a substantial amount of linguistic research on standard language acquisition, little attention has been given to the mechanisms underlying second dialect acquisition. Using a combination of function-based grammar and sociolinguistic methodology to analyze topic marking strategies, the unguided acquisition of a standard by speakers of nonstandard varieties is examined in two distinct linguistic and geographical situations: in a Caribbean creole situation (Belize), with special attention to the acquisition of acrolects by native speakers of basilects, and in a noncreole situati
