ABSTRACT
One of the most important movements in behavioural science since the war is the convergence of interest upon the study of basic pro cesses of communication and their regulative functions. The one discipline which appears so far least affected is sociology. However, from different quarters there are now signs of growing interest (Grimshaw, 1972; Fishman, 1966; Cicourel, 1964; Garfinkel, 1967; Hymes, 1966). The study of the educationally disadvantaged has also led to a concentration of research into the process of language acquisition, into the relationships between language and cognition and into the social antecedents and regulative consequences of forms of language use.
