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This study examines young speakers' language use in the bidialectal context of Cyprus. It focuses on children's language use of their two language varieties, namely Standard Modern Greek and Cypriot Greek, and how they are being socialised to use these two varieties in the classroom environment and at home. The data collected from kindergarten formal education and the home environment via observations and voice recordings suggest that children socialise in their activities by making use of both varieties and their decisive factor in terms of favouring one more than the other is not merely space (class versus home) but also the topics involved in the interaction and the values attached to these which seem to be expressed via habitual linguistic practices.

The complex notion of the public/private distinction of social spheres has not been systematically investigated in sociolinguistics; particularly in the case of bidialectal kindergarten age children and how they construct their social lives around this distinction in a public environment such as that of school. No simple continuum can clearly illustrate the distinction between public and private since the dividing line between the two is discursively renegotiated and recreated. Hence, the distinction between the two is normally characterised by fluidity rather than stability. This is the case in educational settings where it is firmly institutionalised. In this study, the public/private distinction is analysed as a communicative phenomenon in kindergarten children's linguistic practices in two varieties. The data illustrate that young children separate their social spheres into "public" and "private" by skilfully employing linguistic variation. That said, the distinction children make between the two spheres is not always predictable, not only due to the instability in the boundaries that separate one sphere from the other but also due to differences in speakers' linguistic ideologies regarding the use of specific varieties in certain communicative practices.

This study investigates the complex interplay between national and local objectives of formal education in the bidialectal context of Cyprus. Even though the state and the Ministry of Education and Culture urge teachers to employ the standard language variety in education, the dialect is often used as a medium of interaction and even instruction during class time. Specifically, this study examines in which communicative interactions in the classroom language becomes a salient feature of the interaction and whether patterns arise as regards the factors that influence teachers' and learners' selection of one or the other language variety. Data collected from kindergarten, primary, and secondary education via class observations suggest that teachers' differing language practices are largely influenced by the subject area they teach and more often than not inconsistencies arise in connection with the state's national objectives of formal education and the school's or teacher's local objectives in the classroom. (Contains 4 footnotes.)

This study compares teachers' language use and covert language attitudes in primary and secondary state education in Cyprus. The Ministry of Education and Culture encourages the systematic use of Standard Modern Greek in the formal learning environment of the classroom. Yet, our class observations and teacher interviews demonstrate that the Greek Cypriot Dialect cannot be absolutely eliminated from teachers' language practices. The findings surfacing from the study illustrate a complex and multidimensional conflict between the two language varieties, where the dialect is used vis-a-vis the standard to different extents depending on the occasion of communication in the classroom, teacher's dialect and their covert language attitudes. Despite their differing language attitudes and language use, teachers in primary and secondary school settings commonly employ various correction techniques to promote use of more acrolectal variants in "standard-dominated" occasions. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

This study investigates language use and language attitudes in state kindergarten education in Cyprus. Kindergarten education is the primary setting where Greek-Cypriots learn to employ the standard variety on a systematic basis. Consequently, the context of kindergarten education is a principal setting for examining language attitudes and language variation. Specifically, this study examines whether teachers' ambiguities regarding language use exist in kindergarten education as in other levels of formal education and whether at the age of kindergarten education children's language attitudes towards the standard and non-standard varieties begin to develop. The data gathered via class observations and teacher interviews suggest that teacher ambiguities do seem to exist in relation to the use of the two varieties in the classroom and children do distinguish between the two language varieties, as they employ these on different speaking occasions in the classroom with their peers and teachers. (Contains 5 notes.)

This study examines language attitudes, member categorisation and social distinctions among Greek-Cypriot tertiary education students in Cyprus. Specifically, focus is placed on the use of deictics by participants to examine attitudes and behaviour as regards use and variation in language. Participants' attitudinal responses and folk theories are a central part of understanding identity construction and membership categorisation. Data were collected from three focus group interviews in tertiary education to examine language attitudes towards speakers of four broad register levels of the Greek-Cypriot Dialect, to investigate which registers receive the least favourable evaluations and where differentiation becomes an important aspect of evaluators' group membership, and to explore which factors seem to impact on language comparisons. The results of the study illustrate that students are well aware of their social positioning in society and of the effects of employing less prestigious linguistic variables. (Contains 6 notes.)

This study investigates code-switching and identity construction in the bidialectal context of Cyprus. The significance of this study lies in pinpointing the fact that the relationship between Greek-Cypriots' two main varieties is a multifaceted one that deserves more attention, especially because apart from standard-dialect switching, dialect shifting is also employed to discursively express alignment or non-alignment. Specifically, this study examines code-switching from a sociolinguistic perspective to explore how individual speakers use code-switching to project their personal identity in moment to moment interaction. Furthermore, code-switching is also examined in relation to audience change and social identity. Data gathered via observations, note taking and voice recordings suggest that close analysis of speakers' switching patterns can contribute to our under-standing of why and how people code-switch. The main findings emergingfrom this paper illustrate that code-switching is used to 'voice' the 'other', express power or solidarity, or even transmita 'hidden' message to ingroup members during interaction. Codeswitching is an interactional practice and can be used in multiple ways depending on the factors being salient in a specific moment in interaction. Consequently, the analysis and understanding of speakers' code-switching practices should be approached in discursive social action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]