Whaddayaknow?: The modes of folk linguistic awarenessFootnote¹

I use ‘awareness’ here in a sense not usually applied in this publication. Language Awareness has most often promoted the understanding of what linguists (and others) have discovered about language and what those findings have to say to teachers, lawyers, doctors, and other non‐linguists, a goal I heartily endorse. I mean, by ‘awareness’, the ‘degree’ of consciousness non‐linguists have in general about language, and I relate this to the broader field of study recognised (at least for those most overtly known pieces of linguistic information) as ‘folk linguistics’. In short, I assume it is important not only to know what language is and how people use it but also what they think about it.

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• I use ‘awareness’ here in a sense not usually applied in this publication. Language Awareness has most often promoted the understanding of what linguists (and others) have discovered about language and what those findings have to say to teachers, lawyers, doctors, and other non‐linguists, a goal I heartily endorse. I mean, by ‘awareness’, the ‘degree’ of consciousness non‐linguists have in general about language, and I relate this to the broader field of study recognised (at least for those most overtly known pieces of linguistic information) as ‘folk linguistics’. In short, I assume it is important not only to know what language is and how people use it but also what they think about it.
   Google Scholar