The following are included in this collection of essays on patterns of rules of speaking, and sociolinguistics and second language learning and teaching: "How to Tell When Someone Is Saying 'No' Revisited" (Joan Rubin); "Apology: A Speech-Act Set" (Elite Olshtain and Andrew Cohen); "Interpreting and Performing Speech Acts in a Second Language: A Cross-Cultural Study of Hebrew and English" (Shoshana Blum-Kulka); "Dentist-Patient Communication: Communicating Complaint" (Christopher Candlin, Hywel Coleman, and Jill Burton); "An Empirically Based Analysis of Complimenting in American English" (Nessa Wolfson); "Compliments: A Mirror of Cultural Values" (Joan Manes); "An Analysis of the Surface Structure of Disapproval Exchanges" (Lynne D'Amico-Reisner); "How to Arrange for Social Commitments in American English: The Invitation" (Nessa Wolfson, Lynne D'Amico-Reisner, and Lisa Huber); "Interaction, Acculturation, and the Acquisition of Communicative Competence: A Case Study of an Adult" (Richard Schmidt); "Developmental Trends in the Acquisition of Conversational Competence by Adult Second Language Learners" (Robin Scarcella); "'Foreigner Talk' in University Office-Hour Appointments" (Cristin Carpenter); "Accommodation Theory: An Explanation for Style Shifting in Second Language Dialects" (Leslie Beebe and Jane Zuengler); "Rocky Horror Picture Show: A Speech Event in Three Acts" (Richard Day); "The Article in American English: What the Textbooks Don't Tell Us" (Teresa Pica); "The Problem of Applying Sociolinguistic Findings to TESOL: The Case of Male/Female Language" (Elliot Judd); and "Communicative Needs in Foreign Language Learning" (Jack Richards). (MSE)