The five papers included in this book are all concerned with exploring a functional approach to language study. "Relevant Models of Language" suggests a functional interpretation of the child's early language development; "The Functional Basis of Language" related the child's language developmental functions to a functional theory of the adult language; "Language in a Social Perspective" presents an interpretation of language function in socially significant contexts; "Towards a Sociological Semantics" formulates some general principles in which meaning is related both to the internal structure of language and to the social contexts in which language operates; and "Linguistic Function and Literary Style" applies linguistic theories to the study of literature using William Golding's novel, "The Inheritors." (JM)