The relevance of psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics to language instruction is discussed. English as a second language has traditionally been ignored by English departments, and second language teaching in general has received little attention in language departments because of the emphasis on literary studies. ESL and EFL have emerged under the aegis of linguists interested in language acquisition, and have traditionally been directed at foreign students, while neglecting segments of the American population that are proficient in other languages or are in need of instruction in English as a second dialect. Psycholinguistics has contributed to alter this situation by attempting to understand the learning process. Sociolinguistic studies have contributed by: (1) examining what elements of culture and what cultural patterns are necessary to facilitate the communication process between different cultural groups, (2) defining the study and the awareness of the language teaching process, and (3) studying motivation and language attitudes. (CLK)