There are some environmental influences, which are unique to our time. We are starting to see the world as interconnected, interdependent and global. Because of this new worldview, we must begin to reconsider and redefine some communication practices. It is important to be aware of and study differences in culture and communication practices. One of these theoretical assumptions that allows us to examine and understand different communicative practices within social groups is the concept of linguistic community. According to Julia Wood (1997), speech communities are distinct social groups whose members use language in specific ways to achieve shared goals. Distinct groups that have their own language, unique cultural practices, and geographic boundaries such as Koreans, Norwegians, Mexicans, etc. they are examples of linguistic communities. There are also speech communities that do not use a distinctive language or live in a specific geographic region, but they are more difficult to identify. The concept of speech community is important for research because it helps us understand how culture and environment influence communication. While the general description of the speech community may be easy to understand, the identification of specific speech communities is difficult because the concept has not been well studied. in more recent years. Further research specifically in sociolinguistics or communication is needed to understand this concept in light of current environmental influences. Most of the speech community research was undertaken in the 1970s. Since linguistic communities exist, we must be able to recognize them in order to manipulate our communication practices to maximize communication...... middle of paper ......l Association web page. (1998). [Online]. Available: http://www.nha.org/offer.htmNational Home Education Research Institute web page. (1998). [Online] Available: http://wwww.nheri.org/body.htmlPhilipsen, Gerry. (1975, February). Talking “like a man” in Teamsterville: Cultural patterns of role enactment in an urban neighborhood. Journal of Speech Quarterly, 61, 13-22.Shafer, Carolyn R. and Anundsen, Kristen. (1993). Building community everywhere: Finding support and connection in a fragmented world. New York: The Sons of G. P. Putnam. Sharp, David. (1997, March 14-16). Your children's education is at stake. Weekend in the US, 4-6. Wood, Julia. (1997). Communication theories in action: an introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.Worth, Fred. (1997). Socialization problems [Online]. Available: http://www.hsu.edu/faculty/worth/social.html