Teaching Secondary English with ICT: n/a (Learning & Teaching with ICT)
By Anthony Adams, Sue Brindley
* Publisher:Open University Press
* Number Of Pages:152
* Publication Date:2007-03-01
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0335214444
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780335214440
Product Description:
Today's classrooms are equipped with ICT (information and communications technology) tools, and teachers are expected to use them. With equal emphases on theory and practice, Teaching Secondary English with ICT helps you if you're unfamiliar with the latest classroom technologies to develop your own lesson plans employing the digital tools available to them.
Filled with case studies illustrating the ideas and strategies discussed, it explores all major areas of the English curriculum.
Essays in Speech Act Theory (Pragmatics & Beyond New Series)
By Daniel Vanderveken, Susumu Kubo, Daniel Vanderkeven
* Publisher:John Benjamins Publishing Co
* Number Of Pages:330
* Publication Date:2001-06
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:9027250936
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9789027250933
Product Description:
This comprehensive work provides numerous essays by specialists in the field on speech act theory. Topics include: verbal mood and sentence mood in the tradition of universal grammar; utterance acts and speech acts; illocutionary morphology and speech acts; and speech acts and relevance theory.
Barriers (Linguistic Inquiry Monographs)
By Noam Chomsky
* Publisher:The MIT Press
* Number Of Pages:92
* Publication Date:1986-05-22
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0262530678
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780262530675
Product Description:
This monograph explores several complex questions concerning the theories of government and bounding, including, in particular, the possibility of a unified approach to these topics. Starting with the intuitive idea that certain categories in certain configurations are barriers to government and movement, it considers whether the same categories are barriers in the two instances or whether one barrier suffices to block government (a stricter and "more local" relation) while more than one barrier inhibits movement, perhaps in a graded manner. Any proposal concerning the formulation of the concept of government has intricate consequences, and many of the empirical phenomena that appear to be relevant are still poorly understood. Similarly, judgments about the theory of movement also involve a number of different factors, including sensitivity to lexical choice. Therefore, Chomsky proceeds on the basis of speculations as to the proper idealization of complex phenomena - how they should be sorted into a variety of interacting systems (some of which remain quite obscure), which may tentatively be put aside to be explained by independent (sometimes unknown) factors, and which may be considered relevant to the subsystems under investigation. Barriers considers several possible paths through the maze of possibilities that arise. It sets the subtheory context (x-bar theory, theory of movement, and government) for determining what constitutes a barrier and explores two concepts of barrier - maximal projection and the minimality condition - and their manifestations in and implications for proper government, subjacency, island violations, vacuous movement, parasitic gaps, and A-chains. Noam Chomsky is Institute Professor of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT. Barriers is Linguistic Inquiry Monograph 13.
Summary: syntax will be seen in a constructional principle
Rating: 5
Thinking to develope the theoretical framework itself , is highly technical; but Chomsky presents this book as if you are reading a novel or great epic.
Early Communication Skills (Early Skills)
By Charlotte Lynch, Julia Kidd
* Publisher:Speechmark Publishing Ltd
* Number Of Pages:120
* Publication Date:1999-11-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0863882234
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780863882234
This work offers a practical resource for all professionals working with young children, containing educational and therapeutic ideas for use with pre-school children and their parents.
Summary: Early Communication Skills
Rating: 4
I needed the book for Diagnostic Methods of speech and Language Pathology so I purphased it for my class. I liked it and it is very helpful for me because it talks about activities and how to perform them for a child that is learning how to communicate. A very good read I think. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in how a child communicates whether it be one's own child or the simple interest in children's skills. This product contains important information and is easy to read and understand. The design is unique and fun to look at. Because it comes in a spiral book form, it makes it easy to read without having to hold the page down while learning a new activity.
Interdependence of Diachronic and Synchronic Analyses (Studies in Language Companion)
By Folke Josephson, Ingmar Sohrman
* Publisher:John Benjamins Publishing Co
* Number Of Pages:350
* Publication Date:2008-08-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:9027205701
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9789027205704
Diagnosing Foreign Language Proficiency: The Interface between Learning and Assessment
By J. Charles Alderson
* Publisher:Continuum
* Number Of Pages:284
* Publication Date:2005-11-30
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0826485030
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780826485038
Product Description:
This book addresses the need for tests that can diagnose the strengths and weaknesses in learners' developing foreign language proficiency. It presents the rationale for, and research surrounding, the development of DIALANG, a suite of Internet-delivered diagnostic foreign language tests funded by the European Commission. The word 'diagnosis' is common in discussions in language education and applied linguistics, but very few truly diagnostic tests exist. However, the diagnosis of foreign language proficiency is central to helping learners make progress. This volume explores the nature of diagnostic testing, emphasizing the need for a better understanding of the nature of appropriate diagnosis. Issues discussed include: how diagnostic testing might most appropriately be developed; why the field has neglected to construct diagnostic tests; how proficiency has been diagnosed in the key areas of language: reading, listening, writing, grammar and vocabulary; the value of self-assessment as a key component in developing learners', and teachers', awareness of the complexity of language learning. The book ends with a consideration of and recommendations for future developments in the diagnosis of foreign language proficiency.
On Grammar (Collected Works of Mak Halliday Series)
By M. A. K. Halliday, Jonathan J. Webster
* Publisher:Continuum
* Number Of Pages:320
* Publication Date:2002-08
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0826449441
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780826449443
Product Description:
This is the first volume in a series presenting the collected works of Professor M.A.K. Halliday. This volume contains 17 papers, including a new piece entitled "A Personal Perspective", in which Professor Halliday offers his own perspective on language and linguistic theory as covered in his collected works. The first part of the book presents early papers (1957-1966) on basic concepts such as category, structure, class, and rank. The second part highlights how over the span of two decades (mid-sixties to mid-eighties) Halliday developed systemic theory to account for linguistic phenomena extending upward through the ranks from word to clause to text. The third part includes more recent work in which Halliday discusses the issues confronting those who would study linguistics, or as Firth described it "language turned back on itself".
Teaching the Mother Tongue in a Multilingual Europe (Continuum Collection)
By Witold Tulasiewicz, Anthony Adams
* Publisher:Continuum
* Number Of Pages:230
* Publication Date:2005-07-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0826470270
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780826470270
Product Description:
At a time when the increasing cultural diversity and population mobility of the continent calls for good communication skills, this fascinating book features a wealth of data and critical opinion on the topic of mother tongue education. In the first part of the book, the two editors address central cultural, political and educational concerns relating to the mother tongue, using some of the findings of their European Commission funded research on the changing European classroom. The second part presents case study articles by practitioners from nine countries, which have significant regional or immigrant mother tongue populations. These include Welsh in Wales, Catalan and Galician in Spain, Turkish and Greek in Germany, Arabic and Corsican in France, and Belorussian in Poland, as well as critical accounts of the main first language situation in England, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, post-Soviet Russia, and Spain. The concluding part of the book looks at language awareness as a possible approach to linguistic diversity. It examines the preparation of teachers at all levels, as experienced by the editors through their involvement in an in international language study group based in Calgary, Cambridge, Mainz and Bialystock.
Perspectives on Dialogue in the New Millennium (Pragmatics & Beyond New Series)
By Hannes Rieser, Peter Kuhnlein, Henk Zeevat
* Publisher:John Benjamins Publishing Co
* Number Of Pages:392
* Publication Date:2003-10-30
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:9027253560
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9789027253569
Representing Time in Natural Language: The Dynamic Interpretation of Tense and Aspect
By G. B. Alice ter Meulen
* Publisher:The MIT Press
* Number Of Pages:156
* Publication Date:1995-05-04
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0262200996
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780262200998
Product Description:
Alice ter Meulen integrates current research in natural language semantics, with detailed analyses of English discourse, and logical tools from a variety of sources into an information theory that provides the foundation for computational systems to reason about change and the flow of time. The topic of temporal meaning in texts has received considerable attention in recent years from scholars in linguistics, logical semantics, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence. Representing Time in Natural Language offers a systematic and detailed account of how we use temporal information contained in a text or in discourse to reason about the flow of time, inferring the order in which events happened when this is not explicitly stated. A new representational toolkit is designed to formalize an appropriately context-dependent notion of situated inference. Dynamic Aspect Trees representing temporal dependencies constitute a novel and important dynamic temporal logic that makes it easy to see what follows when from the information given in an ordinary English text. Ter Meulen makes use of some of the fundamental assumptions of Situation Semantics and incorporates the dynamic methodology embodied in Discourse Representation Theory and in other dynamic logics into her temporal logic. The result is a computational inference system that can be applied across the board to fragments of natural languages.
Family Words: The Dictionary for People Who Don't Know a Frone from a Brinkle
By Paul Dickson
* Publisher:Broadcast Interview Source
* Number Of Pages:184
* Publication Date:1998-11
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0934333378
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780934333375
Product Description:
A Dictionary of Wacky Family Lingo for Wordos Everywhere
Summary: A fabulous, funny word book!
Rating: 5
Would you like a book that will inspire witty discussions around the dinner table? Some great conversations around the water cooler? Even a fun topic for a party! Family Words book brings back warm memories as I recall words that only OUR family would ever know what they could possibly mean. I think the highest form of praise for an author to give is this: I wish I had written this book!
I'm still laughing over "Burtie" (page 29) and doesn't everyone have a version of Clu Clu? (an imaginary scapegoat who gets blamed for not-so-commendable activities)
I can't imagine a better gift for yourself or for a friend or family member.
Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff
Summary: Highly Entertaining...A Great Stocking Stuffer, too!
Rating: 5
Everyone has at least a few little "family-isms" unique to their brood. Now readers can get an A to Z peek into the entertaining world of "family speak" thanks to Paul Dixon's Family Words: A Dictionary of the Secret Language of Families. From "Applaudience" (an audience that comes to applaud; specifically those composed of parents and grandparents at children's recitals) to "Zib" (the sound of an acetate tab being pulled from the tape on a disposable diaper), you'll discover funny, touching, useful words you might even start using in your family dialogue.
A GREAT, inexpensive gift for the upcoming holiday season!
Summary: TERRIFIC
Rating: 5
Although I've suspected that I might be wrong, I've always thought that my family was the only household that had its own lexicon of words and phrases to describe and refer to things both ordinary and unusual. Fearing that others might think that my folks and I were even more odd than we outwardly appeared to be, I kept it all to myself for a long time. But then along came "Family Words" by Paul Dickson.
Now I realize that there is a fascinating and funny world of "inside jargon" common to many people, and Mr. Dickson has tapped into it with his usual wit and intelligence.
Whether you come from a family like mine - where "family words" were almost a second language - or if you grew up sticking strictly to the "King's English" (or something at least reasonably close to it), this is a book that you can't help but enjoy, and I recommend it to anyone who is the least bit curious about this "secret garden" of language, or anyone with a sense of humor.
Summary: An Enjoyable Read for Family Members of All Ages
Rating: 5
"Family Words: The Dictionary of the Secret Language of Families" is a delightful book that will amuse family members of all ages. Many of the entries will inspire readers to say, "But in our family, we called them ..." Some of the words are appropriate only within an individual family context, such as the Minnesota family members who referred to their grandmother as "99," because 99 percent of the time when the phone rang, it was her. But others could be useful to anyone, such as the family who uses the term "yesternight" for the evening portion of yesterday. One can tell from the tone and style of the book that the author truly loves language, which is one of the reasons this book is such an enjoyable read.
Summary: Like a window into family life
Rating: 5
These words are fascinating! Reading the book is like being a fly on the wall in the kitchen of a fun, creative family. I already use a couple of them -- mudwaffles, which are the little chunks of mud that fall off kids' boots, and ootocks, a quicker way to say "shoes and socks." The stories behind many of the words are funny, too.
Culture, Body, and Language: Conceptualizations of Internal Body Organs across Cultures and Languages (Applications of Cognitive Linguistics)
By Sharifian, Farzad
* Publisher:Walter de Gruyter
* Number Of Pages:390
* Publication Date:2008-09-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:3110196220
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9783110196221
Product Description:
One of the central themes in cognitive linguistics is the uniquely human development of some higher potential called the ""mind"" and, more particularly, the intertwining of body and mind, which has come to be known as embodiment. Several books and volumes have explored this theme in length. However, the interaction between culture, body and language has not received the due attention that it deserves. Naturally, any serious exploration of the interface between body, language and culture would require an analytical tool that would capture the ways in which different cultural groups conceptualize their feelings, thinking, and other experiences in relation to body and language. A well-established notion that appears to be promising in this direction is that of cultural models, constituting the building blocks of a group's cultural cognition. The volume results from an attempt to bring together a group of scholars from various language backgrounds to make a collective attempt to explore the relationship between body, language and culture by focusing on conceptualizations of the heart and other internal body organs across a number of languages. The general aim of this venture is to explore (a) the ways in which internal body organs have been employed in different languages to conceptualize human experiences such as emotions and/or workings of the mind, and (b) the cultural models that appear to account for the observed similarities as well as differences of the various conceptualizations of internal body organs. The volume as a whole engages not only with linguistic analyses of terms that refer to internal body organs across different languages but also with the origin of the cultural models that are associated with internal body organs in different cultural systems, such as ethnomedical and religious traditions. Some contributions also discuss their findings in re
Table of contents
Acknowledgements v
List of Contributors ix
A. Introduction
Culture and language: Looking for the “mind” inside the body 3
Farzad Sharifian, René Dirven, Ning Yu, and Susanne Niemeier
B. Abdomen-centering conceptualizations
Gut feelings: Locating intellect, emotion and life force
in the Thaayorre body 27
Alice Gaby
Did he break your heart or your liver? A contrastive study
on metaphorical concepts from the source domain ORGAN
in English and in Indonesian 45
Poppy Siahaan
Contrastive semantics and cultural psychology: English heart
vs. Malay hati 75
Cliff Goddard
Guts, heart and liver: The conceptualization of internal organs
in Basque 103
Iraide Ibarretxe-Antu馻no
C. Holistic heart-centering conceptualizations
The Chinese heart as the central faculty of cognition 131
Ning Yu
viii Table of contents
The heart: What it means to the Japanese speakers 169
Yoshihiko Ikegami
How to have a HEART in Japanese 191
Debra J. Occhi
The Korean conceptualization of heart: An indigenous perspective 213
Kyung-Joo Yoon
D. Dualistic heart/head-centering conceptualizations
Conceptualizations of del ‘heart-stomach’ in Persian 247
Farzad Sharifian
Expressions concerning the ‘heart’ (libb
Curriculum Development in Language Teaching (Cambridge Language Education)
By Jack C. Richards
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:336
* Publication Date:2001-03-19
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521800609
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521800600
Product Description:
This text provides a systematic introduction to the issues involved in developing, managing, and evaluating effective second and foreign language programs and teaching materials. Key stages in the curriculum development process are examined, including situation analysis, needs analysis, goal-setting, syllabus design, materials development and adaptation, teaching and teacher-support, and evaluation. Taken into account are such factors as program content, program context, learner needs, teaching aims and objectives, and the selection of instructional materials. Practical task and discussion activities throughout the book enable it to be used both in in-service courses and as a reference text for coordinators, teachers, and program administrators.
Summary: Very comprehensive and handy to use!
Rating: 5
I think the book provides a systematic and practical guidance for language teachers, administrators as well as curriculum developers. It is very informative based on solid research, but at the same time provides useful tools like guidelines and checklists on various issues in the field of language teaching. I especially like the section on " Providing for Effective teaching" . I also enjoy the textbook " New Interchange" by the same author.
Summary: Good condition, quick delivery
Rating: 5
Normal good service from Amazon resellers who have good track histories. The book was in great condition, and came when I expected it.
Designing Language Courses: A Guide for Teachers
By Kathleen Graves
* Publisher:Heinle ELT
* Number Of Pages:308
* Publication Date:1999-07-06
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:083847909X
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780838479094
Product Description:
Designing Language Courses: A Guide for Teachers is a clear and comprehensive overview of course design. This text provides a practical guide to designing language courses by encouraging teachers to explore ways of planning and organizing content, and evaluating materials.
Summary: Nice book
Rating: 4
The explanation is very clear for a teacher to understand how a course is developed. Good for people who are going to teach a language.
Summary: Boring Cover.....Fantastic Book
Rating: 5
I am not sure why English language teaching books have a penchant for boring cover designs, but sometimes they really live up to the old adage of never judging books by their covers. Kathleen Graves' "Designing Language Courses" is a case in point.
The book has a clear organisation that is easily followed and takes you through a process that is clear and succinct. With a description of the framework Graves uses at the start, the rest of the book forms a logical and consistent whole with it. The chapters take you right through the whole gamut of course design from getting to your beliefs about teaching right up to evaluation. Each section is detailed, though not so much that it overloads you with it.
Any unusual or specific terminology is explained throughout and there is a lot of reference to other authors and research. The book has a thorough approach to the subject, giving recommended reading suggestions at the end of each chapter.
A real positive in this book is the use of sections Graves calls "Teachers' Voices". These are little sections within the chapters, (well, some are not so "little"), where working teachers give their experiences and thoughts on the aspect of course design at hand. These teachers come from a variety of professional and working backgrounds, and they provide rich input and insight. I found these to be especially valuable.
One previous reviewer said they found it an unfriendly book for the user, and I have to disagree. I thought it was an immensely useful and easy to access book. I loved it and found it very interesting and very useful. I would even go so far as to say that anyone looking at course design should look at this book. Graves has done an excellent job.
Summary: Designing Language Courses
Rating: 4
I bought this book as a requirement for my Masters Program...TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) and I was expecting to find another uninteresting textbook. The book was great! This book is truly designed with the teacher in mind. The information was clear, easy to understand, and helpful. The book stresses the importance of how teachers need to take a students' needs into consideration in order to get the most out of your curriculum! If you are a student in a teacher preparation program...don't throw, give, or sell this book. It would be wise to keep this in your reference library!
Summary: Good book and delivery
Rating: 5
Easy to read and arrived as promised. One could build a curriculum without an instructor using this book.
Summary: Not reader friendly
Rating: 2
This book is so unfriendly my professor suggested we sell the book back on the first day of class because she said we'd learn more from using journal articles as opposed to fighting through this book. It is very dry, dull, and set up in a confusing way.
Valency: Theoretical, Descriptive and Cognitive Issues (Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs)
By Herbst, Thomas, G枚tz-Votteler, Katrin
* Publisher:Walter de Gruyter
* Number Of Pages:394
* Publication Date:2007-10-01
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:3110195739
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9783110195736
Product Description:
In recent years, research on valency has led to important insights into the nature of language. Some of these findings are published in this volume for the first time with up-to-date accounts of language description and new reflections on language, above all for English and German. The volume also presents examples of contrastive analysis, which are of use for all those who deal professionally with these two languages. Furthermore, the articles in the psycholinguistic and computational linguistics section demonstrate the applicability and value of valency theory for these approaches and shed light on a fruitful cooperation between theoretical and descriptive linguistics and applied disciplines.
English for Specific Purposes (New Directions in Language Teaching)
By Tom Hutchinson, Alan Waters
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:192
* Publication Date:1987-02-27
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521267323
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521267328
Product Description:
English for Specific Purposes offers the teacher a new perspective on this important field. The main concern of the book is effective learning and how this can best be achieved in ESP courses. The authors discuss the evolution of ESP and its position today; the role of the ESP teacher; course design; syllabuses; materials; teaching methods, and evaluation procedures. The book will be of interest to all teachers who are concerned with ESP. Those who are new to the field will find it a thorough, practical introduction while those with more extensive experience will find its approach both stimulating and innovative.
Syntax: A Generative Introduction
Syntax: A Generative Introduction (2nd edition) (Introducing Linguistics Series)
By Andrew Carnie
* Publisher:Wiley-Blackwell
* Number Of Pages:508
* Publication Date:2006-09-11
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:1405133848
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9781405133845
Product Description:
Building on the success of the bestselling first edition, the second edition of this textbook provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the major issues in Principles and Parameters syntactic theory, including phrase structure, the lexicon, case theory, movement, and locality conditions.
* Includes new and extended problem sets in every chapter, all of which have been annotated for level and skill type.
* Features three new chapters on advanced topics including vP shells, object shells, control, gapping and ellipsis and an additional chapter on advanced topics in binding.
* Offers a brief survey of both Lexical-Functional Grammar and Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar.
* Succeeds in strengthening the reader's foundational knowledge, and prepares them for more advanced study.
* Supported by an instructor's manual and online resources for students and instructors, available at www.blackwellpublishing.com/carnie.
Contents:
* Table of Contents & Front Matter & Acknowledgments
* Part 1: Preliminaries
o Chapter 1 Introduction
o Chapter 2 Parts of Speech
o Chapter 3 Constituency
o Chapter 4 Structural relations
o Chapter 5 Binding theory
* Part 2: The Base
o Chapter 6 X-bar theory
o Chapter 7 CP, TP, DP
o Chapter 8 The Lexicon
* Part 3: Movement
o Chapter 9 Head to Head Movement
o Chapter 10 DP Movement
o Chapter 11 Wh-Movement
o Chapter 12 A Unified theory of Movement
* Part 4: Advanced Topics
o Chapter 13 Double Objects and Split VPs
o Chapter 14: Raising vs. Control
o Chapter 15: Advanced topics in Binding
* Part 5: Alternatives
o Chapter 16: LFG
o Chapter 17: HPSG
o Conclusions and Directions for further Study
* References
* Index
Reviews:
"Andrew Carnie's Syntax quickly became the standard textbook in generative syntax because it was neither overly technical nor artificially simple. The second edition is substantially better and more complete. The original discussion is expanded and there are a number of new chapters on advanced topics like raising and control, and the book continues to include chapters that introduce alternative theories like LFG and HPSG. To my mind, this is by far the best choice on the market today." Peter Cole, University of Delaware
"This textbook is an excellent introduction to syntactic theory. The author manages to present all the complexities of the Principles and Parameters framework in a student-friendly way. The book is well-written and the discussion and argumentation are very clear and surprisingly accessible to the reader." The Linguist List
Praise for the first edition...
"From first-hand experience, Carnie's book provides a highly readable and engaging initiation into the mindset and preoccupations of current syntactic theory. It is useful in tying the cognitive implications and background of current Chomskyan work together with the increasing cross-linguistic emphasis in syntax. The problem sets alone were extremely appreciated by my undergraduates." Mark Baltin, New York University
"This book is a perfect example of how sophisticated syntactic concepts can be presented in a genuinely reader-friendly way. The syntax student is led carefully through argumentation to current syntactic theory and at the end has a clear understanding not only of the whats of syntax but also the whys." Lisa deMena Travis, McGill University
Summary: Great text for the beginning linguist.
Rating: 4
Carnie's "Syntax" is a good text for the graduate student, although it falls for many of the same pitfalls any beginning syntax book faces. The layout in this book is wonderful. The writing is mostly clear and even has a dry sense of humor at points. Indices are great and it is easy to go back and find what you need. Each chapter - indeed each subsection - has a summary of the ideas learned. For ideas like raising and control this is an invaluable way to quickly compare the differences between the concepts. There are also definitions for the theories and concepts discussed. Great job on this.
Exercises are great. Some of them can really push a student. But they are designed in such a way that to solve them, students will usually have to link ideas from other chapters and draw logical conclusions. This really helps students start to build up a linguistic framework, as opposed to just scattered, disparate pieces of information. He relies heavily on Irish. But, in all fairness, the problems are relevant and serve the student well.
The only problem the "Syntax" really had is where it chose to simplify the model. Any introduction to syntax has to simplify its model for students to understand. The problem is where to simplify. By and large, Carnie succeeds in making complex material understandable. But in a few cases the simplifications can confuse the student more than the complex concept would have. This is nothing that a good professor can't overcome, though. There are also a few big ideas handled in a cursor way or not at all. DP-hypothesis is mentioned in such a way that the reader wonders why he even brought it up (to be perfectly honest, nothing in his models even require it). VP shells aren't even mentioned.
Carnie does a better job than most in incorporating and addressing competing theories. He still has a minimalist perspective - which I don't have a problem with - but is less dogmatic than most. The end of the book even has chapters on Lexical-functional grammar and HPSG. Hey, students are intelligent. Give them the skills and they can make intelligent choices on their own.
All-in-all this is a good book for an introductory syntax course at the graduate level. It can be used for a person studying syntax independently, but don't hesitate to check out papers or other texts when you feel confused. There were some concessions made for simplification and often that extra bit of information can make it click.
Summary: Good Basics.
Rating: 4
I'm using this text for college level introductory course in Syntax. The book is a really good source for the basics of X-Bar theory. A few of the concepts lack clear examples, but overall it does a great job of explaining things. In fact, it's clarity (for the most part) helps me sort out what my professor is blathering about. I refer to the book more than my class notes for help in analysing data.
I think this is a great book for both students and also those with an interest in linguistics and would like to pursue Syntax in more depth.
Summary: Clear explanations, but a number of mistakes.
Rating: 4
Carnie does a good job of explaining the theories of syntax, but even on the fourth printing of the second edition there are still many typos and inconsistencies. The third edition (coming soon) should resolve many of these problems.
Summary: syntax in a nutshell
Rating: 5
the topic itself is a bit hard to understand but he does a good job. the diagrams are plentious and well done. key words are in bold and are defined, making them easy to find later. the chapters are broken up and well organized with examples and boxes summarizing and clarifying concisely the main points. bolded words and their definitions are given again in a list at the end of each chapter, with further readings on this topic, followed by problem sets. a very Chomsky and generative grammar based explanation of syntax. most of the examples are in english but some other languages are included, mostly later in the book
Summary: Lovely Book
Rating: 5
This book is an excellent introduction into some of the more in-depth ideas about syntax theory. The explanations are clear and the writing is accessible even to a beginning linguist. The exercises in the book encourage the student to think in an analytical fashion, which I find crucial to doing well in the subject.
To those among us who didn't enjoy the book, perhaps you should have taken a few linguistics courses before attempting generative syntax.
Summary: A perfect Introduction for students of syntax
Rating: 5
I don't know what book Joo Y. Chung (see review below) was reading, but it wasn't the same book that I read. Carnie's textbook is a very accessible text that avoids technical jargon (not "snobbily dumbed down" as Chung asserts) and I think the argumentation is entirely straightforward. For example in chapter 5, Carnie shows how the X-bar theory follows directly from the evidence of replacement operations. The motivations are totally clear and obvious, nothing is an "edict from on high" (ok, in some of the later chapters, Carnie doesn't immediately explain somethings, but he always gets back to it later (e.g. in chapter 6 there is no explanation of why we have specifiers, but Carnie is totally up front about it, and the book returns to it in later chapters. Sometimes I didn't understand the motivations for things until I tried the problem sets, but overall I think everything was pretty clearly laid out.) I've taken two Syntax classes, one taught with Adger's book and one taught with Carnie's and Carnie's wins hands down. In fact, this book was far clearer than my professor ever was in his lectures. I wish there was some more detailed and more advanced material in the book, but other wise I think it's the best linguistics textbook that I've (been forced to) read.
Summary: More of a "brush-up" than an introduction
Rating: 3
Those who are looking for a stand-alone introductory text on generative syntax which takes the time to actually help you understand the subject should avoid this book at all costs; it's very likely you'll end up throwing it out the window, as I almost did. For those, I'd recommend Radford's text over this one (despite, again, the fact that Radford's is somewhat outdated). Those who are taking a course or are otherwise familiar to some degree with the subject and need a refresher will probably find Carnie's book useful.
In attempting to reduce the barriers of entry to the study of syntax, Carnie has created a book which reads very much like what you might imagine "The Edicts of the Linguistics Gods", snobbishly dumbed down, woefully unsupported - and wildly inconsistent in depth from chapter to chapter.
Reading the book was a nauseating experience that left me physically ill by the end of Chapter 5. I found myself asking "Why?" at the end of nearly every paragraph, but Carnie unfortunately almost never answered, or if he did, succeeded in only confusing me with more pedantic "thou shalt do this" or "thou shalt not do that" sorts of rules ... indeed, quite a prescriptivist approach.
As respite from Carnie I found myself seeking solace in the careful, explicitly reasoned, and genuinely persuasive arguments of another Andrew - Andrew Radford (whose "Transformational Grammar", while somewhat outdated, felt like a refreshing breeze in comparison).
INTRODUCING SEMIOTICS
By Paul Cobley, Litza Jansz
* Publisher:Icon Books
* Number Of Pages:175
* Publication Date:1998
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:B000SU1XX0
* ISBN-13 / EAN:
The Comparative Method Reviewed: Regularity and Irregularity in Language Change
By Mark Durie, Malcolm Ross
* Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
* Number Of Pages:336
* Publication Date:1996-05-16
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0195066073
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780195066074
Product Description:
Historical reconstruction of languages relies on the comparative method, which itself depends on the notion of the regularity of change. The regularity of sound change is the famous Neogrammarian Hypothesis: "sound change takes place according to laws that admit no exception." The comparative method, however, is not restricted to the consideration of sound change, and neither is the assumption of regularity. Syntactic, morphological, and semantic change are all amenable in varying degrees, to comparative reconstruction, and each type of change is constrained in ways that enable the researcher to distinguish between regular and more irregular changes.
This volume draws together studies by scholars engaged in historical reconstruction, all focussing an the subject of regularity and irregularity in the comparative method. A wide range of languages are represented, including Chinese, Germanic, and Austronesian.
Language Planning and Education (Edinburgh Textbooks in Applied Linguistics)
By Gibson Ferguson
* Publisher:Edinburgh University Press
* Number Of Pages:248
* Publication Date:2006-04-30
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0748612629
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780748612628
Product Description:
This wide-ranging introduction reveals the importance of language policy in relation to migration, globalization, cultural diversity, nation-building, education, and ethnic identity throughout several countries and continents.