A Short History of Structural Linguistics
By Peter Matthews
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:174
* Publication Date:2001-04-30
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521623677
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521623674
* Binding:Hardcover
Product Description:
This book is a concise historical survey of structural linguistics, charting its development from the 1870s to the present day. Peter Matthews examines the beginnings of structuralism and analyzes the vital role played in it by the study of sound systems and the problems of how systems change. He discusses theories of the overall structure of a language, the "Chomskyan revolution" in the 1950s, and the structuralist theories of meaning. The book includes exposition, in particular, of the contributions of Saussure, Bloomfield and Chomsky.
Introduction to Communication Studies (Studies in Culture and Communication)
By John Fiske
* Publisher:Routledge
* Number Of Pages:203
* Publication Date:1990-10-25
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0415046726
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780415046725
* Binding:Paperback
Product Description:
In the second edition of this widely-used introductory text John Fiske draws upon the main authorities in the field, from Shannon and Weaver's Communication Theory to Saussure's structural linguistics and Peirce's Semiotics. He examines the two main schools: seeing communication as the encoding, transmission, and decoding of messages; and viewing communication as the generation of meanings.
Language in History: Theories and Texts (Politics of Language Series)
By Dr Tony Crowley
* Publisher:Routledge
* Number Of Pages:215
* Publication Date:1995-12-20
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0415072441
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780415072441
* Binding:Library Binding
Product Description:
Tony Crowley uses a radical re-reading of Saussure and Bahktin to demonstrate, in four case studies, the ways in which language has been used to construct social and cultural identity in Britain and Ireland.
By bringing together linguistic and critical theory with his own sharp historical and political consciousness, Tony Crowley provides a new agenda for language study--one which acknowledges the fact that writing about history has always been determined by the historical context, and by issues of race, class and gender. Language and History represents a major contribution to the field, and is essential reading for anyone interested in language, discourse and communication.
Lexical Plurals: A Morphosemantic Approach (Oxford Studies in Theoretical Linguistics)
By Paolo Acquaviva
* Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
* Number Of Pages:312
* Publication Date:2008-05-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0199534225
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780199534227
Product Description:
This book explores the wide variety of cases in which the plural of nouns is lexical. When a plural is lexicalized it becomes part of what it is to know a certain word: pence, for example, is lexical because it means a plurality of a certain kind - a multiple value, not a set of physical objects like pennies - and knowing this reading is knowing the word. Languages exhibit countless examples of similar word-dependent irregularities in the form and meaning of plural, but these have never been analyzed in depth from a unified perspective. Dr. Acquaviva aims to do just that, using analytic tools from formal semantics and theoretical morphology to shed light on the relation between grammar and the lexicon. After an introduction setting out his approach he divides the book into two parts. The first gives a structured description of the ways plurality can be lexicalized with an emphasis on description and categorization. The second analyzes in depth different types of lexical plurals in Italian, Irish, Arabic and Breton. A final chapter spells out the theoretical consequences for the analysis of the lexicon. The book is unusual in combining a broad typological classification with a unified morphological and semantic analysis based on a formal framework.
Three Studies in Locality and Case (Theoretical Linguistics)
By Alexander Grosu
* Publisher:Routledge
* Number Of Pages:272
* Publication Date:1994-12-13
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0415108276
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780415108270
* Binding:Hardcover
Product Description:
Three Studies in Locality and Case treats a central issue in modern linguistic theory: the issue of locality as expressed in the behavior of non-overt categories. Alexander Grosu presents a detailed study of nominal phrases, free relatives and their semantic and syntaxical relationship to restricted relatives, and provides a critical re-evaluation of earlier views of pro. In addition, he offers evidence of a variety of constructions in Rumanian involving null operators, and makes a thorough analysis of the genetive case in Rumanian.
Grosu argues that a variety of syntactic properties which distinguish the relatives at issue from restrictives are traceable to two causal factors: that their internal relativized nominal is semantically weak and that the relative clause must function as an identifier of pro.
This work will be of interest to linguists working on theoretical issues, and also to those concerned with descriptive linguistics. Professor Grosu's study provies an original analysis of major constructions in Rumanian which have hitherto never been thoroughly investigated.
Corpus Linguistics: An International Handbook, Volume 1 (Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science)
By Anke Ludeling, Merja Kyto
* Publisher:Mouton de Gruyter
* Number Of Pages:776
* Publication Date:2009-01-30
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:311018043X
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9783110180435
Product Description:
This handbook provides an up-to-date survey of corpus linguistics. Spoken, written, or multimodal corpora serve as the basis for quantitative and qualitative research on many questions of linguistic interest. The volume comprises 61 articles by internationally renowned experts. They sketch the history of corpus linguistics and its relationship with neighboring disciplines, show its potential, discuss its problems, and describe various methods of collecting, annotating, and searching corpora, as well as processing corpus data. It is up-to-date and a complete handbook which includes both an overview and detailed discussions. It collects a great number of experts in one and the same volume.
Title: Bringing about change in language education
Authors: Berry Roger, Berry Vivien, Nunan David
Publisher Dept. of Curriculum Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1994
ISBNs: 9628109014 / 9789628109012
Length: 235 pages
Description
Includes bibliographical references.
Vol. 1 of selected papers originally presented at the International Language in Education Conference held at the University of Hong Kong, 14-16 December 1994.
Communicative Language Teaching: An Introduction (Cambridge Language Teaching Library)
By William Littlewood
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:124
* Publication Date:1981-03-31
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521281547
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521281546
Product Description:
The communicative approach is changing the face of foreign language teaching. This book provides an introduction to communicative language teaching for practising classroom teachers. The author gives a single coherent account of the basic communicative ideas, emphasizing those aspects most important in the classroom so that teachers can integrate the new ideas into their own familiar methods. He stresses that a knowledge of grammar remains essential for effective communication.
Functional English Grammar: An Introduction for Second Language Teachers (Cambridge Language Education)
By Graham Lock
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:320
* Publication Date:1995-11-24
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521453054
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521453059
Product Description:
This book provides second language teachers with a functional description of English grammar, in which grammar is viewed not as a set of rules but as a communicative resource. It explores ways in which English grammar enables speakers and writers to represent their experience of the world, to interact with one another, and to create coherent messages. Each chapter includes a focus on areas of difficulty for second language learners, numerous authentic examples, tasks which allow the reader to apply the concepts introduced, and discussion questions. A final chapter covers issues in the learning and teaching of grammar and reviews methodological options for the second or foreign language classroom. Functional English Grammar assumes no previous study of linguistics or English grammar. It is suitable for self-study or as a textbook in teacher education programs.
Summary: Actually Pretty Cool!
Rating: 5
Straight up, I really like this book. I have seen a few functional grammar books, or books that have "leaned" in that direction, and they have either been very close to Murphy-esque stuff or have been very complex, like Halliday's formidable tome. Lock seems to have found a balance of function and understandable content.
The book is logically organised and represents good chunks of information arranged according to various functions. Noun groups, ("representing things"), various verbs, complex sentences, speech acts and a whole tonne more are there. Each chapter has a decent amount of detail, lots of examples illustrating the point and giving everything a good overall coverage. The bottom line is that there is virtually no strain on the reader in getting their head around it all. Lock is very succinct and wastes no paper or words.
All in all, Graham Lock's "Functional Grammar" is a great resource for teachers, and one that should be counted on the bookselves of anyone wanting a good functional explanation of grammatical aspects of English. As mentioned, I REALLY like this book and found it very useful.
Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom (Cambridge Language Teaching Library)
By David Nunan
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:224
* Publication Date:1989-03-31
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521370140
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521370141
Product Description:
A major addition to the growing body of work on communicative language teaching, this book provides a balanced introduction to the theoretical and practical aspects of communicative task design. It is targeted toward all second and foreign language teachers, and is ideal for innovative teachers who wish to develop their own tasks, or adopt/adapt those of others. The purpose of the book is to integrate recent research and practice in language teaching into a framework for analyzing learning tasks. This framework should help foreign and second language teachers select, adapt or create their own communicative tasks. Intended for both practicing and trainee teachers of second or foreign language, the ideas presented can be employed in a variety of teaching situations with different levels of students. It should be useful for teachers of children and adults, and to teachers of English for Specific Purposes as well as those of general purpose English.
The Language Teaching Matrix: Curriculum, Methodology, and Materials (Cambridge Language Teaching Library)
By Jack C. Richards
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:197
* Publication Date:1990-03-30
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521384087
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521384087
Product Description:
Richards explains how effective language teaching involves a network of interactions between curriculum, methodology, teachers, learners, instructional materials. Each chapter discusses and examines the theoretical and practical dimensions of a central issue in language teaching. Topics covered include the nature of effective teaching, self-monitoring in teacher development, language and content, and teaching listening, speaking, reading and writing. Richards presents key issues in an accessible and highly readable style, and shows how teachers and teachers-in-training can be involved in the investigation of classroom teaching and learning. The emphasis is not on prescriptions but rather on developing effective teaching through understanding the various factors that interact in second language learning and in the second language classroom.
Summary: The Language Teaching Matrix - a guide for course design
Rating: 4
I'm nervous to comment on Professor Jack C. Richards' titles. He's the great guru and has heavily impacted the profession. I've been his blind follower and keep all his titles inluding: 1. THE LANGUAGE TEACHING MATRIX... (1990); 2. APPROACHES & METHODS...(2004); 3. REFLECTIVE TEACHING IN SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS (1994) (used it as one of the textbooks in my MA TESOL/App Ling program at Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1996-1997); 4. DICTIONARY OF LANGUAGE TEACHING & APP. LINGUISTICS (2002); 5. METHODOLOGY IN LANGUAGE TEACHING: AN ANTHOLOGY... (2002); etc.,in my personal library. I always reach out to his books for answers to any serious professional questions.
"The Language Teaching Matrix" (1990) is one such book that I rely on. I consult this particular title when designing instructional materials or a course, or when I need to re-examine my own pedagogical assumptions and beliefs.
As a Technical Communication instructor at the university, I found CHAPTER 6 (FROM MEANING INTO WORDS: WRITING IN A SECOND OR FOREIGN LANGUAGE) to be very helpful and I return to it to re-check my personal assumptions, theory, beliefs and strategies about teaching writing, in general, and technical report writing, in particular. I would like to highly recommend any writing instructor to read this particular chapter of the book.
The book, in general, is a great resource for course design and classroom teaching. However, this title alone perhaps isn't sufficient to guide course design and instruction. If used in combination with other similar titles, this can be of great help. Also, I was hoping to see the latest edition of the book on Amazon.com but was disappointed.
Dr. M. Solaiman Ali
ESP Unit, Faculty of Engineering
King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah
Summary: TESOL methodology - plain and simple
Rating: 3
"The Language Teaching Matrix" was a required text for the methodology component of my masters course in education that I took in 1994. It is scholarly, thorough, easy to read, and a worthy choice for any TESOL graduate program, but I'll have to admit that I didn't really enjoy using it. In Nunan's Second Language Teaching and Learning, which was published in 1999, we get to meet real students and hear humorous and occasionally humbling anecdotes. The Language Teaching Matrix, however, only talks of "the teacher" and "the learner", and the materials that Richards develops and uses are invariably generic and lifeless to be beyond belief. But then again, if you are one of the world's most successful EFL textbook writers, why change anything? Buy this book only if you love Jack Richards' textbooks and want to emulate his undeniable professionalism. Otherwise, go for Nunan's SLTL, which I think is far more useful and interesting to read.
Second Language Writing: Research Insights for the Classroom (Cambridge Applied Linguistics)
By Barbara Kroll
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:256
* Publication Date:1990-10-26
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521383838
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521383837
Product Description:
The teaching of writing has become an area of increased interest and importance for teachers of second and foreign languages as well as educational researchers. This comprehensive collection covers the major issues writing teachers face in setting agendas for teaching writing to non-native speakers. The thirteen original articles, written by recognized scholars in the field, present original research studies, both qualitative and quantitative, and practical applications for the classroom teacher. The topics covered include the composing process of second language writers, variables in second language writing performance, teacher response to student writing and student processing of feedback, writing assessment, and the reading/writing connection. The book further provides a historical view of the evolution in approaches to the teaching of second language writing and a coherent view of current approaches and issues. Second Language Writing is addressed to second and foreign language teachers, teachers in training, graduate students in education and applied linguistics, educational researchers, and other educators concerned with the teaching of writing.
Collaborative Action Research for English Language Teachers (Cambridge Language Teaching Library)
By Anne Burns
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:271
* Publication Date:1999-03-13
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521630843
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521630849
Product Description:
This book proposes that action research should be a collaborative process emerging from the practical concerns of groups of teachers working in a common or similar context. Teachers' first-person accounts provide the basis for exploring the challenges and constraints of action research. The book will be of interest to teachers seeking new directions for their own professional development as well as others interested in integrating collaborative action research into current practice and curriculum renewal.
Grammar Crammer: How To Write A Perfect Sentence (Study Smart Series)
By Judi Kesselman-Turkel
* Publisher:University of Wisconsin Press
* Number Of Pages:136
* Publication Date:2003-11-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0299191346
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780299191344
Product Description:
This STUDY SMART reference guide series, designed for students from junior high school through lifelong learning programs, teaches skills for research and note-taking, presents strategies for test-taking and studying, provides exercises to improve spelling, grammar, and vocabulary, and reveals secrets for putting these skills together in great essays. The Grammar Crammer is a concise, sensible grammar handbook that explains lucidly how to remember correct word forms and sentence structures. Useful as a reference tool for high school and beyond, it packs an entire grammar encyclopedia into just over a hundred pages. This is a cram course on grammar that can be read-and understood-in just a few hours. It discusses lucidly-even pleasurably-nouns, pronouns, verbs, modifiers, conjunctions and prepositions, punctuation, and sentences-including eight clues that ensure sentences will work properly.
Checkup quizzes follow each section; answers are given at the end of the book.
Summary: Short, but Sweet
Rating: 4
This handy book full of correct and incorrect usages shows you "how to." It is quick and easy to use. It will, however, not come up with all the answers you need. My biggest disappointment was to note that although it was printed in 2003, it appears not to be an update from the original 1982 edition. Still, it is ahead of most of us.
Summary: Great Book
Rating: 5
A little better than Strunk & White's "The Elements of Style" which I have been using for years (and still use). Like "Elements" the GRAMMAR CRAMMER is only about 100 pages, but I find answers I don't get in "Elements", and the index is much better. The type size is larger also. For the price, it is well worth it.
Title: Language awareness in language education
Authors: Berry Roger. Berry Vivien. Nunan David. University of Hong Kong. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
Issue: Date 1995
Publisher: Dept. of Curriculum Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Description:
Included bibliographical references.
Selected papers originally presented at the International Language in Education Conference held at the University of Hong Kong, 14-16 December, 1994. ISBN 9628109022
Statistical Analyses for Language Assessment (Cambridge Language Assessment)
By Lyle F. Bachman
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:380
* Publication Date:2004-12-06
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521003288
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521003285
Product Description:
The assessment of language learners is having a growing impact in English language teaching and applied linguistics. A formal evaluation of students' writing abilities is important for language teachers in order to assess the pedagogical needs of their students. While there has been a considerable body of work undertaken on assessing the writing abilities of native speakers, the issues surrounding the assessment of second language learners' writing abilities are still emerging. At present, no one volume has explored these issues and their implications for language teaching practitioners wishing to evaluate their students' writing. This book outlines in an accessible manner the major tenets of research in the field and provide language teachers with guidelines to design and develop suitable listening assessment tasks for their students.
The Syntax of Sentential Stress (Oxford Studies in Theoretical Linguistics)
By Arsalan Kahnemuyipour
* Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
* Number Of Pages:288
* Publication Date:2009-10-04
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0199219230
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780199219230
Product Description:
This book explores the nature of sentential stress, how it is assigned and its interaction with information structure. Its central thesis is that the position of sentential or nuclear stress, the element with the highest prominence in the sentence, is determined syntactically and that cross-linguistic differences in this respect follow from syntactic variations. Presented in a Chomskian multiple spell-out framework, the author develops the Sentential Stress Rule and provides a systematic way of accounting for a wide range of cross-linguistic facts, with data taken from Persian, English, German and Eastern Armenian. The author further proposes the Focus Stress Rule to handle the interaction between sentential structure and information structure. Sentential stress is thus determined through an interplay between two components, the default Sentential Stress Rule and the Focus Stress Rule. Syntactic phenomena are not, the author argues, triggered by phonology or prosodic motivations: the relationship between syntax and phonology is always from syntax to phonology.
This important contribution to understanding processes at the syntax-phonology interface will interest syntacticians and phonologists at graduate level and above.
Degrammaticalization
By Muriel Norde
* Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
* Number Of Pages:256
* Publication Date:2009-11-23
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0199207933
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780199207930
Product Description:
Grammaticalization is a well-attested process of linguistic change in which a lexical item becomes a function word, which may be further reduced to a clitic or affix. Proponents of the universality of grammaticalization have usually argued that it is unidirectional and have thus found it a useful tool in linguistic reconstruction. In this book Professor Norde shows that change is reversible on all levels: semantic, morphological, syntactic, and phonological. As a consequence, the alleged unidirectionality of grammaticalization is not a reliable reconstructional tool, even if degrammaticalization is a rare phenomenon.
Degrammaticalization, she argues, is essentially different from grammaticalization: it usually comprises a single change, examples being shifts from affix to clitic, or from function word to lexical item. And where grammaticalization can be seen as a process, degrammaticalization is often the by-product of other changes. Nevertheless, she shows that it can be described, like grammaticalization, in a principled way, in order to establish whether a change in a word has been from more to less grammatical or vice versa, and the stages by which it has become so. Using data from different languages she constructs a typology of degrammaticalization changes. She explains why degrammaticalization is so rare and why some linguists have such strongly negative feelings about the possibility of its existence. She adds to the understanding of grammaticalization and makes a significant contribution to methods of linguistic reconstruction and the study of language change. She writes clearly, aiming to be understood by advanced undergraduate students as well as appealing to scholars and graduate researchers in historical linguistics.
Processing Syntax and Morphology: A Neurocognitive Perspective (Oxford Surveys in Syntax and Morphology)
By Ina Bornkessel- Schlesewsky, Matthias Schlesewsky
* Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
* Number Of Pages:320
* Publication Date:2009-09-21
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:019920781X
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780199207817
Product Description:
This book reviews interdisciplinary work on the mental processing of syntax and morphology. It focuses on the fundamental questions at the centre of this research, for example whether language processing proceeds in a serial or a parallel manner; which areas of the brain support the processing of syntactic and morphological information; whether there are neurophysiological correlates of language processing; and the degree to which neurolinguistic findings on syntactic and morphological processing are consistent with theoretical conceptions of syntax and morphology. The authors describe the outcomes of methods in neurophysiology (for example, functional magnetic resonance imaging), behavioural psycholinguistics, and neuropsychological lesion studies, and provide brief introductions to the methods themselves. They extend basic findings at the word and sentence level by considering how the mental processing of syntax and morphology relates to prosody, discourse, semantics, and world knowledge. They have divided the work into four parts concerned with word structure, sentence structure, processing syntax and morphology at the interfaces, and a comparison of different models of syntactic and morphological processing in the neurophysiological domain. The book is directed at graduate students and researchers in theoretical linguistics, psycho- and neurolinguistics, neurophysiology, and psychology.
Core Syntax: A Minimalist Approach (Core Linguistics)
By David Adger
* Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
* Number Of Pages:440
* Publication Date:2003-05-29
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0199243700
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780199243709
Product Description:
This is an introduction to the structure of sentences in human languages. It assumes no prior knowledge of linguistic theory and little of elementary grammar. It will suit students coming to syntactic theory for the first time either as graduates or undergraduates. It will also be useful for those in fields such as computational science, artificial intelligence, or cognitive psychology who need a sound knowledge of current syntactic theory.
Summary: A different view
Rating: 4
We used this book in my final year undergrad class and I loved it. It's true that there are some annoying typos, but actually fewer than I found in other similar books, like Carnie's. What I really liked was the methodical, step by step, explanations, and far from being terribley (sic) written, I thought the writing was clear and easy to follow (although the subject matter was, it''s true, really hard). I think that this isn't an introductory text, so the blurb on the back which says it is isn't right, but as an introduction to the Minimalist theory, at advanced undergrad level or higher, it's very good.
Summary: Not a good introduction to Minimalism
Rating: 2
I am now a M.A. student of linguistics.
This is the textbook we've used before and I think it is not
a good idea to try to comprehend Minimalism well with this
one. A lot of details are missing and simply explained in
a few words. Exercises in each chapter are also not clearly
written. If you try to learn Minimalism well, JUST find some
one better else.
Summary: Commentary on confusions caused by this book
Rating: 2
I am a freshman in MA program now. Having studied this Core Syntax for almost a semester, I get confued with some of the ideas in the book, especially when going through those obscure examples and explanations. People who have few or who don't have background in Linguistics will definately get confused with minimalist program or even Syntax if using this book. Maybe this resulted form the author's skipping too much.
Maybe the author wants to make his argument clear, using step-by-step assumption to give evidence. But in fact,most of us suffer more reading it in this way.
I think there are still lots improvements to be made in this book...
Summary: This book is terribley written
Rating: 1
This book is definitely not for students with no linguistics background. The contents are not only difficult to understand but also are written without any organization. To be honest, the more you read, the more confused you are.
I am also a MA student of linguistics and i found this book extremely recondite and full of tons of typos. Anyway, whoever has no background in syntax and is about to start with the latest minimalist program, this book is abosulately a BIG NO-NO!
Summary: Interesting but confusing
Rating: 2
The other reviewer is absolutely right--this text is NOT an entry-level text, even though it claims to be. I have an M.A. in linguistics and am currently working on a Ph.D., and I have some background in syntax, and I find this text quite difficult to follow. Some examples Adger lists as ungrammatical are grammatical, and vice versa. Adger seems to sometimes make claims without adequate explanation to the reader (e.g., he lists Adjective as [+Verb, -Noun]), which is disturbing because this is supposedly an introductory text. If you want an introduction to Minimalism, don't look here. If you're already a specialist in the field, this may be a good addition to you're collection (but you should be the judge of that--check it out from the library first).