The Linguistics Wars
Randy Allen Harris
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ISBN13: 9780195098341ISBN10: 019509834X Paperback, 368 pages
Feb 1995, In Stock
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Description
When it was first published in 1957, Noam Chomsky's Syntactic Structure seemed to be just a logical expansion of the reigning approach to linguistics. Soon, however, there was talk from Chomsky and his associates about plumbing mental structure; then there was a new phonology; and then there was a new set of goals for the field, cutting it off completely from its anthropological roots and hitching it to a new brand of psychology. Rapidly, all of Chomsky's ideas swept the field. While the entrenched linguists were not looking for a messiah, apparently many of their students were. There was a revolution, which colored the field of linguistics for the following decades.
Chomsky's assault on Bloomfieldianism (also known as American Structuralism) and his development of Transformational-Generative Grammar was promptly endorsed by new linguistic recruits swelling the discipline in the sixties. Everyone was talking of a scientific revolution in linguistics, and major breakthroughs seemed imminent, but something unexpected happened--Chomsky and his followers had a vehement and public falling out.
In The Linguistic Wars , Randy Allen Harris tells how Chomsky began reevaluating the field and rejecting the extensions his students and erstwhile followers were making. Those he rejected (the Generative Semanticists) reacted bitterly, while new students began to pursue Chomsky's updated vision of language. The result was several years of infighting against the backdrop of the notoriously prickly sixties.
The outcome of the dispute, Harris shows, was not simply a matter of a good theory beating out a bad one. The debates followed the usual trajectory of most large-scale clashes, scientific or otherwise. Both positions changed dramatically in the course of the dispute--the triumphant Chomskyan position was very different from the initial one; the defeated generative semantics position was even more transformed. Interestingly, important features of generative semantics have since made their way into other linguistic approaches and continue to influence linguistics to this very day. And fairly high up on the list of borrowers is Noam Chomsky himself.
The repercussions of the Linguistics Wars are still with us, not only in the bruised feelings and late-night war stories of the combatants, and in the contentious mood in many quarters, but in the way linguists currently look at language and the mind. Full of anecdotes and colorful portraits of key personalities, The Linguistics Wars is a riveting narrative of the course of an important intellectual controversy, and a revealing look into how scientists and scholars contend for theoretical glory.
Reviews
"In this evenhanded, trenchant and witty academic chronicle, Harris looks at the fierce, acrimonious controversies that have rocked linguistics since the 1950s."--Publishers Weekly
"Through his deep and extensive research, Randy Allen Harris has managed to throw new light on the schism in generative linguistics which indelibly colored the period from the late sixties to the late seventies. His insightful account of this period and the major figures involved reveals many new aspects of the disagreements and disputes at issue and the features of fact, theory and personality which underlay them. Future study of this period in linguistics will surely be shaped by this excellent work, which captures very closely the feel of what went on. I am inclined to say that the level of scholarship which the author manifests on nearly every page in many ways puts to shame that of much of the material he deals with."--Paul M. Postal
"Highly informative and entertaining....Highly recommended for all libraries, essential for academic libraries."--Choice
"I enjoyed The Linguistics Wars immensely. Randy Harris writes with erudition and wit and always succeeds in presenting a balanced view of the controversies that have raged in the history of generative grammar. He made me reconsider a number of positions that I have argued for in my own work; typically, even where I remained in disagreement with him, he made me appreciate a complexity to the issues that I had overlooked."--Frederick J. Newmeyer, author of The Politics of Linguistics and Linguistic Theory of America
"Harris has captured the flavour and fervour of the debates to perfection.... has achieved the near impossible: being fair to both sides in a civil war."--Nature
"This is intellectual drama crossed with a Shakespearean history play."--The Sciences
Product Details
368 pages; 25 illus.; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; ISBN13: 978-0-19-509834-1ISBN10: 0-19-509834-X
About the Author(s)
Randy Allen Harris is Associate Professor of English at the University of Waterloo.
Corpus-based Approaches To Sentence Structures (Usage-Based Lingustic Informatics)
By Yuji Kawaguchi
* Publisher:John Benjamins Publishing Co
* Number Of Pages:315
* Publication Date:2005-05-30
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:9027233144
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9789027233141
Enabling Communication in Children With Autism
By Carol Potter, Chris Whittaker
* Publisher:Jessica Kingsley Publishers
* Number Of Pages:207
* Publication Date:2001-03
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:1853029564
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9781853029561
Product Description:
The early stages of lingustic and social interaction are crucial in the development of every child, but particularly in children with autism. Potter and Whittaker show how these children may be significantly affected by a range of social and environmental influences, including classroom management, levels of motivation and interaction with adults and other children. From their clinical, practical and classroom research they show how the communication skills of children with autism can be helped by the skilful use of an integrated range of strategies and approaches. As well as providing an overview of the major theoretical issues involved, Enabling Communication in Children with Autism provides practical ways of modifying unhelpful environments in order to enhance communication skills. Potter and Whittaker argue that encouraging spontaneous communication should be viewed as a major educational goal and that children with minimal or no speech can and do communicate when they have access to enabling environments. The creation of such environments forms the central theme of this book.
Summary: Enabling Communication in Children with Autism
Rating: 5
"Enabling Communication in Children with Autism" is a very practical book which helps teachers ,parents and others working with Autistic childen to provide an environment which will optimise the opportunities for communication to take place. I found the book easy to read in clear "bite sized" chapters with a good mix of case studies and practical examples. As a teacher I found I could apply it well to my own setting.
It does not require expensive resources, or staff to completely re-organise classroom settings. Rather, it emphasises how crucial it is for adults to examine their own communication strategies with childen, and how this can be vital in extending children's own communicative acts.
Two of the main stategies are the use of minimal speech and proximal communication. In applying these approaches described I felt very comfortable, and I have observed positve changes as a result over a period of a few weeks. These ,and other strategies are clearly and easily explained with practical examples. The approaches described fit well with other techniques for teaching children with Autism, eg PECs and TEACCH.
Marcus Contextual Grammars (Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy)
By G. Paun
* Publisher:Springer
* Number Of Pages:392
* Publication Date:1997-10-31
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0792347838
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780792347835
Product Description:
Marcus Contextual Grammars is the first monograph to present a class of grammars introduced about three decades ago, based on the fundamental linguistic phenomenon of strings-contexts interplay (selection). Most of the theoretical results obtained so far about the many variants of contextual grammars are presented with emphasis on classes of questions with relevance for applications in the study of natural language syntax: generative powers, descriptive and computational complexity, automata recognition, semilinearity, structure of the generated strings, ambiguity, regulated rewriting, etc. Constant comparison with families of languages in the Chomsky hierarchy is made. Connections with non-linguistic areas are established, such as molecular computing. Audience: Researchers and students in theoretical computer science (formal language theory and automata theory), computational linguistics, mathematical methods in linguistics, and linguists interested in formal models of syntax.
Gender and Conversational Interaction (Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics)
By Deborah Tannen
* Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
* Number Of Pages:352
* Publication Date:1993-09-23
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0195081943
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780195081947
Product Description:
The author of the best-selling You Just Don't Understand, Deborah Tannen, has collected twelve papers about gender-related patterns in conversational interaction. The theoretical thrust of the collection, like that of Tannen's own work, is anthropological and sociolinguistic: female and male styles are approached as different "cultural" practice. Beginning with Tannen's own essay arguing for the relativity of discourse strategies, the volume challenges facile generalizations about gender-based styles and explores the complex relationship between gender and language use. The chapters, some previously unpublished and some classics in the field, address discourse across the lifespan, including preschool, junior high school, and adult interaction. They explore such varied discourse contexts as preschool disputes, romantic and sexual teasing among adolescent girls, cooperative competition in adolescent "girl talk," conversational storytelling, a faculty committee meeting, children in an urban black neighborhood at play, and a legal dispute in a Tenejapan village in Mexico. Two chapters review and evaluate the literature on key areas of gender-related linguistic phenomena: interruption and amount of talk. Gender and Conversational Interaction will interest general readers as well as students and scholars in a variety of disciplines including linguistics, sociolinguistics, anthropology, sociology, psychology, women's studies, and communications.
Summary: Feminist Rants
Rating: 1
Again, this was a book I had to read for a class. I did not choose to read it... I would say that people need to worry more about the quality of their work than what people are going to think about it in the long run. The way people speak when referring to genders does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the speakers as this book seems to suggest.
Time and the Verb: A Guide to Tense and Aspect
By Robert I. Binnick
* Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
* Number Of Pages:584
* Publication Date:1991-06-20
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:019506206X
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780195062069
Product Description:
This comprehensive examination of tense and grammatical aspect provides fascinating insight into how languages indicate distinctions of time. Providing an in-depth survey of the scholarship from the ancient Greeks through the 1980s, Time and the Verb explains and evaluates every major issue and theory, concentrating on familiar Classical and modern European languages. An invaluable reference tool as well as a major contribution to the history of linguistic sciences, this book will be the standard against which future work on tense and aspect is measured.
This is the first thoroughly comprehensive study of tense and aspect, linguistic markers signifying relations in time. Tense and aspect have been peculiarly resistant to linguistic classification and explanation. There continue to be many competing theories, many different terminologies, and considerable controversy and confusion surrounding these evidently universal linguistic phenomena. Robert Binnick's work will enable students, teachers, and scholars to understand th use of verb forms in particular languages
How Much Can A Bare Bear Bear?: What Are Homonyms And Homophones? (Words Are Categorical)
By Brian P. Cleary
* Publisher:Millbrook Press
* Number Of Pages:32
* Publication Date:2005-09
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:1575058243
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9781575058245
Product Description:
This accessible, lighthearted look at language introduces homonyms and homophones. Playful rhymes and comical cartoons make both concepts memorable. Each corresponding pair of homonyms and homophones is printed in color for easy identification. At the end, readers are challenged to apply what they've learned - and they'll have fun doing so.
Summary: Great gift for Teachers
Rating: 5
This is a really creatively written book that kids will enjoy. It will help those having confusion with the English language on the different meanings of same words in a fun manner. Great gift idea for teachers who are just starting out or have been teaching for a long time.
Summary: Girl's Like Spagetti
Rating: 5
Everyone in the family enjoyed this book. Great art work to help the little ones visualize the content. Very funny.
Summary: Homonyms!
Rating: 5
Excellent book for all language arts teachers in primary and middle schools (use for review). This is another book in Cleary's series and it gets the job done! Excellent springboard book to focus the students!
Summary: A Fun Series
Rating: 4
My 6-year-old son loves this book. I would have given this book five stars, but for the typography; the font is a little too wacky for beginning readers.
"How Much Can a Bare Bear Bear?" is written in fun and engaging rhyme, with quirky and creative illustrations by Brian Gable. Homonyms and homophones are combined in silly yet perfectly understandable sentences --
A SIOUX might not SUE if he KNEW that the GNU that he bought wasn't NEW like you said.
-- which make this book not only a great teaching tool, but also a very fun read. I'm looking forward to checking out the other titles in this series.
Summary: What would we teachers do without Cleary and Gable?
Rating: 5
This book EXPLODES with great word play!! My favorite? "My Niece can see Grease, both in Greece and in Nice, a Czech could be writing a check. A maid could be made to be very afraid if she heard a big herd on the deck."
I've read all the books on homonyms and homophones that are out there, and nothing comes close to this exciting text and those lovable cartoon cats.
English Language Assessment and the Chinese Learner
By Liying Cheng, Andy Curtis
* Publisher:Routledge
* Number Of Pages:304
* Publication Date:2009-09-14
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0415994470
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780415994477
Product Description:
"This volume addresses a very timely and important topic, and provides both broad and in-depth coverage of a number of large-scale English tests in China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, and about the Chinese learner."
Lyle F. Bachman, From the Foreword
Building on current theoretical and practical frameworks for English language assessment and testing, this book presents a comprehensive, up-to-date, relevant picture of English language assessment for students in China (Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) and for Chinese learners of English around the world. Written by well-recognized international scholars in language testing, it covers
the history of tests and testing systems, issues and challenges, and current research in China;
both test-designers’ and test-users’ points of view on test development and test validation within a range of political, economical, social, and financial contexts in China;
theoretical/conceptual perspectives on the use of the English language assessment at different levels, including societal, university, and schools; and
empirical research related specifically to test development, curricular innovation, and test validation
Given the long history of objective testing and its extensive use in Chinese society, and considering the sheer number of students taking various tests in English in China and elsewhere, an understanding of the impact of English language testing is essential for anyone involved in testing and assessment issues in China and elsewhere in the world. This is a must-read volume for testing and assessment policy makers, curriculum designers, researchers, ESL/EFL materials writers, graduate students, and English language teachers/researchers at all levels.
Contents
Foreword by Lyle F. Bachman x
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvi
The Editors xvii
PART I
Setting the Scene 1
1 The Realities of English Language Assessment and the Chinese Learner in
China and Beyond 3
LIYING CHENG, Queen’s University
ANDY CURTIS, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
2 The History of Examinations: Why, How, What and Whom to Select? 13
LIYING CHENG, Queen’s University
PART II
Validity and Test Validation: Views from Test Designers 27
3 The National Education Examinations Authority and its English
Language Tests 29
QINGSI LIU, The National Education Examinations Authority
4 The National College English Testing Committee 44
YAN JIN, Shanghai Jiaotong University
5 Developments of English Language Assessment in Public Examinations
in Hong Kong 60
CHEE-CHEONG CHOI AND CHRISTINA LEE, Hong Kong Examinations and
Assessment Authority
6 The Language Training and Testing Center, Taiwan: Past, Present, and
Future 77
ANTONY JOHN KUNNAN, California State University, Los Angeles
JESSICA R. W. WU, The Language Training and Testing Center
PART III
Test Use and Consequences: Views from Test-Users—Test Quality:
Theoretical/Conceptual Points of View 93
7 From TOEFL pBT to TOEFL iBT: Recent Trends, Research Landscape,
and Chinese Learners 95
DAVID D. QIAN, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
8 IELTS: International English Language Testing System 112
JANNA FOX, Carleton University
ANDY CURTIS, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
9 Chinese Test-takers’ Performance and Characteristics on the Michigan
English Language Assessment Battery 121
XIAOMEI SONG, Queen’s University
10 The Public English Test System 132
JIANDA LIU, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
11 The Graduate School Entrance English Examination 145
LIANZHEN HE, Zhejiang University
12 The General English Profi ciency Test 158
VIPHAVEE VONGPUMIVITCH, National Tsing Hua University
PART IV
Test Use and Consequences: Views from Test-Users—Test Quality:
Empirical Studies 173
13 Chinese EFL Learners’ Discoursal Performance in the Cambridge ESOL
FCE Speaking Test: Culture-Specifi c or Test-Driven? 175
YANG LU, University of Nottingham
14 Exploring the Relationship between Chinese University Students’
Attitudes towards the College English Test and their Test Performance 190
JING ZHAO, The Ohio State University
LIYING CHENG, Queen’s University
viii Contents
15 Chinese EFL Students’ Perceptions of the Classroom Assessment
Environment and their Goal Orientations 202
XIAOYING WANG, Beijing Foreign Studies University
LIYING CHENG, Queen’s University
16 Should Proofreading Go? Examining the Selection Function and Washback
of the Proofreading Sub-test in the National Matriculation English Test 219
LUXIA QI, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
17 The Computerized Oral English Test of the National Matriculation
English Test 234
YONGQIANG ZENG, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
18 The Hong Kong Certifi cate of Education: School-Based Assessment
Reform in Hong Kong English Language Education 248
CHRIS DAVISON, The University of New South Wales
LIZ HAMP-LYONS, The University of Hong Kong
PART V
The Link between Test Validity and Validation, and Test Use and the
Consequences: Conclusion and Beyond 265
19 The Impact of English Language Assessment and the Chinese Learner in
China and Beyond 267
LIYING CHENG, Queen’s University
ANDY CURTIS, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
List of Contributors 274
Index 276
Foreword
Lyle F. Bachman
It would appear that, for better or worse, English will continue as the preferred lingua
franca for international communication well into this century, if not beyond. This,
despite the fact that the countries where English is the dominant language are becoming
less and less dominant, both economically and politically, and that this century will
most certainly see an increasing dominance on the world scene of countries that until
now have been classed as “emerging”, economically, e.g., Brazil, Russia, India, China,
and Korea. English is still the most widely taught foreign or second language in the
world, with approximately 2 billion learners expected worldwide by 2010. Furthermore,
the bulk of this increase is expected to occur in China and India, both of which are
promoting English in primary schools. And to be sure, where English is taught, it will be
assessed. This volume thus addresses a very timely and important topic, and the chapters
in it provide both broad and in-depth coverage of a number of large-scale English tests
in China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, and about the Chinese Learner.
In their preface, the editors argue that the global scope of English language assessment
and the huge scale on which this takes place in China make the particular intersection of
language assessment and the Chinese Learner of unique importance. However, I would
submit that the language testing issues discussed in the volume are not unique to the
assessment of Chinese Learners’ English at all. Rather, the enormity of the enterprise in
this context magnifi es kinds of problems that are faced by language testers everywhere,
and makes it more diffi cult to fi nd justifi able solutions. Thus, one fi nds some familiar
and perennial issues discussed in the chapters: validity of scored-based interpretations,
consequences of test use, fairness, washback, and the tensions between the functions
of selection and washback, and between assessment for learning and assessment for
selection or certifi cation. In addition some very “real-world” issues come through, such
as the politics of language assessment development and use and the management of
resources as needs and test-taker populations expand. Finally, the chapters also provide
some visions for the future of assessing the English of the Chinese Learner.
One message that comes through strong and clear from the descriptions of the highstakes
English tests in China in this volume is that for many of these tests, providing
“positive washback” on instruction is explicitly stated as a purpose, in addition to
providing information for making various kinds of decisions, such as selection,
promotion or certifi cation. The intended consequence of promoting positive washback
on instruction is perhaps the single characteristic that distinguishes many of these tests
from high-stakes language tests in other parts of the world. In the USA, for example,
although much lip-service has been paid to “authentic” and “performance” assessments
for high-stakes accountability decisions in school settings, virtually none of the largescale
state assessments of English profi ciency, for either English Language Learners or
English-only students, claims positive washback on instruction as a goal. This is also
the case with tests used for university selection. Thus, in stark contrast with the Hong
Kong Advanced Level Examination, neither the SAT nor the ACT in the USA claims to
promote positive washback on instruction.
In addition to chapters discussing all of the major high-stakes English tests in China,
the volume includes a number of chapters reporting research studies that investigate
both specifi c and general issues in English language testing in China. These chapters
provide some very insightful glimpses into the domain of this book—the interaction
between English language assessments and Chinese learners. They also take us into the
domain of students, teachers, and classroom assessment. Finally, they tell us something
about the “Chinese Learner”. What I fi nd most fascinating about this group of chapters
is that by focusing on a single “type” of learner, they show us once again how complex
the interactions are among test-takers, the multifarious facets of test-tasks, and the
performance that these tasks elicit. At another level, by focusing on one sociocultural
setting, they reveal the complexities of the social, cultural, and political dimensions of
the real world in which language assessment takes place.
The world of the Chinese Learner is a particularly complex one that is fraught
with inherent tensions, if not confl icts, between traditional Confucian values that
honor authority, the family, education, and harmony in society, on the one hand, and
a drive to not only compete, but to excel in a modern world in which individualism,
personal gain, and corporate profi t, even mendacity, seem to be the guiding values,
on the other. The “New China” quite legitimately wishes to shed its image as the sick
man of Asia, and claim its rightful place as a world leader. However, this rush toward
“modernization”, which gave China the “Great Leap Forward” and more recently
has produced the Three Gorges Dam and the truly amazing buildings for the 2008
Olympics, has also had disastrous consequences for millions of Chinese people. This
tension between the benefi ts and negative consequences of modernization exemplifi es,
in my view, at the national level, the same tensions and confl icts faced by individual
Chinese learners.
Within this context, the assessment of English faces similar tensions. Traditional
values of the Chinese society, including a respect for the examination system, pull
toward tests that are embedded in the education system, in teaching and learning, and
that will lead to decisions that will benefi t the society as a whole. This is a culture in
which examinations are valued, and decisions that are made on the basis of examination
results are generally accepted almost without question, as fair. This explains, in part,
why developers of English tests in China begin with the premise that the decisions made
on the basis of tests will be benefi cial to stakeholders and the society as a whole. Modern
psychological and educational measurement, on the other hand, which values qualities
such as psychometric reliability, and validity as the predictability of selection decisions,
pushes towards tests that can be easily and consistently administered and scored. This
is a culture of skepticism, in which test developers and decision-makers must convince
an unbelieving public that tests and the decisions made on the basis of test results are
justifi ed.
Foreword xi
The editors state that “This book, then, attempts to bridge the gap between test validity
and test consequences so we can better justify the use of English language assessment to its
stakeholders” (Chapter 1), and that it has been structured “in such a way that readers can
situate the discussions of the Chinese Learner in relation to English language assessment
within a historical, social, political, and economic context in China” (Chapter 19). The
bridge between test validity and consequences is long and still largely a vision, not yet a
blueprint, let alone under construction, for language assessment, while an understanding
of Chinese history and culture is surely a life-long undertaking. Nevertheless, this
volume gives us glimpses of both, and thus whets our appetites as researchers, for greater
understanding, while stimulating our better instincts, as test-developers, to assure that
our assessments of English will promote benefi cial consequences, not only for China
and the Chinese Learner, but for English learners the world over.
xii Foreword
Preface
As noted on the fi rst page of the fi nal chapter of this book, the book is structured “in such
a way that the readers can situate the discussions of the Chinese Learner in relation to
English language assessment within a historical, social, political, and economic context
in China.” Interestingly, in relation to the economic context, as we write this preface in
July 2008, one of the world’s largest and most successful companies, in terms of products
and profi ts, General Motors (GM), is announcing its worst economic losses for more
than half-a-century (BBC News Online, July 3, 2008). But what does that have to do with
English language assessment and testing?
First, English language assessment and testing is big business, running globally into
the millions of US dollars every year, and possibly even more. More importantly, this
announcement by GM, together with a great many other indicators, such as the economic
recession in America, signals that we may be witnessing, for better and for worse, the
beginning of the end of the USA as a global economic, political and military superpower.
If so—and assuming the world still needs such super-powers—which country
could take on that role? Europe’s time in that position appears to have come and gone,
and it is still too early for Latin America, although the global growth of the Spanishspeaking
world may enable Latin America to take on this role eventually. It is also likely
to be too early for the Middle East or Africa. This then leaves, again for better and for
worse, China as the most likely contender.
These two factors combined—the multi-million dollar business of English language
assessment and testing and rise of The New China, complete with the fi rst ever China
Olympic Games under its belt—mean that the impact of English language assessment
and testing in China could soon be felt in every part of the world. As noted in the opening
chapter: “Currently, more than 27 million Chinese university students are learning
English and taking English tests.” This is a truly mind-boggling fi gure, almost beyond
comprehension; a fi gure approaching the entire population of the second largest country
in the world (by land mass), Canada, estimated at around 33 million in 2007—and this
is only the students in China at university level. These, then, are some of the reasons
why we started working on this book, which grew out of a conversation during the 2005
Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC), held in Ottawa, Canada in July of that
year. The conversation was between the two editors in a room at the conference hotel,
the Fairmont Ch鈚eau Laurier. As we sat in our hotel room, we asked ourselves: Why,
with the massive numbers of Chinese students taking English language exams, and with
China Rising (Goodman & Segal, 1997), is there not a book on this essential aspect of
the New China? We then checked to make sure that such a volume did indeed appear to
be conspicuous by its absence, and started contacting potential contributors. Four years
later, we are fi nally able to present a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of English
language assessment for students in China (mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan)
and for Chinese Learners of English around the world.
Another reason for bringing this collection together, and one of the recurring themes
throughout the book, is that in China, for students to be successful in school means taking
numerous tests and examinations in English at every grade. Major public examinations
are required to enter junior and senior secondary schools, university, and postgraduate
education. Examinations continue to be used for the selection of government offi cials,
for the promotion of academics and professionals, and for obtaining better employment
involving international communication. Among these tests and examinations, English
is used as the gatekeeper for these purposes. It is therefore essential to understand the
Chinese Learner and the Chinese context within which so much of the world’s English
language assessment is situated.
Another relatively small but signifi cant example, for language testers, of the new world
order was the recent LTRC, held for the fi rst time in the organization’s 30-year history in
June 2008 in mainland China (at Zhejiang University in Hang Zhou). Appropriately, the
main accommodation for the conference attendees was the Zhejiang Xizi Hotel, the main
block of which is translated into English as ‘Villa 1’, famous for being the place where
Chairman Mao is reported to have stayed 27 times between 1959 and 1975 (according to
a bilingual Chinese–English inscription on a boulder just outside Villa 1).
The appropriateness of the venue was inadvertently but fortuitously highlighted
by Jianda Liu in Chapter 10 of this collection: “The Cultural Revolution (1966–76)
involved a mass mobilization of urban Chinese youth. Schools were closed and
students were encouraged to join units which denounced and persecuted Chinese
teachers and intellectuals. There were also widespread book burnings and mass
relocations. The Cultural Revolution also caused economic disruption. After 10 years,
the movement was brought to a close in 1976.” That brief, 60-word endnote attempts
to summarize, in just a few words, a time of unimaginable turmoil in China’s recent
history, ending barely 30 years ago—a tiny drop of time in the vast ocean of one of
the world’s oldest civilizations, dating back more than 5,000 years (see Chapter 1).
This, then, was another key reason why we believe that the time has come for a book
like this. If China continues to develop over the next 30 years the way it has done
over the previous 30, in the near future, English language assessment and testing in
China could be driving English language assessment and testing all over the world—
assuming it is not already.
In the opening chapter, The Realities of English Language Assessment and the Chinese
Learner in China and Beyond, the scene is set for the rest of the book by presenting some
of the history of English language tests and examinations in China, and by defi ning the
notions of “the Chinese Learner” and “the Chinese context”. This opening chapter also
gives an overview of the structure of the book, consisting of four major parts and one
concluding chapter in part fi ve. We have adopted the term assessment to include both
examinations and tests.
Towards Multilingual Education: Basque Educational Research from an International Perspective (Bilingual Education and Bilingualism)
By Jasone Cenoz
* Publisher:Multilingual Matters
* Number Of Pages:280
* Publication Date:2009-08-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:1847691935
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9781847691934
Product Description:
This volume focuses on issues such as the learning, use and assessment of languages in education, the age factor, the teaching of English as an international language and multilingualism at the university, in educational contexts in which several languages are taught either as subjects or languages of instruction. Jasone Cenoz proposes the 'Continua of Multilingual Education' as a tool to identify different types of multilingual schools and focuses on Basque educational research to discuss issues that are relevant for other contexts. "Towards Multilingual Education: Basque Educational Research in International Perspective" is an up to date and comprehensive review of research involving Basque, Spanish and English in Basque schools. The book will be of great value to researchers, professionals and students interested in multilingualism and multilingual education all over the world.
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
1 Why Multilingualism?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Multilingualism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
.. .................................................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Multilingualism and the Spread of English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The Revival of Minority Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Role of Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Basque, Spanish and English in the BAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2 Towards a Typology of Multilingual Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Linguistic, Sociolinguistic and Educational Variables . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Strong and Weak Types of Bilingual Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Types of Multilingual Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
The ‘Continua of Multilingual Education’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Applying the ‘Continua of Multilingual Education’ to
Different Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The ‘Continua of Multilingual Education’ and the Basque
Educational System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3 Using the Minority Language as the Language of Instruction . . . . 57
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Maintenance and Immersion Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Teaching through the Minority Language in the Basque
Educational System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Main Challenges Using the Minority Language as the
Medium of Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
vi Contents
4 Learning through the Minority Language: Linguistic and
Academic Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Linguistic and Academic Outcomes in Mother Tongue
Education and Immersion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Basque Achievement in International Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Achievement in the Different Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
.. .............................................................................................................. . . . . . 102
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5 Third Language Learning and Instruction through the
Third Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Third Language Learning in School Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Legal Framework for the Teaching of Foreign Languages in
the Basque Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Learning English as a Third Language in the Basque Country . . . . 114
English as an Additional Language of Instruction in the
Basque Country. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
6 Learning English and Learning through English:
Research Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
.. ................................................................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Learning a Third Language as a Subject: Research Findings . . . . 130
Learning through a Third Language: Research Findings . . . . . . . 136
.. .......................................................................................................... . . . . . . . . . 141
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
.. .... .................................................................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
The Effect of Bilingualism on Third Language Acquisition . . . . . 146
.. ......................................................................................................
Acquisition of English: Research Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Language Interaction and the Effect of the L3 on the
L1 and the L2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
8 Identities and Attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Contents vii
The Socio-Political Dimension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Identities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Language Attitudes in Multilingual Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Attitudes Towards the Minority Language in
Basque Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Attitudes Towards Basque, Spanish and English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Attitudes Towards Bilingualism and Multilingualism . . . . . . . . . . 183
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
9 The Age Factor in Bilingual and Multilingual Education . . . . . . . 189
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
The Age Factor in Language Learning at School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
The Early Introduction of English in the Basque
Educational System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
The Development of English Competence at Different Ages . . . . 194
Attitudes and the Age Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
.. ..........................................................................................................
Basque and Spanish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
10 Bilingual and Multilingual Education at the University . . . . . . . . 213
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Teaching through English at the University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Teaching through the Minority Language at the University . . . . . 215
Main Challenges of Using the Minority Language as the
Medium of Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Multilingualism at the University in the Basque Country . . . . . . . 225
Other Universities in the Basque Autonomous Community. . . . . 227
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
11 Conclusions and Future Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Basque Bilingual and Multilingual Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Towards a Multilingual Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Future Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Preface
There is a long and fascinating history of case studies in language acquisition
research. Perhaps the most well-known examples are Adam, Eve and
Sarah – the famous children studied by Roger Brown and reported in his
classic book A First Language: The Early Stages in 1973. The history of case
study research on bilingual acquisition is even older, going back to the
research of Ronjat on his bilingual son published in 1913 and, perhaps
better known, the massive series of reports by Werner Leopold on his two
daughters published between 1939 and 1949. One of the real values of a
case study approach is the richness of understanding that comes from
in depth and longitudinal analyses of single learners. Case studies are
richly heuristic – they point to what can happen; they provide ample
hypotheses for further research; and they provide the opportunity for
multiple perspectives on development.
In this book Towards Multilingual Education, Jasone Cenoz presents a
different kind of case study. It is the case study of a whole country, the
Basque Country, and its development of multilingual forms of education.
Like good case studies of monolingual and bilingual acquisition, the case
study of the Basque Country is rich and insightful. There are three interwoven
strands to this relatively short volume – one strand concerns itself with
developments in the Basque Country itself as it evolves linguistically and
..................................................................................................................................................-
linguistic realities of which it is a part; a second strand is concerned with
theoretical contexts for studying bi and multilingual forms of education in
international perspective; and the third strand addresses methodological
issues implicated in doing multi-dimensional research on such a complex
phenomenon as multilingual education. All of these strands are developed
with reference to very diverse conceptual and theoretical perspectives,
including typological considerations when describing multilingual education,
content-based approaches to multilingual education; attitudes and
motivations in multilingual education; outcomes of multilingual education;
the age factor, a pervasive issue in most contexts that have bi- or multilingual
forms of education; and third language acquisition. It is the in-depth
analyses of the Basque experiments in multilingual education that makes
this book so rich, pushing thinking beyond current frameworks.
x Preface
Discussions of bilingualism and bilingual education have often tended
to conceptualize issues somewhat categorically; for example, with reference
to coordinate and compound bilingualism; elite and folk bilingualism;
and additive versus subtractive forms of bilingual education, to name
a few. Multilingualism and multilingual education challenge rigid binary
....................................................................................................................................................
forms of bilingual education that yielded 250 alternatives (Mackey, 1970).
Cenoz proposes an alternative way of resolving this complexity by proposing
Continua of Multilingual Education, inspired by Hornberger’s Continua
of Biliteracy. Cenoz’s continua include educational variables (subject,
language of instruction, teachers and school context), linguistic variables
(linguistic distance among the languages involved) and sociolinguistic
variables at the micro and macro levels. The continua of multilingual education
provide a more realistic portrait of the dynamic complexities and
interactions that characterize learners, educators and programs in multilingual
education contexts. With Cenoz’s continua, our view of multilingual
education is kaleidoscopic, changing as the issues that motivate research
change and as alternative research methodologies are adopted to examine
..............................
With respect to educational variables, the Basque case study is truly
rich, in large part because it is a country within a country (Spain). This
means that there are Basque dominant and Spanish dominant schoolchildren
to consider. This ‘national’ reality has resulted in the creation of alternative
forms of multilingual education that respect the language dominance
of the major language groups. At the same time, the Basque Country is,
of course, part of the evolving European Union and, therefore, has immigrants
who speak other languages that need to be considered. Like all
other countries, the effects of globalization are also shaping Basque language
policies. ‘Europeanization’ and globalization have prompted parents
to seek instruction in English as a third language so that their children
have full access to seek possibilities in employment, science, technology
and travel that are afforded by these internationalizing trends. Educational
policies and issues are nuanced in the Basque Country and highly complex
because, although Basque is a national language, it does not enjoy the
full status of a majority language since it is in a demographic minority in
comparison to Spanish. This has resulted in extraordinary measures to
bolster Basque language development among both Basque dominant and
Spanish dominant residents at the same time as policies are implemented
to ensure that Basque schoolchildren also master Spanish. These efforts
are seen at all levels of education, from pre-school to university. Few
accounts of bi- or multi-lingual education include descriptions of bi- or
Preface xi
multi-lingual programs at the university level. This is a truly original
and important feature of this volume. The commitment to multilingual
education is also evident in the extraordinarily rich programs of research
that are being carried out at all levels of the educational system. Cenoz’s
narrative goes beyond the Basque Country to include discussions of
multilingual forms of education in other countries so that the reader gains
a broad perspective.
Cenoz’s own research takes full advantage of the linguistic continua in
her framework as she explores learner outcomes, age effects on learning,
and the results of learning English as a third versus a second language. The
Basque Country is a particularly interesting context for studying these issues
because the three languages at the heart of her research are typologically
distinct. This creates an interesting and somewhat unusual opportunity to
look at cross-linguistic effects in language learning. This is fully explored in
Chapter 7, ..................................................................................................................... Research
by Cenoz and her colleagues demonstrates the positive effects that bilingualism
can have on third language acquisition despite typological differences.
At the same time, and in keeping with her continua of multilingual
education framework, Cenoz illustrates how other factors, including metalinguistic
and sociocultural factors, can mask such effects. A hallmark of this
volume and the research conducted by the author as well as other researchers
in the Basque Country is their keen attention to the potential importance
........................................................................................................................................................
.................... ...... ...................... ...... ................ ........ .................. .................... ...... ............................
contextual factors is not far from the author’s vantage point. Like all good
case studies, the Basque researchers use a combination of quantitative and
qualitative methodologies to great effect.
Learner factors are subsumed under sociolinguistic context factors at
both macro- and micro-levels. Micro-level context factors include the general
vitality of the languages involved which, in turn, is related to the
number of speakers of the language, the status of each language, and its
use or visibility in the linguistic landscape. Micro-level context factors
include learners’ use of language in the home and the role of language in
their immediate social networks. Including learners as part of the sociolinguistic
context expands our conceptualization of learners as primarily
......................................................................................................................................................
macro-levels of the sociolinguistic context in which they live and learn.
This makes eminent sense within Cenoz’s continua framework and within
the rich and complex sociolinguistic communities in which they live
and learn. Viewed from this perspective, language learning is as much
sociolinguistic as it is psycho-educational in nature.
xii Preface
Cenoz’s case study of the Basque Country will appeal to many different
audiences – linguistic, sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic students
doing graduate work, educators and educational researchers who are
interested in multilingual education for practical reasons, policy makers
and language planners interesting in language planning, and, of course,
researchers interested in multilingual education.
F. Genesee
McGill University
Distributed Reduplication (Linguistic Inquiry Monographs)
By John Frampton
* Publisher:The MIT Press
* Number Of Pages:220
* Publication Date:2009-09-30
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0262013266
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780262013260
Product Description:
A convincing account of reduplicative phenomena has been a longstanding problem for rule-based theories of morphophonology. Many scholars believe that derivational phonology is incapable in principle of analyzing reduplication. In Distributed Reduplication, John Frampton demonstrates the adequacy of rule-based theories by providing a general account within that framework and illustrating his proposal with extensive examples of widely varying reduplicatation schemes from many languages. His analysis is based on new proposals about the structure of autosegmental representations.
Although Frampton offers many new ideas about the computations that are put to use in reduplicative phonology, some fairly radical, his intent is conservative: to provide evidence that the model of the phonological computation developed by Chomsky and Halle in 1968 is fundamentally correct—that surface forms are produced by the successive modification of underlying forms. Frampton's theory accounts for the surface properties of reduplicative morphemes by operations that are distributed at various points in the morphophonology rather than by a single operation applied at a single point. Lexical insertion, prosodic adjustment, and copying can each make a contribution to the output at different points in the computation of surface form.
Frampton discusses particular reduplicative processes in many languages as he develops his general theory. The final chapter provides an extensive sequence of detailed case studies. Appendixes offer additional material on the No Crossing Constraint, the autosegmental structure of reduplicative representations, linearization, and concatenative versus nonconcatenative morphology. This volume will play a major role in the main debate of current phonological research: what is the nature of the phonological computation?
Linguistic Inquiry Monograph 52
Johnson's and Webster's Verbal Examples: With Special Reference to Examplifying Usage in Dictionary Entries (Lexicographica)
By Kusujiro Miyoshi
* Publisher:Max Niemeyer Verlag
* Number Of Pages:222
* Publication Date:2007-06-30
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:3484391324
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9783484391321
Semantic Domains in Computational Linguistics
By Alfio Gliozzo, Carlo Strapparava
* Publisher:Springer
* Number Of Pages:131
* Publication Date:2009-08-12
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:3540681566
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9783540681564
Product Description:
Semantic fields are lexically coherent – the words they contain co-occur in texts. In this book the authors introduce and define semantic domains, a computational model for lexical semantics inspired by the theory of semantic fields. Semantic domains allow us to exploit domain features for texts, terms and concepts, and they can significantly boost the performance of natural-language processing systems. Semantic domains can be derived from existing lexical resources or can be acquired from corpora in an unsupervised manner. They also have the property of interlinguality, and they can be used to relate terms in different languages in multilingual application scenarios. The authors give a comprehensive explanation of the computational model, with detailed chapters on semantic domains, domain models, and applications of the technique in text categorization, word sense disambiguation, and cross-language text categorization. This book is suitable for researchers and graduate students in computational linguistics.
Structures and Categories for the Representation of Meaning
By Timothy C. Potts
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:324
* Publication Date:1994-04-29
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521434815
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521434812
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:328
* Publication Date:2007-09-24
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:052104250X
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521042505
Product Description:
This book develops a way of representing the meanings of linguistic expressions independent of any particular language, allowing them to be manipulated in accordance with rules related to their meanings that could be implemented on a computer. Beginning with a survey of the contributions of linguistics, logic, and computer science to the representation problem, it presents a system of graphs organized by scope relations in which linguistic constituents are sub-graphs whose configuration is determined by their categories.
Computational Lexical Semantics (Studies in Natural Language Processing)
By Patrick Saint-Dizier, Evelyn Viegas
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:460
* Publication Date:2005-11-24
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521023203
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521023207
Product Description:
Computational Lexical Semantics is one of the first volumes to provide models for the creation of various kinds of computerized lexicons for the automatic treatment of natural language, with applications to, among other things, machine translation, automatic indexing, database front-ends, and knowledge extraction. It focuses on semantic issues, as seen by linguists, psychologists, and computer scientists. Besides describing academic research, the book also covers ongoing industrial projects.
Summary: You are worthwhile in reading this book.
Rating: 4
LComputational Lexical Semantics is one of the first volumes to provide models for the creation of various kinds of computerized lexicons for the automatic treatment of natural language, with applications to machine translation, automatic indexing, and database front-ends, knowledge extraction, among other things. It focuses on semantic issues, as seen by linguists, psychologists, and computer scientists.
Introduction To Semiotics, An (Toronto Studies in Semiotics)
By Thomas Sebeok
* Publisher:University of Toronto Press
* Number Of Pages:154
* Publication Date:1994-06-09
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0802077803
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780802077806
Product Description:
The interpretive science of semiotics offers powerful analytical tools for the application of many disciplines to the study of perception. Semiotics is the study of signs, and as such, is of relevance to a wide spectrum of scholars and professionals, including social scientists, psychologists, artists, graphic designers, and students of literature. Semiosis - the production and interpretation of linguistic and visual signs - is innate to human beings of all societies. From the simplest of hand gestures to the most complex diagrams and charts, the sign is key to the communication of ideas. Thomas A. Sebeok examines, in an engaging, readable style, how the sign mediates between bodily experience and abstract thought.
This updated second edition of Signs combines some of Sebeok's most important essays with a new general introduction, introductory passages at the outset of each chapter, a glossary, and brief biographies of the major semioticians. From an overview of the discipline to a more detailed exploration of sign categories, the author powerfully demonstrates the co-dependency of verbal and non-verbal communication.
Aimed primarily at undergraduate and graduate students, this engaging book also has plenty to offer any general reader who is interested in exploring and analyzing the complex sign systems we so often take for granted.
Summary: Just that, an INTRODUCTION
Rating: 3
"Semiotics is not about the 'real' world at all, but about complementary or alternative actual models of it... semiotics never reveals what the world is, but circumscribes what we can know about it."
Through SIGNS, Sebeok brings together the ideas of experience and abstract thought using the perspective of semeology: the doctrine of the sign. He traverses the sectors of language, psychology, biology (including entomology- yes, rather bizarre) and others to reveal the complex nature of the sign in a coherent prose that I would say caters to a broad spectrum of readers.
Sebeok is successful towards constructing an introduction to signs and provides a tremendous geneology of its supposed origin (through the Greek physician Hippocratis to the (structuralist?) Ferdinand Saussure), but you wonder: why have I given him only 3 stars? I would have easily given him another star (to make 4), but, alas, I do roll with a bias.
I give Sebeok 3 stars because I came into this book from the French post-structuralist perspective after reading Roland Barthes' S/Z (A 200+ page deconstruction of a 30 page Honore de Balzak short story). Barthes' beautifully lucid prose (though quite thick, haughty, and as usual, referenceless) hides the theoretical (and rather controversal) body of the text, but his fearless (and conceited) approach steals the attention of my adolescent aspirations to become a sophisticated individual.
At times I found Sebeok quite dull and his sporadic sense of humor mild, but as I bracket my emotions from the text I discover that from reading this book my conception of "signs" has become quite solid. If you go for this book- go for the 2nd edition (came out in 2001 i believe) it includes a Basic Notions chapter and glossary for those new in the field. I also recommend the "Fetish Signs" chapter- very interesting.
Elements of Semiology 1ST Edition
By Roland Barthes
* Publisher:HILL & WANG
* Number Of Pages:
* Publication Date:1968
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:B000Q62YK2
* ISBN-13 / EAN:
Product Description:
"In his Course in General Linguistics, first published in 1916, Saussure postulated the existence of a general science of signs, or Semiology, of which linguistics would form only one part. Semiology, therefore aims to take in any system of signs, whatever their substance and limits; images, gestures, musical sounds, objects, and the complex associations of all these, which form the content of ritual, convention or public entertainment: these constitute, if not languages, at least systems of signification . . . The Elements here presented have as their sole aim the extraction from linguistics of analytical concepts which we think a priori to be sufficiently general to start semiological research on its way. In assembling them, it is not presupposed that they will remain intact during the course of research; nor that semiology will always be forced to follow the linguistic model closely. We are merely suggesting and elucidating a terminology in the hope that it may enable an initial (albeit provisional) order to be introduced into the heterogeneous mass of significant facts. In fact what we purport to do is furnish a principle of classification of the questions. These elements of semiology will therefore be grouped under four main headings borrowed from structural linguistics: I. Language and Speech; II. Signified and Signifier; III. Syntagm and System; IV. Denotation and Connotation."--Roland Barthes, from his Introduction
Summary: A dense read, but well worth it!
Rating: 5
This text, as with all pure critical theory, is certainly dense--there is no getting around that. Barthes brilliantly strings together a concise and well-defined basis of semiology from its roots in Saussure's dyadic model for a more structuralist, synchronic form of linguistics to Hjelmslev's proposal of a second-order system. Contrary to what another reviewer has asserted, Barthes does rigorously elucidate fundamental, complex terms. This text will provide every reader with a solid semiological foundation upon which to build a more specific or extensive knowledge of structuralism, linguistics, or semiology. As such, it is a wonderful place to begin for one who wishes to grasp these essential elements.
Summary: Antiquated text has been long surpassed...
Rating: 2
There is no reason to inflict this text on yourself. If you are looking for a primer, or at least a solid piercing of the semiological membrane, there are far superior works, such as the wonderful Semiology: The Basics by Daniel Chandler or Structural Poetics by Culler. This book, it seems to me, was meant as a fast and loose refrence for a class or a seminar: it rarely defines its terms, it seems disorganized and it is very dry, just listing method without any reason why one should be interested. The other two books, in particular Basics, were written long after Elements and thus are much more incompassing, including theory and practice, and Basics by Chandler even has a glossary at the back. Bartes may be the man, but this is definitly not the book; but, if your a Bartes completist, already well initiated into the world of Semiology and Structuralism, then by all means pick it up. Anyone else, steer clear.
Summary: A terse, dense book on struggling with symbols
Rating: 5
Semiology had its birth with Saussure and the publication of his lecture notes by students in 1916, entitled Course in General Linguistics. Semiology was to be a general science of signs, of which linguistics would be one part. However, over time it has become clear that there exist no complex systems of symbols completely removed from language. Semioticians have recognized, then, that "linguistics is not a part of the general science of signs, but rather it is semiology which is a part of linguistics".
In this clearly written work, Barthes thus undertakes this task of semiolgy, under four main headings borrowed from structural anthropology (Claude Levi-Strauss) and clearly reliant on Saussure:
I. Language and Speech. (Saussure's langue and parole) II. Signified and Signifier. III. Syntagm and System. IV. Denotation and Connotation.
This book is written in a dense and terse style, and dates from 1964. For an introductory text, therefore, I would suggest instead Umberto Eco's "Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language". Yet for those who are set on studying Barthes, a very important figure in this field, then this book can be recommended.
Summary: A great outline of semiology
Rating: 5
This project was designed as an introductory text for Barthes' students. It assumes almost no prior knowledge of semiology or critical theory, and introduces the vocabulary of semiotics to the general reader. Barthes is one of the few theorists who writes without an extensive bibliography and notes. However, unlike his other books, Elements of Semiology, for ease of use and reference, includes an index and bibliography. Not exactly beach reading, but great for students of literature and cultural studies.
Linguistic Modeling of Information and Markup Languages: Contributions to Language Technology (Text, Speech and Language Technology)
By Andreas Witt, Dieter Metzing
* Publisher:Springer
* Number Of Pages:266
* Publication Date:2009-12-14
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:9048133300
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9789048133307
Product Description:
This book addresses the interests of a large community of researchers in the fields of XML-based annotation techniques and corpus-based language technology. It covers the most significant recent developments in this field, from multi-layered mark-up and standards to theoretical formalisms to applications. The contributions are based on research projects at international level in text technology, computational linguistics, hypertext modeling and in the domain of standards and tools for language resources. Core topics are: strategies for multi-layered document modeling and processing, mark-up at different levels for textual resources, and text-technological information modeling.
The sections of the book offer an exhaustive coverage of many of the current topics in the fields concerned, especially: Multi-layered Markup; Markup Languages and Language Resources; Markup and Text Types; Markup Languages and Hypertext; Markup and Formalization.
The book may be seen as a contribution to very ambitious goals, connected to the development of an ‘Annotation Science’ (a term recently coined by Nancy Ide), as for example the interoperability of different types of linguistic and textual resources, of corpora and processing tools, as well as the development of methods and annotation techniques applicable to multiple modalities and languages.
History of Language (Reaktion Books - Globalities)
By Steven Roger Fischer
* Publisher:Reaktion Books
* Number Of Pages:240
* Publication Date:1999-12-01
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:1861890516
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9781861890511
Product Description:
It is tempting to take the tremendous rate of contemporary linguistic change for granted. What is required, in fact, is a radical reinterpretation of what language is.
Stephen Roger Fischer begins his books with an examination of the modes of communication used by dolphins, birds and primates as the first contexts in which the concept of 'language' might be applied. As he charts the history of language from the times of Homo erectus, Neanderthal humans and Homo sapiens through to the nineteenth century when the science of linguistics was first developed.
Fishcer analyses the emergence of language as a science and its development as a written form. He investigates society and language from the 19th to mid-20th centuries, charting the rise of pidgin, creole, jargon, slang, dialectology, as well as literature and literacy's relationship to language. From the mid-20th century to the present he demonstrates the effects on language of radio and television, of propaganda, advertising and the media generally.
Finally, Steven Roger Fischer addresses the question of technology and the future and how the electronic media is daily reshaping and re-inventing the world's languages. We are presently in an era of tremendous linguistic change which few notice and this rate of change demands a radical reinterpretation of what language is.
Summary: History of Language - a populist linguist's view
Rating: 5
I rank Fischer with Pinkner and Crystal as one of those gifted writers whicn can make an onerous topic understandable by anyone.
I was particularly interested in the 2nd chapter, on the development of language into humans and its comparison with the communication abilities of other animals and in particular our close cousins the apes.
The rest of the book gives a clear, succinct and comprehensible overview of the field of linguistics.
A great read for anyone with a general interest in linguistics!
Summary: Room for improvement, but still a good read
Rating: 4
The history of language is a fascinating thing. It's a tough thing to trace in some cultures where writing wasn't developed, and where writing was developed we can only guess what it sounded like before audio recording equipment was developed. This book give a good history of all we know about language starting from first principles of where language developed and how it works in lower animals.
The evolution of European languages is what I was most interested in, and I'm pleased with the depth that Fischer goes into. Prose is a difficult medium to use to get across the spread of languages though, and I think that better use of diagrams and maps would have been in order. (Ideally, an animation would be the only way to truly explain it.)
The only other problem I had with this book was the chapter about the history of the study of linguistics, which I didn't find terribly interesting, and I skipped to the end of that part.
Still a good read though.
Summary: Bought it for my wife - ended up reading it myself!
Rating: 5
This book gives a clear, concise, and riveting explanation of the development of language and evolution of languages. Fischer manages to write a treatise that is both scholarly and popular at the same time. The only thing I miss is a chapter on popoualtion movement and languages that exist on the fringes - like the Tierra del Fuego languages.
Noam Chomsky (Reaktion Books - Critical Lives)
By Wolfgang B. Sperlich
* Publisher:Reaktion Books
* Number Of Pages:160
* Publication Date:2006-05-01
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:1861892691
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9781861892690
Product Description:
“The intellectual tradition is one of servility to power, and if I didn’t betray it I’d be ashamed of myself.” This declaration by Noam Chomsky exemplifies the uncompromising radicalism that has long defined his life and work. A linguist, philosopher, prolific author, and political activist, Chomsky is one of the most influential Western intellectuals of the last half-century. Yet it is this very capaciousness that biographers and interpreters have struggled with, and as a result, there are very few readable accounts of Chomsky and his project. Wolfgang B. Sperlich surmounts this challenge with his succinct yet in-depth introduction to the thinker in Noam Chomsky, one of the new titles in the acclaimed Critical Lives series.
Beginning with Chomsky’s formative years as a sixteen-year-old student at the University of Pennsylvania, Sperlich traces his education in linguistics and politics in its rich historical context. He explores Chomsky’s main intellectual influences, particularly in language studies, and charts his strained relationship with mainstream American academia. Sperlich also offers an informed overview of Chomsky’s landmark linguistic contributions as a comprehensive introduction to his work, and he explains the latest developments in Chomskyan linguistics and how they influence research in fields as varied as neuroscience, biology, and evolution. Sperlich is equally attentive to Chomsky's political activism: through Sperlich’s account we follow Chomsky from his pacifist-anarchist lectures and writings of the 1950s and 1960s to his seminal 1988 treatise, Manufacturing Consent, and his relentless criticism of the American government over two decades.
A compact and rich biographical study, Noam Chomsky is a brilliant introduction to one of the most polarizing intellectuals of our time, a thinker whose words continue to pierce the heart of public discourse.
(20060701)
Summary: Worthy Effort
Rating: 3
Decent profile of America's chief foreign policy critic, his life and career. It's a slim volume, part of a series called Critical Lives profiling important cultural figures of the past century. Perhaps the most distinguishing feature are the 40 pages on Chomsky the linguist and philosopher. This is the lesser known phase of his intellectual career, but the one that did much to establish his credibility as a policy critic. Author Sperlich strives manfully to give us a taste of Chomsky's contributions to linguistics, but it's pretty heavy weather for the uninitiated. Yet, no profile would be complete without some inclusion.
On the other hand, we get a good idea of Chomsky's formative years and how they bear on his intellectual evolution. It is Chomsky the activist where that evolution largely plays out and it's rather surprising how consistently true to his roots in socialist anachism he has remained over the years. This fidelity also helps explain his distance from the Marxist left and how the anti-imperial undercurrent of his studies has managed over the years to escape the taint of "communist inspired".
Still and all, I wish the text included more on Chomsky's relations with our corporate and media establishment. For although he's well-known among intellectual and activist circles, the broader public (who stands to gain the most) remains largely ignorant of both his name and perspective. Yet daily, the networks parade the same dreary foreign policy spokespeople before the nation, with the same dreary cliches about our role in the world, and the country drifts ever further from the reality. On the other hand, except for Hugo Chavez as his unofficial press agent, the MIT professor never appears as a counterweight. Not that his presence would act as a magic bullet to imperial policies. Rather his absence represents more broadly the deadly absence of any public alternative to present global policy.One positive thing that can be said about this establishment-- they've certainly found more subtle ways of silencing esteemed dissidents than did the old ham-fisted Soviets. I just wish Sperlich had included more of this key aspect in his otherwise informative little account.
Summary: Concise and insightful in true literati style
Rating: 5
"High thoughts must have high language." -- Aristophanes
Few of us have time to read an entire encyclopedia, and if anyone's life could fill one, it's Chomsky's.
It must have been a huge undertaking to write an introductory book on such a complex figure. Chomsky is primarily a linguist, but it is his controversial philosophical and political views that make him a household name. The trouble is, although so many of us know he is important, few of us know just why. This book comes to the rescue, unveiling the events that made the man whilst delving into his psyche.
To dumb down the subject would hardly be appropriate for anyone interested in Chomsky. Readers will thus be pleased to find the author freely expresses himself in true literati style. The academic rigour provokes much insightful discussion, and yet the subject is kept highly accessibile: there are interesting explanations on linguistics, and we learn about major figures in Chomsky's life, such as Orwell and Russell.
A linear account of his life is followed by a look at his contributions to linguistics and philosophy, and his consequent influence on politics and his relationship with the media -- all in a comprehensive 160 pages
Interaction and the Development of Mind (Studies in Interactional Sociolinguistics)
By A. J. Wootton
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:232
* Publication Date:2005-11-14
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521022665
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521022668
Product Description:
This study identifies key mechanisms through which a young child operates with external knowledge in his/her immediate social context. Central to this is the child's capacity to draw on discourse-based understandings that have become evident in prior interaction. In contrast to studies that analyze development under different headings, such as language, emotions and cognition, Tony Wootton links these aspects in his examination of the state of understanding that exists at any given moment in interaction. The result is a distinctive social constructionist approach to children's development.