Color Categories in Thought and Language
By C. L. Hardin, Luisa Maffi
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:416
* Publication Date:1997-08-28
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521498007
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521498005
Product Description:
Twenty-five years ago, Berlin and Kay argued that there are commonalities of basic color term use that extend across languages and cultures, and probably express universal features of perception and cognition. In this volume, a distinguished team of contributors from visual science, psychology, linguistics and anthropology examine how these claims have fared in the light of current knowledge, surveying key ideas, results and techniques from the study of human color vision as well as field methods and theoretical interpretations drawn from linguistic anthropology.
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction. C. L. Hardin and Luisa Maffi
Part I. The World Color Survey:
2. Color naming across languages. Paul Kay, Brent Berlin, Luisa Maffi and William Merrifield
Part II. Visual Psychologists:
3. The psychophysics of color. Bill Wooten, David L. Miller
4. Physiological mechanisms of color vision. Israel Abramov
5. The neuropsychology of color. Jules Davidoff
6. Insights gained from naming the OSA colors. Robert M. Boynton
7. Beyond the elements: investigations of hue. David L. Miller
8. Color systems for cognitive research. Lars Sivik
Part III. Anthropologists and Linguists:
9. Establishing basic color terms: measures and techniques. Greville G. Corbett and Ian R. L. Davies
10. Color shift: evolution of English color terms from brightness to hue. Ronald Casson
11. Two observations on culture contact and the Japanese color nomenclature system. James Stanlaw
12. Skewing and darkening: dynamics of the cool category. Robert E. MacLaury
13. Genes, opsins, neurons, and color categories: closing the gaps. Stephen L. Zegura
Part IV. Dissenting Voices:
14. It's not really red, green, yellow, blue: an inquiry into perpetual color space. Kimberly Jameson and Roy G. D'Andrade
15. The linguistics of 'color'. John A. Lucy
16. Closing thoughts. Luisa Maffi and C. L. Hardin.
Reviews:
Summary: Excellent treatment of research on color vision & language
Rating: 5
An outstanding edited collection that summarizes the state of research on the linkages among visual neurophysiology and neuropsychology, color perception, color categories, and color naming. Although the emphasis is on the integration of contemporary opponent process theories of color vision and findings from the World Color Survey (WCS) of color terms in a large sample of languages, the volume is unusual in its inclusion of a range of positions, including researchers who strongly question the methods and initial conclusions of the WCS. Several of the individual papers in the collection are among the best brief, clear, and rigorous treatments of important topics in the physiology, psychology, and linguistics of color. The book as a whole is superb case study in how research evolves, in science generally, and in cognitive science more specifically. Advanced undergraduate to graduate level.
Summary: the topic is interesting but the approach a dead-end
Rating: 2
The subject clearly is an interesting one: colour, thought and language: how are they connected? Do we percieve colours differently? However, this book is based on Berlin and Kay's approach. In the lates 60s these two scientists suggested that societies acquire colur terms in a certain order. First, a distinction between black and white is made. Red comes next, then blue or green and so on. However, as research findings came in, Berlin and Kay's model had to be changed continously to accomodate new facts. By now it is so complex that it is hardly a model at all. Furthermore, it might have been the case that the scholar's own views influenced their thesis.
Rather than admit they are mistaken the model was kept and twisted around. Lucy's article at the end of the book clearly shows the fallacy of their approach. All the other articles, however, are based on Berlin and Kay's approach and thus rather worthless.
Lexical Cohesion and Corpus Linguistics (Benjamins Current Topics)
By John Flowerdew, Michaela Mahlberg
* Publisher:John Benjamins Publishing Company
* Number Of Pages:129
* Publication Date:2009-01-14
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:9027222479
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9789027222473
Table of contents
Introduction 1
Lexical cohesion and rhetorical structure
John Morley 5
Lexical bundles and discourse signalling in academic lectures
Hilary Nesi and Helen Basturkmen 23
Cohesive chains and speakers’ choice of prominence
Martin Warren 45
Describing the extended meanings of lexical cohesion in a corpus of
SARS spoken discourse
Winnie Cheng 65
Use of signalling nouns in a learner corpus
John Flowerdew 85
Lexical cohesion: Corpus linguistic theory and its application in English
language teaching
Michaela Mahlberg 103
Index 123
Introduction
Lexical cohesion is about meaning in text. It concerns the way in which lexical
items relate to each other and to other cohesive devices so that textual continuity
is created. The seminal work on lexical cohesion is Halliday and Hasan’s (1976)
Cohesion in English, where it is nevertheless given the shortest treatment of the
five types of cohesion identified by the authors. According to Halliday and Hasan
(1976), lexical cohesion concerns two distinct but related aspects: reiteration and
collocation. Reiteration is “the repetition of a lexical item, or the occurrence of a
synonym of some kind, in the context of reference; that is, where the two occurrences
have the same referent” (Halliday & Hasan 1976:318–9), while collocation
is the use of “a word that is in some way associated with another word in the preceding
text, because it is a direct repetition of it, or is in some sense synonymous
with it, or tends to occur in the same lexical environment” (Halliday & Hasan
1976:319). Collocations may include any words that are in some sort of semantic
relationship, although Halliday and Hasan (1976) draw special attention to superordinates,
hyponyms and antonyms. It is to be noted that the conception of
collocation, which is exemplified as operating primarily across clauses, is different
from the current understanding of the term in corpus linguistics, as is illustrated
in some of the contributions to the present issue.
Halliday and Hasan’s model of lexical cohesion was developed further by
Hasan, in part of her contribution to Halliday and Hasan (1985) (Chapter 5),
where she developed the notions of repetition, synonymy, hyponymy and meronymy.
Continuing within this tradition, Martin (1992) developed a framework for
a more detailed account of lexical relations, including Hasan’s categories. In addition
collocation “was factored out into various kinds of ‘nuclear’ relation” (Martin
2001:38), which consisted of elaboration, extension, and enhancement (as developed
by Halliday 1994) for the clause complex. Martin used the term ‘ideation’ to
refer to lexical relations “as they are deployed to construe institutional activity.”
(Martin 2001:38).
The work referred to thus far is closely related to studies of lexical relations
in discourse by e.g. Winter (1977) (focussing on the anaphoric function of lexis,
referred to as ‘type 3’), Francis (1986) (focussing on what she called ‘anaphoric
nouns’), Tadros (focussing on the cataphoric function of cohesion, including the
lexical variety) and Hoey (1991) (who relates lexical patterning to how lexical cohesion
operates over larger stretches of text). In addition, we can see relations to
the development of an ideational semantics by Halliday and Matthiessen (1999).
The above references (which are far from exhaustive) still emphasise the inter-
clausal nature of lexical cohesion and do not yet draw on corpus linguistic
methodologies or descriptive tools that have only emerged fairly recently. With the
development of corpus linguistic techniques, research into lexical cohesion may
take new routes. Corpora provide huge amounts of real evidence and at the same
time make it possible to focus on specific types of texts and on specific patterns
of words. Thus they can also provide new perspectives on links between parts of
texts. Corpus linguistic work that raises theoretical issues (e.g. Sinclair 2004; Hoey
2005) suggests that lexis needs more attention than it has received in traditional
approaches to language. Consequently, lexical cohesion also needs more attention
— or even an approach that is fundamentally different from the traditional
textlinguistic one.
There are not yet many studies that apply or extend corpus linguistic concepts
to a realm that has traditionally been occupied by textlinguistics. The present volume
brings together different contributions that aim to have a closer look at lexical
cohesion in a corpus linguistic context. However, innovative approaches to lexical
cohesion do not only play a role in corpus linguistics, but also have implications
for language teaching and the way in which cohesion is dealt with in the classroom.
Some of these implications are addressed in the present volume.
The papers in this collection were first published in the International Journal
of Corpus Linguistics. In editing that special issue we were supported by a group
of anonymous reviewers who provided useful comments and advice. We would
like to thank both the reviewers and the authors for taking part in this interesting
project. The papers were originally presented at a colloquium at the 2004 Teaching
and Language Corpora conference (TALC6) in Granada, Spain.
John Flowerdew
Michaela Mahlberg
September 2008
Formulaic Language and the Lexicon
By Alison Wray
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:348
* Publication Date:2002-03-04
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521773091
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521773096
Product Description:
A considerable proportion of our everyday language is "formulaic". It is predictable in form and idiomatic--apparently stored in fixed or semi-fixed chunks. This book explores the nature and purposes of formulaic language, and looks for patterns across the research findings from the fields of discourse analysis, first language acquisition, language pathology and applied linguistics. It gradually builds up a unified description and explanation of formulaic language as a linguistic solution to a larger, non-linguistic, problem, the promotion of self.
Emotions and Multilingualism (Studies in Emotion and Social Interaction)
By Aneta Pavlenko
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:320
* Publication Date:2007-11-05
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521045770
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521045773
Product Description:
How do bilinguals experience emotions? Do they perceive and express emotions similarly or differently in their respective languages? Does the first language remain forever the language of the heart? What role do emotions play in second language learning and in language attrition? Why do some writers prefer to write in their second language? In this provocative and ground-breaking book, Aneta Pavlenko challenges the monolingual bias of modern linguistics and psychology and uses the lens of bi- and multilingualism to offer a fresh perspective on the relationship between language and emotions. This book will appeal to scholars and researchers across many discplines.
Language and Gesture (Language Culture and Cognition)
By David McNeill
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:420
* Publication Date:2000-08-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521771668
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521771665
Product Description:
This landmark study examines the role of gestures in relation to speech and thought. Leading scholars, including psychologists, linguists and anthropologists, offer state-of-the-art analyses to demonstrate that gestures are not merely an embellishment of speech but are integral parts of language itself. The volume contributes to a rapidly growing field of study, offering a wide range of theoretical perspectives. It has strong cross-linguistic and cross-cultural components, examining gestures by speakers of Mayan, Australian, East Asian, as well as English and European languages.
Word Frequency Studies (Quantitative Linguistics)
By Ioan-Iovitz Popescu
* Publisher:Mouton de Gruyter
* Number Of Pages:278
* Publication Date:2009-06-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:3110218526
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9783110218527
Product Description:
Word frequency plays a prominent role in many scientific and applicational fields. The book presents innovative methods in research and new results important for language and text characterization. Based on a general theory, surprising interrelations are shown between word frequency and other linguistic properties. Interrelations between previously known methods and new characteristics such as the h-point and other measures developed in the book are investigated. Furthermore, new statistical tests are introduced.
Strength Relations in Phonology (Studies in Generative Grammar)
By Kuniya Nasukawa, Phillip Backley
* Publisher:Mouton de Gruyter
* Number Of Pages:400
* Publication Date:2009-06-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:3110218585
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9783110218589
Product Description:
This collection of papers explores the theme of phonological strength. The general notion of strength plays a central role in explaining a variety of apparently disparate phonological effects relating to language acquisition, tone and pitch accent patterns, as well as segmental distribution. The authors analyze data from a wide range of languages and from a number of current theoretical perspectives.
New Challenges in Typology: Transcending the Borders and Refining the Distinctions (Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs)
By Patience Epps, Alexandre Arkhipov
* Publisher:Mouton de Gruyter
* Number Of Pages:428
* Publication Date:2009-06-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:3110219050
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9783110219050
Product Description:
This volume continues the tradition of presenting the latest findings by typologists and field linguists, relevant to general linguistic theory and research methodology. Cross-linguistic studies based on large samples and in-depth studies of previously undescribed languages highlight new refinements and revisions to our current understanding of established categories and classifications.
Research and Perspectives on Processing Instruction (Studies on Language Acquisition Sola)
By James F. Lee, Alessandro G. Benati
* Publisher:Mouton de Gruyter
* Number Of Pages:214
* Publication Date:2009-07-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:3110215322
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9783110215328
Product Description:
This volume tracks the impact Processing Instruction has made since its conception. The authors explain Processing Instruction, both its main theoretical underpinnings as well as the guidelines for developing structured input practices. They review the empirical research conducted to date, so that readers have an overview of new research carried out on the effects of Processing Instruction. The work concludes with reflections on the generalizability and limits of the research on Processing Instruction and offers future directions for Processing Instruction research.
Historical Corpus Stylistics (Corpus and Discourse)
By Patrick Studer
* Publisher:Continuum
* Number Of Pages:280
* Publication Date:2008-03-16
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0826494307
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780826494306
Product Description:
Using data from a newspaper corpus, this book offers the first empirical study into the development of style in early mass media. The book analyses how news discourse was shaped over time by external factors, such as the historical context, news production, technological innovation and current affairs, and as such both conformed to and deviated from generic conventions. In this analysis, media style appears as a dynamic concept which is highly sensitive to innovative approaches towards making news not only informative but also entertaining to read. This cutting edge survey will be of interest to academics researching corpus linguistics, media discourse and stylistics.
Stance: Sociolinguistic Perspectives (Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics)
By Alexandra Jaffe
* Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
* Number Of Pages:272
* Publication Date:2009-06-04
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0195331648
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780195331646
Product Description:
All communication involves acts of stance, in which speakers take up positions vis-à-vis the expressive, referential, interactional and social implications of their speech. This book brings together contributions in a new and dynamic current of academic explorations of stancetaking as a sociolinguistic phenomenon. Drawing on data from such diverse contexts as advertising, tourism, historical texts, naturally occurring conversation, classroom interaction and interviews, leading authors in the field of sociolinguistics in this volume explore how linguistic stancetaking is implicated in the representation of self, personal style and acts of stylization, and self- and other-positioning. The analyses also focus on how speakers deploy and take up stances vis-a-vis sociolinguistic variables and the critical role of stance in the processes of indexicalization: how linguistic forms come to be associated with social categories and meanings. In doing so, many of the authors address critical issues of power and social reproduction, examining how stance is implicated in the production, reproduction and potential change of social and linguistic hierarchies and ideologies. This volume maps out the terrain of existing sociolinguistic and linguistic anthropological research on stance, synthesizes how it relates to existing theoretical orientations, and identifies a framework for future research.
Analogy in Grammar: Form and Acquisition
By James P. Blevins, Juliette Blevins
Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Pages:400
Publication Date:2009-07-15
ISBN-10 / ASIN:0199547548
ISBN-13 / EAN:9780199547548
Product Description:
In this book, leading researchers in morphology, syntax, language acquisition, psycholinguistics, and computational linguistics address central questions about the form and acquisition of analogy in grammar. What kinds of patterns do speakers select as the basis for analogical extension? What types of items are particularly susceptible or resistant to analogical pressures? At what levels do analogical processes operate and how do processes interact? What formal mechanisms are appropriate for modelling analogy? The novel synthesis of typological, theoretical, computational, and developmental paradigms in this volume brings us closer to answering these questions than ever before.
Predication Theory: A Case Study for Indexing Theory (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics)
By Donna Jo Napoli
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Number Of Pages:380
Publication Date:1989-05-26
ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521368200
ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521368209
Product Description:
Napoli's study takes a refreshing look at the notions of argument and predicate. Recent discussions of predication with Government and Binding theory stress the configurational properties of the phrases involved, and Napoli argues that this has led to proposals for more and more elaborate syntactic structures that still fail to give genuinely explanatory accounts. She presents a convincing case for the idea of predicate as a semantic primitive that cannot be defined simply by looking at the lexicon or simply at semantic structure, and offers a theory of predication where the key to the subject-predicate relationship is theta role assignment. Napoli then offers principles for the coindexing of a predicate with its subject role player. The coindexing principles use Chomsky's 1986 notion of barriers, but this study argues that binding is sensitive to thematic structure rather than to configurational notions such as Government and C-Command. Napoli's approach successfully handles the data traditionally considered in discussions of predication, as well as constructions that are not generally treated in the literature. Although exemplification is from English and Italian, the conclusions apply to all configurational languages.
Building Natural Language Generation Systems (Studies in Natural Language Processing)
By Ehud Reiter, Robert Dale
* Publisher:Cambridge University Press
* Number Of Pages:272
* Publication Date:2000-01-28
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0521620368
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780521620369
Product Description:
This book explains how to build Natural Language Generation (NLG) systems--computer software systems that automatically generate understandable texts in English or other human languages. NLG systems use knowledge about language and the application domain to automatically produce documents, reports, explanations, help messages, and other kinds of texts. The book covers the algorithms and representations needed to perform the core tasks of document planning, microplanning, and surface realization, using a case study to show how these components fit together. It is essential reading for researchers interested in NLP, AI, and HCI; and for developers interested in advanced document-creation technology.
This book explains how to build Natural Language Generation (NLG) systems - computer software systems which use techniques from artificial intelligence and computational linguistics to automatically generate understandable texts in English or other human languages, either in isolation or as part of multimedia documents, Web pages, and speech output systems. Typically starting from some non-linguistic representation of information as input, NLG systems use knowledge about language and the application domain to automatically produce documents, reports, explanations, help messages, and other kinds of texts. The book covers the algorithms and representations needed to perform the core tasks of document planning, microplanning, and surface realization, using a case study to show how these components fit together. It also discusses engineering issues such as system architecture, requirements analysis, and the integration of text generation into multimedia and speech output systems.
Frontmatter:i Contents:vii Figures:xii Preface:xvii 1 - Introduction:1 2 - National Language Generation in Practice: 23 3 - The Architecture of a Natural Language Generation System: 41 4 - Document Planning:79 5 - Microplanning:114 6 - Surface Realisation:159 7 - Beyond Text Generation:198 Appendix - nlg Systems Mentioned in This Book:229 References:231 Index:243
Summary: A worthy introduction to NLG (natural language generation)
Rating: 4
Summary: Reiter and Dale provide a useful introduction to NLG.
Review: This book is probably the first of its kind. Although there has been considerable work in natural language summarization, research in producing natural language is in its infancy. The authors draw upon actual NLG systems to illustrate the techinical issues involved. They are careful to point out that NLG may not be the best solution for the reader's practical problems. For instance, human writers might produce better text, or mail-merge programs might do the job (albeit with lower quality) at a significantly lower price. A shortcoming -- perhaps a necessary one -- is that the authors hesitate to describe research and development trends for the past decade. The reason does not appear to be a shortage of the quality and quantity of NLG R&D, because the authors do analyze trends for the 1970's and the 1980's. Are the authors hesitant to criticize their contemporary colleagues? A blunt trends analysis would have been helpful, particularly for readers new to the field.
Descriptionary: A Thematic Dictionary (Facts on File Library of Language and Literature)
By Marc McCutcheon
* Publisher:Facts on File
* Number Of Pages:644
* Publication Date:2005-02-28
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:081605925X
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780816059256
Product Description:
Helping writers, students, researchers, and general readers when they're left scrambling for words, this thematic dictionary picks up where other references leave off. Completely updated, this easy-to-use third edition is an invaluable resource when looking for a descriptive or technical term, when a person knows the word but not its meaning, or when a reader knows the subject but not the specific word. Descriptionary, Third Edition contains thousands of descriptions of terms organized into more than 20 subject categories. Alphabetized definitions of related words are broken down into subjects and sub-headings, making it easy for readers to find the words they need. This indispensable third edition contains an expanded and updated section on technology, including computers and the Internet, as well as many new sections.
Amazon.com Review:
What do you call the reference of choice for those maddening moments when "you know what it is, but not what it's called?" A Descriptionary, of course! This handy book provides thousands of definitions organized thematically rather than alphabetically. A great reference for writers, students, teachers, crossword puzzle buffs, or any lover of language.
Summary: Buyer Beware!
Rating: 1
The problem I have and other people will have with this book is what it contains and is not made explicit in the description of the book. This book contains explicit language and descriptions of human anatomy and sexuality. Some of the things described in here are very graphic indeed! This book is similar in some respects to the urban dictionary found on the internet. This book is not appropriate for all people and all age groups. I don't believe there is anything wrong with this book for most adults. It is inappropriate for any child and some adults. I had this book available to children and was not aware of this until someone showed me. Of course, shame on me for not instantly trying to look up such things but who would suspect with an innocent cover and no warning of what's inside.
Summary: It is what is says to a T
Rating: 5
The Descriptionary is exactly what is says, "The book for when you know what it is, but not what it's called." Though the book isn't an absolute, fail-safe way of finding everything and anything, it does have a wide variety of terms and ranges. Being a writer, I've found that this book has saved me a lot of grief. If I need to be educated about the kinds of rocks that can be found in caves, all I have to do is look up caves and it gives me the name and description of as many cave related things as they could possibly think of. It saves me from having to do a mountain of research on a subject that I touch on for only a few pages. It also has some slang that is not usually seen in the dictionary, such as what "BTW" means in those IM messages. Fast, easy, and since I'm a bookworm, fun as well. It can't get much better than that.
Summary: A great resource for writers.
Rating: 5
Pardon my bluntness, but this book is fantastic to have around when you're having a 'brain fart'. I found my copy at a thrift store about five years ago, but having just this evening needed to pull it out for an answer, I thought I'd post a review about how indispensable it's been to me over the years.
It's a great book if you're clueless and you need to sound like you know what you're talking about. I wrote a story once about army doctors and the "Military" and "Medicine" sections were my bible during that time. I wrote a story about pirates and the "Naval" and "Sailing" sections were my go to, then.
Just tonight I was writing a description of an attic and couldn't remember what those little windows that stick out of sloping roofs are called. I flipped to the "Architecture" section and within maybe ten seconds, after skimming two pages, I had my answer. Dormer windows. They're called dormer windows. Thank you, Descriptionary!
Summary: Love It
Rating: 5
I love this book! Everyone must get it ASAP. You will learn believe me.
Summary: Reverse look-up for specific words
Rating: 4
This "descriptionary" is based on the premise that sometimes we know the function of an object but not its name. McCutcheon has thus divided his book into categories, not much different in theory from the traditional thesaurus structure. For instance, if you want to know the word for the paw motion cats and kittens do that looks like kneading, you look up first the main section on "Animals," then the subcategory "Cats", and finally find the word: "milk-treading." The main categories are broad, including finance, clothing, weapons, sports, and many others. My main complaint is that it is not comprehensive enough. I would like to see a volume twice as thick so I would have a greater chance of finding the word I wanted.
Despite its flaws, DESCRIPTIONARY offers word help when it is most needed.
Biography of the English Language (First Edition)
By C.M. Millward
* Publisher:Delmar
* Number Of Pages:386
* Publication Date:1988-11
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0030594316
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780030594311
Summary: Technical and trendy
Rating: 3
Millward has written an interesting explanation of the evolution of English, but her modern, progressive, anti-traditional, anti-prescriptive, pro-change bias often gets in the way. Her first mistake is to describe language as "conventional" rather than traditional, as if people create language by committee instead of inheriting it from others and passing on it others. Her second mistake is to describe language as "arbitrary," a rather loose use of the word for someone with little good to say about prescriptive arbiters of language. That's her third mistake: She cannot bring herself to admit that change can be bad and that prescription often serves good purposes, like making it easier to conceive and communicate difficult thoughts, and making it possible for people to communicate with other people from different times and places.
Summary: Probably the best book on the subject I've ever seen
Rating: 5
There are books on the phonology and such of the English language. There are books on the history of the English language. There are books on the English language today, discussing how it varies from place to place. This book has the distinction of covering all, and covering them all very well. The historical linguistics part is particularly good, whth complete and detailed chapters on the stages from Old English to the present day, but going back to Indo-European. But the first chapter of the book, on present-day English phonology, is also very good. And so is the last one, on "English around the world."
The only point that could be criticized is the price -- extremely high. I got my copy as a used book on Amazon Marketplace. But I doubt that many would really want to pay over $100 for a book, no matter how good.
Summary: Brilliant book from a brilliant author
Rating: 5
I was fortunate to have Celia Millward as a professor at Boston University. This book was the textbook for her own class on the history of the English language. The book offers an excellent history of the English language that I think any English speaker would find simply fascinating. We use this language every day, so it is interesting to know where it came from! It is also very readable and enjoyable--Mrs. Millward's wit and humor comes across as strongly as her knowledge as an authority on the subject. I highly recommend it.
Summary: Fast Shipping
Rating: 4
The item was shipped very quickly, however, it was unclear at the time that I bought it which edition the book was.
Summary: Used in a "History of the English Language" Course
Rating: 5
I used this text in a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga "History of the English Language" course for English majors. Millward does a wonderful job of explaining the information and her examples are recognizable and helpful. you will find yourself reading part out loud as you try and discover your own language usage. In fact, I think I would have enjoyed this book even reading it on my own. Language History is not explored enough, and this is a great text with which to begin
Problem/Solution: A Reference for ESL Writers (College ESL)
By Patricia Byrd, Beverly Benson
* Publisher:Heinle ELT
* Number Of Pages:270
* Publication Date:1994-03-31
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0838441254
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780838441251
Product Description:
This quick reference guide focuses on problem areas in the grammar of written academic English. It is structured for self-paced guided study with easy reference lists brief exercises for quick review and easy-to-read charts.
Summary: A very good reference for non-native writers
Rating: 5
I've made this a required reference book for some of my ESL writing classes for advanced graduate students. It is a collection of problems (mostly with grammar) that non-native speakers encounter when writing. Multiple solutions to the problem are given for each entry. This book uses a lot of vocabulary that is common to writing handbooks and grammar texts, so it might not be appropriate for beginning writers. It's also to be used as reference, rather than a textbook or a general writing guide. If you are looking for something to keep nearby as you write to answer questions about grammar in writing, this is a perfect book for you.
The Routledge Companion to English Language Studies (Routledge Companions)
By Janet Maybin, Joan Swann
* Publisher:Routledge
* Number Of Pages:336
* Publication Date:2009-08-13
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0415401739
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780415401739
0415401739
0415403383
0203878957
9780415401739
9780415403382
9780203878958
Product Description:
The Routledge Companion to English Language Studies is an accessible guide to the major topics, debates and issues in English Language Studies. This authoritative collection includes entries written by well-known language specialists from a diverse range of backgrounds who examine and explain established knowledge and recent developments in the field. Covering a wide range of topics such as globalization, gender and sexuality and food packaging, this volume provides critical overviews of:
approaches to researching, describing and analyzing English
the position of English as a global language
the use of English in texts, practices and discourses
variation and diversity throughout the English-speaking world.
Fully cross-referenced throughout and featuring useful definitions of key terms and concepts, this is an invaluable guide for teachers wishing to check, consolidate or update their knowledge, and is an ideal resource for all students of English Language Studies.
CONTENTS
List of illustrations vii
Contributors viii
Acknowledgements xii
1 Introduction 1
Janet Maybin and Joan Swann
Part I The fabric of English 9
2 Describing English 11
Caroline Coffin and Kieran O’Halloran
3 Texts and practices 42
Ann Hewings and Sarah North
4 From variation to hybridity 76
Rajend Mesthrie and Joan Swann
Further reading 108
Part II Issues and debates 111
5 English and globalization 113
Alastair Pennycook
6 English and creativity 122
Rob Pope
7 ‘Hearts and minds’: persuasive language in ancient and modern
public debate 134
Guy Cook
8 Computer-mediated English 146
Brenda Danet
CONTENTS
vi
9 English language teaching in the Outer and Expanding Circles 157
Suresh Canagarajah and Selim Ben Said
10 English at school in England 171
Richard Andrews
11 Institutional discourse 181
Celia Roberts
12 Using English in the legal process 196
Diana Eades
13 Language, gender and sexuality 208
Deborah Cameron
14 Perspectives on children learning English: from structures to
practices 218
Barbara Mayor
15 Academic literacies: new directions in theory and practice 232
Brian Street
16 Spelling as a social practice 243
Mark Sebba
17 Multilingual discourses on wheels and public English in Africa:
a case for ‘vague linguistique’ 258
Sinfree Makoni and Busi Makoni
18 Domesticating the Other: English and translation 271
Susan Bassnett
Bibliography 282
Index 314
The Companion to English Language Studies is designed as a resource for those
studying English language at undergraduate or postgraduate level. It will also be
of interest to those teaching English, and others who wish to check, consolidate
or update their knowledge of an area of English Language Studies. The book
focuses mainly on contemporary English Language Studies (for more detailed
accounts of the history of English, see the suggestions in Further Reading at the
end of Part I) and draws on work by language specialists from a range of backgrounds.
It takes into account the contemporary position of English in the world
and recent developments in the study of the English language and its use, as we
explain below.
First, English is affected by its position as a global language, at a point in
history when we are witnessing accelerating globalisation, mass movements of
peoples and increasing intercultural communication on an unprecedented scale.
On the one hand, the number of speakers of English is increasing: it has been
estimated that one in four people in the world currently speaks English (Graddol
2006) and that English will be spoken by three billion people, or 40 per cent
of the global population, in 2040 (Crystal 2004). On the other hand, it is also
the case that the global dominance of English has been challenged by other
languages, for instance Mandarin. Furthermore, the dramatic increase in the
number of speakers of English predicted by Crystal relates mainly to those who
speak English as an additional language rather than to native speakers. English
is spoken within multilingual contexts across the globe, and the study of English
in such contexts is raising new questions about scholarly concepts and explanations
which have been previously accepted within the field.
In addition to addressing the dynamic global role of English, the contents of
this volume reflect an important two-way conceptual shift that occurred towards
the end of the twentieth century, i.e. the ‘social turn’ in language studies and a
parallel ‘turn to discourse’ in the social sciences more generally. These two
‘turns’ both involved an increasing interest among researchers and theorists in
the ‘processual’, ‘constitutive’ and ‘ideological’ dimensions of language.
Increasingly, language use is seen not simply as reflecting the identities of its
speakers, and the cultural contexts in which it is spoken, but as reproducing
institutions, identities and cultures. The discursive turn within the social sciences
has involved recognition of the significance of discourse, or particular ways of
speaking and writing, for the articulation and local management of a range of
social processes. References to a ‘postmodern turn’ are also found among
JANET MAYBIN AND JOAN SWANN
2
researchers who emphasise the fluid and dynamic nature of language, and the
highly contextualised nature of language meaning.
Within language studies, a social approach has been evident in the academic
area of sociolinguistics from its inception in the 1960s, and in linguistic anthropology
for rather longer. But social concerns are now much more salient, even in
fields such as grammar. There is increasing interest in English as a means of
communication, with all the contingent social and cultural factors which this
entails, and an increasing tendency to conceptualise language and literacy as
ideological social practice. English language specialists now share with psychologists,
sociologists, anthropologists and historians areas of interest such as
language and identity, power and ideology, and the politics of representation,
and they also draw on a shared body of critical theory. The social turn in
language studies is evident in the more socially-orientated and contextualised
studies discussed in the chapters within Part I of the book, and in social, contextual
and critical approaches presented in the chapters within Part II.
The changing global role of English, processes of globalisation and intellectual
trends in the academy are all reshaping the nature of English Language
Studies, and reinvigorating the ways in which English is conceptualised,
described and analysed.
Children's Language: Consensus and Controversy
By Ray Cattell
* Publisher:Continuum
* Number Of Pages:277
* Publication Date:2007-08-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:082648879X
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780826488794
Product Description:
The popular notion of how children come to speak their first language is that their parents teach them words, then phrases, then sentences, then longer utterances. Although there is widespread agreement amongst linguists that this account is wrong, there is much less agreement as to how children really learn language. This revised edition of Ray Cattell's bestselling textbook aims to give readers the background necessary to form their own views on the debate, and includes accessible summaries of key thinkers, including Chomsky, Halliday, Karmiloff-Smith and Piaget.
Language and Literacy
By Rachel Whittaker, Anne McCabe, Mick O'Donnell
* Publisher:Continuum
* Number Of Pages:306
* Publication Date:2006-12-08
* ISBN-10 / ASIN:0826489478
* ISBN-13 / EAN:9780826489470
Product Description:
This volume examines the relationship between language and literacy from a systemic functional perspective. The book starts with a retrospective view on the development of systemic functional linguistics hand-in-hand with language education practices, written by eminent linguists Michael Halliday and Ruqaiya Hasan, and then shows how this approach has developed, and informed language education policy and theory. The second section presents examples of how considerations of literacy education are carried out in educational systems around the world based on systemic functional linguistics. The contributors examine issues such as metadiscourse, genre, cultural politics, and how systemic functional grammar can help to raise literacy standards. The final section looks at literacy in more specific disciplines at school and university, including history, literature, and student writing. The essays collected here present a comprehensive analysis of language and literacy from a systemic functional perspective, written by academics at the forefront of the field. It will be of interest to researchers in systemic functional linguistics, or language and education.