Abstract This paper looks at how there are many strategies that can be used within the ESL classroom that will assist both ESL adults and children in their goals of effectively maneuvering through their new English-speaking world. It examines how adult ESL learners are especially helped by conversation and communication styles, as the subtleties of the impact that culture has upon language may be one of the hardest lessons they have to learn.
From the Paper "There are many strategies and or styles for the integration of communication into the ESL classroom, several of which are outlined by Peyton and Crandall in Philosophies and Approaches in Adult ESL Literacy Instruction. Within this work Peyton and Crandall briefly review each of the five major ESL approaches: Freirean or participatory education, whole language, language experience approach, learner writing and publishing, and competency-based education. Within all five of these proven successful approaches the reader can see the import and impact of interpersonal communication on the learner."
Abstract This paper examines the use of anaphors, an element of language that can only be understood contextually, in the English language. More specifically, an anaphor is defined as an element of speech that depends for its reference on the reference of another element. The paper looks at the syntactic constraints on anaphoric reference and how the use of anaphors can completely change the meaning of a sentence. Also discussed is the importance of sequencing in language and how anaphors refer to sequential aspects of language patterning.
From the Paper "One could argue, of course, that either way, this is irrelevant, as the two ideas are interrelated"when boring people visit one's home, life often feels quite boring, just as visiting boring people can itself be quite boring! However, to determine the precise semantic meaning in a sequential fashion, one must understand the context the speaker is speaking from. Is it that dear Aunt Mary and Uncle Bob are boring people, and the speaker finds these unwelcome visiting relatives to be unpleasant intruders in his or her happy home" Or is the speaker dreading suffering through a visit to these two individuals? home for a dreary Thanksgiving of dry talk and dry turkey?"
Abstract Presents conflicting approaches to education of deaf children or children with vocal language impairments. Discusses educational philosophy and American Sign Language (ASL).
From the Paper "While sign languages are generally regarded as languages that are most useful for individuals with hearing or verbal communication impairments, research suggests that such languages are also useful in other contexts ..."
Abstract Discusses general trends, individual variability in children's phonological development, PA as a precursor to literacy, both reading and writing, and the Reading Recovery Program.
From the Paper "Phonological Awareness: A Precursor to Literacy
Phonological awareness (PA) is defined by Cupples and Iacono (2000) as the ability to focus consciously on the sound structure of language. It is assessed in tasks that involve the manipulation of the ..."
Abstract This paper recommends an integrated approach to the development of the key skills of reading and writing in order to challenge and motivate students. Discusses the act of engaged reading and content area courses.
From the Paper "The relationship between reading and writing is seen as one of great intimacy. The connections between spoken and written language are well established in that spoken language provides the ..."
Abstract Discusses differences in conflict negotiation strategies and how they vary according to different dimensions of culture, including individualistic versus collectivist, masculinity versus femininity, and cultural time orientation.
From the Paper "The purpose of the present study was to examine, via a qualitative review of relevant scholarly literature, coupled with an analysis of data obtained from popular press
Abstract This paper discusses the use of Yiddish as a first language in Ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities compared to the use of the local vernacular. It examines how one hypothesis often put forward to explain this is the history of modernization in the Jewish faith as a whole, and the effects this had on the use of the vernacular among different Haredim. It explores the daily patterns of the use of the vernacular by different groups of Orthodox Jews (Haredim) in various places, including London, Philadelphia, and Israel. The paper also looks at the effects that outside pressures have on the use of Yiddish and on issues of identity for Jews, in general, and includes reflections upon the issue of the use of Yiddish by Orthodox Jews in more general sociological terms, in terms of language and ethnicity, the use of language to determine group identity, and the use of language to define religious identity.
Outline
Summary
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Sociology of Language
Chapter 2: The Adoption of Yiddish by Orthodox Jewish Communities
Chapter 3: The Use of the Yiddish vs. the Vernacular Amongst Orthodox Jewish Communities
Chapter 4: Conclusions
From the Paper "Yiddish was used, but was not, however, liked, by the majority of Jews. Yiddish language books of ritual or religious significance were banned until the 18th century. By the 20th century, however, Yiddish was an article of faith for many Eastern European Jews, which was seen as a new threat to the non-Yiddish speaking Jews; the Orthodox defenders of Yiddish, however, continued to see Yiddish as a glorious and romanticized language, which left the Hissidic Orthodox Jews to reign uncontested in Eastern Europe. This fervour became tied in to the diaspora cultural-autonomist pro-Yiddish movement which developed in the Eastern European countries, in response to the increasing threats from Nazism and Communism."
Tags: haredim, heritage, identity, eastern, europe
Abstract This paper explores the theory of Alfred Tarski, which he published in 1936 called "Wahrheitsbegriff". It explains how he investigates the schema of colloquial language and formal language to prove whether such language usage is true in its context and logic or not. It discusses how theorists challenged Tarski's controversial equation, which he presents as his T schema for proving statements/ sentences true. It also states that most theorists disagree with this T schema "p" is true if p.
From the Paper "Tarski presumes that the rule for this equation is true if p is proven false. To achieve the desired result, he put forward the condition that in the T schema if a sentence is S then p is a replica or in another word S= p. However p will have to be untrue for S to be true. In formal language he perceives that correctness means that there is no ambiguity of truthfulness or untruthfulness of the existence of a sentence/phrase. Inconsistency according to him exists when the parts of the sentence does not conform to the object of the sentence (Tarski 1944)."
Abstract Language as a tradition and experience illustrates the holistic effect of language to individuals. In the field of social psychology, it is posited that language determines thought, and this hypothesis, called the theory of linguistic relativity, is proposed by Benjamin Whorf and Edward Sapir. The theory shows how language determines people's perceptions of their social realities as experienced and related to within their society. Chang-Rae Lee ("Mute in an English-Only World"), Dennis Baron ("Don"t Make English Official-Ban it Instead"), and Amy Tan ("Mother Tongue") confront this issue in discourses on language as tradition and experience. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the authors" works and arguments about language and its function and meaning for the individual and society.
From the Paper "Baron uses the academic approach in portraying English as a tradition, a functional system of codes that enables people to interact with each other in the society. Using this as his primary thesis, Baron argues that English should not be implemented as the country's national language, since ?it's hardly even English anymore.? The hybridization of English in America is the result of the assimilation of other languages of people with various nationalities who immigrate and live in America. Because of the emergence of hybrid, pseudo-American languages, it cannot be possible to determine the "purity" of English as a language anymore. Thus, implementing English per se defeats the purpose of language for society?that is, to let people interact and understand each other. However, Baron's argument does not conclude definitively, since as he confesses, "there is no obvious candidate" that would be fitting to become an alternative to English. Thus, Baron's arguments is halted and brought to a standstill, since his arguments against the language pertains only to its function as tradition, and not as an argument against English as a language experienced by its users."
Abstract This paper provides a contrast study of these two translation theories and focuses on their fundamental theoretical assumptions in regard to translations. The contrast also includes a critical analysis of the translation theories. This paper shows that both the Russian Formalist Movement and the Translation Studies Scholars concurred that an ideal translation was supposed to be accurate and consistent as to the receptor language.
From the Paper "These formalists attempted to isolate and define what they called literariness. They focused upon the things they saw as literary facts. They simply separated literary artifacts from other disciplines like psychology, sociology and cultural history. They literally treated books as being human and in a sense having a life of its own and from that aimed to distinguish what was different. In a new text for example, they worked to see the things that made the text new, creative or innovative."
Abstract The project addresses not only the cultural assumptions that are involved in texts used in language teaching, but also the kinds of cultural knowledge and skills that are required by language learners for comprehending and interpreting these texts. The paper looks at the way we conceptualize the world and how it seems to acquire some language-and-culture specific features. The project focuses not only on the different conceptualization of knowledge and experience of the world within different cultures, but also on the way it is fixed in language.
Contents:
General Introduction
Theoretical Assumptions
Practical Implications
Method
Data Analysis
Results and Discussion
References
From the Paper "The variety of interpretations of culture and its relationship to language is a theme of continuing and possibly endless debate. Generally speaking, language is not transparent and neutral. It is a site in which beliefs, values and points of view are produced, encoded and contested. Language thus reflects culture, and language and culture are inseparable. Sherzer (1987) views language as cultural and claims that it is language use in discourse that creates, recreates and modifies culture."
This is an expository essay, comparing and contrasting the story of the Tower of Babel vs. the evolution of language, with a specific concenration on the English language.
Abstract This essay begins with a quotation taken from the Bible, describing the story of the Tower of Babel. It then proceeds to break down language, from its origins through its evolution down to modern times. It attempts to portray that although Babel is a myth, its premise is true-all language and thus people were cut from essentially the same cloth.
From the Paper ?And the Lord said, ?Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.?? (Genesis 11:6-7) It is the humans? ability to communicate through spoken word which differentiates us from our primitive counterparts. The legend of Babel identifies language as the tie that binds a society together and denotes a direct correlation between language and the advancement of a particular society. According to tradition, after the Lord destroyed the world by flood, the sons of Noah, who spoke one language and who were descendants of the same origin, were given the task to repopulate the earth. Perpetually plagued by the sins of Adam, they were driven to build a tower so great that they themselves would be seen as gods. Therefore the Lord debilitated them by removing their ability to communicate with one another, which forced them to diverge into separate, distinct societies. Although the story grossly over simplifies both the complex history of man and the evolution of language, its premise does have some merit. Popular modern languages can be traced ancestrally to a few families. Furthermore, languages that have survived - English as the most prominent example - are considerably indebted to the influence of the powerful societies that spoke them."
This paper is a research project that studies recent additions to the English language, the word formation processes, and the general subject areas to which these new words belong.
Abstract This paper reports that, to get a representative sample of new words, all 101 entries in the T, U, and V sections of the Oxford Dictionary of New Words, published in 1997, were used as a sample. The author states that the sample reveals a very low degree of borrowing from other languages; instead, internal word formation processes, such as compounding, semantic change, derivation, and abbreviation are used to form the new words. The paper concludes that, as long as English is a dominant global language, it is unlikely that this trend towards internal coinage in favor of borrowing will change.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Method
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
From the Paper "Instead, compounding was used to form the majority (40%) of the new words in the sample. These were often adjective-noun or noun-noun compounds such as "tight building syndrome" and "theme park". This process produces words that are usually self-evident in a simple, logical manner, and it is hardly surprising that it is as frequently used in the formation of new words today as it has been throughout the history of the language.Derivation processes were used to form about 12% of the sample. As well as existing affixes being attached to existing words ("tankie"), a number of new prefixes and suffixes such as ?-ware? and ?techno-? were attached to pre-existing words to create new lexical items ("technobabble")."
Abstract This paper looks at the Yiddish language, which originated in Eastern Europe and was brought to the Western World towards the end of the 19th century. The writer includes a history of the language and shows which Yiddish words have become common used words in the English language today. Finally, the paper offers some data collected by a study at Columbia University about the dialect.
From the Paper "The Yiddish dialect is commonly used in the American language. There are dozens of Yiddish words that have been assimilated into American slang speak. Yiddish has impacted American culture in a variety of ways. Yiddish culture, drama and writing influenced the American theatre scene and a large body of literary works through the early 1900s. It was in fact greatly popularized during this period of time, and many Yiddish playwrights and poets were well known and respected within the United States. However of late the press suggested that Yiddish is steadily declining within the United States, to the point of virtual extinction."
Abstract This paper emphasize different aspects of language that show it to be an important factor in human history, using the history of the English language as an example. The paper delves deep into the roots of the English language and, point by point, shows that language was crucial in the development of the history of humanity.
From the Paper "There were several historic events that brought on these changes. One was the work of Shakespeare, who has become a key player in the relating of the history of the English language. Another was the invention of printing, which helped to unify the language under a common reading and writing system, which led to a somewhat unified speaking system. Early Modern English then later on turned into Present Era English, which was helped along and distinguished by several things. First the publication of English dictionaries again helped to unify the language as a whole (Roberts 429). Also the development of an English grammar system, which allowed for a somewhat uniform way of teaching English to children and preserving the language as well (Roberts 429)."
