This paper looks at how understanding the social and political context of the time of Samuel Beckett's play "Endgame" enhances the significance of the play's meaning.
Abstract The paper examines how the play "Endgame" is related to reality and discusses how it is haunted by the prospect of universal death. The paper looks at how "Endgame" is a play on language and shows how, ultimately, the play is a manifestation of the social and political context of the time.
From the Paper "Samuel Beckett's theatre is widely assumed as a no-man's-land, a place at the end of the world, devoid of any humanity. The impression we are left with at the end of his plays is that of a timeless theatre, showing an essential and absolute humanity, which is hardly prone to historical upheavals, or even to historical variations. This is also true of Endgame, Beckett's third play, first written in French and performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 1957. The play is haunted by the prospect of universal death. Indeed, Beckett imprisons his characters in a room which might be the only place on earth to house human life."
Abstract This paper discusses how the term code switching" is actually used to describe those cases wherein a bilingual speaks to another bilingual with the same linguistic background and changes from one language to another in the course of conversation. It provides an overview of the grammar of code switching, some constraints associated with the concept, a description of the quantitative and qualitative differences that affect language acquisition and use, and the code-switching differences between children and adults. A critical review of the peer-reviewed and scholarly literature to this end is followed by a summary of the research and salient findings in the conclusion.
Outline:
Review and Discussion
Grammar of Code Switching
Constraints of Code Switching
Language Acquisition: Quantitative vs. Qualitative Differences
Children vs. Adult Code Switching
Social Factors and Code Switching
Conclusion
From the Paper "According to Byram (2000), "Just like words, the voice (the way of pronouncing words and phrases, intonation and rhythm), gestures of various kinds, visual signs, posture, gaze, proxemic positioning and so on contain information which can be captured and used by the interlocutor in an appropriate and efficient manner, irrespective of the language and culture and in spite of certain quantitative and qualitative differences" (p. 446). In this regard, Meisel (2000) suggests that language acquisition studies have much to gain from investigating the simultaneous acquisition of two (or more) "first languages": "By analyzing the development of two linguistic competences in one individual, we may be capable of sorting out more easily to what extent the underlying logic of development is determined by the grammatical system to be acquired, or the particular way of human language processing as opposed to properties of the individual or of the communicative situation. There is, in fact, a steadily increasing amount of research in this area" (p. 344)."
A comparison of the articles "Dell Hymes, Kenneth Burke's 'Identification,' and the Birth of Sociolinguistics" by Jay Jordan and "Do You Speak American?" by John Baugh.
Abstract The paper discusses how Dell Hymes and Kenneth Burke offer compelling insight into the foundations of sociolinguistics using the key term of "Identification". The paper then analyzes Jay Jordan's scholarly article "Dell Hymes, Kenneth Burke's 'Identification,' and the Birth of Sociolinguistics" and contrasts it to John Baugh's popular press article "Do You Speak American?" The paper shows how, while Jordan's article is based on hard research without taking any one side, Baugh's article on Ebonics is based on the author's opinions and fueled by media exposure and political impact.
Outline:
Background
Issue
Scholarly Article
Popular Press Article
Discussion
From the Paper ""Sociolinguistics is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context on the way language is used. Sociolinguistics overlaps to a considerable degree with pragmatics" (Wikipedia). The study of sociolinguistics offers a view on how subtle or pronounced language variation can be a result of social variables such as ethnicity, religion, status, and level of education (Wikipedia). The importance of the study of sociolinguistics can be applied to a variety of applications; from legal precedence in a court of law to defining the true meaning, or as Kenneth Burke defined, the "identification" of the meaning of words in which context, setting, and other social factors are applied (Jordan)."
Tags: Ebonics, African-Americans, dialect, language
Abstract In this article, the writer first enumerates the most essential linguistic human rights (LHR) that the Spanish-speaking community in the US should have. The writer then discusses this issue with relation to internal usage at the workplace. The latter half of the paper puts the spotlight on bilingual education in the US schooling system as a contested LHR arena, particularly in Latino dominated territories. In this regard, the writer refers to Cummin's common underlying proficiency hypothesis as a first step in dispelling fallacious notions concerning bilingual education and then briefly mentions several supplemental steps that can bolster and secure the institution of bilingual education.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
The Need for LHR in Various Societal Domains
Language Rights in the Workplace
The Workplace as an Arena for Language Acquisition
Linguistic Human Rights and Bilingual Education
Language Acquisition in Theory: Cummin's CUP Hypothesis
A Multi-Tiered Approach in Empowering Bilingual Education
Conclusion
From the Paper "In addition to the aforementioned, Del Valle contends that theorists and professionals in the field of bilingualism, in many cases, are not united in the fight for bilingual education. The California Proposition 227 had its genesis in certain Latino families who denounced bilingual education and withheld their children from going to school. This was, of course, seized upon by the media and blown out of proportion. Thus, efforts must be made to educate parents and foster stronger ties between language minority parents and experts in agitating for language rights. Another step in ameliorating the tension is the role of the bilingual educators themselves. Del Valle rightly points out that they hold the key to the success of bilingual education."
Abstract This paper applies the Orwellian term of doublespeak to modern politics and media. Specifically, the paper attempts to show ways of spotting doublespeak and other methods of deception used in speeches by using quotes from George W. Bush and major media outlets as subjects for analysis.
From the Paper "Anyone can use doublespeak, and more and more are. A person isn't cheating on a test they're just resourceful; they're not promiscuous, just a swinger. When a person is getting closer to death they are in their golden years. Doublespeak does not have to be used as a permission devise, it can also be used as a beneficial motivator. Parents can tell a child that they "got to take a bath," would the child want to "get to take bath too?" Here the child would see the bath as something that he is fortunate enough to enjoy, and not something forced upon him."
Tags: orwellian bush politics, war on terror, religious
Abstract In this paper, the writer explains that, although the concept of wilderness preservation seems idyllic and mostly undisputed by Americans, it perpetuates Western society's harmful dualistic and disassociated relationship with nature. The writer believes that the concept of wilderness is inept in transmitting the potential solutions and social transformations necessary to address the widespread environmental crisis. The writer argues that the concept of wilderness is based upon an American ideal, which cannot be matched by other nations and often times by its very inhabitants. The writer then suggests that, instead of wilderness, nature would be a unifying term for the environmental movement.
From the Paper The concepts of nature and wilderness can also be strange and non-useful to inhabitants of The United States. For instance, oftentimes individuals who reside in urban and inner city settings tend to disassociate themselves from wilderness. What is wilderness, for example, if you claim you have never experienced or seen it? Again, when nature and wilderness are an "Other," it is difficult to relate to a place that is substantially distant from you. Many inner city children have never experienced being in the wilderness and most fear such encounters as the first people who landed on America's shores."
Tags: recreational, disassociated relationship, collective amnesia, nature other
Abstract The paper closely examines the words 'king' and tyrant' that were used for a ruler in European countries as well as 'sultan' and 'rajah' that were the names used in Turkey and Asian countries. The paper shows how although the four words all mean a non-elected ruler, each word has different origins and has undergone different semantic changes.
From the Paper "For thousands years ago, there had always been non-elected rulers of peoples throughout the world. Even in today, kings and queens still exist and rule in some countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain and Sweden. These monarchs symbolize the countries' glorious history where nobility and being "blue-blooded" were icons of superiority. Although today's kings and queens hardly have any power over their nations except for few Arab and Asian countries, most rulers throughout history had undeniable power over their people and the vestiges of ancient civilizations reflect that power (ex. the Tomb of Pharaoh). The rulers were sometimes thought to be gods or to have powers only gods may have. In different regions, cultures and times, the names used for the concept "rulers" vary and their meanings differ slightly. Further, the words used to describe those rulers experienced different semantic changes. King, tyrant, sultan and rajah are examples of these."
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that language is a complex symbiosis of verbal and nonverbal cues used to convey information within and across cultures. The writer then discusses that the needs for economy, for familiarity and for personal expression have together had the effect of enabling individuals to achieve a diversity of meanings and linguistic expressive tendencies within the context of a shared communication framework such as a language or dialect. Next, the writer presents an exploration of the way in which meanings and expressions may change when they are removed from the printed page. The writer concludes that factors such as context, the nature of the relationship between the conversant partners and general social conventions within a culture play a determinant role in the way that individuals choose both the information they disclose and the manner in which they disclose it.
From the Paper "This speaks to our instinctual use and comprehension of words which are created by the processes of blending and clipping. Word economy is a common trait of informal linguistic communication and even the word choice more commonly used in the business setting today, where there is a high premium on conciseness but linguistic decisions that are simultaneously comprehensible to a common denominator of recipients.
"This suggests much about the way that we appear to almost naturally understand such words. Their adoption as a natural consequence of the desires inherent in the process of human communication illustrates that they are not necessarily spontaneously produced on a whim by one inflective user. Rather, we may more accurately understand that such terms are reflective of some inherent need within the language. Whether the need is to express a new range of ideas within the concise context of a single word, as seems often to motivate blending or to convey information about one's self by suggesting through word choice a certain loose, off-the-cuff informality, it is clear that there are both conscious and unconscious forces at play in our choice of word economy."
Abstract This paper explains that Don McLean's "American Pie", which debuted in 1972 at the height of the counter cultural revolution, was associated with the rebelliousness of the Hippies, the national social controversy of the Vietnam War, profound social changes in race relations and human rights and the women's liberation movement. The author points out that semiotics is the study of signs and symbols employed in communications and the process through which they develop their shared meaning among people who recognize and understand their intended message. The paper presents the semantic meaning of quoted lyrics from the song, such as 'I drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry'. The author states that this relates to the three civil rights activists who were murdered by racists in Mississippi while working to register black voters in the rural South.
Table of Contents:
Semiotics
Cultural Context of Don McLean's American Pie
Semiotics of the Music
From the Paper "Just as importantly, by the 1970s, the movement toward racial sensitivity had already resulted in a change from the term "race music" to "rhythm and blues" because the former had taken on an offensive symbolism of racial bigotry that was on the verge of
becoming culturally unacceptable. In particular, this change represents the distinction between language and semiotics in that purely non-literal influences inspired the semiotic evolution of elements of language. Whereas "rhythm" does correspond to a component of music and "blues" does correspond to a thematic focus of so-called "race music", the impetus for the change was strictly moral and ethical and not any need for linguistic precision."
Tags: symbols, syntactics, establishment, memorialized, february
Reviews and discusses D. G. MacKay's article, "Prototypicality among Metaphors: On the Relative Frequency of Personification and Spatial Metaphors in Literature written for Children Versus Adults ".
Abstract This paper explains that Donald G. MacKay's article, "Prototypicality among Metaphors: On the Relative Frequency of Personification and Spatial Metaphors in Literature written for Children Versus Adults", explores the profuse use of personification metaphors in the English language especially in poetry. The paper reports the findings of MacKay's study and describes the way the writer would apply these findings about metaphors to how she teaches college students.
From the Paper " If I was a teaching assistant and I had to explain this to apathetic college students I would introduce the idea of metaphors by asking the group to come up with as many metaphors as they could. Hopefully the results would be two-fold, first it would point out the prevalence of metaphors in day-to-day life and secondly it would show the higher frequency of personification metaphors. I'm assuming that most of these kids will not have thought much about metaphors and assumedly will not have thought about everyday metaphors like container or metonymy metaphors."
This paper provides an analysis of grammar and writing style, focusing on grammar used in the article 'Meat Is Murder On The Environment' by Daniele Fanelli.
Abstract In this paper, Daniele Fanelli's July 18, 2007 article "Meat is Murder on the Environment," which was originally published in NewScientist Environment, is studied, and her use of grammar tested. The writer points out that by combining her ability to use not only correct, but also effective grammar with her innovative writing style, Fanelli has created an excellent persuasive piece. An analysis of Fanelli's words, nouns and noun phrases, verbs, clauses and clause types, grammar of discourse, and professional grammar, provides a comprehensive overview of the article. The writer concludes that by analyzing Fanelli's article, the many implications of grammar on writing style and the understandability of a work have become clear. Grammar is no longer for teachers and elementary school students, but for anyone who wants to make a professional impact.
Outline:
Introduction
Words
Semantic Representation
Form
Grammatical Category
Morphemes and Morphology
Nouns and Noun Phrases
Verbs
Clauses
The Grammar Of Discourse
Professional Contexts/ Conclusion
From the Paper "Because this article is of a scientific nature, the author leaves many opportunities for students of English to study morphemes and their importance to semantics or meaning. For instance, the first paragraph of the article presents two words that are rather difficult to understand: eutrophication and acidification. The two lexemes are formed using the base words "eutrophic" and "acid," and the bond morpheme "iciation," the meaning of which is roughly, "to make" or "the process of making." Using affixation, or the process by which new words are formed when bound morphemes are added at the beginning or end of a sentence, the two new lexemes came into existence. Not only does this process allow student of the English language to determine how the words were formed, but also what they mean. For instance, knowing the suffixes, or morphemes, of the words allows students to determine that the words must both mean "the making of" or "the process of" something. Pairing the base words "eutrophic" and "acid" with the suffixes will allow must to draw the conclusion that the words mean the process of "making of a chemical consistency" and "making more acidic.""
Abstract The paper reveals that the result of inquiries into the efficacy of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act are virtually unanimous in their characterization of the NCLB concept as a failure and as a tremendous waste of valuable resources. The paper examines the four essential elements of the Act and outlines the many conceptual problems with this approach to education. The writer relates that he is opposed to the NCLB approach because it contradicts so much of the various philosophies underlying modern educational theory. The writer goes on to relates his personal philosophy of education.
Outline:
Background and History of the No Child Left Behind Act
Educational Reform Under the No Child Left Behind Act
Conceptual Problems with the No Child Left Behind Approach to Education
Specific Issue Analysis -- Contemporary Learning Theory and the NCLB Approach
Conclusion
From the Paper "Education reform in the United States is not a new idea. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson enacted the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and during the administration of George H. Bush, the first President Bush promised, among other things, that by the turn of the century, all American school-aged children would have the benefit of comprehensive quality educational programming and improved nutritional and healthcare access to facilitate their learning in school. President G.H. Bush went so far as to promise that improved focus on American education would go so far by then as to also provide the training necessary for the parents of preschoolers to fulfill their role at home as their children's "first teacher"."
Abstract This paper looks at how online collaboration software, such as Cisco's Web Ex, Microsoft Office Live, Google documents and dimdim.com, are changing the nature of rhetoric. The paper specifically examines how online collaboration software has made rhetoric less formal, more universally accessible, and more egalitarian.
From the Paper "Traditional rhetorical tools must still be used, however, to communicate new ideas and persuade group members to adopt novel points of view. The decision-making process also depends on how well group members use and respond to rhetoric. Of the five canons of traditional rhetoric, the one most drastically affected by online collaboration software is delivery. Technology makes an infinite array of delivery options possible, including those that contain video or audio content."
Tags: real-time global, at-a-distance meetings, style, asynchronous communication
Abstract The paper offers an introduction to the article by Aikhenvald entitled "Multilingualism and Ethnic Stereotypes: The Tariana of the Northwest Amazonia" and explains the main arguments presented. The paper then focuses on the weaknesses of the article as well as the interesting points that can be noticed.
Outline:
Introduction
Main Arguments
Weaknesses
Interesting Points/Support
Questions
From the Paper "Aikhenvald (2003) touches upon a range of sociolinguistic topics in her article. The main focus is the use and choice of language in a rather special multilingual speech community and its contribution to the reproduction of ethnic stereotypes associated with each language. As Aikhenvald gives a detailed introduction to the topic and provides much background information on the Tariana, the article is easy comprehensible and suitable for any Linguist or Linguistics student. The discussion of the topic offers an interesting combination of sociolinguistic concepts such as code-mixing and code-switching, repertoires, identity, prestige and respect of the languages and their speakers, as well as rules for language choice."
Abstract This paper explains the concept of language-games, as related by Ludwig Wittgenstein, in which humans create language with loopholes that do not allow any person to know any fact, in statements expressing the truth, with certainty. The paper also discusses how Sigmund Freud's analysis of jokes parallels the idea of language-games as a societal norm for judging the truth of statements. Next, the paper investigates Paulo Virno's concept of the presence of the third person, or the praxis, which suggests that there is a societal norm judging the success of a joke.
From the Paper "Wittgenstein's attack on knowing with certainty suggests that language-games break down what humans consider as knowing. He does hint, however, that there are generalized rules that humans consider as true, although they will never be able to know with certainty if they are. These are as if the propositions listed in G.E. Moore's article. Because of this, one must conclude that there is a societal norm suggesting certain propositions are true, despite their logical-syllogistic proof."
