Abstract
This paper examines the theories of Anna Wierzbicka and her use of a "metalanguage" in order to solve the ambiguities and culture-contextual problems inherent in language. The paper argues the absurdity of Wierzbicka's theory.

From the Paper
"In her piece, Speech Acts and Speech Genres Across Languages and Cultures , Anna Wierzbicka attempts to construct a metalanguage for linguists to define foreign terms and concepts. (1992) This metalanguage, as it was proposed, would eliminate the ambiguity of using culturally loaded words when attempting to define speech acts, genres, and events in other languages. While her initial premise concerning culturally loaded text was intriguing; the attempted creation of a pseudo-scientific metalanguage was not only absurd, but also defied her own initial discussion on the specific cultural context of speech acts."

Tags:language, linguistics, proto, speech, wierzbicka, anna, matalanguage, culture

Abstract
This paper discusses the purpose of language in a socially constructed world. It discusses language acquisition, its limitations and benefits, and the consequences of language for individuals and society.

Tags:language, and, socially

Abstract
This paper looks at how capitalism, religion and our language are all directly connected to how society shapes the stigmatization of certain genders and sexual behaviors. This paper looks at two authors and how they show that gender and sexuality are socially constructed by elites.

Abstract
This paper explores the notion of identity through various viewpoints in contemporary modernity. This paper explores the way language, power and culture shapes the concept of the I by examining Foucaldian concepts, lingual construction and cultural studies.

From the Paper
"With the impending future of global culture, the way in which the concept of the "I" is constructed through an inter-connective culture becomes more obvious, since it affects the process through which the world consistently enriches itself through individual interaction with contemporary society. The concept of "I" as an identity, fuelled by a wide range of philosophical, lingual and cultural discourses, can be seen as an interactive system inseparable with subjectivity, or, as Giddens proposes, a narrative which is able to build up a consistency of biographical continuity (1991; 75). In these terms is possible to view identity as a personal collective project, influenced by the light of circumstance, self-reflexivity and interaction. These elements, inherently produced through the social facets of power, language and culture, form the basis to the perception of "me" as both socially as well as privately constructed. To comprehend this nature of identity as a construction of these facets, then, it is crucial to analyze the way in which power, language and culture interact and serve as the sociological truism in which the "I" is understood, through social roles, discourses and disciplines exploring the perception of the self as a cultural product."

Tags:foucault, globalisation, identity, linguistics, modernity, panopticon, postmodernism

Abstract
This paper deals with the importance of language in the formation and establishment of a gay identity. It first follows Foucault's argument (language is a place of power where social norms are constructed) and then tries to identify how language can be subverted so that gays can reassess their own sense of identity.

From the Paper
"So as to fully comprehend how a 'same-sex attracted' person can establish his/her own identity as s/he feels and senses it, we first need to see how language works, especially for those who do not seem to belong to the 'mainstream'. Indeed, what are at work within language are relations of power. What can thus be witnessed is the cultural, social and linguistic domination of one group over another. It seems that, from the beginning of humanity, men are the ones who dominate and it has been proven by feminists that women have been maintained under a linguistic yoke, among others. Suffice to think of the host of derogatory terms that can be used against women. And if we turn to 'homosexuals', we note the same phenomenon. An identity, i.e. a category, is created as less powerful - through the use of language as a system of representation - for heterosexual (men) to maintain their position of power. "

Tags:discrimination, oppression, Foucault, social, construction

Abstract
This paper argues that language and ideology are inseparable due to the reciprocally constitutive nature of both. The paper looks at major works by Saussure, Levi-Strauss, Barthes, Derrida, Lacan, Marx, and Althusser to explore how linguistic representation must be understood as constructed and mediated. In order to shed some light on language's relation to ideology, the paper begins with a look at how language is formulated from a material perspective.

From the Paper
"To understand its relation to ideology, we must first examine how language is formulated from a material perspective. According to Ferdinand de Saussure's seminal analysis of the structure of words and their associated meanings, the former is never a transparent indicator of the latter. In his Course in General Linguistics, Saussure maintained that language should be divided into two components: "langue," referring to the entire body of a language, and "parole," referring to a specific utterance or individual act of speech within a language. The latter can only be comprehended within the larger system of the former. That is, the meaning of words or "signs" is derived from their relation to one another within a cumulative structure or system of signification. To illustrate this principle, Saussure drew a clearly discernable distinction between the "signifier," or word, and the "signified," or that to which the word refers or claims to represent. For example, the word "tree" is only indicative of the external, material object of a tree insofar as we believe and regard it to be. The word "tree" can just as easily be applied to other external, material objects. In this way, the formation of words and their meanings is an entirely artificial, constructed, and enclosed relation."

Tags:linguistics, mythology, literature, communication

Abstract
This paper discusses the importance of language because the world is socially constructed. It includes a critical discussion of language acquisition, the opportunities and limitations, and the consequences that language produces for the individual and society.

Abstract
The paper discusses how the acquisition of a second language has been given considerable attention in the literature as a particular process and as an example to test ways of learning a new skill. The paper looks at how different theoretical constructs have been offered to explain this process, and shed light on the different ways people may learn. The paper then discusses constructivism that is a philosophy of learning based on the premise that we all construct our own understanding of the world by reflecting on our experiences.

From the Paper
"The acquisition of a second language has been given considerable attention in the literature as a particular process and as an example to test ways of leaning a new skill. Different theoretical constructs have been offered to explain this process. Various theories of learning have been offered, and learning theory postulates different ways people may learn. Constructivism, for instance, is a philosophy of learning based on the premise that we all construct our own understanding of the world by reflecting on our experiences. In this view, we use the "rules" and "mental models" we generate in order to make sense of experience."

Tags:second, language, acquisition

Abstract
This paper reviews and discusses construction grammar. According to the paper, construction grammar (CxG) is a usage-based framework, and it endeavors to treat all types of expressions as equally central to capturing grammatical patterning.

Outline:
Fillmore's approach to Construction Grammar
More cognitive approaches to Construction Grammar
Towards a "Fluid" Construction Grammar

From the Paper
"A. Radical Construction Grammar (Croft): all constructions are language-specific; all categories are defined by constructions; constructions are the primitive units of language. This kind of CxG takes into account cross-linguistic factors, dealing with the internal structure of constructions. Radical CxG is non-reductionist: constructions are not derived from their parts, but the parts are derived from the constructions. Radical CxG is opposed to the idea that syntactic categories, roles, and relations are universal. Moreover, they are not only language-specific, but also construction-specific. Instead of syntactic relations, Radical CxG rather talks about semantic relations. Indeed, it is closely related to cognitive linguistics."

Tags:language, complex, patterns, symbolic, units, signs, syntax

Abstract
The paper studies the pattern of ideas and analysis contained in the essay and then discusses how the style of language used in the argument affects the content of that argument. The writer also looks at the degree of persuasiveness that the argument has and the degree of difficulty that this presents for the reader of the essay.

From the Paper
"The content of the essay is a combination of Williams' analysis of these issues in abstract terms plus a series of anecdotes, from personal experience, of how that analysis reaches meaning. The anecdotes illustrate how deep racial hatred goes in a supposedly prejudice-free society when the structure of that society, from the lowest to the highest levels of sensitivity and education, gives moral weight and moral authority to assumptions made about individuals whose identity is not that of the dominant racial group (therefore probably black) and not the dominant population within any group (therefore probably female). The anecdotes relate mainly to an incident when Williams was denied entry into an exclusive department store (Benetton's) because she was black. But it turned out that she was also denied the opportunity to tell her story from her point of view, as she found when she had problems getting that story published. In other words, race prejudice is not dead just because there are laws on the books against it. Not only that, race prejudice shows up in big ways and small ways in everyday life."

Tags:argument, construction, prejudice, ideology, language