Download or read book We Are Our Language written by Barbra A. Meek and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For many communities around the world, the revitalization or at least the preservation of an indigenous language is a pressing concern. Understanding the issue involves far more than compiling simple usage statistics or documenting the grammar of a tongue—it requires examining the social practices and philosophies that affect indigenous language survival. In presenting the case of Kaska, an endangered language in an Athabascan community in the Yukon, Barbra A. Meek asserts that language revitalization requires more than just linguistic rehabilitation; it demands a social transformation. The process must mend rips and tears in the social fabric of the language community that result from an enduring colonial history focused on termination. These “disjunctures” include government policies conflicting with community goals, widely varying teaching methods and generational viewpoints, and even clashing ideologies within the language community. This book provides a detailed investigation of language revitalization based on more than two years of active participation in local language renewal efforts. Each chapter focuses on a different dimension, such as spelling and expertise, conversation and social status, family practices, and bureaucratic involvement in local language choices. Each situation illustrates the balance between the desire for linguistic continuity and the reality of disruption. We Are Our Language reveals the subtle ways in which different conceptions and practices—historical, material, and interactional—can variably affect the state of an indigenous language, and it offers a critical step toward redefining success and achieving revitalization.
Download or read book We Are Our Language written by Barbra A. Meek and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For many communities around the world, the revitalization or at least the preservation of an indigenous language is a pressing concern. Understanding the issue involves far more than compiling simple usage statistics or documenting the grammar of a tongue—it requires examining the social practices and philosophies that affect indigenous language survival. In presenting the case of Kaska, an endangered language in an Athabascan community in the Yukon, Barbra A. Meek asserts that language revitalization requires more than just linguistic rehabilitation; it demands a social transformation. The process must mend rips and tears in the social fabric of the language community that result from an enduring colonial history focused on termination. These “disjunctures” include government policies conflicting with community goals, widely varying teaching methods and generational viewpoints, and even clashing ideologies within the language community. This book provides a detailed investigation of language revitalization based on more than two years of active participation in local language renewal efforts. Each chapter focuses on a different dimension, such as spelling and expertise, conversation and social status, family practices, and bureaucratic involvement in local language choices. Each situation illustrates the balance between the desire for linguistic continuity and the reality of disruption. We Are Our Language reveals the subtle ways in which different conceptions and practices—historical, material, and interactional—can variably affect the state of an indigenous language, and it offers a critical step toward redefining success and achieving revitalization.
Download or read book Language at the Speed of Sight written by Mark Seidenberg and published by . This book was released on 2017-01-03 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We’ve been teaching reading wrong—a leading cognitive scientist tells us how we can finally do it right
Download or read book Because Internet written by Gretchen McCulloch and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!! Named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Amazon, and The Washington Post A Wired Must-Read Book of Summer “Gretchen McCulloch is the internet’s favorite linguist, and this book is essential reading. Reading her work is like suddenly being able to see the matrix.” —Jonny Sun, author of everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. Language is humanity's most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What's more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time. Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how your first social internet experience influences whether you prefer "LOL" or "lol," why ~sparkly tildes~ succeeded where centuries of proposals for irony punctuation had failed, what emoji have in common with physical gestures, and how the artfully disarrayed language of animal memes like lolcats and doggo made them more likely to spread.
Download or read book Doing Our Own Thing written by John McWhorter and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2004-09-09 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “McWhorter is a gifted young linguist who seeks to understand the change in our verbal habits rather than just bemoan it, and his analysis is insightful, richly documented and, yes, eloquently written.”—Steven Pinker, author of The Blank Slate and The Language Instinct In Doing Our Own Thing, critically acclaimed linguist and cultural critic John McWhorter traces the precipitous decline of language in contemporary America, arguing persuasively that casual everyday speech has conquered the formal in all arenas, from oratory to poetry to everyday journalism—and has even had dire consequences for our musical culture. McWhorter argues that the swift and startling change in written and oral communication emanated from the countercultural revolution of the 1960s and its ideology that established forms and formality were autocratic and artificial. While acknowledging that the evolution of language is, in and of itself, inevitable and often benign, he warns that the near-total loss of formal expression in America is unprecedented in modern history and has reached a crisis point in our culture such that our very ability to convey ideas and arguments effectively is gravely threatened. By turns compelling and harrowing, passionate and judicious, Doing Our Own Thing is required reading for all concerned about the state of our language—and the future of intellectual life in America.
Download or read book The Language We Were Never Taught to Speak written by Grace Lau and published by Guernica Editions Incorporated. This book was released on 2021-05 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of poetry explores an immigrant woman's lived experiences, from coming out to a deeply religious mother, to idolizing the "bad boy" of the NBA, to understanding how to relate to her ever-changing Chinese-Canadian identity. A meditation on family, food, and falling in love, The Language We Were Never Taught to Speak reveals how the stories of immigrants in Canada contain both universal truths and singular nuances.
Download or read book The Liberty of Our Language Revealed written by Thomas Blackwell and published by . This book was released on 2018-06-27 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Clem walked to the corner of the room and picked up a wooden box. From inside the box, he pulled out an old, worn-out book. Stuffed in the back of the binding were several pieces of paper filled with hand-written notes. He pulled out the notes and handed me the book. The book appeared to have been sitting in that box for many years. The title was carved into the dried-up leather cover by some sort of nail or perhaps a knife. I read the title: The Liberty of Our Language Revealed. "You ever heard of it before?" Clem inquired. "No, I haven't," I answered, opening its dusty pages. "Wait, these pages are blank, and there is no author!" I declared, as I flipped back to the front cover to see if any name was written. Clem paused and made eye contact with me, "You are the author, Thomas; you are the author of The Liberty of Our Language Revealed."On the walls of the abandoned escape route someone had etched several phrases. I studied each one. "Change your language, change your life." "Improve your results, create a better environment." "Increase your productivity, transform your economy." "Elevate your performance, and achieve higher standards."
Download or read book Bringing Our Languages Home written by Leanne Hinton and published by Heyday.ORIM. This book was released on 2013-03-01 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thirteen personal accounts of endangered language preservation, plus a how-to guide for parents looking to do the same in their own home. Throughout the world individuals in the intimacy of their homes innovate, improvise, and struggle daily to pass on endangered languages to their children. Elaina Albers of Northern California holds a tape recorder up to her womb so her baby can hear old songs in Karuk. The Baldwin family of Montana put labels all over their house marked with the Miami words for common objects and activities, to keep the vocabulary present and fresh. In Massachusetts, at the birth of their first daughter, Jesse Little Doe Baird and her husband convince the obstetrician and nurses to remain silent so that the first words their baby hears in this world are Wampanoag. Thirteen autobiographical accounts of language revitalization, ranging from Irish Gaelic to Mohawk, Kawaiisu to Maori, are brought together by Leanne Hinton, professor emerita of linguistics at UC Berkeley, who for decades has been leading efforts to preserve the rich linguistic heritage of the world. Those seeking to save their language will find unique instruction in these pages; everyone who admires the human spirit will find abundant inspiration. Languages featured: Anishinaabemowin, Hawaiian, Irish, Karuk, Kawaiisu, Kypriaka, Maori, Miami, Mohawk, Scottish Gaelic, Wampanoag, Warlpiri, Yuchi “Practical and down to earth, philosophical and spiritual, Bringing Our Languages Home describes the challenges and joys of learning and passing on your language. It gives good detailed advice . . . Fantastic! I hope millions will read it!” —Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Åbo Akademi University, Finland, emerita “This rare collection by scholar-activist Leanne Hinton brings forward deeply affecting accounts of families determined to sustain their languages amidst a sea of dominant-language pressures. The stories could only be told by those who have experienced the joys and challenges such an undertaking demands. Drawing lessons from these accounts, Hinton leaves readers with a wealth of language planning strategies. This powerful volume will long serve as a seminal resource for families, scholars, and language planners around the world.” —Teresa L. McCarty, George F. Kneller Chair in Education and Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles
Download or read book How We Talk about Language written by Betsy Rymes and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-24 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With examples of conversation, this book is a lively account of social and intellectual import of everyday talk about language.
Download or read book Who Are We written by Anneke Forzani and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who Are We? helps us to understand and appreciated the diversity in our community. This multicultural book, part of the Language Lizard Living in Harmony Series, includes access to free lesson plans and fun activities to support diversity education.
Download or read book Why We Talk written by Jean-Louis Dessalles and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-01-04 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Constant exchange of information is integral to our societies. The author explores how this came into being. Presenting language evolution as a natural history of conversation, he sheds light on the emergence of communication in the hominine congregations, as well as on the human nature.
Download or read book Cultish written by Amanda Montell and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-06-15 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of the widely praised Wordslut analyzes the social science of cult influence: how cultish groups from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use language as the ultimate form of power. What makes “cults” so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join—and more importantly, stay in—extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has . . . Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of “brainwashing.” But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear—and are influenced by—every single day. Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities “cultish,” revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of “cultish” everywhere.
Download or read book When We Are Kind written by Monique Gray Smith and published by Orca Book Publishers. This book was released on 2020-07-14 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Key Selling Points Simple, pointed text gives examples of how children can be kind to those around them, the different emotions that receiving kindness can make us feel, and how we maintain a connection with one another through acts of kindness within our community. The author is well-known for her board and picture books. Her title My Heart Fills With Happiness was selected for the 2019 TD Grade One Book Giveaway. Like the author's bestselling title You Hold Me Up, the text relays an important message through carefully chosen language. The illustrator is Diné (Navajo) from New Mexico. She was inspired by her community to illustrate an Indigenous family.
Download or read book The Dawn of Language written by Sverker Johansson and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2021-09-02 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A model of popular-science writing" STEVEN POOLE Who was "the first speaker" and what was their first message? An erudite, tightly woven and beautifully written account of one of humanity's greatest mysteries - the origins of language. Drawing on evidence from many fields, including archaeology, anthropology, neurology and linguistics, Sverker Johansson weaves these disparate threads together to show how our human ancestors evolved into language users. The Dawn of Language provides a fascinating survey of how grammar came into being and the differences or similarities between languages spoken around the world, before exploring how language eventually emerged in the very remote human past. Our intellectual and physiological changes through the process of evolution both have a bearing on our ability to acquire language. But to what extent is the evolution of language dependent on genes, or on environment? How has language evolved further, and how is it changing now, in the process of globalisation? And which aspects of language ensure that robots are not yet intelligent enough to reconstruct how language has evolved? Johansson's far-reaching, authoritative and research-based approach to language is brought to life through dozens of astonishing examples, both human and animal, in a fascinatingly erudite and entertaining volume for anyone who has ever contemplated not just why we speak the way we do, but why we speak at all. Translated from the Swedish by Frank Perry
Download or read book Ecolinguistics written by Arran Stibbe and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-05-01 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The increasingly rapid destruction of the ecological systems that support life is calling into question some of the fundamental stories that we live by: stories of unlimited economic growth, of consumerism, progress, individualism, success, and the human domination of nature. Ecolinguistics shows how linguistic analysis can help reveal the stories we live by, open them up to question, and contribute to the search for new stories. Bringing together the latest ecolinguistic studies with new theoretical insights and practical analyses, this book charts a new course for ecolinguistics as an engaged form of critical enquiry. Featuring: A framework for understanding the theory of ecolinguistics and applying it practically in real life; Exploration of diverse topics from consumerism in lifestyle magazines to Japanese nature haiku; A comprehensive glossary giving concise descriptions of the linguistic terms used in the book; Discourse analysis of a wide range of texts including newspapers, magazines, advertisements, films, nonfiction books, and visual images. This is essential reading for undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers working in the areas of Discourse Analysis and Language and Ecology.
Download or read book The Language Animal written by Charles Taylor and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2016-03-14 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “We have been given a powerful and often uplifting vision of what it is to be truly human.” —John Cottingham, The Tablet In seminal works ranging from Sources of the Self to A Secular Age, Charles Taylor has shown how we create possible ways of being, both as individuals and as a society. In his new book setting forth decades of thought, he demonstrates that language is at the center of this generative process. For centuries, philosophers have been divided on the nature of language. Those in the rational empiricist tradition—Hobbes, Locke, Condillac, and their heirs—assert that language is a tool that human beings developed to encode and communicate information. In The Language Animal, Taylor explains that this view neglects the crucial role language plays in shaping the very thought it purports to express. Language does not merely describe; it constitutes meaning and fundamentally shapes human experience. The human linguistic capacity is not something we innately possess. We first learn language from others, and, inducted into the shared practice of speech, our individual selves emerge out of the conversation. Taylor expands the thinking of the German Romantics Hamann, Herder, and Humboldt into a theory of linguistic holism. Language is intellectual, but it is also enacted in artistic portrayals, gestures, tones of voice, metaphors, and the shifts of emphasis and attitude that accompany speech. Human language recognizes no boundary between mind and body. In illuminating the full capacity of “the language animal,” Taylor sheds light on the very question of what it is to be a human being.
Download or read book We Can Talk written by Rachel Arntson and published by . This book was released on 2009-08-21 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WE CAN TALK techniques provide a format that other professionals, including speech-language pathologists and early childhood teachers, could share with their students and families. WE CAN TALK is very simply my %u201Ctricks of the trade%u201D that I have learned and feel compelled to offer others. Readers will be able to identify what helps your child become verbal.
