Field Linguistics
This book deals with one aspect of the issue of linguistic diversity in the world: the task of linguistic documentation arising out of original research in the field. Although many linguistics programmes include a field methods component, I have often been asked by academics, ‘When you do fieldwork, how do you actually start?’ This suggests that researchers are possibly sometimes still being thrown into the field at the deep end, much as I suppose I was back in the early 1970s when I was sent on my first fieldtrip. I went with an abundance of enthusiasm, tempered with some trepidation, but not a whole lot of practical training. There therefore has to be a substantial need for a book such as this.
The Handbook of Linguistics
Presupposing no prior knowledge of linguistics, The Handbook of Linguistics is the ideal resource for people who want to learn about the subject and its subdisciplines.
Written by globally recognized leading figures, this Handbook provides a comprehensive and accessible account of the field of linguistics. It begins with a general overview that considers the origins of language, frames the discipline within its historical context, and looks at how linguists acquire new data. It then turns to the traditional subdisciplines of linguistics.
This authoritative Handbook provides a broad yet detailed picture of what is known about language today.
Dialogue with Bakhtin on Second and Foreign Language Learning - New Perspectives
This volume is the first to explore links between the Russian linguist Mikhail Bakhtin's theoretical insights about language and practical concerns with second and foreign language learning and teaching. Situated within a strong conceptual framework and drawing from a rich empirical base, it reflects recent scholarship in applied linguistics that has begun to move away from formalist views of language as universal, autonomous linguistic systems, and toward an understanding of language as dynamic collections of cultural resources. According to Bakhtin, the study of language is concerned with the dialogue existing between linguistic elements and the uses to which they are put in response to the conditions of the moment. Such a view of language has significant implications for current understandings of second- and foreign-language learning.
The contributors draw on some of Bakhtin's more significant concepts, such as dialogue, utterance, heteroglossia, voice, and addressivity to examine real world contexts of language learning. The chapters address a range of contexts including elementary- and university-level English as a second language and foreign language classrooms and adult learning situations outside the formal classroom. The text is arranged in two parts. Part I, "Contexts of Language Learning and Teaching," contains seven chapters that report on investigations into specific contexts of language learning and teaching. The chapters in Part II, "Implications for Theory and Practice," present broader discussions on second and foreign language learning using Bakhtin's ideas as a springboard for thinking.
This is a groundbreaking volume for scholars in applied linguistics, language education, and language studies with an interest in second and foreign language learning; for teacher educators; and for teachers of languages from elementary to university levels. It is highly relevant as a text for graduate-level courses in applied linguistics and second- and foreign-language education.
The origin of our capacity for language is a complex topic, requiring input from many disparate fields, from linguistics to paleoanthropology. Specialists in any one field are often unfamiliar with the evidence from other relevant disciplines. I perceive a need for an integration of knowledge from all relevant fields, outside as well as inside linguistics, in a single work. My purpose in writing this book is to bring together the material needed for such an integration, and to take the first steps towards the synthesis needed for a thorough understanding of the evolution of language.
This textbook on syntax gives students a thorough grounding in the basics of sentence structure, and at the same time acquaints them with the essentials of syntactic argumentation. This new edition is completely revised, with the chapter on X-bar syntax now split in two to give greater prominence to clauses. It also contains many new exercises, which are now graded in terms of level of difficulty. Each chapter has a section on suggested further reading material, and there is a bibliography and list of recommended reference works.
