The pace of the conversational exchanges creates an illusion of real time, as the characters deal with the most everyday of situations and encounters. The characters are thus effectively developed and rounded, engaging the reader. The dramatic format ensures that the reader's attention is focused on the language. This is effectively conveyed, including many colloquialisms that cannot be learned at school. This piece should prove an effective learning aid, both of the English language and the American way of life.
A sweeping account of the global rise of English and the high-stakes politics of languageSpoken by a quarter of the world's population, English is today's lingua franca- - its common tongue. The language of business, popular media, and international politics, English has become commodified for its economic value and increasingly detached from any particular nation. This meteoric "riseof English" has many obvious benefits to communication. Tourists can travel abroad with greater ease. Political leaders can directly engage their counterparts. Researchers can collaborate with foreign colleagues. Business interests can flourish in the global economy.But the rise of English has very real downsides as well. In Europe, imperatives of political integration and job mobility compete with pride in national language and heritage. In the United States and England, English isolates us from the cultural and economic benefits of speaking other languages.And in countries like India, South Africa, Morocco, and Rwanda, it has stratified society along lines of English proficiency.In The Rise of English, Rosemary Salomone offers a commanding view of the unprecedented spread of English and the far-reaching effects it has on global and local politics, economics, media, education, and business. From the inner workings of the European Union to linguistic battles over influence inAfrica, Salomone draws on a wealth of research to tell the complex story of English - and, ultimately, to argue for English not as a force for domination but as a core component of multilingualism and the transcendence of linguistic and cultural borders.
Beyond Yellow English is the first edited volume to examine issues of language, identity, and culture among the rapidly growing Asian Pacific American (APA) population. The distinguished contributors-who represent a broad range of perspectives from anthropology, sociolinguistics, English, and education-focus on the analysis of spoken interaction and explore multiple facets of the APA experience. Authors cover topics such as media representations of APAs; codeswitching and language crossing; and narratives of ethnic identity. The collection examines the experiences of Asian Pacific Americans of different ethnicities, generations, ages, and geographic locations across home, school, community, and performance sites.
This “fast-moving” southern American dystopian novel is “full of twists and turns” and “perhaps an insightful vision of the second Texas republic” (W. Michael Gear, New York Times–bestselling author of Dissolution). In this near-future, post-apocalyptic novel, retired lawyer-turned-professor Willoughby Burns finds himself trying to survive against hunger and deadly threats in southern Louisiana. The Dixie Apocalypse takes place in an America ravaged by natural disasters, lack of petroleum, plagues, and terrorism. What is left of the United States is controlled by martial law. Life itself becomes primitive and favors those who can grow their own food or handle firearms. Will befriends US General Merski stationed in Baton Rouge, LA, and founds a farming community of fifty farms on the eastern bank of the Mississippi river due south of downtown Baton Rouge. General Merski enlists Will as a civilian commissary officer, in charge of carrying out errands for his troops without arousing suspicion. When the general sends Will down to Texas on to bring back supplies for his garrison, Will’s survivals skills are put to the ultimate test.
