Explores language practices and discourse patterns of Mexican-origin mothers and the language socialization of their children. Drawing on women's own experiences as both mothers and borderland residents, the author combines personal odyssey with ethnographic research to show new ways to connect language to issues of education, political economy, and social identity.
“Babel is an endlessly interesting book, and you don’t have to have any linguistic training to enjoy it . . . it’s just so much fun to read.” —NPR English is the world language, except that 80 percent of the world doesn’t speak it. Linguist Gaston Dorren calculates that to speak fluently with half of the world’s people in their mother tongues, you’d need to know no fewer than twenty languages. In Babel, he sets out to explore these top twenty world languages, which range from the familiar (French, Spanish) to the surprising (Malay, Javanese, Bengali). Whisking readers along on a delightful journey, he traces how these languages rose to greatness while others fell away, and shows how speakers today handle the foibles of their mother tongues. Whether showcasing tongue-tying phonetics, elegant but complicated writing scripts, or mind-bending quirks of grammar, Babel vividly illustrates that mother tongues are like nations: each has its own customs and beliefs that seem as self-evident to those born into it as they are surprising to outsiders. Babel reveals why modern Turks can’t read books that are a mere 75 years old, what it means in practice for Russian and English to be relatives, and how Japanese developed separate “dialects” for men and women. Dorren also shares his experiences studying Vietnamese in Hanoi, debunks ten myths about Chinese characters, and discovers the region where Swahili became the lingua franca. Witty and utterly fascinating, Babel will change how you look at and listen to the world. “Word nerds of every strain will enjoy this wildly entertaining linguistic study.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
All around the world, people speak, read, and write in many different languages. Some languages have different alphabet systems, and others make sounds that don't exist in English. Not only can our languages be different, but so can the ways we dress, eat, and greet others. When children come to the United States from other countries and need to learn English, they become English language learners. I Am an English-Language Learner introduces eight children from various countries who are learning English in their new homes. They share what they miss about their native countries, how they feel about living in the United States, and what they dream of doing. Each one has a new story and unique journey, helping everyone understand that the best education comes from learning about one another. This children's book introduces young readers to new customs and cultures through the stories of students who are learning English as a second language.
This text provides an introduction to the field of sociolinguistics for second and foreign language teachers. This book provides an introduction to the field of sociolinguistics for second and foreign language teachers. Chapters cover the basic areas of sociolinguistics, including regional and social variations in dialects, language and gender, World English, and intercultural communication. Each chapter has been specially written for this collection by an individual who has done extensive research on the topic explored. This is the first introductory text to address explicitly the pedagogical implications of current theory and research in sociolinguistics. The book will also be of interest to any teachers with students from linguistically diverse backgrounds.
An adoptee's search for identity takes her on a journey from Minnesota to Korea and back as she seeks to resolve the dualities that have long defined her life: Korean-born, American-raised, never fully belonging to either. For years, Korean adoptee Jane Jeong Trenka tried to be the ideal daughter. She was always polite, earned perfect grades, and excelled as a concert pianist. She went to church with her American family in small-town Minnesota and learned not to ask about the mother who had given her away. Then, while she was far from home on a music scholarship, living in a big city for the first time, one of her fellow university students began to follow her, his obsession ultimately escalating into a plot for her murder. In radiant prose that ranges seamlessly from pure lyricism to harrowing realism, Trenka recounts repeated close encounters with her stalker and the years of repressed questions that her ordeal awakened. Determined not to be defined by her stalker's twisted assessment of her worth, she struck out in search of her own identity - free of western stereotypes of geishas and good girls. Doing so, however, meant confronting her American family and fighting the bureaucracy at the agency that had arranged for her adoption. Jane Jeong Trenka dares to ask fundamental questions about the nature of family and identity. Are we who we decide to be, or who other people would make us? What is this bond more powerful than words, this unspoken language of blood? To find out, Trenka must reacquaint herself with her mother and sisters in Seoul and devise a way to blend two distinct cultures into one she seared into the memory by indelible images and unforgettable prose. This is a poetic tour-de-force by an essential new voice in Asian American literature.
"I Am Whole is a delightful picture book to celebrate children of mixed backgrounds and cultures. Written with love to embrace the differences that come with being multi-racial, including language, family and cultural traditions. This book encourages children to embrace their diversity and recognise that such differences make us whole. A fun rhythmic read aimed at children aged 0-7."--Amazon.com
Literary Nonfiction. Poetry. Latinx Studies. LGBTQIA Studies. Edited by Ricardo F. Vivancos-Pèrez and Norma Cantú. Rooted in Gloria Anzaldúa's experiences growing up near the U.S./Mexico border, BORDERLANDS/LA FRONTERA remaps our understanding of borders as psychic, social, and cultural terrains that we inhabit and that inhabit us all. Drawing heavily on archival research and a comprehensive literature review while contextualizing the book within her theories and writings before and after its 1987 publication, this critical edition elucidates Anzaldúa's complex composition process and its centrality in the development of her philosophy. It opens with two introductory studies; offers a corrected text, explanatory footnotes, translations, and four archival appendices; and closes with an updated bibliography of Anzaldúa's works, an extensive scholarly bibliography on Borderlands, a brief biography, and a short discussion of the Gloria E. Anzaldúa Papers. "Ricardo F. Vivancos-Pèrez's meticulous archival work and Norma Elia Cantú's life experience and expertise converge to offer a stunning resource for Anzaldúa scholars; for writers, artists, and activists inspired by her work; and for everyone. Hereafter, no study of Borderlands will be complete without this beautiful, essential reference."--Paola Bacchetta
Marriage should be based on love, right? But does it seem as though you and your spouse are speaking two different languages? #1 New York Times bestselling author Dr. Gary Chapman guides couples in identifying, understanding, and speaking their spouse's primary love language-quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, or physical touch. By learning the five love languages, you and your spouse will discover your unique love languages and learn practical steps in truly loving each other. Chapters are categorized by love language for easy reference, and each one ends with simple steps to express a specific language to your spouse and guide your marriage in the right direction. A newly designed love languages assessment will help you understand and strengthen your relationship. You can build a lasting, loving marriage together. Gary Chapman hosts a nationally syndicated daily radio program called A Love Language Minute that can be heard on more than 150 radio stations as well as the weekly syndicated program Building Relationships with Gary Chapman, which can both be heard on fivelovelanguages.com. The Five Love Languages is a consistent New York Times bestseller - with over 5 million copies sold and translated into 38 languages. This book is a sales phenomenon, with each year outselling the prior for 16 years running!
"A brilliant, witty, and altogether satisfying book." — New York Times Book Review The classic work on the development of human language by the world’s leading expert on language and the mind In The Language Instinct, the world's expert on language and mind lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about language: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, and how it evolved. With deft use of examples of humor and wordplay, Steven Pinker weaves our vast knowledge of language into a compelling story: language is a human instinct, wired into our brains by evolution. The Language Instinct received the William James Book Prize from the American Psychological Association and the Public Interest Award from the Linguistics Society of America. This edition includes an update on advances in the science of language since The Language Instinct was first published.
One of the distinguishing features of Drucilla Cornell's work is its emphasis on the significance of ideals. The essays collected here examine how the ideals of freedom and equality associated with the democratic revolutions of the West have survived the challenges of twentieth century critiques. Cornell argues that, far from threatening these ideals, feminism, race theory and other new theories have deepened their meaning and so allowed them to survive. In particular, Cornell here engages with issues surrounding representation and rights. Drawing on her experiences as a union organizer, she recounts how workers, and in particular women workers, came to imagine themselves in a way that allowed them to engage in political activism. The kind of representation-- the imaginative acts by which we envisage the world and our role in it-- is entwined, she argues, with struggles for representation in democratic practice. Cornell's work on law also reveals her vision of the role of the ideal. Included here are two of her most important contributions to legal theory--her well-known defense of worker's rights (also included is the response to her essay by Judge Richard Posner) and her ground-breaking defense of Spanish-language rights.
