Linguistic Essays (Examples)

Linguistic and Nonlinguistic Causes of why an Individual may have Difficulties in Reading.

Linguistic causes of why an individual may have difficulties in reading

The causes

Auditory language related impairment - some individuals with reading difficulty have deficiency in distinguishing differences in sound. In a similar way, some individuals may have difficulty in detecting tones within noise

Visual magnocellular-Deficit hypothesis - impairment in visual processing system may lead some word to seem incoherent and to confuse stumbling readers

Neural - Aside from deficiency in the visual and the auditory system, imaging studies show that readers have processing deficits in the cerebellum, as well as having smaller lobes in the cerebellum compared to non-dyslexic participants.

Memory deficits

Characteristics a student may display

Delay in speaking- starting with speech older than the general age of 12 months

Difficulties with pronunciation -- often mixing syllables and omitting beginning syllables

Difficulty in learning the…

Linguistic relativity hypothesis argues that humans see colors less with their eyes than with their language. (Fountain, 1999) The linguistic relativity hypothesis is important to help in understanding the reasoning behind the way that thought processes develop with the different cultures. The thought processes determine how language comes about and the reasons that the same word can mean different things with different cultures.

In the eyes of a linguist, colors are categorized in eleven words. But, in different cultures the number of words to categorize colors is different. Some cultures have as few as five words to categorize colors. If one culture categorizes color differently from another culture, they would perceive it different as well. What may be green to one culture may be blue to another culture. Linguistic categories affect the way the world is seen. The results support the idea of linguistic relativity if they show color perception…

The man claimed that he had not met either of the two landlords in person that he had been attempting to contact for application. Thus, the man began his pursuit into legal action under the terms of racial discrimination. The case, Johnson v. Jensen, one of the first documented arguments of linguistic profiling was brought forth for consideration (Erard, 2002).

As in the case of Johnson v. Jensen, the defendants - the accused, often play the part of an ignorant or unaware innocent victim of wrongful accusations. It is easy for one to "play-stupid" when there has been nothing more than a phone conversation as compared to a face-to-face communication. Little can be held concrete as evidence against the defendants claim to be unaware of the ethnicity of the accuser, therefore the dangers of linguistic profiling can then extend to the oppressed. When accusations that incur legalities, there is a…

8). Follow the proceeding examples for a clearer understanding;

A -- Ngi - fun - I zincwadi.

NEG -- 1S.SBJ- want- NEG 10.books

Translation: I don't want any books.

In the urge to attain a shorter gloss, the augment appears separate. However, apart from the class 15 alone, the class prefix is always glommed onto a noun stem.

For the sake of the topic discussed in this paper, only the relevant classes that affect syntactic issues will be discussed; evidently, most of the class 1a and 2a nouns in the table above could either be names of the Zulu people, for instance uSipho, which if translated to English, "siphon" was a man's name (Chandler, 2005, p.10). The nouns could also be kinship terms like ugongo, which means "grandmother." To distinguish between the classes 1 and 1a, then the nominal morphology has to be identified. Agreement morphology is usually comprised of…

A similar change occurred in ritish in which only stressed I and us were lowered and the lowering was caused by original long a and by the final -- a in Latin loanwords. This change is not Common Insular Celtic because it postdates raising in Goidelic and raising is not Common Insular Celtic sound change." (Tristram, 2007, p.100)

Tristram writes that in Goidelic "syncope is a completely regular process" which impacts every second syllable of a polysyllabic word, counting the last syllable (following the syncope). And in all likelihood occurring at the last of the Ogam period in the middle of the 6th century. Paraphrased) Stated to be a common morphological innovation "was the creation of conjugated prepositions or preposition nouns from earlier prepositions which were followed by inflected forms of pronouns both in ritish and Goidelic languages and personal pronouns merged with prepositions into "conjugated prepositions." (2007, p.101) the…

Unlike pure slang, folkloric words tend to be less mutable and plastic in use and structure, and may last for years within the region.

However, drawing a specific distinction between folkloric and linguistic definitions of slang can result in hair-splitting, rather than truly useful dichotomies of meaning. For example, throughout several generations, children may use the same types of "specialized language" to refer to childhood pursuits, such as names for games and even distinctive languages, including as pig Latin, although young people's slang is usually thought to be highly changeable, and not folkloric or constant in character (Folklife, 2009, Teaching students). Similarly, slang amongst subgroups can have a great deal of traction, even over several generations, like a blowout in football, or 'hitting the wall,' to refer to one's energy being totally expended in track and field, even though these athletes may encompass people of many different backgrounds and regions,…

esearchers define language in these kinds of studies somewhat differently from one another. Language can be written, spoken, or even just understood, as there are those people who understand someone speaking to them in a different language, but they are not fluent enough to carry on a conversation or to read the language in a book or newspaper. Because of that, it is very important for researchers to consider the issue of language carefully. Language fluctuates between different people and different cultures (Niemeier & Dirven, 2000). For most of the studies, though, researchers define language as the native language (both spoken and written) of the individual subject or study participant (Niemeier & Dirven, 2000). That way, the participants all know the language fluently and their thoughts are not influenced by their inability to come up with a word for an object.

Thought can influence language in some cases, instead of…

To this point, Chouliarki (2000) argues that "the facilitation of deliberative processes among audiences is a matter not only of changing institutional arrangements (towards a regulation of marketized media) but also of changing the mode of articulation of media discourse itself; even though the latter may be a consequence of the former, each is a sine qua non-for deliberative democracy." (Chouliarki, 293)

To an extent then, these approaches to language and the degree to which the cognitive experience of this language are shared in a culture will dictate how extensively democracy is truly fostered. Beyond this, there are distinct messages of self-reference and the implications of power structures within a culture such as may occur when one reduces the content of a statement in the interests of word economy in settings where less formality is required. As a simple example, a speaker may reply to an inquiry regarding how he…

If one is to define "but" or "oh" as the dictionary defines it and only as such, it would be difficult to understand why a speaker is using these words the way they do.

Intonation also plays a part in discourse markers. In her book, Discourse Markers, Schiffrin (1988, 6) states that discourse markers are expression used to organize discourse, however, the impact of this single expression on discourse will differ depending on the way it is said (i.e., the intonation). For example, "oh" with a rising intonation might be interpreted as a request for confirmation, as in: "I think the party's at six o'clock." "Oh?" But this same expression with a falling intonation might be interpreted not as a request for confirmation, but as an acknowledgement: "I think the party's at six o'clock." "Oh" (1988, 6).

Meter: Some texts take on a metrical structure that is characterized by a…

linguistic processes underlie understanding sentences and anaphoric reference?

Cognitive Psychology meets the Lexicon of Linguistics:

The cognitive processes of understanding sentences with anaphoric references

According to the essay, "The return of "visiting relatives": pragmatic effects in sentence processing," by the linguists . Farrar and A. Kawamoto, the term "visiting relatives is boring" is an excellent example of inherent structural ambiguities in any language, though in this case, specifically the English language. (Farrar & Kawamoto, 1993) In other words, when a listener hears this common phrase, perhaps around the holidays, it is uncertain if the speaker is referring to the activity of visiting the speaker's relations or to the actual boring nature of the relations themselves.

One could argue, of course, that either way, this is irrelevant, as the two ideas are interrelated -- when boring people visit one's home, life often feels quite boring, just as visiting boring people can…

Linguistics

Begley, S. (2009). What's in a word? Newsweek/he Daily Beast. Retrieved online: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/07/08/what-s-in-a-word.html

Begley provides a helpful overview of the work of Boroditsky in the field of linguistic relativity. he theory was once lacking empirical grounding, but Boroditsky changed that, to provide scientific proof that language indeed shapes perception and cognition.

Boroditsky, L. (n.d.). Linguistic relativity. Retrieved online: http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~lera/papers/linguistic-relativity.pdf

Boroditsky's (n.d.) "intermediate paper" provides the foundation for linguistic relativity. he author describes how linguistic relativity shapes conceptions of space, spatial relations, time, shapes, substances, and other qualities of the perceptual universe. Language shapes habitual thought, which impacts the way cultures perceive and communicate their realities.

Bowers, J.S. & Pleydell-Pierce, C.W. (2011). Swearing, euphemisms, and linguistic relativity. PLoS ONE 6(7): e22341. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0022341

Bowers & Pleydell-Pierce (2011) contribute to the growing body of empirical research on the linguistic relativity hypothesis. he authors found that participants reacted differently, in terms of their…

Evaluation of Kirk Semple’s “Immigrants Who Speak Indigenous Languages Encounter Isolation” 
As Kirk Semple shows in “Immigrants Who Speak Indigenous Languages Encounter Isolation” many Mexican and Central American immigrants in the U.S. are isolated from their communities because they know neither English nor Spanish. Instead, they are speakers of their hometown native languages—dialects like Mixtec—which make it impossible for them to integrate into either the Spanish communities in the U.S. or into the mainstream English-speaking world of America. This paper will show why there is a need for more services to be provided to these immigrants so that they do not have to live their lives in fear or want.
The biggest problems that immigrants from Central America face are ultimately linguistic—especially if they are from communities in Central America where Spanish (the language that most people expect Latinos to speak) was never adopted. As Semple shows, “these language barriers, combined…

Nature of the Linguistic Sign

Human beings have different capabilities with reference to their potential of acquiring and using language. Language constitutes one of the most important elements that enables communications and determines the formation of relationships among different entities. It is in most instances viewed as a complicated structure of communication. Language refers to the organization of signs which could be illustrated as a synchronically rather than diachronically. I.e. It is composed of a set of relationships autonomous of any adjustments that come about over time. It is a social institution and therefore an independent entity which is basically not a factor of a speaker but a product which is gradually understood by an individual. According to some linguistics, signs make the fundamental units of language and thus making this feature compose of elements of graphics and sound- image which are found within a signifier (Bally & Sechehaye 15).…

Women speak more dramatically and colorfully than men. ut they are a phenomenon of gender rather than a biological consequence. Amos (2012) proposes that the body language expressions of the sexes depend on their distinctive behaviors and purposes. Some are programmed and some are learned. Cameron (2007), however, disputes that these differences are only a myth. A study disproves the claim that these differences come from the unequal roles and status of the sexes. Tannen (1994) takes this position from her mentor and agrees that women make intimate rapport-talks while men engage in information or report-talks. Voegeli (2005) contributes that women's speech is more polished and better formed than men's whose speech is generally more direct and factual. These data collectively state that men and women use language differently.

ILIOGRAPHY

Amos, J.A. 2012, 'ody language differences between men and women', ody

Language Expert, [Online] Available at http://www.bodylaguageexpert.co.uk/GenderDifferencesCategory.html

Cameron, D. 2007,…

" (Keller, nd) Hawkins uses syntactic weight in explaining word order frequencies and the relative acceptability of different orders in native speakers' judgments." (Keller, nd)

The work of Christiansen (2002) entitled: "Case, Word Order, and Language Learnability: Insights from Connectionist Modeling" it is related that children learn "most of their native language within the first five years of life." (2002) Christiansen further relates that the most difficult task in learning a language involves "mapping a sequence of words onto some sort of interpretation of what the sequence is supposed to mean." (2002) in other words if the child is able to understand a sentenced then the child "needs to determine the grammatical roles of the individual words so that she can work out who did what to whom."(Ibid) the work of Saffran, Aslin & Newport (199) acknowledges linguistic universals that are common "across radically different languages" and which indicate existing…

The ethnic and linguistic diversity of the old empire was seen as a barrier both to modernization and to the necessary singularity of purpose that would be required to effect such momentous changes in so brief a period of time. Turkey's linguistic minorities were killed or forced to emigrate. Those that remained were encouraged, even bullied, into adopting Turkish in business, education, and all other aspects of day-to-day life. Minorities were exhorted to adopt the Turkish language, and with it, a Turkish outlook, in order to become integrated into the wider national culture and achieve success in an increasingly competitive, fast-paced, and technological world. As in other countries that have tried to force acceptance of a single national tongue, or have suppressed local languages, the consequences have often included feelings of alienation on the part of those against whom these measures have been directed. Social, cultural, and linguistic alienation, too,…

Certain sound sequences within a morpheme are not permitted, such as s combined with k, although the reverse may occur when k is final in the preceding morpheme and s begins the succeeding morpheme. Certain consonants when in the final position in the morpheme become a strongly dentalized sound (amsey, 1977). Thus, t, tt fortis, unaspirated t, t' (fortis, aspired t), s, ch, and c6?, and ch' (fortis aspirated ch) all are pronounced as if they were t when they occur in the final position.

Intermorphemic Sound Change

Sound change between syllables is an important feature of the pronunciation of Korean morphemes. This feature, also true of Japanese, is made more difficult for the reader of Korean because it is an orthographic convention that the shape of the individual syllable (morpheme) should be preserved (Jakobson, 1971). Although the Korean alphabet itself is highly phonetic, the orthographic convention to preserve the…

6. According to the World Systems Theory which position does the country of Haiti hold in that model?

Using this theory, describe one interaction between Haiti and a country in a different position. How did the January 2010 earthquake come into play?

According to the World Systems Theory, the position that the country of Haiti holds is that of a periphery nation. This means that they not only have a weak economy, they also have a weak government and is less industrialized (Halsall). Their economy is heavily agriculturally based and they depend heavily on importations from other more developed countries. They have a high percentage of individuals who are extremely poor, while those belonging to the upper social class make up a minority of people who own the majority of the land (Halsall). Their living situation is atrocious and unsanitary and they are dependent on nations in order to be…

The English were quick to borrow much of this technology to conquer many countries over the centuries. Even the very simple words that were once rooted in the Spanish vocabulary, such as "stockade" and "conquistador" were later adopted into the English military vocabulary. Both nations had "paradoxical interactions of Spain and England during the 16th and 17th centuries" (Brownlee, 2009) and as Trans-Atlantic exploration was ramped up by both nations, interaction between the two in the new world and in Central and South America began to influence the way both languages, especially English were evolving.

The common concerns of these empires, whose interests, history, and cultures are often seen as running relatively parallel during this time also played a major role in the development of the English language from Spanish roots. Any time two nation's interests converge, there undoubtedly will be a sharing linguistic traditions and development. International trade is…

Linguistics

Tanslation and Linguistics -- Using one to Decode the Othe

Evey tanslation is an intepetation and equies a human acto as an intemediay. Despite all of ou technological advancements, coming up with a "coect" o "pope" tanslation fom one language to anothe is only possible when a human undestanding of language and linguistics is applied to the task. In he aticle, "Linguistics and Tanslation," Gunilla Andeman follows the histoy of the intesection between linguistics and tanslation and povides insight into how the fome has influenced the latte. Tanslation, afte all, is not meely the endition of a text fom one language to anothe. It is also a "systematic compaison of two languages" (62). The elationship between linguistics and tanslation is inexticably intetwined, and Andeman follows thei shaed seach fo similaities between languages and that tanslatos and linguists few similaities can be found.

Linguistics, in the latte half of the…

Linguistics of Arabic and English

Contrastive Morphology Between English and Arabic Languages: The Use of Prefixes and Suffixes in Both Languages?

There are many contrastive elements between the English and Arabic languages, beyond the obvious historical and cipher differences that are readily apparent to the casual observer. Arabic is a Central Semitic language from the Semitic language family; English is a West Germanic language stemming from Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the British Isles. Both languages currently have in excess of a quarter billion native speakers. Some of the fundamental differences between the languages include the number of characters in each alphabet (English with 26 and Arabic with 28); directionality of script writing/reading (English written and read from left to right and Arabic from right to left); word order (English is typically subject-verb-object and Arabic is typically verb-subject-object); and the noun gender (prevalent in Arabic but not English). Arabic sentences may not…

Thus, traditional methods of teaching English or any other language to native speakers of another language can be damaging to students, according to these authors.

Thus, teaching English as a second language must be considered as a cultural and linguistic adventure. Noam Chomsky's theories of language acquisition, which apply to language learners in infancy, but also make important suggestions for second language learning, can also be considered in light of culture. As a child acquires language for the first time, culture is integrated with it. By asking a child to forego his or her own culture to acquire another language and another culture is akin to asking him or her to take on a new identity.

For teachers, this concept is vitally important. In the classroom, teachers at all levels must realize that their English language learners are struggling not only with academia, but also with a redefinition of culture.…

This order is independent of many factors including the student's environment and exposure to a language (Schultz, 2005; Wilson, 2005). This suggests that with different languages students may learn at a different pace. One may also argue that different students may acquire language differently simply because of individual personality or genetic related factors. These are important considerations for teachers.

Input

The input hypothesis suggests acquisition of a language is more likely to occur when students receive input in the second language that is above their current level of linguistic ability (Krashen, 1988; Wilson, 2005). Input helps challenge the learner to achieve new levels of understanding. This idea is one often used in classrooms because students are always aspiring to learn more, and will do so more often when challenged appropriately (Wilson, 2005).

Affective Filter

This hypothesis suggests that many variables may help students acquire language more comprehensibly. Among the variables…

Charting Sociolinguistic Variations

Linguistics

Briefly discuss how language might vary within the speech of a single individual.

Language might vary within the speech of a single individual depending on the various locations and groups with which that individual engages on a regular basis. Depending on the setting and the other individuals with this person, the language within this person's speech is likely to vary. For example, consider young adults who attend a university. When those students are with their peers, classmates, and friends, their language will be a distinct variety. Even within subgroups and subcultures of those same young adults, the languages will further distinguish themselves. A group of young adults who are in a group together for a class project may all be relatively the same age and come from relatively similar class and cultural backgrounds, thus the language between them will be distinctive in those ways. After the…

They draw the readers in too, but have expectations that the reader understands certain phrases and ideas. Thus, they are geared to a narrower audience, while the Time headlines are geared to a wider, more conservative audience. Studying these headlines shows the language, the import, and the grammatical use of past and present participles to gain interest, attention, and summarization. Headlines may seem like a very small part of a news article or story, but in fact, they are the primary way a reader decides whether to read an article or not, and so, they are one of the most important parts of any news story.

eferences

Author not Available. (2006). Former 'Idol' contestant nixes fuel gig. etrieved from the iWon.com Web site: http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20060603/D8I11L080.html6 June 2006.

Bell, A. (1991). The language of news media (chap 9)

Grossman, L. (2006). Have cane, will travel. etrieved from the Time magazine Web site:…

The area is of interest because it allows linguists to look into the variants of Middle English that influenced the current dialect.

3. The North Carolina Language and Life Project's study of Harkers sland, North Carolina is extraordinarily interesting, as it allows researchers to study a dialect that was formed independently of surrounding areas for nearly two centuries. Because the island was separated from the mainland until a bridge was built in 1941, the dialect spoken there is quite different to other areas, and actually has many features of an older English. By studying this dialect, researchers will be able to determine important conclusions regarding time and language development, as well as dialect. n Johnstown, Ohio, another project is peering closely at sociolinguistics, peering at the relationship between cliques and phonetics, as well as age and language sounds. The researchers aim to determine if differences exist by examining groups of…

Zulu

Linguistic Analysis of Word Order in Zulu

efore delving into the intricacies of Zulu grammar, it is critical that a general understanding of the language, its structure and its historical and geographical distribution be provided. Zulu (isiZulu) is an important language spoken by approximately ten million people in Southern Africa (Ethnolouge, 2009). It is a language which belongs to the antu language family which extends from the Cape to the Equator. Zulu is a member of the South-eastern zone of antu, which includes four language groups: Nguni, Tsonga, Sotho and Venda. Within the Nguni group, there are two sub-sections: the Zunda and Tekela. Within the Zunda subgroup can be found the Xhosa and Zulu languages (Maho, 2002). Today, Zulu is the most widely spoken native language in South Africa making it a major language within the country (Ethnolouge, 2009).

Some of the key grammatical features of Zulu are a…

That is a function of the complex cognitive mechanisms involved in human language processing and speech, which Kormos explicitly acknowledges as possibly the most complex of all human cognitive processes (Levelt, 1995 in Kormos, 2003 p88). Given that characterization, the use of a word span test -- in which performance could quite conceivably measure other variables besides raw working memory, such as parallel recognition and various other associative or pneumonic devices -- instead of a non-word span test likely undermined the validity of the Mota study (2003) results.

Furthermore, the Kormos and Safar study (2008) employed standard objective academic tests of foreign language proficiency, whereas the Mota study (2003) employed a novel matrix of variables (fluency, accuracy, and complexity) to measure foreign language proficiency (Mota, 2003 p69). The former type of diagnostic test would appear to be an appropriately accurate and narrowly targeted measure of memory-based performance and learning in…

In "model sheltered instruction courses, language and content objectives are systematically woven into the curriculum of one particular subject area, such as 4th grade language arts, U.S. history, algebra, or life science" (Echevarria & Short 5). Students receive academic support in abstract-level reasoning as well as instruction in ESL. SIOP classrooms are extremely individuated, to take advantage of different levels of academic as well as linguistic proficiency.

Perhaps the most valuable insight of the BICS/CALS model is that it highlights how "problems arise when teachers and administrators think that a child is proficient in a language when they demonstrate good social English" (Hayes 2004, cited by Hernandez). For example, the child of Cambodian immigrants might have great experience in interpreting for their parents, and know how to speak English at a high level to order in a restaurant or to talk to customers at their parent's store, but they may…

Media as the Linguistic Discourse Analysis Object

esearch in Discourse Analysis - Linguistics

Discourse analysis' focus is noteworthy semiotic events. Discourse analysis aims to understand not only the nature of the semiotic event, but also the socio-psychological traits of the participants of the event. The proposed subject of research is media discourse analysis or media as the linguistic discourse analysis object. Media is highly relevant and almost fundamental to life in the 21st century. There is no doubt that there are social, perceptual, psychological, linguistic, and behavioral affects of technology and media upon users and communities. Objects of discourse analysis vary in their definition of articulated sequences of communication events, speech acts, etc. Media is nothing but a series of coordinated sequences of various communications events operating semiotically. Therefore, media discourse analysis is a worthwhile linguistic research endeavor. The hypothesis of the research contends that media discourse analysis, as part…

Brothers Grimm

One Linguistic Feature in the Brothers Grimm: Pronoun Usage

The Brothers Grimm is a collection of fairy tales. There are many linguistics features used in the tales, partially because the Grimm brothers were linguists during their lifetimes. It would be only natural that they would incorporate some of that into what they wrote for others. The linguistics feature focused on in this paper is the use of pronouns. Six fairy tales will be used to discuss and address the pronoun usage of the Brothers Grimm, so that comparisons can be drawn. The reason behind this is that some scholars and others are very interested in the way the Brothers Grimm addressed pronoun usage, since they originally wrote in German. The gender of the nouns and the way the pronouns were used were said to not always match up, at least in translation, leading one to wonder why they…

The result is a translation that fails either to satisfy the impulse for Arab audiences to appreciate the nuance of one of Shakespeare's great tragedies or to create a work that resonates with Arab-speaking audiences.

In many ways, the challenges of translating this type of work are far greater than standard translations between the two distinct linguistic traditions. This is because of core structural differences that lead to common syntax errors. According to Nakhallah (2010), "English-Arabic translation difficulties also result from differences in word order between the syntax of the two languages." (Nakhallah, p. 2)

Such is to say that the reverse order of subject and verb between the two languages leads to a bevy of translation errors and produces works that are often garbled and inferior. The consequence may simply be a low quality reading experience for the Arabic reader attempting to take in a piece of English-written work…

Pragmatic Linguistic Awareness Motivation

Research Study Outline on Pragmalinguistic Awareness

A helpful one-line summary of the research study, indicating the topic area and including all the key concepts to be studied.

Takahashi tested eighty Japanese students with a noticing-the-gap activity after administering a motivation questionnaire and an L2 proficiency test, finding that pragmalinguistic awareness was correlated with motivation subscales, but not with proficiency.

Link to previous research: What the author (SATOMI TAKAHASHI) had done on this topic area and what he had found; unanswered questions that your research study plans to answer.

The role of attention in pragmalinguistics was introduced in Schmidt's Noticing Hypothesis, which claimed that learners have to notice L2 features in the input for subsequent development to occur in the L2. (Schmidt, 1990). Schmidt argues that noticing is central to SLA, and learners must first notice the surface structures of utterances inthe input to acquire virtually every…

Chomsky and the Linguistic Politics of ar

Often, in war, diplomacy and other geopolitical matters, terminology has significant implications. It is frequently the case that terms such as 'terrorism,' 'genocide' and 'war crime' are applied as much if not more on the basis of the cultural identity of the perpetrator than the nature of the crime itself. This is the theme at the center of Noam Chomsky's 2012 article entitled "Somebody's Else's Atrocities." According to Chomsky, the determination to label a human rights disaster an atrocity is often contingent upon the global power balance, with those in a self-proclaimed position of ethical authority often spared this type of language. Indeed, the example cited by Chomsky that drives the discussion hereafter -- the U.S. military-led massacre of civilians in Fallujah, Iraq -- illustrates the duality of terms such as atrocity. The examination of varying media responses to the incident underscores Chomsky's…

Linguistics

Language can directly impact, if not totally constrain, perceptions and cognitions, according to the Sapir-Whorf linguistic relativity hypothesis. Ample evidence supports the hypothesis, as conceptualizations of reality and events are experimentally different in different language contexts, evaluated by testing native speakers of different languages and requesting their interpretation of various events. For example, language impacts perceptions of colors, which can in turn impact salient issues in the perception of reality (Jraissati, 2013). Implications of color differentiation differences may be witnessed in the worlds of art, business, and design. Lai & Narasimhan (2015) show that different languages conceptualize motion differently, with some languages like Spanish concentrating more on the directionality or path of motion, versus languages like English, which emphasize the manner or methods of a motion. It is easy to see why differential motion perceptions might influence witness perceptions of a crime, which is why officers of the law…

Cultural differences extend to language. In some instances, this merely necessitates "code-switching" -- the use of different words and speaking patters in different cultural settings (e.g. The difference between conversation at a business meeting and a baseball game, although with intercultural issues the impact of code-switching becomes far more profound). On a less esoteric level, however, there is the simple issue of language barriers in providing equal multicultural care. Evidence shows that simply increasing he availability of multilingual care -- especially in populations with a large number of non-English speakers -- greatly increases the quality of healthcare and overall health of immigrant populations (Ngo-Metzger et al., 2003).

This suggests one of the main ways that the healthcare industry can combat these barriers -- simply educating more providers in cultural differences, and actively recruiting new students and practitioners from among different cultures and across linguistic lines will greatly improve the availability…

Synthetic event-Related potentials: A computational bridge between neurolinguistics models and experiments

An article was chosen from a peer-reviewed journal known as Neural Networks on the basis that it not only has various implications for the future of neurolinguistics research, but I also found it interesting and related to my intended future career profession. There have been different methods of mapping actual brain activity that occur in normal human cognition and such efforts have also led to various models of cognition and schema networks that continually become more refined as the scientific research progresses. This research began a few generations ago, and at the time the technology was fairly primitive, at least by comparison to the tools and technics that are available to today's researchers. Today, researchers are able to construct 3D representations of the brains activity that show the activity in real-time. This allows for possibilities that were never before…

Thus, when it comes to vowels, this short comparison led me to believe the southern dialect uses longer, more rounded, looser vowels than the inland North dialect.

Consonant sounds also differ between the two regions; or perhaps it is more accurate to note that consonants are used in different ways in the southern and inland northern areas of the United States. Take, for instance, the word "white." While I pronounce this word with a defined, voiced [j] sound at the end, the southern speaker allows it to conclude by lengthening the [a] vowel, as in father. This difference leads to southern words sounding softer and more rounded than the hard, tight edges of Northern words. Although there is a great deal of bias regarding the Southern dialect in the United States today, with some saying it sounds uneducated, listening to the features alone reveal it as a beautiful, if different,…

The conversation reflects the most natural style of communication and spontaneous speech; the speaker may give no conscious thought at all to specific elements of communication or to the inferences that the audience may draw from the manner in which the speaker expresses himself.

Conversely, when conversing with a professor or a boss at work, the same college student might speak much more carefully, giving very conscious thought to correct grammar, politeness, sentence complexity, and choice of vocabulary. To a certain extent, the increased attention to the impression about the speaker that the quality of the communication may make on the audience is natural; it also occurs anytime a student is involved in conversation with elders. However, students may be especially aware of the disparity of linguistic capital between themselves and their professors or their bosses. In both cases, they have a desire to make the best possible impression, partly…

Apparently this view has much in its favor.

When we compare modern English with some of those Indian languages which are most concrete in their formative expression, the contrast is striking. When we say "The eye is the organ of sight, the Indian may not be able to form the expression the eye, but may have to define that the eye of a person or of an animal is meant. Neither may the Indian be able to generalize readily the abstract idea of an eye as the representative of the whole class of objects... (p. 64).

It does not seem to occur to Boas anywhere in the Handbook that such a way of talking about the world might not arise because the mind of the American Indians that he is writing about is "primitive" but rather because he or she is seeing the world in a very different way.

Boas…

Computer mediated Communication (CMC)

Throughout the years, people used different means of communication to pass information from one source to another. The type of communication involved face-to-face, writing letters then sending to people, using telegrams which was the quickest means of communication, and use of telephones, although telephones were invented some years back. Today, the world has become computerized and there are new technologies that most firms have acquired to ease communication as well as replace labor. The computer mediated communications (CMC) that emerged involved the use of e-mail, chat rooms, and Usenet groups. In summary, this paper gives a narrative regarding the issue of Computer Mediated Communication as well as, analyzing the linguistic and visual features of my topic while explaining how they affect communication.

Issue of Privacy and social networking and effect on communication

The use of modern technology has contributed to a strong impact on the lives…

Summarize Complementary Therapies and the APNs ole in guiding their Inclusion in Treatment Plans.

Complimentary therapies are a part of the practices which are utilized to help patients to improve their underlying state of health and reduce the need for long periods of hospitalization. In most cases, this allows them to receive continuous treatment on an outpatient basis. Some of the most notable include: chemotherapy, kinesiology, nutrition / diet, focusing on the mind / body connection and psychological treatment options. These different areas are important, as they will help patients to understand other tools they can utilize in dealing with their condition. This is giving them a sense of empowerment by comprehending what is occurring and the best approaches for addressing these challenges over the long-term. (Mezey, 2003) (Naylor, 2010)

The APNs role is to suggest other therapies they can use during the process and help to supervise the patient.…

Angelou's book "I Know why the Caged Bird Sings' was written, according to its author, to serve as a certain purpose and this purpose can be glimpsed in its language. As the poet and critic Opla Moore (1999) remarked, the Caged Bird was intended to demonstrate, at a time, when these issues were just beginning to come into that open and when Blacks were still struggling for recognition, that rape and racism does exist in America and that out-of-wedlock teen pregnancy not only exists but must be recognized as not always the fault of the teenager and often due to other reasons that may be reducible to the state and church itself. Angelou uses poetic and vivid language to shake the very foundations of the reader's stereotypes and narrative way of construing his or her world by shaking conventional platitudes with the discomfiting reality of disruptive factors and introducing these…

The relationships that can exist between signs can be either syntagmatic or associative. An associative relationship means a relationship between a group of signs, while a syntagmatic relationship means a relationship that exists between signs that are grouped together based on their syntactical meaning. For example, the words "house" and "home" have an associative relationship, while the words "open" and "house" could be said to have a syntagmatic relationship.

According to Dictionary.com, the definition of "house" is "a building in which people live; residence for human beings," while the definition for "home" is "a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household." Almost immediately one can see how it is the relationship between signs that creates meaning, because Dictionary.com actually uses "house" in its definition of "home." The two are clearly related via an associative relationship, but it is their difference that…

The children in Nicaragua did not simply construct a set of signs denoting objects in their environment and rudimentary verbs. ISN is a real language with structure, grammar, and syntax. Since its development in the 1980s, ISN has become complex enough to evolve its own set of slang and idioms. ISN is also classified as the world's newest language.

Moreover, language appears to evolve in and out of social settings. ISN is the product not of one master child who imposed his or her own sign language on peers. Rather, ISN is the product of the collective group of children whose individual input becomes integrated into the language. New signs are incorporated gradually as they become agreed-upon symbols. ISN also has unique linguistic features that may help linguists understand prototypical languages in early human development; variations among different world dialects; or the neurological and sociological components of language generation.

In Chapter 4 of the work the authors suggest that teachers act as catalysts, engaging students and enabling them to achieve the best use for their multiple language skills. Ovando also describes how students actively create their own cultural identity (92). They are not simply passive learners. They do this by comparing information they are receiving in the classroom with their own experiences and forming their opinions and self-image based on their cultural background and experiences as well as the experiences they reap from the environment exposed to every day. This environment a product of classroom learning and experiences.

Cultural Conflict Students Face In Schools

Bilingual and bicultural students often face much cultural conflict and unique learning challenges when in school. In fact these very challenges and conflicts influence student cognitive acquisition and language acquisition because they inhibit students from achieving their highest potential. It is important that educators acknowledge…

344).

In his seminal work, Second-Language Acquisition in Childhood, McLaughlin (1985) reports that early research into language acquisition by preschool children suggested that interference between languages is not as inevitable or universal as was once believed. "Contrastive analysis, in its traditional form, was not able to account for the vast majority of errors that second-language learners made; in fact, learners from quite different language backgrounds appeared to make the same types of mistakes in the target language," he adds (McLaughlin, 1985, p. 14).

Since these early studies into language acquisition, other studies have shown that transfer from the first language does take place in the speech of children from certain first-language backgrounds and at certain times during the learning process. Therefore, McLaughlin cautions that, "It is an exaggeration to say that transfer from the first language is minimal and unimportant. The acquisition of phonological, syntactic, and morphological structures in a…

appended meaning according to the outledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics.

Sociolinguistics

Scientific discipline developed from the cooperation of linguistics and sociology that investigates the social meaning of the language system and of language use, and the common set of conditions of linguistic and social structure. Several areas of sociolinguistic investigation are differentiated.

(a) A primarily sociologically oriented approach concerned predominantly with the norms of language use. (When and for what purpose does somebody speak what kind of language or what variety with whom?) Here language use and language attitudes as well as larger and smaller social networks are in the foreground. These facets are studied mainly by using quantitative methods; connections between socioeconomics, history, culture, ethnic differentiation, social class structure, and language varieties are included in the investigation (diglossia, code theory).

(b) A primarily linguistically oriented approach that presumes linguistic systems to be in principle heterogeneous, though structured, when…

The confidence of non-native speaker teachers is expected to be strengthened by better, more direct, access to the way native speakers use the language. ut an option not on offer so far (and, of course, a task impossible for a corpus called the ritish National Corpus) is to give these non-native speaker teachers access to a corpus capturing the successful use of English among non-native speakers, as a lingua franca, thus offering supremely relevant models for many learners wishing to use the language for similar purposes. So when Aston and urnard refer to ?the political implications of changing the basis on which assessments of correctness or appropriateness of usage are made? what has changed about the "basis" is how it can be accessed, not how it is defined. There is also another problem that operates at a deeper and unrecognized level: the language attitudes of those who, paradoxically, are themselves…

ardhaugh indicates that there is a problematic need in the field to reverse expectations about the capacity of this approach to instruct in practicable and usable linguistic ability. The author takes exception with traditionalist ideas the argue "the single paramount fact about language learning is that it concerns, not problem solving, but the formation and performance of habits." (ardhaugh, p. 21) The linguistic theorist rejects this principle as failing to acknowledge many of the more abstract contextual factors relating to the applicable usage of language. Particularly, the impact levied by culture, by regional dialect, by accent, by generational difference, by distinctions between formal, informal or slang usage and by a host of other even less tangible effectors cannot be introduced simply through the use of habit-forming drills or other techniques which rely singularly on rote practice.

Kanno & Varghese (2010) contribute research that does endorse this more integrative approach, which…

Morphology

A large range of the academic literature centering on the sociological as well as the cultural and linguistic properties of nicknaming can be found. This literature mostly focuses on only sociological and/or cultural properties and/or the linguistic properties but mostly with varying working definitions of the term nickname. For example, some researchers (e.g., Slater and Feinman 1985) notice the structural and sociological commonalities among both the formal and the nicknames whereas, according to some (e.g., Alford 1988) only the descriptive forms are the nicknames. The definition of the term nickname used in this paper may overlap with some of the categories however; there should be no surprise at the commonalities found between the informal and the formal names. As Pulgram (1954, 11-14) has said; the nicknames are the antecedents of many formal names.

Social meaning of nicknaming

The social meaning and function a nickname basically depends on the society…

English for Academic purposes (EAP) teaching and research have come up. These are the systematic functional linguistics (SFL) approaches in Australia and other parts of the world (for example Lee, 2010; Hood, 2006; Woodward-Kron, 2009) and Academic Literacy approaches in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world (for example Lillis & Scott, 2008; Turner, 2004; Thesen & Pletzen, 2006). Despite the two approaches drawing from sociocultural and ethnographic traditions, they tend to have a focus on various facets of EAP. As a language theory, SFL has used linguistic analysis for the establishment of nature of discourses and avenues of getting students participate in the discourses. The pedagogy and research have focused on language systems, language being used and texts. Most academic research literatures have focused on investigating ethnographic leanings and critiquing the predominant institutional and academic practices. The methods in use have focused on finding practices, identities of…

There has, in fact, been a great deal of resistance noted in the use of Portuguese as the sole official language throughout much of Brazil; the huge prevalence of indigenous languages still spoken in many regions of the country is one testament to that fact. In addition, there has been a strong reactionary element against perceived outside influences in the linguistic development of the country. Nheemgatu lies right at the crossroads of these issues, and so has occupied a special place in the public consciousness and in the scholarship regarding language development in Brazil specifically, and with colonization generally (Massini-Cagliari 2004). Examinations of the controversy of Nheengatu as it has played out socially and politically in Brazil reveals that the fervor is just as strong in the desire to hold onto the language as a native remnant as it is to abandon the language as a relic of colonization (Massini-Cagliari…

Consider the fact that the Iroquois are said not to have had a strong word for the singular "I," and that they subsequently developed what was arguably the longest lasting communal representative democracy the world has ever known. The Inuit, whose culture revolves around the arctic world, have dozens of words for snow - this sort of technical knowledge allows quick and accurate transmission of conditions and training in survival.

In Western terms, one remembers that Jesus Christ was said to be "The Word," yet in the original Greek this indicates not only a spoken word but also the Logos - the root term for intellectual reason, for Meaning within context (be that the context of a sentence, a life, a history, or a universe); logos was rational order. The difference between saying that a religious figure is the Word (which at its most profound seem to indicate a kind…

Language and Sexuality from a Desire-Based Perspective

Anthropology -- Language & Sexuality

The broader theoretical treatment of the study of sexuality has long been recognized in the fields of linguistic anthropology and sociolinguistics. Historically, sexuality has been discussed in sociocultural studies of language over the long-term. In fact, this work and the research it generated make up the emergent history and the scope of research on language and sexuality. This analytical discourse on the topic of sexuality and language is socially oriented, to be certain, but the it has followed a path of convenience, resulting in piecemeal treatment and an underlying fragmentation of the body of work.

Discussion of the desire-oriented approach to sexuality and language, theorizing the motivation and development of the approach from a poststructuralist position.

Outline

Sexist language

Women and men's talk: single/mixed sex; private/public

Gender and politeness

Peer and classroom talk

5. Public and workplace talk…

Employing Linguistic Anthropology Theories

There are myriad facets of the cultural ramifications for linguistics and its convergence with anthropology. As such, these cultural consequences pertain to people in various nation states and the verbal expression that reflects how people communicate in those countries. The early 2000's film The Italian Job offers an accurate portrayal of certain linguistic tendencies evinced within American culture. Specifically, it delineates certain facets of power within social constructs as it applies to the way people speak to one another. A close analysis of these proclivities reveals that three linguistic anthropology theories -- remaining polite and clear when speaking to others to demonstrate competency as a speaker, turn-taking among various participants, and deploying bald directives as a means of demonstrating power -- abound more than others do. All of these theories are manifest in this film to prove that the leader of the group attempting to steal…

For instance, "some speakers may engage in overlap, speaking while someone else is taking a turn-at-talk. For some linguistic groups, this discourse behavior can be interpreted as a signal of engagement and involvement; however, other speakers may view it as an interruption and imposition on their speaking rights. Teachers can use the Record-View-Transcribe-Analyze technique to study cross-cultural interactions in their classrooms, helping students identify different communication strategies and their potential for miscommunication." (Demo, 2001)

According to the work "Vernacular Dialects in U.S. Schools," "Children from different backgrounds come to school speaking a wide variety of dialects." (Christian, 1997) the problem according to Christian (1997) is in the fact that, "One central issue in this controversy is whether mastery and use of a standard dialect should be required in schools. Some people consider such a requirement to be discriminatory, because it places an extra burden on certain students. Others argue that…

Language Development in Young Children

Early Childhood and Literacy

Language is a physical link of a child to his outside world. Language acquisition is essential for a child's social, physical and cognitive development. It plays a vital role in developing an individual who would be able to express himself adequately to his family, friends and the world around him. A vast majority of the children can develop linguistic skills effortlessly, whereas some have difficulty in developing these essential skills. They are slow to learn a language and eventually struggle with academic and literacy skills throughout their educational career. The first few years of a child's life are important and critical for their performance.

This project examines the issues related to language development in first two years of a child's life. It also discusses the importance of the language and the role linguistics play in preparing a child for his academic…

Language

American English is incredible malleable and diverse, and it would be a mistake to impose artificial rules. Not only would it be a mistake, it could even be construed as racist. The imaginary Correct English (whether Oxford or Webster-based prescriptive grammatical rules) is one that is clearly defined by the white upper-class hegemony in higher education. As Deresiewicz (2005) states, "there is no such thing as Correct English, and there never has been." Dialects and accents are a sign that the language is alive. Language reflects subculture and social identity, and can allow for the vivid expression of ideas that would be severely restricted if there were only one Correct English.

Language is a form of cultural capital. Therefore, "stigmatized forms" of language such as edneck or African-American speech, are "typically those used by social groups other than the educated middle classes -- professional people, including those in law,…

Socrates

Self-knowledge is a prerequisite for wisdom. For Socrates, self-knowledge or self-understanding is the precursor of the ability to probe the world outside of the self. In fact, Socratic wisdom is wisdom that is manifest and known. The Socratic process of probing and inquiry is designed specifically to eliminate that which cannot be known or that which is irrelevant to the pursuit of wisdom and understanding. The process of Socratic dialogue is coupled with the process of arguing ad absurdum, until the kernel of truth remaining after the inquiry may be recognized as wisdom. Yet before a person can even begin to explore the universe, the person must explore the self. The exploration of self is not a narcissistic inquiry but rather, an inquiry into the nature of human being. It is important to understand the human experience, the human mind, and human patterns of perception and cognition.

Socrates also…