Free eBooks Language Matters: A Guide To Everyday Questions About Language Available To Downloads
Is Ebonics really a dialect or simply bad English? Do women and men speak differently? Will computers ever really learn human language? Does offensive language harm children? These are only a few of the issues surrounding language that crop up every day. Most of us have very definite opinions on these questions one way or another. Yet as linguists Donna Jo Napoli and Vera Lee-Schoenfeld point out in this short and thoroughly readable volume, many of our most deeply held ideas about the nature of language and its role in our lives are either misconceived or influenced by myths and stereotypes.Language Matters provides a highly informative tour of the world of language, examining these and other vexing and controversial language-related questions. Throughout, Napoli and Lee-Schoenfeld encourage and lead the reader to use common-sense and everyday experience rather than preconceived notions or technical linguistic expertise. Both their questions and their conclusions are surprising, sometimes provocative, and always entertaining.This thoroughly revised second edition updates the book with a new co-author, and includes new chapters on language and power, language extinction, and what it is linguists actually do. Language Matters is sure to engage both general readers and students of language and linguistics at any level.
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press; 2 edition (July 8, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0199735719
ISBN-13: 978-0199735716
Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 0.8 x 5 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #236,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #59 in Books > Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Semantics #243 in Books > Textbooks > Communication & Journalism > Media Studies #421 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Linguistics
This is the much anticipated 2nd edition of Napoli's masterpiece, which was published in 2003 with the same title. Since I enjoyed the 1st edition so much that I bought and read the 2nd edition immediately after its publication last year. But I was very, very disappointed by this 2nd edition.My disappointment was mostly due to the additional author of the book, whose English is not good (sometimes even ungrammatical) and whose logic is often nonexistent. Although the back cover of the book says, "This thoroughly revised edition...," the reality is that each chapter was curtailed in some parts from the 1st edition and new material was added instead by the 2nd author. Also, there are three new chapters, but all of them seem to have been written exclusively by the 2nd author. This is easy to tell, since Napoli's English is much, much better than that.I hope OUP will continue publishing the 1st edition, which I would recommend most highly to anyone who was interested in human language. Unfortunately, however, the 2nd edition is not worth the money or time. I wonder if Napoli proofread the whole manuscript before its publication.
I recently adopted this book for my Freshman English course at a community college. I wanted a better-priced alternative to a textbook like "What's Language Got to Do with It" for a theme on language; more, it introduced students to the idea of a disciplinary vantage with one that they mostly did not know existed --linguistics. I found that talking about language, without defining it, was confusing for many students, because language is like air: we don't distinguish it, until we do. While my other, wide-ranging reading selections centered on issues like Language and Identity; the social construction of race and gender, and Language, Power and Privilege, Napoli and Lee-Schoenfeld's book gave us the common grounding from which to work on these topics. My students, many of whom are first generation Americans, found the chapters on language acquisition and Creoles and Pidgins revelatory. In general, and to my delight, they found the book challenging and accessible, and to a student -- when I asked -- they said: they liked the book. The format -- short chapters, the Q&A approach, the copious use of examples, many of which are narratively-based, yet offered in the context of a specific set of theories and findings, made this text the single most quoted source in my students' capstone research projects -- on a wide variety of self-directed topic selections. My appreciation for this book. Meg Kallman Feeley, Dept of English, Kingsborough Community College Brooklyn NY.
We have an upcoming generation that only knows how to communicate in shorthand. They have not had the pleasure of enjoying the written and spoken word.This book is written in an interesting, clear, concise manner that shows how important language is. The book should be read by young people especially, to show how language is important when communicating for pleasure, business, politics or just for the love of the spoken or written word.The book uses examples to make certain points. It was easy to read and I purchased it for Christmas gifts.
You could google all this stuff and get better facts. I wasn't impressed.
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