"Over the last thirty years, two social developments have occurred that have led to a need for change in language policy in Japan. One is the increase in the number of migrants needing opportunities to learn Japanese as a second language, the other is the influence of electronic…
"Recent developments in contact linguistics suggest considerable overlap of branches such as historical linguistics, variationist sociolinguistics, pidgin/creole linguistics, language acquisition, etc. This book highlights the complexity of contact-induced language change throug…
Much contemporary metaphysics, moved by an apparent necessity to take reality to consist of given beings and properties, presents us with what appear to be deep problems requiring radical changes in the common sense conception of persons and the world. Contemporary meta-ethics i…
If languages influence the way we think, do bilinguals think differently in their respective languages? And if languages do not affect thought, why do bilinguals often perceive such influence? For many years these questions remained unanswered because the research on language an…
Quotatives considers the phenomenon "quotation" from a wealth of perspectives. It consolidates findings from different strands of research, combining formal and functional approaches for the definition of reported discourse and situating the phenomenon in a broader typological a…
How do we read stories? How do they engage our minds and create meaning? Are they a mental construct, a linguistic one or a cultural one? What is the difference between real stories and fictional ones? This book addresses such questions by describing the conceptual and linguisti…
Language, Literacy and Diversity brings together researchers who are leading the innovative and important re-theorization of language and literacy in relation to social mobility, multilingualism and globalization. The volume examines local and global flows of people, language an…
Corpus Linguistics for Grammar provides an accessible and practical overview of how we can use corpus linguistics to analyse grammar. It examines the kinds of corpora available and the tools which can be used to analyse them, demonstrates how features of grammar can be explored …
Assuming no prior knowledge, Understanding Syntax illustrates the major concepts, categories and terminology associated with the study of cross-linguistic syntax. A theory-neutral and descriptive viewpoint is taken throughout. Starting with an overview of what syntax is, the boo…
Surveys what has been learned about phonological development in early infancy and raises questions for further study"
Wolf considers the future of the reading brain and our capacity for critical thinking, empathy and reflection as we become increasingly dependent upon digital technologies. A decade ago, Wolf's Proust and the Squid revealed what we know about how the brain learns to read and ho…
The Routledge Handbook of Language and Creativity provides an introduction and survey of the wide range of perspectives on the relationship between language and creativity. Divided into four sections, this handbook covers the dimensions of language and creativity, literary creat…
Décharné traces the colorful history of slang, from Elizabethan highwaymen to the rap and hip-hop of today. He shows how meanings change over years; introduces us to flying aces, pickpockets, and carnival geeks who have left their impression on our language; and shows how slang …
