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Silence is a key pedagogical issue in language education. Seen by some as a space for thinking and reflection during the learning process, for others silence represents a threat, inhibiting target language interaction which is so vital during second language acquisition. This book eschews stereotypes and generalisations about why so many learners from East Asia seem either reluctant or unable to speak in English by providing a state-of-the art account of current research into the complex and ambiguous issue of silence in language education. The innovative research included in this volume focuses on silence both as a barrier to successful learning and as a resource that may in some cases facilitate language acquisition. The book offers a fresh perspective on ways to facilitate classroom interaction while also embracing silence and it touches on key pedagogical concepts such as teacher cognition, the role of task features, classroom interactional approaches, pedagogical intervention and socialisation, willingness to communicate, as well as psychological and sociocultural factors. Each of the book’s chapters include self-reflection and discussion tasks, as well as annotated bibliographies for further reading.
This book demonstrates how silence is conceptualized and represented in Japanese language and culture. A cluster of sounds in nature and onomatopoeic vocabulary enable verbal portrayals of silence consistent with a cultural pattern of practices that value sensate and affective reactions.
This is the story of one particular little boy trapped in silence, struggling to regain language. And it is the story of every one of us who uses language in much the same way we breathe: effortlessly, intuitively, taking this gift for granted in our daily lives. In a work that captures the whole universe of language, Russell Martin probes this most profound and complex human trait but never abandons his central concern, always circling back to the troubling question of the speechless child. Investigating the mystery of what went wrong and why, he spins a tale of detection, unearthing disturbing truths and reaching surprising conclusions. In the end, his is a spellbinding drama; a tale of one family's determination to help their child find his way back to words; a story of one school's willingness to make room for this child; a story, too, about big, seemingly insurmountable problems, and small but noble victories. In combining this story, with an elegant inquiry into the totality of language, Martin takes us on a voyage of discovery into the very essence of what makes us human. Moving us with the miracle of language, he tells a tale that is a cause for celebration. "A wholly remarkable book . . . Martin leaves us with a deeper understanding of language itself, a richer appreciation of its promise, and a realization that the ability to communicate is a kind of grace." --The Los Angeles Times "A deeply moving rendering of human beings in adversity. . . Other accounts of the suffering of autism have been published, but few can vie with this one for thoughtfulness, scholarship, and personal accent." --New York Times Book Review "The journey into language is a magical passage for any of us, and Russell Martin's brilliantly observed story of a boy struggling to speak takes us into the latest realms of how and why words come to us, and we to them." --Ivan Doig, author of This House of Sky and English Creek
Izydora Dąmbska (1904-1982) was a Polish philosopher; a student of Kazimierz Twardowski, and his last assistant. The present volume includes twenty eight translations of her representative papers.
An analysis of West German literature as it tries to come to terms with the holocaust and its impact on post-war German society.
This text examines the under-researched and often troubling phenomenon of silence in second language learning through a triangulation of SLA research, memoirs and language learner diaries, and psychoanalytic concepts of anxiety, ambivalence, conflict and loss. It moves beyond the view of silence as the mere absence of speech, inviting the reader to consider it as both a psychical event and a linguistic moment in the continuous process of identity formation.
This book provides a theoretical account of a variety of different communicative aspects of silence and explores new ways of studying socially-motivated language. A research overview shows the influence of related work in the fields of media studies, politics, gender studies, aesthetics and literature. The author argues that in theoretically pragmatic terms, silence can be accounted for by the same principles as those of speech. A later, more applied section of the book explores the power of silencing in politics. A concluding chapter shows the importance of silence beyond linguistics and politics in terms of artistic expression. The approach is intentionally eclectic in order to explore the concept of silence as a rich and
A leading American anthropologist analyzes the many vitally important ways in which people "talk" to one another without the use of words. "The Silent Language shows how cultural factors influence the individual behind his back, without his knowledge." —Erich Fromm The pecking order in a chicken yard, the fierce competition in a school playground, every unwitting gesture and action—this is the vocabulary of the "silent language." According to Dr. Hall, the concepts of space and time are tools with which all human beings may transmit messages. Space, for example, is the outgrowth of an animal's instinctive defense of his lair and is reflected in human society by the office worker's jealous defense of his desk, or the guarded, walled patio of a Latin-American home. Similarly, the concept of time, varying from Western precision to Easter vagueness, is revealed by the businessman who pointedly keeps a client waiting, or the South Pacific islander who murders his neighbor for an injustice suffered twenty years ago.
