'Metonymy' is a type of figurative language used in everyday conversation, a form of shorthand that allows us to use our shared knowledge to communicate with fewer words than we would otherwise need. 'I'll pencil you in' and 'let me give you a hand' are both examples of metonymic language. Metonymy serves a wide range of communicative functions such as textual cohesion, humour, irony, euphemism and hyperbole - all of which play a key role in the development of language and discourse communities. Using authentic data throughout, this book shows how metonymy operates, not just in language, but also in gesture, sign language, art, music, film and advertising.
What can educators in different countries learn from each other about successful multilingual initiatives? By comparing experiences from diverse settings—France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK—the writers highlight ways of creating multilingual learning communities that promote language expertise, intercultural understanding and educational achievement.
Understanding sociolinguistics as a theoretical and methodological framework hopefully could attempt to promote change and social development in human communities. Yet it still presents important political, epistemological, methodological and theoretical challenges. A sociolinguistics of development, in which the revitalization of linguistic communities is the priority, opens new perspectives for the emerging field of linguistic documentation, in which the societal aspects of research, stressed by sociolinguistics, have frequently been marginal.
Most would agree that a learning community of practice cultivates social and intellectual development in educational settings but what are the other benefits and what does a learning community actually look like in practice? This book explores such questions as: Are learning communities essential in education? How are they designed and developed? What difference do they make in learning? The book contains contributions of educators who share their research and practice in designing and implementing learning communities in school, university, and professional network settings.
Emerging Technologies for the Classroom: A Learning Sciences Perspective
This book provides contemporary examples of the ways in which educators can use digital technologies to create effective learning environments that support improved learning and instruction. These examples are guided by multiple conceptual and methodological traditions evolving from the learning sciences and instructional technology communities as well as other communities doing important work on learning technologies.
