Every college student in China seems to be studying English. I see them listening to radio programs on their dormitory bed, studying the dictionary in the back of the classroom, and completing grammar exercises in the cafeteria. But still, these same students come to me and ask the same question: “Teacher . . . my spoken English is very poor. How to improve my spoken English?” This short book is my answer to their question. This book will reference modern research, but it is not a book for scholars. This book will contain information that will benefit English teachers,but it is not a book for teachers. This is a book for you, the students.
Situated at the crossroads of dialectology, sociolinguistics and contact linguistics, this volume provides a first comprehensive description of the morphosyntactic inventory of the variety of English spoken on Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands. Based on a specially compiled corpus of spoken material containing both present-day sociolinguistic and archive data, it thereby reveals an intricate network of variation and change in this language-shift variety.
Why does everything sound better if it's said in French? That fascination is at the heart of The Story of French, the first history of one of the most beautiful languages in the world that was, at one time, the pre-eminent language of literature, science and diplomacy. Nadeau and Barlow chart the history of a language spoken as a native tongue by 130 million people around the globe.
Featuring ordinary people, celebrities, game shows, hidden cameras, everyday situations, and humorous or dramatic situations, reality TV is one of the fastest growing and important popular culture trends of the past decade, with roots reaching back to the days of radio. The Tube Has Spoken provides an analysis of the growing phenomenon of reality TV, its evolution as a genre, and how it has been shaped by cultural history. This collection of essays looks at a wide spectrum of shows airing from the 1950s to the present, addressing some of the most popular programs including Alan Funt's Candid Camera, Big Brother, Wife Swap, Kid Nation, and The Biggest Loser.
Talk a Lot is not designed for self-study. The instructions make it clear that it's meant to be used in a classroom setting with an instructor, and the course relies heavily upon class discussion, show-and-tell activities, and small group work. This is a book for teachers, not students. Users may find that the course provides an innovative approach to ESL instruction, focusing strongly on speaking (and thinking) in English.
