Language gives a snub to borders in a way that is denied to any other human invention. There are no controls or checks to prevent words crossing boundaries, there are no duties to be paid when phrases migrate from one culture to another. In the basic and simplest sense of the phrase, language is a free market.
Within the pages of Faux Pas? the foreign expressions are presented: the familiar and the unfamiliar, the useful and the pretentious. Each entry in this book has been given a phonetic indication of pronunciation.
Each entry has also been given a rating on the so-called – or soi-disant – Pretentiousness Index. For many entries it does not apply at all, either because they are ‘technical’ terms (like in camera or ultra vires) or because they are so well-established in English that using them is about as natural as breathing.
Every entry has been illustrated with an example of actual use, sometimes very recent use. The sources are generally what used to be called the broadsheets (The Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph and Independent in particular). Quite a few examples have been drawn from fiction as well as sources such as the Spectator magazine.
Mention "special needs children", and most people think of students struggling to overcome learning and physical disabilities as well as problem behaviors that interfere with achieving full academic potential. But there is a hidden population of special needs children – the gifted and talented – and their teachers, parents, and other professionals are often not well equipped to respond to their unique academic and developmental needs.
This series brings together titles dealing with a variety of aspects of languageacquisition and processing in situations where a language or languages other than thenative language is involved. Second language is thus interpreted in its broadestpossible sense. The volumes included in the series all offer in their different ways, onthe one hand, exposition and discussion of empirical findings and, on the other, somedegree of theoretical reflection. In this latter connection, no particular theoreticalstance is privileged in the series; nor is any relevant perspective – sociolinguistic,psycholinguistic, neurolinguistic, etc. – deemed out of place. The intended readershipof the series includes final-year undergraduates working on second languageacquisition projects, postgraduate students involved in second language acquisitionresearch, and researchers and teachers in general whose interests include a secondlanguage acquisition component.
This series brings together titles dealing with a variety of aspects of languageacquisition and processing in situations where a language or languages other than thenative language is involved. Second language is thus interpreted in its broadestpossible sense. The volumes included in the series all offer in their different ways, onthe one hand, exposition and discussion of empirical findings and, on the other, somedegree of theoretical reflection. In this latter connection, no particular theoreticalstance is privileged in the series; nor is any relevant perspective – sociolinguistic,psycholinguistic, neurolinguistic, etc. – deemed out of place. The intended readershipof the series includes final-year undergraduates working on second languageacquisition projects, postgraduate students involved in second language acquisitionresearch, and researchers and teachers in general whose interests include a secondlanguage acquisition component.
This series brings together titles dealing with a variety of aspects of languageacquisition and processing in situations where a language or languages other than thenative language is involved. Second language is thus interpreted in its broadestpossible sense. The volumes included in the series all offer in their different ways, onthe one hand, exposition and discussion of empirical findings and, on the other, somedegree of theoretical reflection. In this latter connection, no particular theoreticalstance is privileged in the series; nor is any relevant perspective – sociolinguistic,psycholinguistic, neurolinguistic, etc. – deemed out of place. The intended readershipof the series includes final-year undergraduates working on second languageacquisition projects, postgraduate students involved in second language acquisitionresearch, and researchers and teachers in general whose interests include a secondlanguage acquisition component.
