This book explores the application of an innovative assessment approach known as Dynamic Assessment (DA) to academic writing assessment, as developed within the Vygotskian sociocultural theory of learning. DA blends instruction with assessment by targeting and further developing students' Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The book presents the application of DA to assessing academic writing by developing a set of DA procedures for academic writing teachers. It further demonstrates the application of Hallidayan Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), combined with DA, to track undergraduate business management students' academic writing and conceptual development in distance education. This work extends previous DA studies in three key ways: i) it explicitly focuses on the construction of a macrogenre (whole text) as opposed to investigations of decontextualized language fragments, ii) it offers the first in-depth application of the powerful SFL tool to analyse students' academic writing to track their academic writing trajectory in DA research, and iii) it identifies a range of mediational strategies and consequently expands Poehner's (2005) framework of mediation typologies. Dynamic Assessment of Students' Academic Writing will be of great value to academic writing researchers and teachers, language assessment researchers and postgraduate students interested in academic writing, alternative assessment and formative feedback in higher education.

* Arabic code-switching and translanguaging in written Arabic has recently emerged as a powerful form of communication online and the connection between these forms of communication and the socio-political impact they have within the ongoing tumultuous transformations in the Arab world makes this study very appealing to students and researchers * addresses the colloquial/standard variation of written Arabic for students of Arabic sociolinguistics * many scholars/teachers in the filed of Arabic are re-thinking the ways in which the Arabic language can be taught in a more efficient way that would address the challenges posed by Arabic diglossia * a useful practical and theoretical tool that scholars could use in their explorations and teaching. This book would appeal to: sociolinguistic researchers mixed Arabic writing and the concepts of code-switching, code-mixing and translanguaging teachers and students of Arabic wishing to understand better the mixed forms of writing we find in modern Arabic literature and on social media. Early literacy advocates, researchers and teachers, who wish to better understand the issues young learners face and possible solutions to overcoming the barriers to achieving higher literacy and attainment policy makers and educators interested in Arabic phonics, a new yet popular concept in Arabic language teaching and learning

Promoting cultural understanding in a globalized world, this text is a key tool for students interested in further developing their understanding of Chinese society and culture. Written by a team of experts in their fields, this book provides a survey of Chinese culture, delving deeper into areas such as Chinese philosophy, religion, politics and education. It offers the reader a wide range of essential facts to better understand contemporary China through its history and cultural background, touching on key areas such as the development of science and technology in China, as well as the country's economy and trade history, and is a key read for scholars and students in Chinese Culture, Sociology and Politics.

Although the Japanese language is one of the most quoted examples in politeness research, extant publications focus on particular areas of politeness, and very few of them enquire into the varied aspects of Japanese politeness. In this book, Yasuko Obana provides an integrated account of what signifies Japanese politeness. By examining how far previous assumptions can apply to Japanese, Obana exposes a variety of characteristics of Japanese politeness. By taking a diachronic approach, she probes into what constitutes politeness, extracts key elements of the term 'polite' in Japanese, and demonstrates how modern honorifics' apparent diverse, divergent uses and effects can be integrated into a systematic matrix. Furthermore, by quoting traditional Japanese language scholars' (kokugo gakusha) studies, Obana brings different views into the open. She also carves out politeness strategies in Japanese that have not been adequately explored to date, and which often conform to the way in which honorifi cs behave because they refl ect social indexicality. This book is a good reference for scholars in pragmatics, particularly for those who are working on politeness. It is useful for Japanese language teachers who want to know how to teach Japanese politeness to non-native learners. Postgraduate students of Japanese or pragmatics may also find this book useful for self-study.

Comprehensive overview of the ways in which Asian languages should be conceptualized as a whole Provides distinct characteristics of each language group Gives details on the relationships and results of interactions between Asian languages and language families Not only does this handbook act as a reference to a particular language, it also connects the language to other Asian languages in the perspective of the entire Asian Continent Extensive coverage of both theoretical and applied linguistic topics

As China and Chinese language learning moves centre stage economically and politically, questions of interculturality assume even greater significance. In this book interculturality draws attention to the processes involved in people engaging and exchanging with each other across languages, nationalities and ethnicities. The study, which adopts an ecological perspective, critically examines a range of issues and uses a variety of sources to conduct a multifaceted investigation. Data gathered from interviews with students of Mandarin sit alongside a critical discussion of a wide range of sources. Interculturality in Learning Mandarin Chinese in British Universities will be of interest to students and academics studying and researching Chinese language education, and academics working in the fields of language and intercultural communication, intercultural education and language education in general.

The Routledge Handbook of Arabic and Identity offers a comprehensive and up-to-date account of studies that relate the Arabic language in its entirety to identity. This handbook offers new trajectories in understanding language and identity more generally and Arabic and identity in particular. Split into three parts, covering 'Identity and Variation', 'Identity and Politics' and 'Identity Globalisation and Diversity', it is the first of its kind to offer such a perspective on identity, linking the social world to identity construction and including issues pertaining to our current political and social context, including Arabic in the diaspora, Arabic as a minority language, pidgin and creoles, Arabic in the global age, Arabic and new media, Arabic and political discourse. Scholars and students will find essential theories and methods that relate language to identity in this handbook. It is particularly of interest to scholars and students whose work is related to the Arab world, political science, modern political thought, Islam and social sciences including: general linguistics, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, anthropological linguistics, anthropology, political science, sociology, psychology, literature media studies and Islamic studies.

This book is for anyone who has wondered the ways HL speakers think about themselves and their changing identities across time and space. For those who stereotypically conceptualise CHL learners as a homogeneous, diasporic, and language minority population, this book will be an eye opener by revealing CHL identity as a superdiverse construct rather than a unitary entity. This book captures the authentic voices from university CHL learners from diverse backgrounds who identify themselves in different and similar ways. This book develops a new account of HL learner identity and its relation to three realms of social realities: language learning, language use, and social experience.

The first comprehensive guide to research methods and technologies in psycholinguistics and the neurobiology of language Bringing together contributions from a distinguished group of researchers and practitioners, editors Annette M. B. de Groot and Peter Hagoort explore the methods and technologies used by researchers of language acquisition, language processing, and communication, including: traditional observational and behavioral methods; computational modelling; corpus linguistics; and virtual reality. The book also examines neurobiological methods, including functional and structural neuroimaging and molecular genetics. Ideal for students engaged in the field, Research Methods in Psycholinguistics and the Neurobiology of Language examines the relative strengths and weaknesses of various methods in relation to competing approaches. It describes the apparatus involved, the nature of the stimuli and data used, and the data collection and analysis techniques for each method. Featuring numerous example studies, along with many full-color illustrations, this indispensable text will help readers gain a clear picture of the practices and tools described. * Brings together contributions from distinguished researchers across an array of related disciplines who explain the underlying assumptions and rationales of their research methods * Describes the apparatus involved, the nature of the stimuli and data used, and the data collection and analysis techniques for each method * Explores the relative strengths and weaknesses of various methods in relation to competing approaches * Features numerous real-world examples, along with many full-color illustrations, to help readers gain a clear picture of the practices and tools described

This book explores a large variety of topics involved in Arabic philosophy. It examines concepts and issues relating to logic and mathematics, as well as metaphysics, ethics and aesthetics. These topics are all studied by different Arabic philosophers and scientists from different periods ranging from the 9th century to the 20th century, and are representative of the Arabic tradition. This is the first book dealing with the Arabic thought and philosophy and written only by women. The book brings together the work and contributions of an international group of female scholars and researchers specialized in the history of Arabic logic, philosophy and mathematics. Although all authors are women, the book does not enter into any kind of feminist trend. It simply highlights the contributions of female scholars in order to make them available to the large community of researchers interested in Arabic philosophy and to bring to the fore the presence and representativeness of female scholars in the field.

Narrative Therapy with Spanish Speakers provides counselors, social workers, and other mental health professionals with a variety of culturally responsive bilingual activities developed for use with clients of all ages. Each short chapter covers topics such as fear, acceptance, and trust; the chapters also employ short fictions, sayings, and quotes, all in both Spanish and English, that professionals can share directly with clients. Additional materials on the book's website include audio resources for both counselors and clients, and the book is replete with icons and guides to help counselors quickly find relevant material.

A clear organized structure that allows for one chapter's lessons to build on another, assisting in supporting and scaffolding students' knowledge Clear visuals and charts that take into account the learner's language level. Support for the instructor with transcripts of materials and ideas for activities both in the textbook and the manual. Diverse video, audio, reading, and web activities that engage the students at their level, thereby supporting their participate in communicative activities. The program has been the best seller as a college Russian textbook through five editions since 1993.

For decades Foucault was mostly known for his diagnosis of modernity as a form of entrapment, both in our modes of thought and our behaviors. This book argues that Foucault's reappraisal of modernity occurs with the 1978 and 1979 lectures, in which he sketches modern power as governmentality and neoliberalism. From this perspective, Foucault's once surprising studies on the Greeks' constitution of the 'self' can be seen as a continuation of his diagnosis of late modernity, and as an attempt to retrieve a form of autonomy for our modern selves. One finds in the late Foucault a postmodern conception of reason and not a destruction of reason; but this is possible only if postmodernity is seen as a critical exercise of reason in the analysis of norms.

Looks at the Arab world as continually changing, with linguistic influence across the world Explores crucial questions on transforming linguistic landscapes, roles and implications of migration, the impact of technology on language use Chapters authored by both established and emerging scholars in the field of applied and socio-lingistics Invetigates ways identity can be imagined and constructed

This book focuses on the dynamic nature of EAP (English for academic purposes) learners' beliefs about language learning in their shift from an EFL (English as a foreign language) environment to an EMI (English as the medium of instruction) setting in mainland China. It adopts a mixed method paradigm, whose quantitative part aims to capture the general dynamic feature of the selected student population, while its qualitative part attempts to unveil the process of change in beliefs about language learning among the sample. It is hypothesized that the change in their beliefs about language learning is the result of the interplay between the learners' agency and the mediation of the contextual realities at the institutional and social levels.

This book traces the evolutionary trajectory of language and teaching from the earliest periods of human evolution to the present day. The author argues that teaching is unique to humans and our ancestors, and that the evolution of teaching, language, and culture are the inextricably linked results of gene-culture coevolutionary processes. Drawing on related fields including archaeology, palaeontology, cultural anthropology, evolutionary psychology and linguistics, he makes the case that the need for joint attention and shared goals in complex adaptive strategies is the underlying driver for the evolution of language-like communication. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of these disciplines, as well as lay readers with an interest in human origins.

Translation of a text published in Korea Explores a hundred years of Korean popular music Central theme of generational conflict providing an accessible way to engage with Korea's social history

The Evolution of Spanish Past Forms examines how Spanish past forms have changed diachronically. With examples from Medieval Spanish, Golden Age Spanish, and Modern Spanish literary works, this book demonstrates how language is dynamic and susceptible to change. The past forms considered here include the preterit, the imperfect, the imperfect progressive with estar (temporal to be), the present perfect, the imperfect progressive with other auxiliary verbs, the preterit progressive with estar, and the preterit progressive with other auxiliary verbs. This book will be of interest to scholars and graduate students investigating tense and aspect phenomena in Spanish and other languages, grammaticalization processes, and language variation and change.

This book analyses gendered language in Italian, shedding light on how the Italian language constructs and reproduces the social imbalance between women and men, and presenting indirect and direct instances of asymmetrical constructions of gender in public and private roles. The author examines linguistic treatments of women in politics and the media, as well as the gendered crime of femminicidio, i.e. the killing of women by their (former) partners. Through the combination of corpus linguistics, surveys, and discourse analysis, she establishes a new approach to the study of gendered Italian, a framework which can be applied to other languages and epistemological sites. This book will be of particular interest to students and scholars of sociolinguistics, language and gender, discourse analysis, Italian and other Romance languages.

The Routledge Companion to Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Latin American Literary and Cultural Forms brings together a team of expert contributors in this critical and innovative volume. Highlighting key trends within the discipline, as well as cutting-edge viewpoints that revise and redefine traditional debates and approaches, readers will come away with an understanding of the complexity of twenty-first-century Latin American cultural production and with a renovated and eminently contemporary understanding of twentieth-century literature and culture. This invaluable resource will be of interest to advanced students and academics in the fields of Latin American literature, cultural studies, and comparative literature.

This satirical novel is set in the heady atmosphere of carnival on the tropical Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao, where the contradictions of postcolonial existence come to a boil that is furious, often bitingly funny, and sometimes almost intolerably tragic. And through it all, the story manages by way of a genuinely African derived rhythm to offer a message of hope. The heroine of the novel is Bir, a woman in her late sixties, the mama grandi with her ancient wisdom, a solid root of the community, dispensing medicinal herbs, advice, and motherly love. The flavor of the island is unmistakable: it is an authentic Curacaoan story by noted Curacaoan author Diana Lebacs. Not only is it Curacaoan in its subject matter but in the way the story is told. It is serious but full of humor, from gentle irony to slapstick, with a lot of social satire in between. Founding Fictions of the Dutch Caribbean: Diana Lebacs' The Longest Month (De Langste Maand), originally written in Dutch, is suitable for courses on Caribbean and postcolonial literature, women's writing, and for readers of fiction in general.

* Introduces both both standards of Armenian (Eastern and Western) in a single volume reflecting the realities of the current Armenian world and culture. * Communicative focus with a range of language activities designed around daily life topics that get students speaking, listening, reading and writing in the target language from the outset. * Aimed at those begining to learn the language and specifically seeking to speak and communicate effectively in Armenian as soon as possible.

Chinese grammar is characterized by its simple structure, lack of inflections, and wide use of monosyllabic morphemes. With the increased popularity of learning Chinese as a second language, there is a demand for a guide to Chinese grammar that's targeted at second language learners. This four-volume set is one of the earliest and most influential works of Chinese grammar, with a special focus on teaching and learning Chinese as a second language. Drawing on rich teaching experience, the authors analyze a myriad of real world examples to describe Chinese grammatical phenomena and rules while introducing the general grammar system of Chinese. This volume introduces sentence constituents in modern Chinese grammar, including subjects, objects, attributes, adverbials, complements, double references, and parentheses. Since the first edition came out in 1983, this set has been revised twice and remained one of the best sellers in the field. Practitioners and scholars of teaching Chinese as a second language, as well as students with a basic knowledge of Chinese, will find it to be a handy reference.

Chinese grammar is characterized by its simple structure, lack of inflections, and wide use of monosyllabic morphemes. With the increased popularity of learning Chinese as a second language, there is a demand for a guide to Chinese grammar that's targeted at second language learners. This four-volume set is one of the earliest and most influential works of Chinese grammar, with a special focus on teaching and learning Chinese as a second language. Drawing on rich teaching experience, the authors analyze a myriad of real-world examples to describe Chinese grammatical phenomena and rules while introducing the general grammar system of Chinese. This volume introduces several simple sentence and compound sentence structures of modern Chinese grammar. In addition, the authors examine discourse and other larger units of sentences in use. Since the first edition came out in 1983, this set has been revised twice and remained one of the best sellers in the field. Practitioners and scholars of teaching Chinese as a second language, as well as students with a basic knowledge of Chinese, will find it to be a handy reference.

A clear organized structure that allows for one chapter's lessons to build on another, assisting in supporting and scaffolding students' knowledge Clear visuals and charts that take into account the learner's language level. Support for the instructor with transcripts of materials and ideas for activities both in the textbook and the manual. Diverse video, audio, reading, and web activities that engage the students at their level, thereby supporting their participate in communicative activities. The program has been the best seller as a college Russian textbook through five editions since 1993.