An unmissable collection of eight unconventional and captivating short stories for adult and young adult learners.

Short Stories in French for Beginners has been written especially for students from beginner to intermediate level, designed to give a sense of achievement, and most importantly - enjoyment! Mapped to A2-B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference, these eight captivating stories will both entertain you, and give you a feeling of progress when reading.

What does this book give you?

• Eight stories in a variety of exciting genres, from science fiction and crime to history and thriller - making reading fun, while you learn a wide range of new vocabulary
• Controlled language at your level, including the 1000 most frequent words, to help you progress confidently
• Authentic spoken dialogues, to help you learn conversational expressions and improve your speaking ability
• Pleasure! It's much easier to learn a new language when you're having fun, and research shows that if you're enjoying reading in a foreign language, you won't experience the usual feelings of frustration - 'It's too hard!' 'I don't understand!'
• Accessible grammar so you learn new structures naturally, in a stress-free way

Carefully curated to make learning a new language easy, these stories include key features that will support and consolidate your progress, including

• A glossary for bolded words in each text
• Full plot summary
• A bilingual word list
• Comprehension questions after each chapter.

As a result, you will be able to focus on enjoying reading, delighting in your improved range of vocabulary and grasp of the language, without ever feeling overwhelmed or frustrated. From science fiction to fantasy, to crime and thrillers, Short Stories in French for Beginners will make learning French easy and enjoyable.

Corpus-based studies of diachronic English have been thriving over the last three decades to such an extent that the validity of corpora in the enrichment of historical linguistic research is now undeniable. The present book is a collection of papers illustrating the state of the art in corpus-based research on diachronic English, by means of case-study expositions, software presentations, and theoretical discussions on the topic. The majority of these papers were delivered at the

Genre analysis has become firmly established as one of the most popular frameworks for the study of specialized genres in academic, professional and institutional as well as other workplace contexts. In recent years, genre theory has also developed in the direction of a more comprehensive and powerful multi-dimensional and multi-perspectived framework to examine not only the text but also the context in a much more meaningful manner than had ever been done earlier. The theoretical perspectives and the individual case studies of this volume testify to the wide range of methodological tools made available by genre theory, enabling researchers to handle problems relating to the description of variations in language use. Moreover, the following relevant issues are addressed: how are specialized genres constructed, interpreted and exploited in the achievement of specific goals in highly specialized contexts?

This volume focuses on the nature of official correspondence produced m the period after 1500, from Early Modern to nineteenth-century English. The contributions reflect the extent to which the genre is somewhat plastic in this period, gradually acquiring distinguishing conventions and protocols as the situations in which the letters themselves are encoded acquire more distinctiveness. Although correspondence has long been the object of diachronic studies, very little seems to be available as far as specialized usage is concerned, hence the specific interest in letters exchanged within scientific, diplomatic, and business networks. In addition, the study of business and official correspondence offered here profits from a multi-disciplinary and multi-methodological approach, as it relies on a rich array of databases and corpora of correspondence, ranging from highly specialized collections to more broadly constructed diagnostic corpora, in which correspondence is just one register or text-type. While specific attention is paid to phenomena relating to the expression of positive and negative politeness through the investigation of authentic (rather than constructed) texts, methodological issues are also taken into consideration.

The Writing Center Director's Resource Book has been developed to serve as a guide to writing center professionals in carrying out their various roles, duties, and responsibilities. It is a resource for those whose jobs not only encompass a wide range of tasks but also require a broad knowledge of multiple issues. The volume provides information on the most significant areas of writing center work that writing center professionals - both new and seasoned - are likely to encounter. It is structured for use in diverse institutional settings, providing both current knowledge as well as case studies of specific settings that represent the types of challenges and possible outcomes writing center professionals may experience. This blend of theory with actual practice provides a multi-dimensional view of writing center work. In the end, this book serves not only as a resource but also as a guide to future directions for the writing center, which will continue to evolve in response to a myriad of new challenges that will lie ahead.

"The Writing Center Director's Resource Book" has been developed to serve as a guide to writing center professionals in carrying out their various roles, duties, and responsibilities. It is a resource for those whose jobs not only encompass a wide range of tasks but also require a broad knowledge of multiple issues.
The volume provides information on the most significant areas of writing center work that writing center professionals--both new and seasoned--are likely to encounter. It is structured for use in diverse institutional settings, providing both current knowledge as well as case studies of specific settings that represent the types of challenges and possible outcomes writing center professionals may experience. This blend of theory with actual practice provides a multi-dimensional view of writing center work.

In the end, this book serves not only as a resource but also as a guide to future directions for the writing center, which will continue to evolve in response to a myriad of new challenges that will lie ahead.

This book reflects the vigorous interest in studies of business discourse(s) and culture(s) emerging from various Asian communities. It also records the diversity of methodological approaches, ontological perspectives and topics characterising a number of studies conducted by Asian and Western scholars on cultural and linguistic strategies and preferences identifiable in Asian or Asian-Western business interactions. The volume is structured in two parts, including chapters that address linguistic and textual issues (Part I) and cultural and pragmatic issues (Part II) of Asian business discourse(s). Even though the different domains identified--"linguistic, textual, pragmatic and cultural--"have been combined to provide useful organising labels, they remain strictly interrelated as their occurrence and variation have significant implications on one another.

Convergence is happening around the world. It represents a new form of reporting and may well be the future for journalism. Full convergence involves a radical change in approach and mindset among journalists and their managers. It involves a shared assignment desk where the key people, the multimedia assignment editors, assess each news event on its merits and send the most appropriate people to the story. Convergence coverage should thus be driven by the significance of the news event. Depending on variables unique to each country and company, convergence is one of the most likely scenarios for media organizations around the world. This book explains the phenomenon of media convergence, defines what has been until recently a confusing topic, describes the main business models, provides case studies of successful convergent newsrooms around the world, and explains how to introduce convergence into the newsroom. Stephen Quinn provides a practical introduction to the changing landscape of news reporting, and has written a useful book for students and professionals alike.

Languages are inseparable from their contexts of use. They are not only congruent with, but also involved in the configuration of the worldviews and value systems manifested in cultures and embodied in texts. The spread of English worldwide foregrounds the issue of textual dynamics in intercultural settings. The production/reception of texts in English facilitates international contacts and exchanges, yet it also triggers hegemonic practices. The volume aims to investigate the representations and negotiations of sociocognitive identities in intercultural settings relevant for 'good practice'. Contributions explore 'languaging' strategies (verbal, visual, multimodal; English monolingual, bilingual, multilingual) through a range of methodological perspectives wherein the respect for sociocultural differences is a constitutive value.

This is the first book to examine in-depth the crucial role of the speed of information processing in the brain in determining reading fluency in both normal and dyslexic readers. Part I explains fluency in reading from both traditional and modern perspectives. Fluency has historically been viewed as the outcome of other reading-related factors and has often been seen as a convenient measure of reading skills. This book, however, argues that fluency has a strong impact on other aspects of reading and plays a central role in the entire reading process. Part II deals with the determinants of reading fluency. Chief among these is the speed of information processing in the brain. Using both behavioral and electrophysiological evidence, the book systematically examines the features of processing speed in the various brain systems involved in reading: visual-orthographic, auditory-phonological, and semantic and shows how speed of processing affects fluency in reading. Part III deals with the complex issues of cross-modal integration and specifically with the need for effective synchronization of the brain processes involved in reading. It puts forward the Synchronization Hypothesis and discusses the role of the Asynchrony Phenomenon as a major factor in dyslexia. Finally, it summarizes research on manipulating reading rate by means of the Acceleration method, providing evidence for a possible intervention aimed at reducing Asynchrony. Key features of this outstanding new book include: *Expanded View of Fluency. Reading fluency is seen as both a dependent and an independent Variable. Currently available books focus on reading rate solely as the outcome of other factors whereas this volume stresses that it is both an outcome and a cause. *Information Processing Focus. Fluency itself is determined to a large extent by a more general factor, namely, speed of processing in the brain. The book presents wide-ranging evidence for individual differences in speed of processing across many subpopulations. *Brain Synchronization Focus. The book posits a new theory arguing that effective reading requires synchronization of the different brain systems: visual orthographic, auditory-phonological, and semantic. *Research-Based Interventions. Interventions to enhance fluency and, thereby, reading skills in general are presented in detail. *Author Expertise. Zvia Breznitz is Head of the Department of Learning Disabilities and Director of the Laboratory for Neurocognitive Research at Haifa University in Israel, where she has been researching this topic for over a decade. This book is appropriate for researchers and advanced students in reading, dyslexia, learning disabilities, cognitive psychology, and neuropsychology.

Over the last two decades, the study of languages and writing systems and their relationship to literacy acquisition has begun to spread beyond studies based mostly on English language learners. As the worldwide demand for literacy continues to grow, researchers from different countries with different language backgrounds have begun examining the connection between their language and writing system and literacy acquisition. This volume is part of this new, emerging field of research. In addition to reviewing psychological research on reading (the author's specialty), the reader is introduced to the Hebrew language: its structure, its history, its writing system, and the issues involved in being fluently literate in Hebrew.
Chapters 1-4 introduce the reader to the Hebrew language and word structure and focuses on aspects of Hebrew that have been specifically researched by experimental cognitive psychologists. The reader whose only interest is in the psychological mechanisms of reading Hebrew may be satisfied with these chapters.
Chapters 5-8 briefly surveys the history of the Hebrew language and its writing system, the origin of literacy in Hebrew as one of the first alphabetic systems, and then raises questions about the viability (or possibility) of having full-scale literacy in Hebrew. Together, the two sets of chapters present the necessary background for studying the psychology of reading Hebrew and literacy in Hebrew.
This volume is appropriate for anyone interested in comparative reading and writing systems or in the Hebrew language in particular. This includes linguists, researchers, and graduate students in such diverse fields as cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, literacy education, English as a second language, and communication disorders.

Good Style explains the tactics that can be used to write technical material in a coherent, readable style. It discusses in detail the choices of vocabulary, phrasing and sentence structure and each piece of advice is based on evidence of the styles prefered by technical readers and supported by many examples of writing from a variety of technical contexts.

John Kirkman draws from his many years of experience lecturing on communication studies in Europe, the USA, the Middle East and Hong Kong, both in academic programmes and in courses for large companies, research centres and government departments.

Good Style has become a standard reference book on the shelf of students of science, technology and computing and is an essential aid to all professionals whose work involves writing of reports, papers, guides, manuals or on-screen texts. This new edition also includes information on writing for the web and additional examples of how to express medical and life-science information.

Die Arbeiten zu Goethe und Thomas Mann spüren der Ranghöhe ihrer Sprachkunst nach. Diese wird an der Wortverwendung sichtbar gemacht und durch Textvergleiche verdeutlicht. Bei der Untersuchung des Tierepos vom Reineke Fuchs erweist sich das textbezogene Aufstellen von Wortfeldern als produktiv. Diese werden grafisch veranschaulicht. Die Thomas-Mann-Studien ermitteln lexikalische Gemeinsamkeiten in unterschiedlichen Romanen. Dieses Überschreiten der Textgrenze bedingt das Verlassen der Bereiche Lexik und Semantik, es werden auch Kategorien der Kommunikations-, der Literatur- und der Musikwissenschaft sowie Forschungsergebnisse von Zeithistorikern vergleichend herangezogen. In ihrer Diktion lässt sich die geistige Verwandtschaft beider Künstler überzeugend nachweisen.

This book takes on a daunting task: How do writing teachers continue to work toward preparing students for academic and real-world communication situations, while faced with the increasing use of standardized high-stakes testing? Teachers need both the technical ability to deal with this reality and the ideological means to critique the information technologies and assessment methods that are transforming the writing classroom.
"Teaching and Evaluating Writing in the Age of Computers and High-Stakes Testing" serves this dual need by offering a theoretical framework, actual case studies, and practical methods for evaluating student writing. By examining issues in writing assessment--ranging from the development of electronic portfolios to the impact of state-wide, standards-based assessment methods on secondary and post-secondary courses--this book discovers four situated techniques of authentic assessment that are already in use at a number of locales throughout the United States. These techniquesstress:
*"interacting" with students as communicators using synchronous and asynchronous environments;
*"describing" the processes and products of student learning rather than enumerating deficits;
*"situating" pedagogy and evaluation within systems that incorporate rather than exclude local variables; and
*"distributing" assessment among diverse audiences.
By advocating for a flexible system of communication-based assessment in computer-mediated writing instruction, this book validates teachers' and students' experiences with writing and also acknowledges the real-world weight of the new writing components on the SAT and ACT, as well as on state-mandated standardizedwriting and proficiency exams.

This book takes on a daunting task: How do writing teachers continue to work toward preparing students for academic and real-world communication situations, while faced with the increasing use of standardized high-stakes testing? Teachers need both the technical ability to deal with this reality and the ideological means to critique the information technologies and assessment methods that are transforming the writing classroom.
"Teaching and Evaluating Writing in the Age of Computers and High-Stakes Testing" serves this dual need by offering a theoretical framework, actual case studies, and practical methods for evaluating student writing. By examining issues in writing assessment--ranging from the development of electronic portfolios to the impact of state-wide, standards-based assessment methods on secondary and post-secondary courses--this book discovers four situated techniques of authentic assessment that are already in use at a number of locales throughout the United States. These techniquesstress:
*"interacting" with students as communicators using synchronous and asynchronous environments;
*"describing" the processes and products of student learning rather than enumerating deficits;
*"situating" pedagogy and evaluation within systems that incorporate rather than exclude local variables; and
*"distributing" assessment among diverse audiences.
By advocating for a flexible system of communication-based assessment in computer-mediated writing instruction, this book validates teachers' and students' experiences with writing and also acknowledges the real-world weight of the new writing components on the SAT and ACT, as well as on state-mandated standardizedwriting and proficiency exams.

Vocabulary is now well recognized as an important focus in language teaching and learning. Now in its third edition, this book provides an engaging, authoritative guide to the teaching and learning of vocabulary in another language. It contains descriptions of numerous vocabulary learning strategies, which are supported by reference to experimental research, case studies, and teaching experience. It also describes what vocabulary learners need to know to be effective language users. This new edition has been updated to incorporate the wealth of research that has come out of the past decade. It also includes a new chapter on out of-classroom learning, which explores the effect of the Internet and electronic resources on learning. This vital resource for all vocabulary researchers shows that by taking a systematic approach to vocabulary learning, teachers can make the best use of class time and help learners get the best return for their learning effort.

Composition in Convergence: The Impact of New Media on Writing Assessment considers how technological forms--such as computers and online courses--transform the assessment of writing, in addition to text classroom activity. Much has been written on how technology has affected writing, but assessment has had little attention. In this book, author Diane Penrod examines how, on the one hand, computer technology and interactive material create a disruption of conventional literacy practices (reading, writing, interpreting, and critique), while, on the other hand, the influence of computers allows teachers to propose and develop new models for thinking and writing to engage students in real-world settings. This text is intended for scholars and educators in writing and composition, educational assessment, writing and technology, computers and composition, and electronic literacy. In addition, it is appropriate for graduate students planning to teach and assess electronic writing or teach in online environments.

Composition in Convergence: The Impact of New Media on Writing Assessment considers how technological forms--such as computers and online courses--transform the assessment of writing, in addition to text classroom activity. Much has been written on how technology has affected writing, but assessment has had little attention. In this book, author Diane Penrod examines how, on the one hand, computer technology and interactive material create a disruption of conventional literacy practices (reading, writing, interpreting, and critique), while, on the other hand, the influence of computers allows teachers to propose and develop new models for thinking and writing to engage students in real-world settings. This text is intended for scholars and educators in writing and composition, educational assessment, writing and technology, computers and composition, and electronic literacy. In addition, it is appropriate for graduate students planning to teach and assess electronic writing or teach in online environments.

In this original volume, eighteen researchers from different parts of the world reflect on their own research projects, providing insights into key methodological issues in research on second language writing. By offering a glimpse into the process of constructing and negotiating knowledge in the field--the messy space of situated practices of inquiry--it helps to demystify the research process, which can appear in published studies and in introductory methodology guides to be neater and more orderly than it actually is.
Taking a broad conception of research as inquiry that emphasizes the situated and constructed nature of knowledge in the field, "Second Language Writing Research: Perspectives on the Process of Knowledge Construction" encourages multiple forms of inquiry, including philosophical, narrative, and historical modes. Empirical inquiry as presented in this book encompasses both quantitative and qualitative approaches as well as those that strategically combine them. A helpful discussion of the "nuts and bolts" of developing sustainable research programs is also provided. The volume as a whole facilitates a situated, issue-driven research practice. Its unique focus on second language writing research makes it an invaluable resource for both novice and experienced researchers in the field.

For those who truly wish to leave no child behind, the racial achievement gap in literacy is one of the most difficult issues in education today, and nowhere does it manifest itself more perniciously than in the case of black adolescent males.

Approaching the problem from the inside, Alfred Tatum brings together his various experiences as a black male student, middle school teacher working with struggling black male readers, reading specialist in an urban elementary school, and staff developer in classrooms across the nation. His new book," Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Males "offers teachers and schools a way to reconceptualize literacy instruction for those who need it most.

Alfred bridges the connections among theory, instruction, and professional development to create a roadmap for better literacy achievement. He presents practical suggestions for providing reading strategy instruction and assessment that is explicit, meaningful, and culturally responsive, as well as guidelines for selecting and discussing nonfiction and fiction texts with black males.

The author's first-hand insights provide middle school and high school teachers, reading specialists, and administrators with new perspectives to help schools move collectively toward the essential goal of literacy achievement for all.

This volume is a collection of eight articles on the general topics of translation. The common element running through them all is the analysis of samples of tourist literature and their translations, from a pragmatic point of view. The languages concerned are mainly English and Spanish, but examples of German and French texts are also included. The theoretical approaches are multifaceted. Relevance theory, systemic-functional linguistics and discourse analysis are some of the theoretical standpoints taken as a background. The book covers phenomena as varied as translation quality assessment, audience design and perlocutionary effects, dealing also with more specific features like thematic structure, inference and propositional meaning, discourse makers and grammatical metaphor in order to provide a wide range of analyses for the specialised reader.

The Power To Speak Naked helps everyone unleash the power to speak the raw naked truth. For those who want to advance their career, increase their wage, improve their social standing, and skyrocket their confidence, The Power To Speak Naked gives them proven strategies to crush their fear of public speaking and empowers them to be able to speak in front of any audience, anywhere, at any time. The Power To Speak Naked features techniques that will make any presentation more dynamic, fire up any team, and give anyone the confidence to overcome their fear of public speaking. Within its pages, Sean Tyler Foley presents easy-to-read tips that make it possible for anyone to deliver a presentation that is engaging, persuasive, and memorable. He also presents proven actionable steps that will help anyone advance in their career and life.

Drawing on the recent renewal of interest in the debate on orality and literacy this book investigates the varying perceptions and representations of orality in contemporary Italian fiction, providing a fresh perspective on this rich and fast-developing debate and on the study of the Italian literary language. The book brings together a number of complementary approaches to orality from the fields of linguistics, literary and media studies and offers a detailed analysis of a broad variety of authors and texts that appeared over the last three decades - ranging from internationally acclaimed writers such as Celati, Duranti and Tabucchi, through De Luca and Baricco, to the latest generation of writers, such as Campo, Ballestra and Nove. By exploring the complementary facets of Italian orality, and its diachronical developments since the seventies, this study questions the traditionally dichotomic approach to the study of orality and literacy and posits a more flexible, cross-modal approach that accounts for the increasing hybridisation of text forms and media and for the greater interaction between the spoken and the written as well as their representations.