26.4894, Review: General Ling; Philosophy of Lang; Socioling: Marr, English (2015)

Tue Nov 3 20:08:11 UTC 2015

LINGUIST List: Vol-26-4894. Tue Nov 03 2015. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 26.4894, Review: General Ling; Philosophy of Lang; Socioling: Marr, English (2015)

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Date: Tue, 03 Nov 2015 15:07:44
From: Adriana Picoral [adrianaps at email.arizona.edu]
Subject: Why Do Linguistics?

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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/26/26-1343.html

AUTHOR: Fiona  English
AUTHOR: Tim  Marr
TITLE: Why Do Linguistics?
SUBTITLE: Reflective Linguistics and the Study of Language
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Publishing (formerly The Continuum International Publishing Group)
YEAR: 2015

REVIEWER: Adriana Picoral, University of Arizona

Reviews Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

The stated purpose of “Why do Linguistics?” is to encourage readers to see the
world through a social linguistics lens. The authors argue that since language
is everywhere and defines us as human beings, we all should be equipped with
linguistic tools that help us become expert “language noticers.” Examples of
everyday use of language, including some widespread language fallacies, are
brought up and analyzed throughout the book. Thus, the volume is presented as
an essential toolbox for every person that has a slight interest in how
language works from a social perspective.  

The book is divided into three sections, moving the authors’ argument for the
study of linguistics from specific examples of language use to broader issues
in language education. 

Part One does exactly what the title, “Reflective linguistics,” suggests: it
guides the reader through the analyses of a myriad of examples to reflect on
what language is and how it is used. It goes over some language misconceptions
and offers a broad overview of linguistics. This section is divided into 5
chapters. Chapter 1 covers concepts such as text, register, and semiotics.
These terms are all illustrated by four examples of everyday language use,
which include an email message and wall graffiti. These examples serve as
springboard for discussion of the social relations, identities and attitudes
embedded in these texts. Chapter 2 explores well-formed and ill-formed
language, by trying to distance readers from expressions like “good” and “bad”
language. The authors present here concepts such as prestige, standard
language and correctness. Chapter 3 deals with notions of identity and
community. Some of these concepts can be quite confusing, but the authors
present short and clear definitions for each term. Chapter 4 offers a broad
overview of language planning and policy.  Finally, Chapter 5 goes beyond the
English language and addresses how similar and different languages around the
world are. 

Part Two expands the idea of language awareness to include language analysis
in more technical detail. Chapter 6 explores linguistic tools that can be used
in three core areas of linguistics: semantics, morphosyntax, and phonetics and
phonology. Chapter 7 builds  on these tools to present a framework for
discourse analysis. Chapters 8 and 9 both illustrate how discourse analysis
can be applied to spoken and written communication, respectively. Chapter 10
focuses on semiotic resources we all have at hand to not only choose our
words, but also shape what and how we are going to communicate. 

In Part Three the authors answer the question that gives the book its title:
why do linguistics? Chapter 11 introduces the concept of tranlanguaging, by
exploring the affordances of multilingualism. The main purpose of Chapter 12
is to correct myths about language that are pervasive in the public domain.
Some of the issues approached include commonly disseminated false etymology,
school policies that discourage dialect use as a bad habit, and the perception
of a pressing need to teach foreign languages to young children. Most of the
examples are from cases in the UK, but these can be easily transferred to
other contexts. Chapter 13 presents the case for teaching Language Awareness
(LA) and Knowledge about Language (KAL) as part of a separate language subject
in basic education. The authors argue that this type of linguistic knowledge
is essential to understanding how the world works. The argument for training
teachers and students at all levels in linguistics, as noted by the authors,
has been raised by a number of scholars for over 50 years (see e.g. Halliday
1964 and 2007). However, as we all know, little change to school curricula
regarding language education has actually been effected thus far. 

Chapter 14 expands the argument for the importance of widespread linguistics
education by presenting examples of how it can be extremely useful in the
workplace. The examples provided include situations related to a wide range of
professions, from doctors to police officers. Chapter 15 closes the book with
a short summary of the three main reasons the authors claim that everyone
should do linguistics: 1) it encourages new ways of thinking not only about
your own language(s) but also about other languages and the world, 2) it
should be part of anyone’s general knowledge, since it is an essential part of
who we are as human beings, 3) it empowers every language user against
prescriptive attacks. 

EVALUATION

The authors emphasize that this volume is meant neither as an introduction to
linguistics nor as a linguistics textbook. Their targeted audience instead is
the general public. Although the topics are presented in an accessible way,
some familiarity (or willingness to make oneself familiar) with the terms used
in linguistics is required. While the authors may have intended this to be a
popular science book, I would not describe it as such. However, this volume
could be a good starting point for students who may be interested in
linguistics, since it can be used as an introductory overview of an impressive
number of concepts. On the other hand, it also offers a good overall review
for linguistics enthusiasts who already possess some knowledge of the field. 

This would also be a good book for language teachers in general, since it
raises interesting questions about language use. Many language teachers, who
may not need (or want) to get too deep into linguistics, could benefit from
this volume, which offers an overview of issues that are not necessarily
related to grammatical accuracy. I would not recommend this book as the only
source of linguistic knowledge, but it can be used as a springboard for
classroom discussions in teacher education courses, especially in MA programs.
There are a few exercises placed sporadically throughout the book that invite
the reader to reflect deeper on the ideas presented. These could be especially
useful in language teacher training. 

It is important to note here that most of the texts analyzed are in British
English, and the authors assume familiarity with both the language and the
educational system in the UK. However, there are a few of examples from other
languages and cultures, especially those the authors seem pretty familiar
with, such as Peruvian Spanish. Other examples gathered from the authors’
previous students are also included.

Although the authors focus on communicative interactions, they present
linguistics as a multifaceted field. The whole book is cohesive, guiding the
reader from specific examples to broader issues in linguistics. It is evident
that the authors are experienced teachers by how they explain and illustrate
the many terms they use throughout the book. Chapter 1, for example, first
introduces the idea that ‘text’ is a communication phenomenon that does not
exist in isolation, encompassing much more than just words to include semiotic
resources such as images. This definition of ‘text’ is explored throughout the
book, with each chapter presenting a new way to look at and analyze a text. An
example is found in Chapter 7, where the key concept of ‘context’ is explored
in details.

Each chapter offers richly analyzed examples, which effectively illustrate
concepts in linguistics. The concept of ‘mode’, i.e. different ways to express
attitude when we communicate, is discussed in Chapter 10 through the analyses
of extremely short email exchanges and two versions of the same product label.
While the explanations provided are concise and clear, the book is dense,
covering a broad range of notions. It is somewhat heavy on the use of terms,
which could be seen as an overuse of jargon. When discussing issues of
identity and identification, for example, the authors define in just a couple
of paragraphs the concepts of linguistic community, speech community,
community of practice and discourse community. However, I would argue that
anyone who wants to be able to participate in discussions regarding language
should know the most commonly used terms in the field. 

Although not as comprehensive as technical volumes such as Yule (2014), “Why
do Linguistics?” is heavy in content, especially considering its intended
audience. Nonetheless, this is a highly readable book organized in a cohesive
argumentative flow. Each chapter has an explicit stated purpose, and builds
into the next chapter to give support to the authors’ main argument, i.e.
linguistics is an essential subject that everyone should learn.  Throughout
the book, the authors refer back and forward to examples and ideas in other
chapters. In addition, the transitions between chapters are smooth, helping
the reader to make sense of the overall structure of the volume. There is also
a short suggested reading list at the end of each chapter, which provides
readers with extra resources in case they desire to seek a deeper
understanding of some of the topics approached.

All in all, the authors do accomplish the stated purpose of the book, offering
cogent arguments accompanied by illustrative and authentic examples of why we
should all do linguistics. I am not sure they will reach most of their
intended audience, i.e. lay people with a tendency to believe and spread
language myths. I would say this book will probably fall in the hands of
people who already understand that being a language user does not qualify
someone as an expert observer of language. Hopefully, the authors will be able
to gather enough people that believe in their cause to effect the necessary
changes in how we all talk about language. 

REFERENCES

Halliday, M. A. K. (1964). The linguistic sciences and language teaching.

Halliday, M. A. K. (2007). Language and education (Vol. 9). A&C Black.

Yule, G. (2014). The study of language. Cambridge University Press.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Adriana Picoral is a PhD student in the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching program at University of Arizona. She holds a BSc in Computer Science, and an MA degree in TESOL from The New School. Her research interests include the study of human cognitive, language, literacy and learning processes in both formal and informal instructional contexts. She also has an interest in human language processing, discourse analysis and teacher education. Her ultimate goal is to design instructional procedures that enhance additional language learning.

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