The Language Feed - December 3, 2004

Sun Dec 5 15:37:53 UTC 2004

The Language Feed
December 3, 2004

This issue and archives can be read on the web at
http://mason.gmu.edu/~smorris2/feed

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State promotes plan to help standardize migrant student education
Worcester Telegram, December 3
Migrant children who struggle to learn English as their families move
around the United States could get help from a plan to place literacy
stations throughout Washington state.
http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041203/APN/412030593

Why Not a Middle East Variant of English?
Arab News, December 2
Recent articles published in Arab News on the issue of teaching and
learning English in Saudi Arabia depict a pretty dismal picture.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9&section=0&article=55465&d=3&m=12&y=2004

Offensive language
Sydney Morning Herald, December 3
(username:langfeed, password:language)
The computer term "master/slave," which was banned as racially offensive
by a Los Angeles County purchasing department, was named the most
politically incorrect term of the year today.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Offensive-language/2004/12/03/1101923314749.html?oneclick=true

Spanish is language of growth in the U.S., Canadian says
Globe and Mail, December 2
The Hispanic market in the United States represents a huge growth
opportunity for Canadian companies savvy enough to navigate its complex
marketing challenges.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20041202/IBMEDIAK02/TPBusiness/International

A great and varied language
Pittsburgh Herald, December 2
My late mother-in-law, rest her soul, would occasionally use expressions
which, to this day, set my mind to pondering whither their origin and
what their age.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/herald/s_278273.html

Word watch: keeping track of changes in language
The World Today, December 1
The English language is constantly changing. About 15,000 words fall out
of common use every year. New words come into vogue to take their place.
And for centuries word lovers have been complaining about the sorry
state of the language.
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2004/s1255630.htm

Offering 2nd language, 2nd chance
Chicago Tribune, December 1
(username: langfeed, password: language)
Mt. Prospect resident Marinne Rousseau, 50, who emigrated from Haiti to
the U.S. 26 years ago, is finally learning English so she can go to
nursing school.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/west/chi-0412010317dec01,1,273485.story?coll=chi-newslocalwest-hed

Hindi-language DVD aims to make learning 'fun'
The Princeton Packet, November 30
West Windsor resident couldn't find the teaching tool she was looking
for, so she created one herself.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13457928&BRD=1091&PAG=461&dept_id=425695&rfi=6
<http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13457928&BRD=1091&PAG=461&dept_id=425695&rfi=6>

Warming up to language Irish once found uncool
Chicago Tribune, November 29 (username: langfeed, password: language)
 From George Bernard Shaw to Samuel Beckett, from William Butler Yeats
to James Joyce, the Irish have long been masters of the English
language. It's the Irish language that has them stammering.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0411290150nov29,1,212670.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

Embrace Ebonics everywhere
Technician, November 29
Now that it's my job to teach the rules of English to the young people
in this community, I realize that Ebonics, now more commonly known as
African-American English, is not an incorrect form of English but a
variation that should be acknowledged and accepted as a viable dialect
of the language.
http://technicianonline.com/story.php?id=010680

Physicists tackle linguistics
Physics Web, November 30
Physicists in Germany claim to have developed a new computer model that
can describe how human languages evolve over time.
http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/8/11/15/1

Computers are getting all emotional
Sydney Morning Herald, December 4
(username:langfeed, password:language)
A growing number of researchers are trying to crack the next barrier in
computer speech synthesis - emotion. In labs around the world, computers
are starting to laugh, sigh and express joy and anger.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Computers-are-getting-all-emotional/2004/12/03/1101923338081.html?oneclick=true

Europe Battles English Invasion
Deutsche Welle,  December 1
Fast becoming Europe's lingua franca, English has invaded other national
languages. The trend has some on the continent worried that languages
might in the future take second place even within their countries of origin.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1415320,00.html

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