6.1181, Sum: Teenage ling

Wed Aug 30 17:53:01 UTC 1995

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-6-1181. Wed Aug 30 1995. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines:  213

Subject: 6.1181, Sum: Teenage ling

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---------------------------------Directory-----------------------------------
1)
Date:  Tue, 29 Aug 1995 16:47:40 EDT
From:  KARENHS at UNIVSCVM.CSD.SCAROLINA.EDU (karen stanley)
Subject:       sum:teenage linguistics

---------------------------------Messages------------------------------------
1)
Date:  Tue, 29 Aug 1995 16:47:40 EDT
From:  KARENHS at UNIVSCVM.CSD.SCAROLINA.EDU (karen stanley)
Subject:       sum:teenage linguistics

I recently posted the following query to the list:

>For five years, I tutored (acting in-loco-English-speaking-parentis)
>a young (now 14) Japanese girl.  For several months before she went back
>to Japan earlier this year, we talked a lot about linguistics.  She is
>very interested in this as a possible future career direction, so I
>promised her I would look for a book about linguistics that was at her
>level.  (At this point, she would need English, not Japanese.)
>No one I have thus far asked about this seems to know of a textbook on
>linguistics that would be appropriate for teenagers/high school.  If
>anyone has a suggestion, I would appreciate it.

I would like to thank all those who took the time to respond:
Francis Bond, Kim Sydow Campbell, Peter Daniels, Suzette Haden Elgin,
Paul Foulkes, Sue Hasselbring, Baden Hughes, Jason Johnston, Lynn
Messing, Barbara Need, Harold Ormsby L., Barbara Pearson, Christopher
Pound, Sofia Ramirez-Gelpi, David Stampe, Larry Trask.  I particularly
want to thank Larry Trask, whose list of books was especially
comprehensive.

Following is an annotated bibliography of the texts that were recommended;
I apologize if any of the editing of comments that I did in some way
misrepresented the original thought.

Aitchison, Jean.   Language Change - Progress or Decay?
    This was the first linguistics book I read (aged 19).  I found it
inspirational (at the time, if rather twee and patronising now). It's certainly
easy enough, and does tackle some basic theoretical issues.

Bolinger,  Dwight Bolinger.   _Aspects of Language_ (published by
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, I think).
    I used the 1st or 2nd edition of Aspects as a text for a course; at the
time, our daughter was 12 or 13 years old (English isn't her stronger
language, but she's bilingual) and she picked the book up off my desk; we
had to reach an agreement so I could get my hands on the thing to prepare
my classes.   Aspects is written in an adult, but simple, style, and there's a
lot of common sense in it that's missing from a lot of writings on
linguistics.

Crystal, David. _Encyclopedia of Language_ (1987, I think).  Cambridge.
    The text is dense in places, but most chapters have lots of pictures
and graphics, which will let readers get the main idea of lots of different
perspectives in linguistics--from just skimming.  It's in paperback (actually
getting a little old) and not too expensive.
(Mentioned by three respondents.)

Elgin,  Suzette Haden. What Is Linguistics? 2nd Edition. (It has recently
gone out of print)
    This is entirely suitable for teenagers. It would probably be easier to
find in Japan than in the U.S. since it was more widely used there. It was
essentially the verbatim transcript of an intro survey course for
undergraduates, rigorously de-bugged by the students. It doesn't have The
Very Latest Things in it, but it has the basics.
(Mentioned by two respondents.)

Fromkin, Victoria and Robert Rodman (1993), _An Introduction to
Language_, 5th ed., Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, ISBN 0-03-075379-1.
    Respondent 1:  The world's most widely used introductory
linguistics text .  This is a magnificent textbook, but it's 550 pages long,
and perhaps a bit daunting for a reader who just wants an introduction to the
subject.
    Respondent 2:  I would consider this text to be very readable and
interesting to a highschool student.  It is a university text, but I have used
examples from it to "teach" linguistics to gradeschool and highschool
students.  I saw a more recent edition and it looked a bit more technical than
the 1984ish edition I have.
    Respondent 3:  An Introduction to the Study of Language, by
Fromkin, Rodman,Collins and Blair, published about 1985 - I think the 3rd
International Edition would be best.
[Note:  The information from Respondent 3 seemed to vary just a bit from
the information given by others, so I wasn't sure if the texts were exactly
the same.]
(Mentioned by four respondents.)

Huddleston, Rodney,  ``English grammar: an outline'' (1988) published by
Cambridge University Press
    Recommended if the teenager is interested specifically in English
Grammar; written from the point of view of Descriptive Grammar, and does
not attempt to introduce a theoretically rigorous formal grammar (like GB or
HPSG).  Not aimed at high school students, but I would expect a motivated
high school student to have no problems.

Hudson, Richard (1984), _Invitation to Linguistics_, Blackwell, ISBN 0-
631-14176-6.
    An elementary book that concentrates a bit more on the nuts and
bolts of linguistic analysis.

Lyons, John ``Language, meaning and context'' (1981) Fontana.
    Written from the point of view of Descriptive Grammar, and does
not attempt to introduce a theoretically rigorous formal grammar (like GB or
HPSG).  Not aimed at high school students, but I would expect a motivated
high school student to have no problems with either.

O'Grady, William, Michael Dobrovolsky and Mark Aronoff.
_Contemporary Linguistics: an introduction_,  St. Martin's Press: New
York  (1989)
    This is a VERY basic intro book.

Parker & Riley's _Linguistics for Non-Linguists_ (1994) ISBN: 0-205-
15083-7
    I believe this is the most accessible introduction to the field.  It is
relatively small (i.e., it is illustrative rather than comprehensive) and has
loads of excellent practice exercises with answers.

Pei.   _Story of Language_ and  _Story of English_
    I read these books as a teen. There are problems with them, but they
are certainly accessible--and I have recovered (and am still a linguist) :-)

Pinker , Steven   (1994), _The Language Instinct: the New Science of
Language and Mind_, Allen Lane/Penguin.
    Respondent 1:  Highly recommended for any 'intelligent layperson'
including an intelligent and curious teenager. Be warned, though, that
Pinker is highly opinionated, which gives the book a robust integrity and
excitement; however it means there isn't much 'some linguists think X but
other linguists think Y; perhaps the truth is halfway between X and Y or just
a matter of opinion' etc.
    Respondent 2:   I like this book, although his MITnik orientation
colors his attitude in areas where MIT has nothing to say.  It got good
reviews in the general magazines (Atlantic, elsewhere), sold very well, and
just came out in paperback.
    Respondent 3:   This is a superb book in many ways, and it's been
on the best-seller list for a while.  The author defends his own personal
views very robustly; when I agree with him (as I usually do), I find him
stimulating and persuasive, but when I disagree, I find him unreasonably
dismissive of competing views.  The book is well written, but, at 500
pages, it might be a little long for a reader who just wants an introduction to
the subject.
(Mentioned by three respondents.)

Sapir, _ Language_  (1921)
    Think about this book, which Sapir himself described as a high-
school text.  It is not easy, particularly its rather notional typology of
languages.  But it has remained essentially correct while most textbooks are
painfully obsolete after a few years, or indeed at their first appearance.  The
best thing is that one can reread Sapir at any age, as one's own knowledge
of languages increases, and see new depth in his ideas.  And it is beautifully
written.

Trask, R.L.  (1995), _Language: the Basics_, Routledge.   ISBN 0-415-
12541-3 in paperback.
    This book was published only ten days ago in Britain; it's also being
published in the States.
    This is not a textbook.  It's a popular introductory book on language
and linguistics; it has no exercises, and it doesn't try to be comprehensive.
It's written for adults and teenagers with no background in the subject, and
it's intended merely to get readers interested in the subject by surveying a
range of linguistic topics in what I hope is an engaging style.  It's a British
book, of course, but I'm American myself, and I've tried to make the book
equally useful for American and British readers (and others).
    The book covers most of the topics you'd expect to see in an
introductory popular book: design features, signing chimps, men's and
women's language, the universal translator, Eskimo words for `snow', the
history of English, Genie, child language, Sapir-Whorf, and so on. But it
also introduces some syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and psycholinguistics,
and a few things not covered so often in textbooks, like Dyirbal gender,
Australian mother-in-law languages, synesthesia, and SLI and the
"grammar gene".

Tsutomu, Miura.  Almost anything by this author is recommended for a
teenager who wants something in Japanese, but probably starting with
``Nihongo-wa dou iu gengo-ka'' (What kind of Language is Japanese?)
published by Koudansha (1976).

Yule, George (1985), _The Study of Language: an Introduction_,
Cambridge University Press.
    An honest-to-god textbook, but still very elementary.  This is
probably the world's most widely used textbook for university courses in
linguistics aimed at non-majors; it's vastly simpler than Fromkin and
Rodman, though I confess I find it a bit on the dull side myself.

 -->  Additional comment:

I have looked at the catalog of the children's libraries in the Chicago
Public, and aparently no one has done anyting specifically teen-oriented. If
she wouldn't be offended by the child-associatedness of the series, the title
Book on the Eyewitness series is excellent.

Thanks again to everyone who participated.
Karen Stanley
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte, NC, USA
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