14.1204, Media: NYT: Books: The Language Police

[LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List:  Vol-14-1204. Tue Apr 29 2003. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 14.1204, Media: NYT: Books: The Language Police

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1)
Date:  Tue, 29 Apr 2003 17:53:00 +0800
From:  "Karen S. Chung" <karchung at ntu.edu.tw>
Subject:  Media: NYT: Books: The Language Police

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:  Tue, 29 Apr 2003 17:53:00 +0800
From:  "Karen S. Chung" <karchung at ntu.edu.tw>
Subject:  Media: NYT: Books: The Language Police


    The Books section of the April 29, 2003 issue of the _New York
Times_ online has the following piece:

    'The Language Police'
    Young Minds Force-Fed With Indigestible Texts
    By Michiko Kakutani

    The first three paragraphs:

    As the commissars of political correctness on the left and the
fundamentalist sentries of morality on the right have clamped down on
the education system, more and more subjects, words and ideas have
become taboo.  According to Diane Ravitch's fiercely argued new book,
"The Language Police," the following are just some of the things
students aren't supposed to find in their textbooks or tests:

    Mickey Mouse and Stuart Little (because mice, along with rats,
roaches, snakes and lice, are considered to be upsetting to children).

    Stories or pictures showing a mother cooking dinner for her
children, or a black family living in a city neighborhood (because
such images are thought to purvey gender or racial stereotypes)...


    The URL:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/29/books/29KAKU.html?th

    Hurry and visit before the link expires!

    Karen Steffen Chung
    http://ccms.ntu.edu.tw/~karchung/
    http://www.topica.com/lists/phonetics/

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