This volume is a selection of papers presented at “Linguists of Tomorrow”, the 1st Cyprus Postgraduate Conference in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, held at the University of Cyprus on 7–8 May 2010. The collection includes nine chapters by postgraduate students of linguistics as well as two illustrious keynote papers by Prof. Barbara Lust and Prof. Thomas McFadden. The topics range from theoretical linguistics (syntax, semantics, morphology, and phonology) to psycholinguistics (first and second language acquisition, language impairments, and language processing) and applied linguistics (bilingualism, dictionaries, writing, and ethnolinguistics). As such, this collection of papers by established as well as up-and-coming researchers will appeal to a wide range of scholars, students and academics alike, interested in current issues in linguistics.

The field of applied linguistics covers a diverse range of research and practice, and has developed somewhat differently in various parts of the world due to variations in local socio-cultural conditions, needs and issues. However, this local diversity does not reflect a field that is incoherent, but rather one which has a broad, shared international agenda which is invigorated by the diversity brought to the field by local perspectives. The papers in this volume represent some of the major global directions that research in applied linguistics is taking and shed light on how language is used to affect practice. The aim of this volume is to explore some of the key methods and issues which are guiding applied linguistics into the future through an examination of these issues in local contexts, thereby providing a basis for understanding the global directions the field is taking. These directions follow two historically defined paths: those related to educational studies and language teaching, and those related to social issues involving language. In the volume, half the papers focus on the former, examining issues of language teaching, language teacher education and second language acquisition, while the other half examine social issues related to language use, bilingualism and multilingualism, and language policy and planning. The collection of papers presented in this book illustrates how these traditional themes are influenced by the rising forces of globalisation and the use of technology, thus exemplifying both the new and old ways in which the study of language is realised.

Linguistics is a comprehensive crosslinguistic introduction to the study of language, and is ideal for students with no background in linguistics. A comprehensive introduction to the study of language, set apart by its inclusion of cross-linguistic data from over 80 different spoken and signed languages Explores how language works by examining discourse, sentence-structure, meaning, words, and sounds Introduces psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic issues, including language acquisition, neurolinguistics, language variation, language change, language contact, and multilingualism Written in a problem-oriented style to engage readers, and is ideal for those new to the subject Incorporates numerous student-friendly features throughout, including extensive exercises, summaries, assignments, and suggestions for further reading Based on the bestselling Dutch edition of this work, the English edition has been revised and expanded to offer an up-to-date and engaging survey of linguistics for students new to the field

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“Babel is an endlessly interesting book, and you don’t have to have any linguistic training to enjoy it . . . it’s just so much fun to read.” —NPR English is the world language, except that 80 percent of the world doesn’t speak it. Linguist Gaston Dorren calculates that to speak fluently with half of the world’s people in their mother tongues, you’d need to know no fewer than twenty languages. In Babel, he sets out to explore these top twenty world languages, which range from the familiar (French, Spanish) to the surprising (Malay, Javanese, Bengali). Whisking readers along on a delightful journey, he traces how these languages rose to greatness while others fell away, and shows how speakers today handle the foibles of their mother tongues. Whether showcasing tongue-tying phonetics, elegant but complicated writing scripts, or mind-bending quirks of grammar, Babel vividly illustrates that mother tongues are like nations: each has its own customs and beliefs that seem as self-evident to those born into it as they are surprising to outsiders. Babel reveals why modern Turks can’t read books that are a mere 75 years old, what it means in practice for Russian and English to be relatives, and how Japanese developed separate “dialects” for men and women. Dorren also shares his experiences studying Vietnamese in Hanoi, debunks ten myths about Chinese characters, and discovers the region where Swahili became the lingua franca. Witty and utterly fascinating, Babel will change how you look at and listen to the world. “Word nerds of every strain will enjoy this wildly entertaining linguistic study.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)