The author has always had an appreciation of language--its rhythms, sounds, wordplay, dialects, usage variations, and powers to manipulate. Reflecting on how she came to this appreciation, she remembers her father reciting poems to her when she was a little girl. She was enthralled by the rhythm, the rhyme, and the sounds of the words--both…

This article explores problems with the trend of business language making its way into schools and provides strategies for how to address this issue.

Teachers certainly appreciate the importance of an inviting classroom environment. The money spent on posters, the greeting at the classroom door, and the time invested in learning students' names all help to create a sense of community, and students who feel they belong are more likely to do their best work. No teacher would deliberately exclude…

This article shows how students confront offensive language head-on by researching its history and reconsidering its use in contemporary conversation. It describes an assignment in which students study the histories and social reception of words (in some cases considered obscenities) used to insult people of various social categories. Students…

Cites examples of recent changes in language and suggests what forces are at work to produce language change. (DD)

Describes techniques employed in public doublespeak and suggests that graffiti is a response to these techniques. (DD)

Discusses six crises of verbal language which are imminent due to our reliance on the mass media and our separation from the phenomenal world. (DD)

Considers language as an art form. Compares language to the visual impact of seeing colors and sights, art, and all that is sensory. (RL)

Provides examples of ways in which the linguistic environment is constantly changing. (DD)

Finds confirmation of the humanizing influence of language in anthropological and linguistic studies, in creation myths, and in the lives of individuals such as Anne Frank and Helen Keller. Sees in George Orwell's "1984" and Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" examples of the dehumanization created by empty or deceptive…

Provides examples of doublespeak which show that its use has increased since the Committee on Public Doublespeak was established 14 years ago. Points out that English teachers must teach respect for and love of language to instill in students a sense of outrage when they encounter doublespeak. (ARH)

Believes that by adequately expressing our depths of feeling through language we may come to understand ourselves better. (SW)

A discussion of how a poem tells us through a more or less emotional reaction, something that cannot be said." (Author/RD)

Provides a framework for an expanded view of language--moving beyond traditional verbal language--that will be useful to educators in the 1980s. (DD)

Neil Postman has challenged many educators throughout his career to think critically and broadly about the roles language plays in human behavior and society. His influence on English education has brought a humanistic perspective to the field, which is otherwise dominated by social sciences.