The papers in this document were delivered by scholars from the United States and Canada at the ninth annual Conference on Bengal Studies in 1973. The first two papers discuss the accommodation of Indian literary forms and views of life in the Bengali novel, a foreign literary form adopted in India only in the last century and a half. The third…

This paper attempts to define the terms "vague" and "ambiguous" and then argues that the problem of doublespeak revolves around the deliberate use of ambiguity, not vagueness. Through several situational examples, doublespeak is defended as a sometimes useful tactic in order to stimulate and encourage open inquiry and…

Contends that a single television production from one centralized source exposes children to largely standardized cultural material and is therefore a potential massive cultural assault with incalculable consequences. (MH)

Describes the Nigerian (Yoruba) storytelling tradition and the techniques employed to perpetuate it in the home and in the school. (DD)

Identifies three dominant instructional models that deny the legitimacy of minority dialects and illustrates how none of these models are affirmative of a student's rights to his or her own language. (MH)

The potential contribution of linguistics to the cause of bilingual-bicultural education is of profound importance, and the utilization of linguistic knowledge and research is critical if bilingual programs are to be of the quality needed to achieve their goals. (Author/NQ)

Levels of lexical specificity are discussed in terms of the way various terms are used to convey different feelings, meanings and semantic effects. (CHK)

Cites problems (with possible remedies) in current study of classical rhetoric, specifically, (1) reductivist tendencies that decontextualize classical rhetoric to yield a set of rules, dicta, lists and formulae; (2) a nostalgia for the perceived golden past that replaces intellection with faith and creates unquestionable authority; and (3) an…

The author presents his view on mathematics and education with a special emphasis on the relationship of mathematics to communication. Sections consider how to learn from the learners, mathematics as a means of representation, open mathematics, the development of theories and concepts, and mathematics and communication. (MNS)

Defines rhetoric and describes and illustrates conflicting attitudes toward language and the art of rhetoric. States that since rhetoric was the art that brought people together and that taught people not only how to survive but also to live well, the rhetorical tradition is worth rehabilitating. (EL)

Presents the data from a study of the Valdotan community in northern Italy which examined, according to Smelser's model of social and cultural change, the Valdotans' level of ethnolinguistic identification. Re-interprets this data according to Giles, Bourhis, and Taylor's theory of the interaction between the ethnolinguistic vitality and the…

Takes a look at the past and present position of English in Nigeria and at its possible future directions. (EL)

Examines two strategies which Blacks use to bring about cooperation in the Black community: (1) "indirection," which makes use of humorous messages, avoidance, and signifying to reduce conflicts, and (2) "neutralization," which involves the use of verbal justifications and excuses to stabilize situations in which disagreements may arise over…

The "Hamilton College community" (New York) is a term which appears to describe those who are students or staff of the college, who are bound by the close housing (set up on a hill, to be further separated), who share a common philosophy (wanting to learn or to teach), and who are familiar with many members of the "community."…

Young people need a gymnasium for the expression of their passions: Shakespeare provides it. People who do not exercise their feelings cannot develop the strength to exercise their passions, and unexercised passions can seem to atrophy. It is even more likely that unexercised and unexpressed passions leak into pathways of the body chemistry where…