This article reviews eighteenth- and nineteenth-century proceedings of the London Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) that involved deaf people. The use, role, and status of sign language and interpreters in these settings are described. These proceedings provide important information about deaf people's experiences within the court system of the…

Last spring, the author distributed a survey to majors and minors in Hispanic studies at Connecticut College and at other schools to informally gather student attitudes toward the nature of Hispanic-studies courses as it pertained to their interests and goals. Although results were somewhat predictable, an unexpected finding was that of 148…

This study presents a profile of Spanish as an international language and offers the most recent information on its demographics. The countries in which Spanish is the official language as well as the territories where it is not the official language are considered. The work compares the number of Spanish speakers with the number of other…

The five papers in this issue cover a range of perspectives on the acquisition and use of the Spanish copulas "ser" and "estar" in a variety of contexts, including language contact, bilingual language acquisition, and classroom second language learning. The fact that these papers cite work in this area as far back as the early part of the 20th…

The paper explores how we think of English and "English Studies" in present-day Europe. It questions the apparent neutrality of the term lingua franca by suggesting a more differentiated set of terms. It relates the current consolidation and expansion of English to processes of global Americanisation and Europeanisation. The European…

A generation or two ago, the achievement of children who came to school knowing little or no English was not a prominent national issue. Today, with the increased focus on school accountability and educational equity, it is. This comprehensive resource explores the research on promoting academic success among language-minority students. The…

The evolution of Rwanda's language policies since 1996 has played and continues to play a critical role in social reconstruction following war and genocide. Rwanda's new English language policy aims to drop French and install English as the only language of instruction. The policy-makers frame the change as a major factor in the success of social…

Children with autism have delays in the development of theory of mind. However, the sub-group of children with autism who have little or no language have gone untested since false belief tests (FB) typically involve language. FB understanding has been reported to be intact in children with specific language impairment (SLI). This raises the…

Both Vygotsky, a psychologist, and Halliday, a social linguist, argue for the central role of language in human development. Language is the principal mode of meaning making; it mediates both the communication through which thinking with others is made possible and also the inner speech through which individual thinking is brought under conscious…

Explores how inferential or evocative language functions to determine meaning and focus in screenplays. Demonstrates that, although "shooting scripts" might be read as instructions, "screenplays" can be understood only as a form of writing that communicates its meaning through the connotative nuances of language. Shows how…

Discusses a new poetic language invented in 1983 based on innovative use of the holographic medium. Defines what a holopoem is and explains the fundamental concepts of holopoetics. Introduces theoretical principles that address the new readerly experience created by the holotext. Provides a descriptive list of all holopoems created to date. (PA)

English plays an important role for the life of the people of East Timor. So it is studied from secondary to tertiary schools. However, the resources of English are not sufficiently available. Under the development concerns the conditions that are faced by both the educator and learners in English as a foreign language course at the university.…

This article presents the author's address for the International Writing Centers Association Conference in Las Vegas. The author's argument in this talk stresses the importance of paying attention to the conceptual frames writing tutors use to understand the world, their work, and the impact of their work on the world, and this attentiveness to…

In its late colonial history and early years as an independent nation, Australia practised a policy of ruthless exclusion of immigrants on the basis of race by means of a language test: the notorious Dictation Test. In the 50 years following World War II, Australia adopted policies encouraging immigration with bipartisan political support.…