Discusses kinds of jargon found in technical writing, how much jargon is acceptable, and the best way to handle jargon. (SR)

A framework for language planning categorizes 22 language planning goals in terms of the intersections between 3 types (status, corpus, and acquisition) and 2 approaches (policy and cultivation) of language planning. The model helps literacy developers to answer the question of which literacies to develop for what purpose. (Contains 44…

Reviews and discusses Bill Bryson's book "The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way" and recommends it as enjoyable scholarly book for communication professionals who want to learn about the English language or refresh their knowledge of it. (SR)

Lists and briefly describes a number of common misuses or misspellings of words. (SR)

Discusses the difference between a complex sentence and a compound sentence, and how they are used in technical writing and in Victorian fiction. (SR)

Reflecting on the important works of Alma Sabatini in the area of sexism, her work and those of other Italians is compared with researchers in other countries, particularly the United States, France, and Germany. The Italian language is analyzed, pointing out instances of sexism. (CFM)

Argues that in literary translation, like the case of the two African novels in translation under examination, cross-cultural communication and miscommunication problems may occur. (14 references) (Author/VWL)

Recounts examples of incorrect language usage involving redundancies, such as "revert back," and "in the modern world of today." (RS)

Explores the paradoxes and vagaries of the English language. Looks at a number of English words and phrases that turn out to mean the opposite of or something very different from what people think they mean. (MG)

Examples from a variety of sources (history texts, newspaper reporting, courts) are used to show that truth telling is commonly subordinated to other goals, especially the self-justification or the profits, power, and prestige of those promoting the lies. (24 references) (Author/LB)

Discusses the use of "there is" and "there are," and recommends notional agreement (agreement of a verb with its subject or of a pronoun with its antecedent in accordance with the notion of number rather than with the presence of an overt grammatical marker for that notion) as a useful approach to deciding which to use. (SR)

Discusses the use of "and" and "or" in technical writing. Suggests that the strict meanings of "and" and "or" are called for in technical writing much more than in ordinary prose. (SR)

Discusses Chomsky's linguistic theories and suggests that these theories have clear implications for politics, philosophy, and psychology. (five references) (JL)

Discusses "language display," a language use strategy whereby members of one group lay claims to attributes associated with another, conveying messages of social, professional, ethnic identity. Examples from academia, politics, business, and advertising reveal language display functions as artifact of crossing linguistic boundaries…

If it is immediate, definite anaphoric reference of an indefinite syntagm "'un'+noun" in French (e.g., "un chien...l'animal") seems appropriate for an "unfaithful anaphor" (e.g., "un chien...l'animal") but not a "faithful" anaphor (e.g., "un chien...le chien"). This rule helps to identify…