The present study integrates findings from three lines of research on the association of social cognition and externalizing psychopathology, language and externalizing psychopathology, and social cognition and language functioning using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). To date these associations have been examined in pairs. A sample of 354…

Background/Context: Diane Ravitch has focused on the extensive censorship occurring within the publication of school textbook and testing materials in her book, "The Language Police" (2003). This book, indicative of conservative frustrations with minority special interest groups, raises several key issues echoed throughout the larger educational…

In an article on English and national identity, Spring gives a historical survey of the role of English and its relation to Japanese national identity. Although English was discouraged during World War II, as it was considered the language of enemy, it was again "made an important academic language and in 1956 was included in entrance…

Language is crucial in our lives and to all disciplines. It affects our well-being individually and collectively and touches important sociopolitical issues. Linguists/applied linguists have exciting opportunities for interdisciplinary research and to work in contexts personally meaningful to them. While language is the concern of all people,…

A discussion of language development and its role in the educational process focuses on the ways in which children use language to order experience. It is proposed that if human experience is construed in the form of language, then the way in which language is acquired can give insight into the fundamental nature of learning. These conclusions are…

The study of language--whether it is called grammar or linguistics--deserves a place in the composition course. This journal article suggests that there are better methods of teaching language lessons than the negative, error-correction and error-avoidance methods that still prevail. The study of grammar may be characterized as a means to bringing…

Examination of the characteristics of models of Western critical thinking from a different perspective may help educators realize what these models do not allow. Western processes of reasoning are highly Aristotelian, based on Platonic dialectical forms. Relationships of the parts are established upon clearly defined criteria, and the methods tend…

This paper describes one academic author's consternation when he came across an annotation of one of his scholarly articles from the "Journal of Basic Writing" in the ERIC database. The paper recounts that the author was disconcerted to find that the annotation was misleading, describing as his main point something that his article warns…

Kenneth Burke was a college dropout who did not enjoy notable success until quite late in life. His major interest was the development of a meta-theory of language, which he called "rhetoric." Denied the resources and material rewards of academia, Burke was both scapegoated and redeemed by the academic community. Furthermore, the…

The categorization of individual theories co-existing within the feminist framework limits the extent to which these theories can be woven together to fully develop the field of composition. By focusing on differences, taxonomies ignore the similarities among the framework's various theories. These similarities, when interlaced instead of…

This book gives a definitive theoretical account of radical constructivism., a theory of knowing that provides a pragmatic approach to questions about reality, truth, language and human understanding. The chapter are: (1) "Growing up Constructivist: Languages and Thoughtful People," (2) "Unpopular Philosophical Ideas: A History in…

In the last 6 years, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been undergoing fundamental political reinvention. Scholars of language, literacy, and rhetoric can learn much from the study of rhetorical histories. Accordingly, a brief rhetorical history of these upheavals, particularly those in…

For over 40 years, there has been a sustained and persistent effort to remove any reference to speech or spoken language from the name of the Speech Communication Association. The term "speech" has received constant criticism, mainly on political grounds, and has given way to today's more prevalent term of "communication." By…

Current research on the contributions of neurobiology to the understanding of language, and more specifically of phonics, is reviewed. After an introductory section, the second section provides a brief historic perspective on neurolinguistic research, beginning in the early nineteenth century. The third section focuses on what is known about the…

The dialectic of pitting reality against the perception of reality has been a proclivity of philosophers since the days of Plato and Greek civilization. Most philosophers today regard the availability of a pure reality to be impossible. The world is as it appears to be: thinkers have no access to perfect truth. Accordingly, the matter of…