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…

Asserts that feminist thinkers must self-consciously and critically confront various traditions of political discourse, feminist and nonfeminist. Reviews a number of these traditions and examines several modes that seem promising for the creation of a feminist discourse that rejects domination. (Author/GC)

Reviews the theories of the founder of "general semantics," Alfred Korzybski, who believed that social conflict would be reduced by the study of how the structure of language affects our perceptions of the world and by the development of new language habits to overcome the limitations of verbal symbols. (Editor/SJL)

Within the bilingual education movement there is an analysis of the situation regarding "assimilation" and "cultural pluralism" in the U.S. that is a threat to bilingual education. Many assume that a new social situation has asserted itself whereby "cultural pluralism" has become a more powerful value than…

States that how discourse plays a central role in social relations/power dynamics is better understood because of M. Foucault's insights on power--central to Foucault's theory concerning the power-knowledge-discourse dialectic is that for every force there is resistance. Offers a new genealogy, which better suggests how resistance might appear in…

Presents an interview with Noam Chomsky. Discusses his positions on social construction, paradigm shifts, feminist scholarship, teaching, ideology, propaganda, and indoctrination. (RS)

One in a series of articles relating major European languages to cultural traits or artifacts finds similarities in Russian and the "isba," a country cabin found mostly in the northern part of the country. (MSE)

The fourth in a series of articles on the relationships of European languages to their cultures looks at the role of the theater in Italian culture and the theatricality of the Italian language. (MSE)

Discussion of instructional design focuses on a foundation for an alternative instructional design model based on social sciences theories from the constructivist family and on an interpretivist philosophy of science. Highlights include the role of language; and the nature of truth, or alternative conceptions of reality. (LRW)

Discusses the role of metaphors in Western civilization, maintaining that people interpret the world through culture-specific metaphors. Various linguistic metaphors and their role in metalinguistics are examined. (20 references) (MDM)

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)

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)

Examines attempts to extend Ferdinand de Saussure's structuralist linguistic theory, particularly those by integrational linguists. Discusses the place of integrational linguistics with regard to Saussurean work. (MSE)

Discuses the elements that separate U. S. Spanish from other varieties of Spanish. Suggests that U.S. Spanish has important economic presence among global varieties of Spanish. Data from U.S. government sources are employed to support the arguments presented. (Author/VWL)