BiblioVault - Books about English

Elements of German

Phonology and Morphology

Elmer H. Antonsen

University of Alabama Press, 2007

A practical guidebook for students of German

Elements of German fills a gap in advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate levels of German language study by presenting more advanced concepts of the language in a light intended for practical use rather than theoretical discourse. This text provides a means to improve knowledge and command of grammatically correct German as it is spoken and written. It also introduces methods and tools of linguistic analysis in the areas of phonology and morphology. Unlike books that treat phonology in a cursory way, this text delves into the problems of word formation and the intricacies of inflection and derivation. Exercises are included throughout to help better absorb the rules for real-world language use. This volume provides an in-depth look at the German language from the ground up. Its detailed approach makes this book an excellent complement to the work of less specific grammar textbooks and reviews.

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The Emergence of the English

Susan Oosthuizen

Arc Humanities Press, 2019

This book takes a critical approach to the dominant explanation for the transformation from post-Roman to 'Anglo-Saxon' society in Britain from the fifth to the eighth century: that change resulted from north-west European immigration into Britain. After testing this paradigm, the author explores the increasing amount of evidence for the gradual evolution of late Roman into early medieval England, and suggests some new directions for research that may lead to the development of more holistic explanatory models.

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Encounters in Modern Hebrew

Level 1

Edna Amir Coffin

University of Michigan Press, 1992

Encounters in Modern Hebrew is designed to fulfill the needs of English-speaking students who want to gain a basic knowledge of modern Hebrew. Extensively classroom-tested at the University of Michigan, the text provides a comprehensive introduction to the reading, writing, and pronunciation of modern Hebrew through an array of interesting exercises and activities reflecting up-to-the-minute language-learning theory.

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Encounters in Modern Hebrew

Level 2

Edna Amir Coffin

University of Michigan Press, 1993

Encounters in Modern Hebrew is designed to fulfill the needs of English-speaking students who want to gain a basic knowledge of modern Hebrew. Extensively classroom-tested at the University of Michigan, the text provides a comprehensive introduction to the reading, writing, and pronunciation of modern Hebrew through an array of interesting exercises and activities reflecting up-to-the-minute language-learning theory.

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Encounters in Modern Hebrew

Level 3

Edna Amir Coffin

University of Michigan Press, 1997

Encounters in Modern Hebrew is designed to fulfill the needs of English-speaking students of Hebrew who seek oral and written communication and reading comprehension. Extensively classroom-tested at the University of Michigan, the text provides the means to acquire a meaningful command of the Hebrew language with an emphasis on an expansive vocabulary and a variety of language domains. Employing interesting exercises and activities, Encounters in Modern Hebrew, Level 3 incorporates many current communicative and culturally-based approaches to mastering a foreign language. Encounters in Modern Hebrew, Level 3 presents a study environment conducive to the speaking, reading, and writing of free and authentic Hebrew.

This volume shows students a wider range of Hebrew-speaking cultural activities in a larger human context, from materials about holidays, including a Jewish holiday celebrated only in North Africa, to discussions of the roles of women that raise the issue of gender equality. Other chapters examine ethnic jokes and their problematic qualities, geography, and the differences between popular and literary language registers. Encounters in Modern Hebrew, Level 3 ushers the Hebrew student through a wide domain of the human community.

Edna Amir Coffin is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Modern Hebrew Language and Literature and Senior Research Scientist, Center for Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan.

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English in Print from Caxton to Shakespeare to Milton

Valerie Hotchkiss and Fred C. Robinson

University of Illinois Press, 2007

English in Print from Caxton to Shakespeare to Milton examines the history of early English books, exploring the concept of putting the English language into print with close study of the texts, the formats, the audiences, and the functions of English books. Lavishly illustrated with more than 130 full-color images of stunning rare books, this volume investigates a full range of issues regarding the dissemination of English language and culture through printed works, including the standardization of typography, grammar, and spelling; the appearance of popular literature; and the development of school grammars and dictionaries. Valerie Hotchkiss and Fred C. Robinson provide engaging descriptions of more than a hundred early English books drawn from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and the Elizabethan Club of Yale University. The study nearly mirrors the chronological coverage of Pollard and Redgrave's famous Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640), beginning with William Caxton, England's first printer, and ending with John Milton, the English language's most eloquent defender of the freedom of the press in his Areopagitica of 1644. William Shakespeare, neither a printer nor a writer much concerned with publishing his own plays, nonetheless deserves his central place in this study because Shakespeare imprints, and Renaissance drama in general, provide a fascinating window on the world of English printing in the period between Caxton and Milton.

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English in Today's Research World

A Writing Guide

John M. Swales and Christine B. Feak

University of Michigan Press, 2000

The authors of Academic Writing for Graduate Students have written a book for the next level of second language writing. English in Today's Research World offers students a very high level of writing instruction, with a specific focus on the projects students undertake--such as dissertations and conference abstracts--at the end of their university work or as they begin careers in research or academia.
In addition to instruction on writing for publication, English in Today's Research World provides needed advice on applications, recommendations, and requests--types of communications that are particularly vulnerable to influences from national cultural expectations and conventions and that, therefore, place the NNS writer at increased disadvantage.
The text is both a reference manual and a course book, so that researchers can continue to use the book after they have completed their formal education. New ESL/EFL teachers can use English in Today's Research World as a reference book for themselves or as a teaching aid in the classroom.

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English on the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands, Volume 81

Daniel Long

Duke University Press

Many inhabitants of the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean speak a mixture of English and Japanese that resulted from the islands’ unique and complicated history. The development of Bonin English began with the arrival—on previously uninhabited islands—of men and women speaking eighteen European and Austronesian languages in the early nineteenth century. As the islanders intermixed, their native languages intertwining, the need arose for a common language and shared means of communication. Eventually, a pidgin version of English emerged as the preferred method of communication as well as a strong symbol of island identity. As Bonin English developed among second- and third-generation islanders, it was further complicated by the arrival of thousands of Japanese speakers. Increasingly, these formerly “western” islanders became bilingual, and by the mid-twentieth century Bonin English had evolved to incorporate elements of Japanese. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of Bonin English and the complex sociolinguistic factors that have influenced its endurance and metamorphosis.

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The Enigma of the Gift

Maurice Godelier

University of Chicago Press, 1998

When we think of giving gifts, we think of exchanging objects that carry with them economic or symbolic value. But is every valuable thing a potentially exchangeable item, whose value can be transferred? In The Enigma of the Gift, the distinguished French anthropologist Maurice Godelier reassesses the significance of gifts in social life by focusing on sacred objects, which are never exchanged despite the value they possess.

Beginning with an analysis of the seminal work of Marcel Mauss and Claude Lévi-Strass, and drawing on his own fieldwork in Melanesia, Godelier argues that traditional theories are flawed because they consider only exchangeable gifts. By explaining gift-giving in terms of sacred objects and the authoritative conferral of power associated with them, Godelier challenges both recent and traditional theories of gift-giving, provocatively refreshing a traditional debate.

Elegantly translated by Nora Scott, The Enigma of the Gift is at once a major theoretical contribution and an essential guide to the history of the theory of the gift.

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Etazhi

Second Year Russian Language and Culture

Evgeny Dengub and Susanna Nazarova

Georgetown University Press, 2023

A highly communicative approach to Intermediate Russian grounded in everyday culture and authentic texts

Etazhi uses the communicative approach to advance student’s Russian proficiency from the Novice High / Intermediate Low level of the ACTFL scale to an Intermediate Mid / Intermediate High level. Designed for one academic year of instruction, Etazhi engages students with highly relevant topics to internalize new vocabulary, expand their grammatical reach, and deepen their cultural understanding of Russian speakers.

Chapters on Russian daily life, travel, dating and marriage, clothing, cuisine, health and medicine, education, holiday traditions, and careers are infused with humor and help students acquire the vocabulary and cultural nuance needed to discuss Russian literature, culture, and the arts. Hundreds of authentic texts, photographs, and illustrations gathered from across the Russian Federation–including authentic material written by real people about their experiences in Russia–show the diversity of Russian speakers, culture, and society. Each of the six chapters contains approximately fifty exercises that help students practice the four basic language skills–listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

This textbook improves vocabulary and grammar while promoting deeper cultural competency, preparing students to study abroad, and providing a firm foundation for advanced courses.

Special features include:

Audio transcripts to aid in comprehension checks (available for free on the Press's website)
A grammar reference with charts and tables, including case and verb charts
An extensive Russian-English glossary
Over 120 authentic photographs and hand-drawn images by a Russian artist
A sample of presentation materials and a sample exam for chapter one to aid instructors (available for free on the Press's website)

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