MLJ Reviews
Edited by JUDITH E. LISKINGASPARRO
University of Iowa
MLJ Review Policy
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puter software, and materials that (a) present re-
sults of research inand methods offoreign
and second language teaching and learning;
(b) are devoted to matters of general interest to
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marily for use as textbooks or instructional aids in
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vey information from other disciplines that relates
directly to foreign and second language teaching
and learning. Reviews not solicited by the MLJ can
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terials that are not reviewed in the MLJ cannot
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THEORY AND PRACTICE
ALARCONSOLER, EVA. (Ed.). Learning How to
Request in an Instructed Language Learning Con-
text. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang, 2008. Pp. 260.
$68.95, paper. ISBN 9783039116010.
This book contributes to the growing body of liter-
ature addressing interlanguage pragmatic (ILP)
development in instructed foreign language con-
texts. It comprises a collection of 10 chapters
that specifically target developmental processes
related to the speech act of requesting. Although
the primary instructional target of the book is En-
glish as a foreign language (EFL), the treatment
of key issues related to both theoretical condi-
tions for pragmatic learning and the teachabil-
ity of pragmatics (p. 9) makes this volume rele-
vant for scholars of other languages and instruc-
tional contexts as well. The chapters complement
each other as a complete volume and can also
stand alone as individual chapters, making the
book a relevant and accessible text for a variety of
readers.
The first two chapters frame the theoretical
perspective of the book. In chapter 1, Alarcon-
Soler provides an overview of issues related to
pragmatics in instructional contexts. Specifically,
she examines the role of pragmatics in various
models of communicative competence and, in so
doing, highlights the importance of addressing
both pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic com-
ponents of language in research and practice.
In addition, she highlights key areas of research
that are addressed in detail in the other chapters
throughout the book (i.e., language proficiency
of the learners, sources of pragmatic input, the
teachability of pragmatics) and presents a cog-
nitive theoretical perspective as the stance used
throughout the volume. The remaining chapters
maintain this consistent perspective. Drawing on
previous work in the area of requests, Safont-Jorda
(ch. 2) presents an overview of the speech act of
requesting in English, with particular attention to
classifying different types of head acts and periph-
eral modifiers. The author also highlights previ-
ous work related to the realization of both head
acts and modifiers in requests in English.
Chapters 3 through 5 attend to sources for prag-
matic input. Uso-Juan (ch. 3) compares the input
available to learners in older and current English
language teaching textbooks. Her findings sug-
gest that current textbooks offer more pragmati-
cally authentic input, yet they do not approximate
authentic pragmatic practices (e.g., textbooks dis-
played a marked preference for conventionally
indirect strategies as opposed to hints). Campoy-
Cubillo (ch. 4) offers an insightful discussion of
how corpora can be used as input for pragmatic
development, citing examples of various English
language corpora with suggestions for their use
in instruction. This chapter is a noteworthy con-
tribution to the volume. Fernandez-Guerra (ch.
5) compares requests in television series with nat-
urally occurring data from the Michigan Corpus
of Academic Spoken English to determine if TV
and films can serve as a constructive source of
input. Results revealed more similarities than dif-
ferences with respect to head acts and modifiers,
suggesting that TV series can be considered valu-
able sources of input in instructional contexts.
Reviews
Chapters 6 through 8 examine fundamental is-
sues in the area of ILP development, highlight-
ing key research considerations. Viltrar-Beltran
(ch. 6) compares the use of mitigation between
12 native and 12 nonnative speakers of English
enrolled in English-speaking universities. Results
from role-play data indicated the use of more in-
ternal modification by the native speakers and
more external modification by the nonnative
speakers, with similar use of modification in re-
quests overall. In chapter 7, Salazar-Campillo of-
fers a methodological comparison of discourse
completion tasks (DCTs) and role-plays to ad-
dress internal and external modification devices
employed by 14 EFL learners. The comparison
suggested a wider variety of both internal and ex-
ternal modifiers in the DCT responses, which the
author attributes to an effect of planning time on
the use of mitigation. Mart-Arnadiz (ch. 8) evalu-
ates the complex relationship between grammat-
ical competence and pragmatic competence for
EFL learners. Using a DCT instrument, she com-
pared the use of request modifiers by 81 learners
of English. Results suggested a relationship be-
tween grammatical and pragmatic competence,
in that those with a higher proficiency level ex-
hibited a more target-like use of most types of
modifiers.
The final two chapters of the book directly
target instructional practices. First, Martnez-
Flor (ch. 9) reports on a study investigating an
inductivedeductive teaching approach to the in-
struction of request modifiers. The results demon-
strated a positive effect of the intervention, with
the 38 learners exhibiting the use of a higher
number and wider variety of internal and external
modifiers in the role-play posttest. Codina-Espurz
(ch. 10) compares the effects of immediate and
delayed instruction of request mitigation for be-
ginning and intermediate learners using a DCT
instrument for data collection. Results suggested
a stronger instructional impact for the learners at
the higher (intermediate) level of proficiency.
The strengths of this book lie in the broad
treatment of a variety of issues related to ILP de-
velopment in instructed language learning con-
texts, including an established theoretical per-
spective, the empirical treatment of developmen-
tal variables, methodological considerations, and
instructional practices. In addition, the chapters
are clear and well written with references at the
end of each chapter. The concise nature of each of
the chapters, coupled with the breadth of topics,
requires some sacrifice in terms of depth. Thus,
readers wishing for a complex discussion of one
area (e.g., various politeness models) will need to
147
supplement the book with additional resources.
In addition, because of the small sample sizes,
one should interpret the results of some of the
empirical pieces with caution. The most notable
omission from the book is the lack of discussion
of dialect or language variation in relation to re-
questing strategies in English. Although it is im-
plicitly suggested that the proposed taxonomies
primarily address British English (or, in one case,
North Ireland), there is no explicit explanation
in this area, making the comparisons with native-
speaker norms presented in the book difficult to
generalize. Despite these minor limitations, this
book makes a strong contribution to the field and
is a beneficial resource for those investigating ILP
development. It will be of particular value to schol-
ars in pragmatics and second language acquisition
interested in the theoretical and methodological
aspects of ILP development in instructed learn-
ing contexts. The clear treatment of a variety of
theoretical and practical issues related to ILP de-
velopment makes this book a solid contribution
to work in this area.
JULIE M. SYKES
University of New Mexico
BENATI, ALESSANDRO G., & JAMES F. LEE.
Grammar Acquisition and Processing Instruction: Sec-
ondary and Cumulative Effects. Clevedon, UK: Mul-
tilingual Matters, 2008. Pp. v, 211. $139.95, cloth;
$59.95, paper. ISBN 1847691048, cloth; 1
84769103X, paper.
In a chapter in Processing Instruction: Theory, Re-
search, and Commentary (VanPatten [Ed.], Erl-
baum, 2004), Lee proposed 11 hypotheses on the
effects of processing instruction (PI) to stimulate
further research and new avenues of investigation.
The volume by Benati and Lee addresses these
hypotheses and presents three classroom studies
that investigate two of them, opening the door
to a new strand of research: the secondary and
cumulative transfer-of-training effects of PI. The
hypotheses investigated in these studies were put
forward by Lee (2004) as Hypothesis 9: Learners
who receive training on one type of processing
strategy for one specific form will appropriately
transfer the use of that strategy to other forms
without further instruction in PI (p. 319) and
Hypothesis 12: The cumulative effects of PI will
be greater than its isolated effects (p. 321). Hy-
pothesis 9 refers to the forms that, although dif-
ferent, are affected by the same processing prin-
ciple of input processing. Hypothesis 12 refers to
148
learners transferring the training on processing
a linguistic form to the processing of a different
form not included in the treatment and that is
affected by a different processing principle.
The book has five chapters, a Final Comments
section, and appendixes. The first two chapters
form the theoretical and empirical background
of the research presented in chapters 3 through
5. The first chapter provides a summary of Van-
Pattens theory of input processing. The strength
of this chapter is that the authors not only ex-
plain the principles of the theory in a very read-
able way, but they also present the previous body
of research carried out to investigate the second
language (L2) processing phenomena on which
the theorys principles are founded. Therefore,
this chapter provides a more complete picture of
VanPattens theory not found in other recent lit-
erature on input processing.
Chapter 2 is divided into two sections. The first
section reviews the research on PI, underscoring
the primary effects of PI investigated in this body
of research. The reader will find valuable the iden-
tification of various strands of research found in
the PI studies. The second section presents PI as
a viable approach to grammar teaching and re-
views the guidelines to develop structured input
activities.
In chapters 3 through 5, each chapter presents
a study that investigated the secondary (ch. 3
and ch. 4) and the cumulative (ch. 5) transfer-of-
training effects of PI. In these three studies, PI was
compared to traditional form-focused instruction
(TI), and each study included a control group.
Their format was very similar to the format of
many previous PI studies: a pretest and immediate
posttest design with treatment measures carried
out through tests of interpretation and sentence-
level production. In chapter 3s study, the pri-
mary item was Italian nounadjective agreement,
and the secondary linguistic item was Italian fu-
ture tense. In chapter 4s study, the primary lin-
guistic item was English ed past tense and the
secondary item was English third-person singular
present tense s. The results of both of these stud-
ies revealed that PI was more effective than TI for
the correct interpretation of the primary forms
and equally effective for correct production. For
the reader familiarized with previous PI research,
these results may come as no surprise. The new
findings, however, were that PI learners did trans-
fer the training on the processing of the target
form to the processing of the secondary form on
which they did not receive instruction. The PI
group was significantly superior to the TI group
on the interpretation test, and both groups were
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
statistically similar in the production tests for the
secondary items. Although the percentage of the
gains for the secondary items was rather small, as
addressed by the authors, they claim that the sta-
tistically significant results reveal the primary and
secondary transfer-of-training effects of PI. These
findings encourage the interesting argument of
the development of better L2 intuitions through
instruction, which the authors do address, but un-
fortunately, do not expand as fully as readers may
wish.
The study presented in chapter 5, more com-
plex than the other two, investigated the sec-
ondary and cumulative transfer-of-training effects
of PI. The primary form was the French imper-
fect tense, the secondary form was the French
subjunctive, and the cumulative form was the
French causative construction with faire. The re-
sults showed that PI learners were able to pro-
cess and interpret significantly better than the
TI learners the primary, secondary, and cumula-
tive forms, although the production gains were
minimal for the secondary and cumulative forms.
This type of study is the only one of its kind in
the volume and is certainly unprecedented in PI
research.
As the authors state in the Final Comments sec-
tion, the volumes goal was to take PI research into
a new area of investigation, and the reader will see
that it certainly reaches that goal. The weakness of
the volume, however, is that the authors attempt
to provide a strong and theoretically grounded ex-
planation for the findings leaves the reader want-
ing a fuller, more convincing account. Perhaps
this expectation is a good aspect of the book, as it
shows that there is still much left to explain within
L2 processing research.
CLAUDIA FERNANDEZ
DePaul University
BYRAM, MICHAEL. From Foreign Language Educa-
tion to Education for Intercultural Citizenship: Essays
and Reflections. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Mat-
ters, 2008. Pp. xi, 272. $49.95, paper. ISBN 978
1847690784.
As policy makers and educators work to find prac-
tical solutions for preparing citizens to meet the
political, communicative, and social challenges of
internationalization and globalization, much of
this work is being done in relative isolation. As
Byram points out, there is little dialogue among
policy makers representing different national,
Reviews
regional, or language groups; limited collabora-
tion among teachers of languages and social and
political studies; and substantial divides between
policy goals and classroom practices in language
and citizenship education. In his collection of
essays and reflections, Byram attempts to create
points of connection and dialogue among these
groups in shaping a framework for education for
intercultural citizenship.
In the early chapters (ch. 1 through ch. 9),
which may be read as an ensemble or a collec-
tion of separate essays, Byram considers various
dimensions of language education in view of his-
torical, international, intercultural, and interdis-
ciplinary phenomena. For example, in chapter 1,
Byram provides a historical overview of foreign
language education trends and later compares re-
cent policy statements on foreign language teach-
ing objectives from Japan, the United States, and
the European Union (EU). Although Byram sup-
ports the shift in educational priorities set forth
in such policy documents, he asserts that, in most
cases, teaching practices fall short of the policies.
In his analysis, Byram explores the value of inter-
cultural dimensions in education and experience,
establishing the pursuit of intercultural compe-
tence and communication as a point of congruity
through which educators, researchers, and pol-
icy makers might begin to bridge the divides that
separate policy from practice and language ed-
ucation from civic education. Although his dis-
cussion focuses primarily on the EU, Byram also
considers trends and tendencies in Asia and the
Americas.
Throughout the text, Byram is mindful to re-
flect on his own work as a teacher, researcher,
and advocate concerned with education practices
and policies pertaining to language and culture.
As such, he interweaves reflective commentaries
on his own work throughout the ensemble of
essays, examining his contributions in view of
research on intercultural education. He first
considers the notion of tertiary socialization, a
prescriptive strategy coined by Byram through
which educators incorporate specific objectives
and strategies in their lessons to inspire students
to think reflectively about and reconsider the
taken-for-granted values, beliefs, and behaviors
implicit in national schooling (p. 113). As Byram
maintains, when used effectively by educators, ter-
tiary socialization can play an integral role in pro-
moting the affective, cognitive, and behavioral
aptitudes necessary to foster intercultural com-
petence among students. Byram also reflects on
his model for intercultural communicative com-
petence. In later chapters, Byram promotes this
model, inspired by his work in foreign language
149
pedagogy, in tandem with Gerhard Himmelmans
objectives for citizenship education, setting forth
what he refers to as a framework of education for
intercultural citizenship.
As Byram explains, chapters 10 through 14 of
the text are presented as a unit in which he con-
siders approaches for planning, teaching, and as-
sessing education for intercultural citizenship. Al-
though insistent on the importance of language
education in this process, Byrams approach is in-
terdisciplinary in nature and seeks to engage edu-
cators across nations, languages, and disciplines.
In chapters 10 and 11, Byram highlights the im-
portance of the cognitive, evaluative, and behav-
ioral dimensions of intercultural education, com-
paring his model with Himmelmans and placing
particular emphasis on the critical awareness and
political education aspects of education for in-
tercultural citizenship. In chapter 12, Byram ex-
plores the notion of transnational citizenship and
examines policies pertaining to language and cul-
ture, particularly as set forth by the EU. In his
policy analysis, Byram problematizes the EUs lan-
guage and language education policies, charac-
terizing them as vague. He further expresses the
concern that EU policies seem to promote Europe
as a supranational polity rather than a forum for
intercultural citizenship.
In chapter 13, Byram promotes the idea of the
intercultural speaker and citizen, rejecting the
native-speaker model and insisting on the reflex-
ivity of the intercultural educational process. At
the end of the chapter, he provides some limited
pedagogical suggestions, many of which seem dif-
ficult to accomplish because they require inter-
national, intercultural, and interlinguistic coop-
eration. Moreover, in his discussions of pedagog-
ical strategies, Byram seems to place the burden
of implementation on teachers rather than sug-
gest a cooperative effort between teachers and
policy makers. Additional challenges, as Byram
acknowledges in chapter 14, comprise those of
assessment and evaluation of intercultural educa-
tion across disciplines, languages, and cultures.
Drawing on recent research, Byram suggests port-
folios and reflexive activities as possible modes of
assessment.
Although strong in its explanations and com-
parisons of language, cultural, and civic edu-
cational practices and policies (particularly in
Europe) and its construction of critical frame-
works for considering intercultural educational
objectives across academic disciplines, Byrams
text is weak in its presentation of practical ped-
agogical strategies to promote intercultural citi-
zenship and in its suggestions for effectively assess-
ing intercultural educational outcomes. Even so,
150
it represents an important point of departure. As
Byram affirms, his work represents the beginning
of a critical conversation among citizens, students,
educators, and policy makers. [T]his final part of
the book has few illustrations or practice. It is a
proposal for an agenda, for things to be done of discourse while examining the roles of the indi-
(p. 229). It is yet to be seen whether educators and
policy makers will take on Byrams challenge and
work collaboratively to design, implement, and as-
sess education for intercultural citizenship.
JULIE HUNTINGTON
Marymount Manhattan College
CLARKE, MATTHEW. Language Teacher Identities:
Co-Constructing Discourse and Community. Cleve-
don, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2008. Pp. xiii, 214.
$43.55, cloth. ISBN 9781847690814.
Framing teacher education as the formation of
identities within the particularities of a commu-
nity of practice (CoP) has been the subject of
many theoretical and empirical studies. What has
been missing is a longitudinal approach illumi-
nating invisible processes through which teacher
identities are shaped in discourses in which in-
trapersonal and interpersonal relations are lo-
cal as well as global. In Language Teacher Iden-
tities: Co-Constructing Discourse and Community,
Clarke outstandingly addresses the invisible hand
of second language (L2) teacher education by
revealing behind-the-scenes power relations and
sociocultural factors that determine the social me-
diation in becoming an L2 teacher in a trans-
forming community, the United Arab Emirates
(UAE). Intended for researchers in L2 teacher
education, applied linguistics, and L2 acquisition,
this book merges discourse theory with the appli-
cation of numerous social theories in L2 teacher
education, including socioconstructivism, identity
formation, knowledge and belief systems, CoP,
national and gendered identities, linguistic and
cultural hegemony, and poststructuralism.
Clarke frames the primary research question
behind this book as follows: In what ways are
the social and educational discourses that have
shaped the contemporary UAE context and the
HCTs [Higher Colleges of Technology] teacher
education program taken up by the students as
they construct their identities as teachers within
an evolving CoP? (p. 10). As a part of the New Per-
spectives on Language and Education series, this
book includes an introduction and seven chap-
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
ters. In chapter 1, Clarke addresses theoretical
components and intersections of discourse, iden-
tity, and CoP. Without championing a unilateral
theoretical framework, Clarke provides a multi-
perspectival (p. 40) approach to the discussion
vidual and social in HCT students construction of
multiple forms of identities in the evolving UAE
community.
In addition to detailing the studys data col-
lection and analysis methods, chapter 2 utilizes
the notion of discourse to describe the Emi-
rati preservice teachers processes of becoming a
CoP. Clarke also provides an historical overview
of the country to situate his study within the
social parameters of the contemporary UAE.
In chapter 3, Clarke provides results of focus
group interviews and online discussion data to
describe participants construction of their CoP
and their sense of belonging in the constantly
evolving UAE context. Using Wengers models
of CoPsnamely, engagement, alignment, and
imaginationClarke also addresses the role of
family connections, discourses of gender, teach-
ers as role models, and surpassing past teachers in
becoming a new community of English language
teachers. In chapter 4, the author draws on a series
of binary oppositions, including new/traditional,
student-centered/teacher-centered, and passive
learning/active learning, to describe participants
discursive construction of knowledge and belief
systems throughout the formation of their new
CoP.
Chapter 5 examines how discursive interper-
sonal relations are formed, how community
alignment relates to the participatory norms of
communication, and how such relations solidify
the cohesion of the community around shared
values and beliefs. The chapter also provides in-
terpretive evidence about these preservice teach-
ers reformist perceptions regarding the future of
their teaching careers. Chapter 6, entitled The
Discursive Construction of Intrapersonal Iden-
tity, complements chapter 5 by transitioning to
the role of the intrapersonal factors in identity
formation. It explains the attitudes, moral obli-
gations, values, and beliefs of one participant,
Manal, to provide a thorough analysis of the in-
dividual identity construction process, involving
both individual and social elements. Finally, chap-
ter 7 situates the study findings and their implica-
tions within the regional and broader contexts of
L2 teacher education, concluding with potential
directions for English language teaching.
Applying social theories to the UAE context,
Clarke makes a refreshingly original contribution
Reviews
to L2 teacher education while describing the iden-
tity formation of these preservice teachers. First,
the book skillfully integrates theory and practice;
however, a real strength of the book lies in its au-
thentic analysis and synthesis of the theoretical
underpinnings of L2 teacher education. Second,
presenting a large body of data, the book offers
remarkable insights into the processes of change
in the identities of a changing CoP in a changing
Emirati context. Third, it is replete with analyses
that reveal that every setting has its own sociocul-
tural variables as well as traditional and modern
clashes that may impact teacher education differ-
ently, adding to the markedly limited research on
such settings. Finally, this book offers more than
a qualitative case study of female preservice En-
glish language teachers in the UAE by, as Donald
Freeman states in the foreword, Clarkes ability
to expose what is often invisible in the process of
individual and social learning, and the resources
that shape these processes (p. xi).
Clarke uses a large amount of qualitative data
to address the identity formation of Emirati pre-
service English language teachers. However, both
the research design and the findings are overshad-
owed by the emphasis placed on the theoretical
paradigms. For example, chapters 4 through 6 in-
form us about the role of individual and social
factors in participants construction of new belief
systems about their teaching, moral issues in UAE
education, how teaching has changed their lives,
and so forth. Nevertheless, we do not learn much
about the cumulative value of these self-reported
excerpts. Given that the data came from 75 partic-
ipants, some descriptive statistics and summary ta-
bles could have provided further depth and rigor
regarding individual versus co-construction of the
new identity. Furthermore, current research sug-
gests gender differences in roles, power relations,
and socialization patterns that, particularly in this
setting, could pose some inherent subjectivity to
the results because all of the participants were
women.
NIHAT POLAT
Duquesne University
GABRYSBARKER, DANUTA. (Ed.). Morphosyn-
tactic Issues in Second Language Acquisition. Cleve-
don, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2008. Pp. xiii, 264.
$89.95, cloth. ISBN 9781847690654.
It was a pleasure to read a series of interesting
second language acquisition (SLA) studies deal-
151
ing with morphology and syntax after such a long
period of emphasis on studies dealing with seman-
tics and lexicon in the field of language teaching
and learning. It seems that ever since the commu-
nicative approach has taken center stage, stud-
ies related to the form and use of morphology
and explicit grammatical explanation in language
classes have been pushed aside. In that regard, this
book is a must-read for those interested in foreign
language teaching or in doing SLA research, as
they may find out what type of research is taking
place or what has been possible in recent years.
Although some of the experiments reported are
quite primitive and close to action research, most
of the reports are experimentally based and are
useful examples for future studies in foreign lan-
guage classes.
The book consists of 15 chapters related to
morphological and syntactic issues in SLA. It is
divided into two major parts: The 10 chapters
in part 1 deal with research reports on word
morphology and sentence patterns and their im-
plication in SLA under the Universal Grammar
(UG) framework, whereas the 5 chapters in part
2 are research papers focusing on effective for-
eign language teaching, primarily English teach-
ing. All but two papers are reports on empirical
studies. The two papers not based on empirical
data include a theoretical discussion of the lan-
guage acquisition process using the modular the-
ory framework proposed by Jackendoff (ch. 4)
and an argument regarding the inadequacy of
explaining the transitivity in different languages
through markedness differences (ch. 7).
Most of the empirical research reports deal with
what the authors call English as a second lan-
guage, although they are referring to English as
a foreign language (EFL) because most deal with
high school students (1318 years old) learning
English in Poland. Those studies that do not fit in
the EFL category include a study on syntactic pro-
cessing in multilinguistic performance (ch. 5), a
study on the Greek reflexive morphology marker
me by native speakers of Russian and German
(ch. 6), a study on the wh fronting in English
by native speakers of Turkish (ch. 8), a study on
the acquisition of concession connectives by na-
tive Polish interpreters into English (ch. 9), and
research on the acquisition of German syntax by
Polish learners (ch. 13).
Most of the research studies report experimen-
tation using written materials, but some are ana-
lyses of the spoken performance as recorded by
the researchers. Some reports are based on re-
search with a small number of subjects (even one
in ch. 5), but several draw on a large corpus,
152
and some study longitudinal effects of method-
ology. Of course, when studies were accompanied
by larger numbers of participants or with corpus
analysis and longitudinal effects, they were more
convincing. The research that reports on sur-
vey questionnaires or grammaticality tests without
context leave the readers with questions of valid-
ity. Of course, a book like this one will not be
able to report all of the data the researchers used;
however, modern technology has provided ways
to report entire experiments with data in digital
form. It would have been helpful to provide such
data for verification on a Web site or accompany-
ing CD.
Almost all of the researchers, some more overtly
than others, have tried to explain that language
transfer and cross-linguistic influence and SLA
processes can be explained within the UG frame-
work. For example, in the discussion of lan-
guage transfer and cross-linguistic influence deal-
ing with form, meaning, and function (including
use) of such specific syntactic patterns as cleft,
wh cleft and focus, raising, tough-movement,
word order, concession clauses, and transitivity,
the researchers refer to universal acquisition or-
der (e.g., the most difficult or the last to be
learned). This approach is part of a tendency
among linguists to claim some universality after
examining a few related languages. However, es-
pecially as we understand the role of context, dis-
course, topic, pragmatics, and new and old infor-
mation, we must look at unrelated languages, such
as topic-oriented languages and case-marking lan-
guages, rather than languages that rely on the
word order to mark cases, discourse-oriented lan-
guages, and context-dependent languages before
claiming any universality. However, these reported
findings are excellent starting points for further
investigation. As understood by most scientists
and researchers, it is better to study with a hypoth-
esis so that we can start eliminating what cannot be
disproved to come closer to what we are seeking.
Unfortunately, there are many editorial mis-
takes in the text, such as misplaced and repeated
words and misspellings. In dealing with so many
different languages and grammatical and un-
grammatical samples, it is a real challenge and
a laborious task to edit completely with impecca-
ble detail, but a book of this type, especially in the
linguistics field, needs to be more professionally
edited. It was even humorous to find the third-
person singular s missing in chapter 13 right af-
ter reading the chapter on the acquisition of the
English third-person singular s ending. However,
any student, especially graduate students, inter-
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
ested in SLA research should read the chapters in
part 1 as a source of ideas for possible empirical
studies in the field, and part 2 is excellent reading
for foreign language teachers.
MASAKAZU WATABE
Brigham Young University
EDWARDS, JETTE G. HANSEN, & MARY L.
ZAMPINI. (Eds.). Phonology and Second Language
Acquisition. Philadelphia: Benjamins, 2008. Pp. vi,
380. $149.00, cloth. ISBN 9789027241474.
Research on the acquisition of a second language
(L2) sound system is presented in this volume,
divided into three parts, each with a preface that
summarizes the contributions. All of the chapters
provide a good introduction to the topic, a crit-
ical review of the literature and methodologies
employed, an overview of principal findings on
the topic, suggestions for further research, and a
useful summary and conclusions.
Part 1 examines theoretical issues in L2 phonol-
ogy. Ohala investigates first language (L1) ac-
quisition. The L1 phonology emerges around
18 months, and the ability to distinguish among
nonnative speech sounds is weakened by this ex-
posure to the native language. This most funda-
mental aspect of language acquisition is complete
by age 6.
Ioup discusses the role of age as the crucial
variable in L2 phonological acquisition. Native-
like L2 phonology is normally found only with
very early onset, and the likelihood diminishes
as onset age increases. Two possible explanations
are brain maturation and interference from L1
phonology. Questions linger, such as why talented
adult learners can circumvent L1 interferences
by perceiving novel speech sounds as infants do.
Ioup gives a useful critique of methodological is-
sues and directions for future research.
Major provides an overview and critique of re-
search on transfer, which is implicated in almost
every work on L2 phonology. Studies indicate that
similar structures shared in the L1 and L2 cause
transfer and that similar sounds are more difficult
than dissimilar sounds because the differences are
not noticed. Major makes the important point
that more rigorous definitions of similarity and
transfer are necessary. A good phonological de-
scription of running speech of the L1 and L2 is
needed to identify transfer.
Reviews
Typological markedness is the topic of the con-
tribution by Eckman, who examines evidence for
the markedness differential hypothesis and the
structural conformity hypothesis. Eckman con-
cludes that markedness will continue to play a
significant role in L2 phonology within the frame-
work of optimality theory, which incorporates
markedness.
Challenges for optimality theory are generaliz-
ability, accountability, and predictability, accord-
ing to Hancin-Bhatt, who presents examples of L2
phenomena analyzed within this framework. She
points out that perception and production data
cannot be directly compared. Generalizations ob-
tained from one domain should not be used to
test predictions at another level.
Speech production and perception are exam-
ined further in part 2. Strange and Shafer ex-
plore theories of and difficulties with L2 speech
perception, including phonological categories,
cognitive processes involved, and methodologi-
cal issues. Infants are language-general perceivers
and are able to discriminate, but they become
language-specific perceivers within the first year of
life.
Munro discusses foreign accent and speech
intelligibility, noting that native pronunciation
in the L2 is uncommon and unnecessary. Un-
sophisticated learners judgments are especially
important to provide insight into how understand-
able L2 speakers are to other community mem-
bers. Teachers should recognize the difference
between speech that is different and speech that is
difficult to understand. Instruction should focus
on problems of comprehensibility and intelligibil-
ity, not perfection.
Zampini examines research on L2 speech pro-
duction. The literature review discusses natural
classes of sounds, sound substitution studies, and
suprasegmentals. Methodological issues include
laboratory versus natural speech, types of speak-
ers, the corpus and its analysis, and native-speaker
judgments. Future directions include technolog-
ical advances and a consideration of the re-
lationship between L2 speech production and
perception.
Edwards discusses social factors and variation
in production in L2 phonology. Social factors in-
clude gender, extent of L1 and L2 use, social
identity, and target language variety. Variation
involves interlocutor/speech accommodation, at-
tention to speech/monitoring, and effects of
linguistic and social factors on production. Learn-
ers are active agents in choosing how they use
the L2, choosing the L2 target, and what they ac-
quire. Linguistic and social factors also influence
153
L2 learning, and these are beyond the learners
control. Learners should be viewed as users. Devi-
ations from the standard target language may be
purposeful usage.
Part 3 reviews topics in applied L2 phonet-
ics and phonology, including technology, train-
ing, and curriculum. Bradlow examines Japanese
adults learning the English //-/l/ contrast.
Three lessons emerge: (a) Lab training can lead
to nonnative contrast learning, even for the most
difficult cases; (b) the goal is accurate recognition
of words that exemplify contrasts; and (c) expo-
sure to multiple talkers promotes nonnative con-
trast acquisition. Highly variable training stimuli
are important.
Glick, Bernhardt, Bacsfalvi, and Wilson exam-
ine ultrasound imaging applications in L2 acqui-
sition. A midsagittal image of the tongue provides
a promising application, giving the ability to mea-
sure articulator positions directly and describing
physical details of difficult sounds, such as English
/r/ (transcribed as // in Bradlows chapter) and
/l/ for Japanese speakers.
Chun, Hardison, and Pennington discuss tech-
nologies for prosody in context: (a) visualizations
of pitch contours; (b) multimodal tools such as in-
tegration of a video clip with associated pitch con-
tour; (c) spectrographic displays; and (d) vowel
analysis programs. Future research must consider
the relationship between perception and pro-
duction. Multiple components of speech events
should be analyzed.
Derwing summarizes curriculum issues in
teaching L2 pronunciation, aiming toward im-
proved intelligibility and comprehensibility of L2
learners. Suprasegmentals appear to have more
impact than segmentals here. Poor teacher train-
ing is a problem. There is also a need for longitu-
dinal studies, to ascertain whether improvement
is permanent.
Errors are few (in missing on p. 3, affects
for effects on p. 4, of missing after some on
p. 15, evidenced for evidence on p. 98, and
are is missing on p. 107). Unfortunately, two
typographical errors impede comprehension (on
p. 98 that should be than in 3 a. and b.).
Several important recommendations emerge
from this high-quality volume. Perception and
production are both important to study in L2
phonological acquisition. Research should exam-
ine running speech, not only isolated words and
sentences. Several authors conclude that prosody
is more important than segmentals in L2 instruc-
tion. Intelligibility and comprehensibility, not per-
fection, should be the goals of L2 instruction in
pronunciation. New technological advances and
154
computer applications are important research
and teaching tools.
DIANE R. UBER
The College of Wooster
KODA, KEIKO, & ANNETTE M. ZEHLER. (Eds.).
Learning to Read Across Languages: Cross-Linguistic
Relationships in First- and Second-Language Literacy
Development. New York: Routledge, 2008. Pp. vii,
241. $43.95, paper. ISBN 0805856129.
For some time, the field of second (L2) and for-
eign language reading has pursued an under-
standing of factors that impact the reading pro-
cess, one of which is first language (L1) literacy.
Despite this recognition, differences across lan-
guages and the impact of these differences on
reading in another language have generated com-
plex questions. The book Learning to Read Across
Languages, edited by Koda and Zehler, establishes
a potential path to solving some of the questions
surrounding transfer in reading by bringing to-
gether chapters reviewing theory and research on
the interaction between languages and texts, liter-
acy development in a number of languages, and
future research directions for transfer in read-
ing. Recognizing a psycholinguistic orientation to
reading, the authors propose that the book chap-
ters hold relevance for L2 reading development
of English language learners.
The book begins by forming an argument and
defining the constructs to be explored. Two sec-
tions group the rest of the chapters. One section
provides theory on writing systems, metalinguistic
awareness, and impacts from L1 literacy on learn-
ing to read in an L2. The second section presents
chapters explaining the nature of writing systems
and literacy development in five languages, with
each chapter following a similar outline to pro-
vide comparison and summary. The final chapter
discusses the link between these L1 experiences
and L2 reading.
In section 1, a chapter by Perfetti and Dun-
lap provides fundamental content regarding writ-
ing systems, orthography, and scripts, which leads
to consideration of how these features of writing
and language interact with phonological princi-
ples, adults learning to read in another language,
as well as the possibilities for transfer. A chap-
ter by Kuo and Andersen further delves into the
psychology of reading via a critique of the many
definitions for metalinguistic awareness; it then
identifies facets of this construct, such as
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
phonological, semantic, and syntactic awareness;
and finally, it explores issues in comparing such
awareness across languages. The final chapter in
this section, by Koda, sets up the transition to the
topic of literacy experience transfer in L2 reading.
This chapter presents a valuable review of trans-
fer as it has been conceptualized and studied over
the years, and it illuminates reading universals and
features of metalinguistic awareness that are the
likely venues for transfer across languages.
In the second section, the book provides de-
tailed descriptions of writing systems, literacy
development, and transfer issues across five lan-
guages: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Hebrew,
Khmer, and Korean. These chapters will hold
great interest for researchers and teachers of
English and for speakers of these languages. In
addition to providing clear descriptions of the
languages and writing systems, the chapters un-
lock key intersections between languages as well
as metalinguistic properties. As the editors point
out, there is great variation in depth of re-
search on these languages, which makes compar-
isons across the chapters somewhat difficult; how-
ever, the reviews provide groundwork for future
investigations.
This edited volume justifies a systematic frame-
work to clarify transfer in reading across languages
and it uses this framework in describing literacy
in five languages. The choice of languages pre-
sented in the book is a major contribution to the
field, as all are quite distant from English and
are not as common in the L2 reading literature
as roman-alphabetic languages have been. By dig-
ging deeply with a narrowed scope of metalin-
guistic awareness and decoding, the authors es-
tablish what we currently know regarding transfer
across languages and the salient universal features
of reading. In doing so, they propose areas need-
ing future attention in this domain. The book is
a valuable review of studies as well as a catalogu-
ing of reading in the five languages and may be
useful for graduate students and scholars seeking
research avenues to explore. It will be an impera-
tive reference for L2 researchers exploring issues
of interdependence, as well as for teachers work-
ing with students whose L1s are presented in the
second section.
The weaknesses in the volume are best posited
as challenges faced by research in L2 reading and
are recognized by the authors at several junctures.
These challenges are rooted in the complexity
of the reading process. One issue lies in shaping
a framework narrowed to features within a psy-
cholinguistic orientation of reading. In fact, the
language-specific chapters include the discussion
Reviews
of social and cultural factors impacting literacy
development. For example, children learning to
read in Arabic are learning Modern Standard
Arabic (MSA), which is vastly different from the
Arabic they have been speaking at home and,
thus, they may be learning to read in an L2 at
school, where they develop literacy in MSA. These
sections reveal the significance of understanding
such issues in theories of literacy transfer. The au-
thors point out that their approach is an attempt
to dissect reading in an L2 to strengthen empirical
investigation. The assumption that it is possible to
separate aspects of the reading process may be
debatable and could cause difficulty in applying
results to contexts such as classrooms. Second, the
focus on metalinguistic awareness is a major chal-
lenge that the authors attempt to overcome, with
some success, but this area is mired in complexity
as well and may not render itself divisible. As Kuo
and Andersen expose in the third chapter, it is dif-
ficult to agree on a clear categorical definition of
metalinguistic awareness. The overlap of linguistic
and metalinguistic knowledge as well as reading
processing subskills is evident when studying in-
dividual readers in context. The authors attempt
to provide taxonomies for these three areas (pp.
9799), but overlap appears even in these listings.
Despite these challenges, which the authors rec-
ognize, the book is a valuable resource providing
both intriguing connections between theory and
prior research, as well as detailed descriptive ac-
counts of reading in five languages. Bringing the
issues and prior research together will move the
field of L2 reading research forward by addressing
gaps and refining a research agenda for the area
of literacy transfer across languages in reading.
LIA PLAKANS
University of Iowa
KUMARAVADIVELU, B. Cultural Globalization
and Language Education. New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press, 2008. Pp. xiii, 288. $45.00, paper.
ISBN 97803111101. ters 5 and 6, the author then suggests an alter-
In this book of revelation about the relation-
ships between language learners and the widen-
ing trend toward globalization, Kumaravadivelu
aims to point out certain highways that can pos-
sibly lead to global cultural consciousness among
language learners, teachers, and teacher educa-
tors (p. 7). The author begins by summarizing
recent widely read definitions of cultural content,
155
such as the Council of Europe Framework of 2001.
He then discusses the phenomenon of globaliza-
tion, both economic and cultural forces, which
tends to unite the worlds people in a set of sim-
ilar values. In doing so, he makes the point that
to [his] knowledge, there are very few second lan-
guage education programs that seem to have fully
grasped the imperative need to develop global
cultural consciousness in the learner (p. 46).
The author begins an examination of problems
that may occur as the result of a failure to grasp
the importance of globalization. The first is that of
cultural stereotyping, in which students and teach-
ers form judgments about others on the basis of
narrow views of varieties of the worlds peoples.
For example, he includes an analysis of the well-
known prejudicial attitude that Chinese students
somehow lack critical thinking, and he demon-
strates that there is much evidence to suggest the
reverse (p. 60).
In chapters 5 and 6, the author takes on the
thorny issues of cultural assimilation, cultural plu-
ralism, and their delusions, challenging the long-
held beliefs that assimilation is a laudable goal
but demonstrating that cultural pluralism is an al-
ternative not yet fully accepted by a broad range
of students and teachers. He shows the need to
develop such an understanding of cultural plural-
ism in light of globalization trends. He asserts that
with textbooks limited in their presentation of
global cultural patterns, L2 teachers find them-
selves inadequately prepared to carry out the goals
of multicultural education (p. 115) with the fol-
lowing consequence:
[Language education informed by multiculturalism]
offers fragmented cultural tidbits. It valorizes main-
stream cultural beliefs and practices. It minimizes mi-
nority cultures. It disregards the culture capital L2
learners bring with them. It channels its energy to-
ward educating the members of the minority commu-
nities as members of the mainstream community have
little to learn and gain from it. (p. 116)
As if in answer to the problem he poses in chap-
native. In chapter 7 he introduces the notion of
cultural hybridity, invoking the ideas of the post-
colonialist theorist Bhabha. He cites the writings
of Kramsch on the idea of establishing a sphere
of interculturality. He concludes this chapter with
the example of English language teaching pro-
fessionals in the Middle East who have formed
a group called TESOL Islamia, which promotes
the value of cultural pluralism among language
learners and teachers.
156
In the final chapters of the book, Kumaravadi-
velu proposes a new set of pedagogical strategies,
which he calls cultural realism, in which he pro-
vides ways that teachers can provide their students
with what the New London Group calls critical
framing, through which learners can gain the
necessary personal theoretical distance from what
they have learned, constructively critique it, [and]
account for its cultural location (p. 185). The
concluding chapters of the book deal with inter-
cultural communication and cultural relativism.
He concludes chapter 11 with this advice: Clearly
we need to rethink our theoretical principles and
pedagogic practices by seeking out a meaningful
articulation of the relationship between intercul-
tural communication and cultural globalization
(p. 231). At the end of the book is a 23page list
of useful references on the subjects covered in the
book, in itself an invaluable asset.
Students of foreign languages are not likely to
gain much practical knowledge of ways to avoid
the pitfalls of cultural jingoism through reading
this book. Likewise, teachers of foreign languages
will need to accept a level of presentation of ar-
guments that is dense in theoretical discussion
but rather thin on practical applications. In fact,
the one chapter that deals with practical applica-
tions to a set of principles of pedagogical glob-
alism would look quite familiar to contemporary
educators of foreign language teachers: Step 1:
Provide a rationale for an assigned group study;
Step 2: Interview members of a local extended
family about their cultural beliefs and practices;
Step 3: Analyze the findings (but no framework
for analysis is suggested); Step 4: Prepare an oral
report; and Step 5: Have a class discussion of the
subject. I have given a similar assignment for the
past 25 years in my course on sociolinguistics for
language teachers.
However, Kumaravadivelu has done the profes-
sion a service by reintroducing the discussion of
cultural bias among English teachers. A genera-
tion ago, when the British Council ruled the teach-
ing of English in postcolonial countries around
the world, a great deal of attention was brought
to the issue of the unwanted nationalistic spread
of British cultural values among its students. The
same attention was then directed at American
teachers spreading American values through En-
glish teaching. Now in the age of globalization, it
is indeed apparent that it is no longer tenable to
teach English as if it were the entry only to Anglo-
Saxon cultures but rather as a global exchange
of ideas, with no cultural bias to any of its users.
What we need is a good, practical teacher training
handbook on how to achieve this goal. However
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
well intentioned in identifying this goal, this book
does not address how to reach it.
JAMES J. KOHN
San Francisco State University
MCDONOUGH, KIM, & PAVEL TROFI-
MOVICH. Using Priming Methods in Second
Language Research. New York: Routledge, 2008.
Pp. xvii, 217. $39.95, paper. ISBN 0805862552.
This volume provides an introduction to prim-
ing methods in second language (L2) processing
and acquisition research by considering an array
of first language (L1), bilingual, and L2 prim-
ing research paradigms and studies conducted
over the past few decades. McDonough and Trofi-
movich offer a cutting-edge, comprehensive, and
well-organized tool to guide researchers and stu-
dents in the fields of SLA and psycholinguistics
and related disciplines.
Chapter 1 is a brief introductory overview of
priming methods with subsections about prim-
ing, the validity of priming research, its appli-
cation to linguistic and neurolinguistic theories,
and L2 speech processing, learning, and skill ac-
quisition models. Chapters 2 through 4 discuss
specific priming phenomena and research de-
sign. Each of the three chapters follows a con-
sistent format, beginning with a brief discussion
and examples of specific priming phenomena and
their observation in L1 processing and acquisi-
tion. Next come subsections on applications of
the phenomena to L2 processing and learning
with concrete examples of design methodologies.
Each chapter presents a sample study, discusses
key design issues, and offers suggestions for fu-
ture research. Chapter 2 focuses on auditory prim-
ing. Following a brief overview, its subsections
outline research questions and describe tasks to
measure sensitivity to L2 speech features (e.g.,
word stem/fragment completion, identification,
and repetition). The chapter describes numerous
studies that have manipulated auditory proper-
ties, such as gender, pitch, and intonation. In the
sample L2 auditory priming study, the authors em-
phasize counterbalancing, baseline performance,
and matching test materials. The chapter con-
cludes with additional uses of auditory priming
methodology, connecting it with classroom learn-
ing. Chapter 3 is dedicated to semantic prim-
ing and lexical representation research. It begins
by categorizing semantic priming (e.g., associa-
tive, category, mediated) and then discusses key
Reviews
research issues and L2 studies investigating within-
and cross-language semantic priming effects. A
subsection on experimental design paradigms fol-
lows, presenting masking techniques, pronuncia-
tion, semantic categorization, and lexical decision
tasks, with particular emphasis on the last. Follow-
ing a sample L2 semantic priming study, the au-
thors briefly discuss individual differences in se-
mantic priming and the application of semantic
priming techniques to sentential contexts. Chap-
ter 4, which concerns syntactic priming, begins by
presenting factors tested in L1 studies (e.g., lexical
overlap, thematic roles, intervening time between
prime and target). It then discusses syntactic prim-
ing research on L2 speech production with var-
ious target structures and accompanying tasks,
such as picture description, sentence recall and
completion, and scripted interaction. This chap-
ter offers a more detailed overview of research
methods for selecting and creating tasks and ana-
lyzing responses than do the preceding chapters.
Chapter 4 concludes with applications of syntactic
priming methodologies to investigating interac-
tive oral testing, classroom interaction, and feed-
back. Chapter 5 concerns analyzing and reporting
priming data and is an exceptionally helpful in-
troduction to statistical tests used specifically in
priming research. It defines and considers key
topicsfor example, variable types, within- and
between-subjects designs, data transformations,
analyses by subject and by item, and formulating
hypotheses. These are then connected with spe-
cific general linear model and linear mixed model
statistical analyses with SPSS (e.g., t-tests, simple,
factorial, and repeated-measures ANOVAs, linear
mixed model). The authors provide helpful fig-
ures to illustrate data entry and analysis proce-
dures for the statistical tests. Chapter 5 concludes
with a discussion on publishing priming research,
and it includes an overview of leading journals re-
porting priming research. Throughout the book,
McDonough and Trofimovich provide clear def-
initions and concrete examples of priming
phenomena. At the end of each chapter, they
encourage readers to reflect on the relevant
topics through useful follow-up questions and
activities requiring problem solving and critical
analysis of methodological issues in published
studies, task selection and comparison, research
project planning, data handling, statistical analy-
ses and reporting, and outside reading.
The book is very well organized. Each chapter
contains a separate table of contents, allowing for
easy access to specific topics. Each chapter also fea-
tures boxes, figures, and tables, which make the
volume particularly accessible as a textbook and
research manual. The boxes include definitions
157
of concepts, sample results from investigations,
tables of studies, and sample studies. The figures
illustrate research designs, statistical output, and
visuals of tasks and results (e.g., waveforms, spec-
trograms, response latencies) to determine the
magnitude of priming effects. The tables contain
statistical results and key factors in priming re-
search paradigms. The appendix provides a brief
description of software programs for priming re-
search. The authors have also included a compre-
hensive list of references and extensive subject
and author indexes.
There are some minor criticisms. For example,
with the exception of chapter 4, the remaining
chapters table summaries of studies, and even the
subject index, do not highlight the specific lan-
guages addressed, making it challenging to pin-
point language-specific research. Additionally, the
notion of baseline, a key concept, is not formally in-
troduced within a definition box (or the subject
index) until chapter 4. Chapter 5 could benefit
from explicit reference to reliability and validity,
which are briefly presented in chapter 4 and sub-
ject indexed. Finally, the book would be further
enhanced with a comprehensive glossary of ter-
minology. On the whole, this is an exceptional
contribution to the field, one that combines var-
ious disciplines and subfields with the potential
to enhance future research and instruction on L2
processing and acquisition.
DIANA PULIDO
University of Texas-Austin
ORTEGA, LOURDES, & HEIDI BYRNES. (Eds.).
The Longitudinal Study of Advanced L2 Capacities.
New York: Routledge, 2008. Pp. xvi, 311. $95,
cloth; $76, e-book. ISBN 0805861734, cloth;
1410615324, e-book.
This book is a collection of articles focusing on
the longitudinal development of advanced sec-
ond language (L2) capabilities. The co-editors of
the volume introduce the contents of the book
in chapter 1 and discuss the construct of ad-
vancedness while making the case for longitudi-
nal research as the most appropriate approach
to attain better and fuller insights into L2 learn-
ing and the development of advanced capacities
(p. 4). Part 1 of the volume consists of five chapters
that explore various theoretical and methodolog-
ical issues associated with the longitudinal study
of advanced L2 abilities. In chapter 2 Harklau ar-
gues for the legitimacy of longitudinal case stud-
ies, which can provide unique insight about the
158
advanced language learner by taking into account
such factors as individual characteristics, context,
and modality. In chapter 3 Achugar and Colombi
utilize the framework of systematic functional lin-
guistics to analyze oral and written language data
from Spanish heritage language learners. In chap-
ter 4 Myles investigates learner language develop-
ment using electronic longitudinal corpora based
on examples from French oral data. Chapter 5 of-
fers recommendations from Skiba, Dittmar, and
Bressem for planning, collecting, and archiving
longitudinal L2 data supported by experiences
drawn from a German longitudinal project. Chap-
ter 6, by Rees and Klapper, reviews a number of is-
sues in the qualitative longitudinal measurement
of L2 progress in the context of study abroad
programs.
Part 2 of the volume includes eight chapters
that represent various types of empirical stud-
ies spanning different research approaches and
learning contexts. The first three chapters of this
section address advanced development of Ger-
man proficiency in the same instructional pro-
gram. In chapter 7 Byrnes and Sinicrope report
on a descriptive longitudinal study of L2 Ger-
man involving the production of relative clauses
for a group of students across four levels of col-
lege instruction. The studies presented in chap-
ters 8 and 9 involve learners from the same in-
structional program investigated by Byrnes and
Sinicrope and reported in chapter 7. The studies
presented in these two chapters focus on learn-
ers in level 4 German, which concentrates on ad-
vanced genre and content-oriented instruction.
Sprang shows in chapter 8 the development of
vocabulary knowledge of verbs for two advanced
German learners over the course of a semester.
The study by Liamkina in chapter 9 investigates
whether meaning-oriented instruction can help
college learners develop an awareness of and the
ability to use accurately the semantics of the Ger-
man dative. In chapter 10 Kallkvist offers the re-
sults of a longitudinal, matched-pair random as-
signment study of advanced Swedish learners of
English. The study contrasts the effects of two
different focus-on-forms classroom activities: L1-
to-L2 translation activities versus fill-in-the-blank
exercises.
The next three chapters consider other aspects
of language beyond the sentence level. In chapter
11 Taguchi presents the results of a longitudinal
study on gains in the accuracy and speed in prag-
matic comprehension for a group of Japanese col-
lege students studying English in a summer pro-
gram. Kinginger and Blattner report in chapter
12 on the development of awareness of socio-
pragmatic variability for three college students
who studied in France during the course of a
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
semester. The researchers note that L2 develop-
ment in a study abroad context is influenced by is-
sues of identity and levels of engagement with the
host culture. Spenader details in chapter 13 the
development of global oral proficiency and flu-
ency for two high school exchange students who
were absolute beginners when they arrived in Swe-
den for a year-long residence abroad experience.
Spenader explains that the different patterns of
language growth for the two learners were due to
varied acculturation strategies and specific per-
sonality traits. The last chapter in this section,
chapter 14 by Angelelli, offers a longitudinal
ethnographic approach for the development of
authentic tests that can assess advanced language
capabilities across three languages (Spanish, Can-
tonese, and Hmong).
In the final chapter of the volume, the co-
editors conclude that a theoretical reconfigu-
ration appears to be necessary if SLA research
is to fashion a robust longitudinal methodology
that can capture advanced capacitiesour no-
tions of time and our notions of language itself
will need to be reconceptualized (p. 294). The
theoretical reconfiguration should pay particu-
lar attention to the language learner, who can
be seen as a socioculturally situated agent (p.
294), and the learning context. Learner differ-
ences, as noted in the case studies discussed above,
account for a considerable degree of the changes
in advanced language development. With respect
to learning contexts, attention should be given
to the important micro and macro sociolinguis-
tic forces at work in L2 learning situations. These
contextual factors include such issues as the so-
cial/economic/cultural status of the L2, intereth-
nic relations between and among the language
groups, and the demographic vitality and strength
of the L2 community.
This volume is a significant contribution to our
understanding of the complex set of interacting
factors involved in the development of advanced
language capabilities. Ortega and Byrnes outline
many salient issues that researchers should con-
sider in designing systematic research programs
for the longitudinal study of advanced L2 capaci-
ties. Although the case is made for advanced L2 ca-
pabilities in an increasingly multilingual and glob-
alized world, no studies of nontraditional learners
are included in the volume. Immigrants, refugees,
and transnationals may have developmental tra-
jectories toward advancedness that are similar to
or different from those of the learners included
here.
ARNULFO G. RAMIREZ
Louisiana State University
Reviews
ARABIC
LAHLALI, EL MUSTAPHA. Advanced Media Ara-
bic. Washington, DC: Georgetown University
Press, 2008. Pp. xii, 292. $34.95, paper. ISBN 978
1589012202.
This book is a relatively new addition to the ma-
terials available for Arabic learners in the West.
It begins with an introduction that explains the
need for such a work and it details the approach
adopted, which is clearly integrative. It is divided
into 10 chapters, each chapter dealing with one
topic, and it contains several units with selected
texts that address the same topic from various
perspectives. There are 36 units altogether. Page
xi has a map of the booka nice visual rep-
resentation of the various sections. Each unit
generally has six sections: prereading questions
that serve as advance organizers, glossary (not
in all units), comprehension questions, language
in context (i.e., vocabulary exercises), Arabic
English/EnglishArabic translation, and writing.
Units 14, 31, 34, 35, and 36 have audio pas-
sages, but they lack prelistening questions and
glossaries. Although the author does not explain
what intermediate and advanced signify as techni-
cal terms, the text types of the passages used sug-
gest that the selections are within the advanced
level according to the American Council on the
Teaching of Foreign Languages proficiency scale.
Neither is there a definition of authentic, which,
by reading the introduction and browsing the pas-
sages, may mean unedited. This term is probably
used as a stamp of approval for texts that might
not otherwise withstand linguistic scrutiny.
Advanced Media Arabic meets most of the claims
made in the introduction. It integrates the four
language skills in each unit, exposes advanced
learners to a wide variety of lexical items (criti-
cal in attaining proficiency at the advanced level),
and involves them in translation practice. The
textbook is pedagogically sound, utilizing con-
cepts borrowed from psycholinguistics and lan-
guage acquisition, such as the use of advance
organizers, treatment of vocabulary as groups
of words that share certain semantic features,
and focus on meaning to enhance learning.
Nonetheless, the introduction contains a couple
of general statements that may not be understood
without further elaboration. Under module 1, the
author states that the goal is to build their confi-
dence and master media Arabic language (p. ix).
The first part is probably not measurable and the
second needs elaboration. If mastering means
159
memorizing media lexical items, then it may
not be in the realm of language proficiency. In
the same paragraph, we read acquiring the nec-
essary skills to write Arabic reports and articles,
which looks like an objective but sounds unachiev-
able, given the level of the targeted learners. Why
would learners want to write news reports? To my
knowledge, no graduate from an Arabic program
is asked to write anything in Arabic in his or her
professional activities. Writing exercises, nonethe-
less, do have a beneficial and reinforcing effect
on all other skills, which may be what the author
intended.
As is the case with most textbooks, this one is not
above criticism. My major concern is the attitude
that the author exhibits, which is, unfortunately,
rampant throughout the field of Arabic as a for-
eign language. Most of us, including this reviewer,
are guilty in this regard. It pertains to how Ara-
bic and Arabic learners are viewed. The language
is generally seen as an object of study within an
English context rather than a genuine means of
communication that can be learned without re-
course to English. The book opens from left to
right like English language books, and the head-
ings and simple instructions are in both Arabic
and English. It is not clear why advanced learners
need glossaries. Looking up words in an Arabic
dictionary is, in and of itself, a beneficial skill and
an effective learning tool. It builds the learners
competence systematically in the morphology of
the language. This benefit is sacrificed in favor of
providing lists of meanings that are in many in-
stances inaccurate (e.g., six inaccuracies on p. 8
and three on p. 119 alone). Another point is the
need to use standard terminology in Arabic and
English. For example, page 5 has the phrase to re-
port direct speeches/discourses [sic] and is ren-
dered in Arabic as . A more serious
implication for learners is that they cannot learn
this language without the use of English. Learn-
ing through English is an unnecessary crutch that
advanced learners should have abandoned long
before.
The issue of accuracy also needs attention.
There are two sources of language deviations
in the textbook: the selected passages and the
authored material. In a language textbook, no
deviations should be allowed, not even under
the pretext of authenticity. Selections must be
edited and marked to indicate author
intervention if they undergo editing. The pas-
sage in unit 2, for example, suffers from er-
rors (at least five) in spelling, word choice, and
style. The other source of deviations is the au-
thored material. A few examples include item
15 (p. 5), which has a structure with the wrong
160
collocation and a typographical error. The struc-
ture may be modified to read or it can
be modified to read . The word in the
instruction at the top of page 16 has the wrong
gender agreement. The word for Attorney Gen-
eral in the glossary (p. 119) is grammatically
incorrect, and the meaning of is ren-
dered inaccurately in English. The government
agency referred to as (p. 125) is
generally known as , and the mean-
ing of is rendered literally holding of
breaths [sic]. The word for market is given
the wrong gender (p. 131), item 3 (p. 167) has
the wrong case, and the word is rendered
erosion. A couple of suggestions are in order.
Matching exercises may be enhanced if the sec-
ond column includes one or two extra items to
allow for intelligent guessing. The exercises that
ask learners to identify errors and correct them
(e.g., p. 177) have little pedagogical value and are
inappropriate, particularly as they have items that
are probably taken from student work.
On a more general level and from a proficiency
perspective, the vast majority of the passages fall
under a single language function: reporting a cur-
rent event. No other advanced functions or global
tasks are addressed. At any rate, despite the above
criticisms, the textbook makes a welcome contri-
bution to the Arabic field.
MAHDI ALOSH
The United States Military Academy
CHINESE
FANG, JIQING, & MICHAEL CONNELLY. Chi-
nese Measure Word Dictionary: A ChineseEnglish
EnglishChinese Usage Guide. Boston: Cheng &
Tsui Company, 2008. Pp. x, 181. $29.95, paper.
ISBN 9780887276323. braid of and ya a wedge of a melon) should
One of the first challenges faced by English speak-
ers when studying Chinese is the usage of measure
words. Chinese measure words differ from their
English counterparts both in quantity and quality:
A noun requires a mandatory measure word in al-
most all cases, and different categories of nouns
call for different measure words. Chinese Measure
Word Dictionary provides a convenient reference
guide for learners to look up the usage of mea-
sure words and to search for the correct one for a
given noun.
The dictionary consists of three sections, all al-
phabetically arranged to facilitate a quick search.
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
Section 1 contains 154 entries of Chinese mea-
sure words. Each entry contains a brief introduc-
tion in English about the meaning and usage of
a measure word, together with a list of exemplary
Chinese nouns and phrases it accompanies. When
there may be confusion about the usage of more
than two measure words, a comparison note is
provided to distinguish their usage. These well-
thought-out and lucidly written comparison notes
are extremely useful for learners.
Section 2 includes 1,360 entries of common En-
glish nouns, together with their Chinese equiva-
lents and corresponding measure words. Section
3 is the opposite, including 1,316 entries of Chi-
nese nouns accompanied by their measure words.
These two sections set this dictionary apart from
most other reference books on Chinese measure
words, in that they can help learners quickly iden-
tify the correct measure word for a given noun in
either English or Chinese.
Although practical and useful, this dictionary
can be improved in future editions. First, although
the compilers claim to present the most frequently
used Chinese measure words in section 1, there
are some important omissions that should have
been included. To name a few, ban as in yi ban feiji
a flight, di as in yi di shui a drop of water, wan
as in yi wan fan a bowl of rice, die as in yi die cai
a saucepan of food, ju as in yi ju hua a sentence,
a word, an utterance, kuan as in yi kuan shouji
a type of cell phone, and zhen as in yi zhen feng
a gust of wind should be included. A student is
expected to know such common phrases as Wo
haiyao yi wan fan I would like to have one more
bowl of rice, Zhe ju hua shi shenme yisi What is
the meaning of this utterance? or Xia yi ban feiji
shi jidian When is the next flight? and they will
have to know those high-frequency measure words
to produce these sentences. On the contrary, a
couple of measure words carrying a strong dialect
flavor that are less commonly used (e.g., bian a
probably be omitted.
Second, some less commonly used combi-
nations of measure words and nouns should
be deleted lest they mislead beginning- and
intermediate-level learners. Collocations such as
yi wei ren a person (p. ix); yi hang ren a row
of people (pp. 15, 81, 150); yi dui fengqun a
swarm of bees (pp. 10, 43, 124); yi jian wenjian a
document (p. 17); and yi zhang boli a piece of
glass (pp. 31, 64, 114) are so rare that Internet
searches of these phrases on Chinese sites turn up
almost no results.
Third, given that this dictionary is claimed
to cater to the needs of a general language
learner, some special-domain and low-frequency
Reviews
vocabulary should be excluded and more com-
monly used nouns added in sections 2 and 3. For
instance, a group of military-domain nouns (e.g.,
ammunition, antiaircraft gun, artillery shell, ar-
mored vehicle, bullet, bomb, cannon, machine
gun, mortar launcher) should be given less promi-
nence throughout the dictionary. In contrast,
words related to daily life such as beizi cup, mian-
bao bread, sanmingzhi sandwich, and weisheng
zhi bathroom tissue are curiously missing from
the dictionary.
Fourth, a few typological errors need to be recti-
fied. The tone for xiao in xiaolian (pp. 12, 92, 165)
is incorrectly marked. Parts of the pinyin roman-
ization for yi zhi yuanzhubi (p. 42) are missing. Yi
jia dianyingyuan and yi suo dianyingyuan (p. 50)
are printed in duplicate. The characters for jing
in jingsai competition (pp. 52, 135) and for you
in youzi grapefruit (pp. 65, 172) are erroneously
printed. A car trip should be yi tang qiche luxing
instead of yi tang qiche (pp. 27, 48). Yi xi hua is
better translated as a talk, a speech, a lecture in-
stead of a nice talk (pp. 78, 97, 131). The entry
Li a grain or a small piece of (p. 19) should be
listed under the alphabetic heading of L rather
than K.
Fifth, the layout of the comparison notes in sec-
tion 1 could be streamlined. Instead of presenting
them multiple times under every item that is being
compared, they could be listed only once under
one entry and cross-referenced under others.
Despite these weaknesses, this dictionary has
arrived in time to meet the urgent needs of the
increasing number of Chinese language learners
in the United States. Learners from beginning
through advanced levels now have a handy tool to
guide them through the maze of Chinese measure
words.
LI YU
Williams College
ENGLISH
MCKAY, SANDRA LEE, & WENDY D.
BOKHORSTHENG. International English in
Its Sociolinguistic Contexts: Towards a Socially Sensi-
tive Pedagogy. New York: Routledge, 2008. Pp. xviii,
209. $41.95, paper. ISBN 9780805863383.
International English in Its Sociolinguistic Contexts:
Towards a Socially Sensitive Pedagogy is ambitious
in scope and covers a great deal of territory, both
conceptually and geographically. Primarily con-
cerned with issues of English language teaching
and learning in an era of globalization, other aims
161
of the book include examining the historic and
contemporary factors influencing the spread of
English around the world, investigating the com-
plex nature of English as an international lan-
guage (EIL), and proposing guidelines for a so-
cially sensitive pedagogy. These aims are outlined
in the books preface, where the authors also
distinguish EIL from English as a lingua franca
(ELF): The former is the broader category and
refers to the use of English between any two L2
speakers of English, whether sharing the same cul-
ture or not, as well as L2 and L1 speakers of En-
glish (p. xvi).
In chapter 1, English in an Era of Globaliza-
tion, the authors define globalization and dis-
cuss factors related to the global spread of English
(e.g., colonialism, economic incentives, mass me-
dia). The chapter also addresses the current rela-
tionship of English to other languages, and it cov-
ers some of the dangers related to this spread of
English, including language loss, growing mono-
lingualism in anglophone countries, and eco-
nomic divides that occur when only elites receive
English-medium education.
Although the authors acknowledge that
Kachrus concentric circles model is no longer
adequate to reflect todays complex sociolinguis-
tic reality, chapter 2, Social Contexts for EIL
Learning, nevertheless uses this model as an or-
ganizing framework for exploring concrete cases
of English language learning in diverse contexts.
First, English language educational policies in
the inner-circle countries of Great Britain and
the United States are compared and contrasted.
Next, the authors focus on South Africa and the
Philippines to illustrate two different language-in-
education policies and their outcomes in outer-
circle countries. Finally, the authors refer to Ko-
rea and Japan as examples of expanding-circle
learning contexts, where English language teach-
ing (ELT) issues have mainly to do with student
motivation, teacher preparation/competence, as
well as the development of locally appropriate
teaching methods and materials.
Chapter 3, Multilingual Societies, provides an
in-depth focus on two diglossic multilingual soci-
eties, India and South Africa. Here the authors ar-
gue that in spite of language-in-education policies
that attempt to promote mother tongue language
maintenance and to redress social inequalities,
very often the reverse takes place. This situation,
they explain, is the result of a complex interplay
between the colonial legacy of English and cur-
rent and pervasive language ideologies of English
as the key to social mobility and access to material
resources, as well as local constraints and peda-
gogical practices. In this chapter, the authors also
162
consider multilingualism and language learning
in two inner-circle countries, the United States
and Great Britain. They point to the increasing
trend in both countries toward monolingualism
and English-only policies, citing as an example
that the goal of most bilingual programs is to re-
place students first languages with English rather
than to support an additive model of bilingualism.
Detailed examinations of Language Planning
and Policy in Singapore and the United States
are provided in chapter 4. Focusing on these two
countries with different linguistic realities, the au-
thors discuss both official language policies and
various language politicking activities, illustrating
their argument with Singapores Speak Good En-
glish movement and the Oakland Ebonics debate
in the United States. One of the highlights of the
book, this chapter is especially thorough and well
written, and it makes appropriate use of a good
deal of recent and relevant research.
Chapter 5, Linguistic Variation and Stan-
dards, draws upon a number of models (i.e.,
those of Bickerton, Gupta, and Pakir) to explore
linguistic hybridization in outer-circle countries
(e.g., Nigeria, Singapore). The chapter provides
examples of linguistic features (e.g., phonologi-
cal, morphological, lexical) found across several
World Englishes. After discussing standard lan-
guage ideologies and questions related to intel-
ligibility, the authors raise the inevitable question
of innovations versus normsthat is, how one can
determine when a particular feature of language
use is indeed an innovation, and when it is simply
an error (p. 143). Because this is such a critical
question for many English language educators, it
is somewhat disappointing that this final section
is as brief as it is. Similarly, the important issue
of exonormative versus endonormative standards
in language assessment is addressed in only one
paragraph.
In chapter 6, Interactional Sociolinguistics,
the authors introduce readers to interactional
sociolinguistics (IS) as an analytic tool for un-
derstanding EIL interactions. They provide his-
torical background into the origins of IS, note
the key contributions of scholars such as Hymes
and Gumperz, and offer illustrative excerpts from
contemporary IS analyses of EIL. Summarized in-
formation about characteristic pragmatic, gram-
matical, and phonological features of EIL is
included in this chapter. Additionally, inter-
spersed throughout are a few brief Implications
for EIL Pedagogy subsectionsfor example, a
list of guidelines for what the pragmatic goals of
an EIL curriculum should entail (p. 162). How-
ever, the authors explain that there is far less con-
sensus on deciding what grammatical and phono-
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
logical standards should be taught as part of an
EIL curriculum. Although it is evident that deter-
mining such norms is clearly a complex matter,
many teachers may wish for at least some general
guidelines in this area. The chapter concludes
with an overview of different perspectives on
codeswitching.
The authors wrap up the major themes of the
book in chapter 7, Toward a Socially Sensitive
English Language Pedagogy, as they highlight
the tension between the realities of multilingual-
ism and multiculturalism and the monolingual
assumptions and goals dominating English lan-
guage pedagogy (p. 181). Other points reviewed
in this chapter include the need to consider the
official status of English in a given society, the
nature of linguistic variation and local standards,
and discourse and linguistic features characteris-
tic of EIL interactions. The chapter also takes up
a critical examination of discourses of othering
in ELT methods and materials. The book closes
with six key principles that can inform a socially
sensitive EIL pedagogy, which range from con-
crete steps that ELTs may be able to take (e.g.,
EIL curricula need to exemplify L2L2 interac-
tions, p. 196) to matters that may be a bit further
out of reach for many ELTs (e.g., EIL profession-
als should strive to alter the language policies,
p. 196).
Although some readers may also wish that the
authors had developed further those sections that
address pedagogical implications, the books ma-
jor contribution (i.e., presenting the complex is-
sues associated with the global spread of English
and describing how widely these vary across con-
texts) clearly outweighs this potential limitation.
As a richly informative text that highlights many
unexamined assumptions held by teachers, learn-
ers, and language users alike, this book is certainly
a must-read for English language teachers work-
ing in any social context.
CAMILLA VASQUEZ
University of South Florida
NATION, I. S. P. Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and
Writing . New York: Routledge, 2008. Pp. vii, 171.
$29.95, paper. ISBN 9780415989688.
NATION, I. S. P., & JONATHAN NEWTON. Teach-
ing ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking . New York:
Routledge, 2008. Pp. vii, 205. $29.95, paper. ISBN
0415989701.
These volumes are two recent additions to the
ESL and Applied Linguistics Professional Series
Reviews
(edited by Hinkel) intended to provide English as
a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) teachers
and teacher trainers with research-driven practi-
cal guidelines. The books focus on interrelated
skills of spoken and written language and are sim-
ilar in organization and coverage of issues: Both
consist of 10 chapters, a preface, a conclusion,
references, appendixes, and indexes, with Teach-
ing ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking (henceforth
Teaching L&S) having a separate Techniques
Index.
Both volumes are written in clear and sim-
ple language. The two major features of the
books are their strong practical emphasis draw-
ing on nearly 100 teaching techniques and their
approach for offering a balanced programme
based on a four strands framework (p. ix).
The first chapter of each book (and especially in
Teaching L&S) has accordingly been devoted to
clarifying the meaning and components of the
framework.
The first six chapters of Teaching ESL/EFL Read-
ing and Writing (henceforth Teaching R&W ) deal
with reading and the rest with writing (with chap-
ter 9 having a shared focus). In chapter 1, Learn-
ing to Read in Another Language (and also in
chapter 1 of the companion book), the authors ex-
plain the meaning of the four strands framework
and justify the need for such a model. Chapter
1 also discusses research-driven differences and
similarities in reading between the first language
(L1) and the second language (L2).
Chapter 2, Learning to Recognize and Spell
Words, discusses the link between written and
spoken forms and the connection between form
and meaning. It also offers practical advice on
teaching spellingsound correspondence. The
Maori language is mentioned (p. 13), but infor-
mation on where it is spoken is lacking.
Intensive Reading (ch. 3) is introduced as an
example of a language-focused learning strand in
a balanced program on reading. Plenty of useful
exercises are offered for this purpose. The author
outlines that intensive reading focuses on eight
aspects, of which five are discussed in some detail,
with no attention paid to aspects such as informa-
tion structure and strategies. The use of different
level headings and subheadings does not seem to
follow a consistent pattern in some chapters, in-
cluding this one, and more care could be applied
here especially because text organization is one as-
pect of intensive reading meant to be introduced
in the chapter.
Chapter 4, Extensive Reading, deals with
the intention of this reading approach to pro-
vide meaning-focused input and build fluency.
163
It presents research findings on graded readers
and offers a set of guidelines for planning and
running programs that feature extensive reading.
Chapter 5, entitled Reading Faster, focuses on
one of the aims of extensive reading. The author
discusses the physical nature of reading and the
limits of faster reading, and he examines a variety
of procedures that can be applied to help learn
and maintain faster reading. The claim (pp. 54,
63, 72, 82) that L2 learners can attain a reading
speed of 250 words per minute seems overly am-
bitious, and no research is cited in support of that
figure.
Chapter 6 is devoted to Assessing Reading,
and characteristics of a good measurement tool
are discussed in terms of reliability, validity, and
practicality. The author introduces speed reading
graphs as a motivation tool. Providing an example
of how such graphs can be drawn would have been
fruitful, especially given the practical orientation
of the book.
In Helping Learners Write (ch. 7), principles
are introduced to help evaluate writing activities,
and practical advice is offered on designing and
implementing writing tasks. Categorizing the writ-
ing tasks across a range of more mechanical to
more meaningful as well as suggesting different
proficiency levels for which some are more appro-
priate could have added value. Chapter 8 (The
Writing Process) introduces a process-oriented
approach to writing. In chapter 9, Topic Types,
the topic type hypothesis is discussed as a way of
analyzing the type of information in nonfiction
texts, and the limitations of the hypothesis are
acknowledged.
The final chapter of the book, Responding to
Written Work, discusses assessment issues in writ-
ing. A major section of the chapter is devoted
to feedback, with a discussion on electronic feed-
back offering new ideas on the superiority of such
feedback in this digital age. A short, unnumbered
Conclusion that comes at the end of both books
should have been numbered properly or incorpo-
rated into the final chapter.
Teaching L&S shares more or less the structure
outlined above. Chapter 1 is a comprehensive in-
troduction to the four strands model referred to
above and the pedagogical principles based on
it. Despite the writers emphatic suggestions in
both books for observing a balance in focus on
the strands, they contradict themselves in stating
that giving equal time to each strand is an arbi-
trary decision (p. 11) and that in an intensive
English program, it is possible to have only a
very small amount of language-focused learning
(p. 11).
164
Beginning to Listen and Speak in Another
Language (ch. 2) focuses on a variety of activi-
ties, principles, and strategies to benefit beginner
learners. Although the emphasis of the chapter is
on listening and speaking, most of the discussion
and suggestions also apply to reading and writing.
The next chapter, Listening, clarifies the impor-
tance of listening in both L1 acquisition and L2
learning, provides models of listening, discusses
listening processes, and offers a plethora of tasks
and strategies. The authors note that skilled read-
ing speed is in the range of 250300 words per
minute (pp. 52, 53, 54), which contradicts claims
in the companion book.
Language-Focused Learning through Dicta-
tion and Related Activities (ch. 4) discusses
different uses and types of dictation as well as sim-
ilar activities such as delayed repetition, delayed
copying, and reproduction exercises. Although
the focus of the book is on oral skills, both dic-
tation (with its different variations) and many of
the other activities involve reading and writing,
and even some, like delayed copying (p. 67) and
reproduction exercises (p. 71), have no element
of listening or speaking.
Pronunciation (ch. 5) clarifies the place of
a deliberate pronunciation course and looks at
what is involved in teaching and learning pronun-
ciation. Although the major tenet of both books
is to make all learning activities meaningful, it is
difficult to visualize how such an aim will be pos-
sible with many of the techniques favored in the
chapter. In chapter 6 (Learning through Task-
Focused Interaction) the authors provide activ-
ities that combine listening and speaking (and,
at times, reading and writing) in an attempt to
encourage negotiation between learners.
The argument that L2 knowledge does not
transfer automatically from reception to produc-
tion is supported and developed in the next chap-
ter, Learning through Pushed Output. Whereas
the authors claim that formal monologue is typi-
cally only a small part of most peoples speaking
(p. 130) and as most of our speaking tends to be
informal speaking, this deserves attention within
the classroom (p. 121), it is strange to observe
that more than half of the space in the chapter
is devoted to formal speaking and fewer than two
pages to informal speaking. The authors mention
a LEGO model (pp. 117, 126, 155), but do not
explain it.
It is the aim of Language-Focused Learning:
Deliberate Teaching (ch. 8) to indicate the role
of meaning-focused instruction of lexicon, gram-
mar, and discourse to promote spoken language.
Although a focus on discourse appears as an aim
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
in the first paragraph of the chapter, no separate
heading or serious discussion is allocated to issues
concerning the deliberate learning and teaching
of discourse. The chapter is similar in title and
content to chapter 4 and would have been bet-
ter placed following that chapter. In Developing
Fluency (ch. 9), the meaning of fluency is clar-
ified and a comparison is made among fluency,
accuracy, and complexity. Most of the activities
recommended for fluency development in lis-
tening are, however, the same as those used for
meaning-focused input, and no algorithm is of-
fered on how to decide what purpose an activity
serves.
The final chapter (Monitoring and Testing
Progress) provides useful information on how
to monitor progress in listening and speaking
and touches on important assessment-related con-
siderations, including washback. Rating scales
(p. 171) are listed as examples of tests used for
both listening and speaking. It is important to re-
member that scales and lists are scoring tools, not
measures by themselves.
In short, neglecting the minor editorial and or-
ganizational issues stated above, the books read-
able and informal style makes them accessible for
novice as well as practicing teachers. The range
of experience-based and research-driven practical
advice in the books is so overwhelming that caring
ESL/EFL teachers are urged to avail themselves
of them.
KARIM SADEGHI
Urmia University, Iran
FRENCH
OLLIVIER, JACQUELINE, & MARTIN BEAU-
DOIN. Grammaire francaise. 4th ed. Toronto,
Canada: Thomson, 2008. Pp. vi, 564. $98.95, cloth.
ISBN 0176104615.
The fourth edition of Grammaire francaise is a thor-
ough, concise, and accurate textbook that covers
the basics of French grammar and orthography.
It is also a valuable resource for vocabulary de-
velopment. This textbook, written exclusively in
French, has been designed for intermediate- and
advanced-level high school students or college
students who have already developed substantial
knowledge of the French language.
The book begins with a succinct introduction
to the additions made to the fourth edition, as
well as the reorganization of the chapters by
syntactic groups. The body is divided into four
Reviews
major sections: (a) Le groupe nominal ; (b) Les
invariables; (c) Le groupe verbal ; and (d) Autres
structures syntaxiques. The first section focuses on
nouns, determiners, adjectives, and various pro-
nouns (personal, possessive, demonstrative, and
relative). The second part deals with adverbs, com-
paratives, and superlatives, as well as prepositions
and conjunctions. The largest portion of the book
is centered on verbs and their conjugations. In
the fourth section, Ollivier and Beaudoin intro-
duce concepts such as negation, interrogation,
passive voice, and indirect discourse. Each sec-
tion is subdivided into chapters, which follow a
similar presentation: (a) a detailed and compre-
hensive explanation in French of a grammatical
phenomenon with numerous examples; (b) a se-
ries of exercises (oral and written); and (c) the
answer key to applications immediates, which are
only a small portion of the exercises proposed.
The answer key to the majority of the exercises
is not provided in the textbook itself. If learners
want to complete more exercises and verify the
answers immediately, they will have to purchase a
separate volume entitled Grammaire francaise: Cle
de correction et exercices supplementaires. Following
the four main body sections, the textbook con-
cludes with three reference sections: (a) Appen-
dices, (b) Lexique, and (c) Index. The appendixes
are a great resource for learners to rapidly and
easily access conjugation tables or verify whether
a verb is followed by a specific preposition.
This textbook is not without its flaws. An impor-
tant pedagogical shortcoming is the uniformity of
the activities. Only noncreative grammar drilling
exercises supplement the grammatical explana-
tions, and there is a dearth of related readings
and interactive activities. With many short fill-in-
the-blanks exercises, the book will appeal to learn-
ers who like systematic repetition. Learners who
like a variety of exercises and communicative out-
put tasks will find the book somewhat less inspir-
ing and of limited use. The textbook highlights
numerous exceptions or particular cases, linked
to various grammar points covered, by giving
clear examples of standard usage. Certain chap-
ters also contain grammatical notes that elaborate
on subtleties of the French language with which
learners at this level should become familiar. For
instance, in the chapter introducing negation, the
note briefly mentions that in oral and informal
speech, the first particle ne of the French nega-
tion ne . . . pas is often omitted. The authors take a
prescriptive approach and consequently omit con-
textualization discussion and concrete examples
of language variation of any typegeographic, so-
cial, or generationalthat are essential elements
for nonnative speakers of a language to recognize
165
and thus enhance their mastery of the French
language.
Overall, the book has a simple and practical
layout. It is somewhat austere, given the lack of
color, but it is nonetheless a useful addition for
any student who wants a solid foundation and
good understanding of the French language. It
is a valuable tool leading to mastery of French lin-
guistic competence and is appropriate in the con-
text of a third- or forth-year grammar class or as
a supplement for a content course requiring sub-
stantial and meticulous writing under self-study
conditions. Finally, with the comprehensive gram-
mar covered in this book, together with its simple
transparent design, instructors will find it easy to
use for occasional but invaluable reference.
GERALDINE BLATTNER
Florida Atlantic University
JAPANESE
COOK, HARUKO MINEGISHI. Socializing Iden-
tities through Speech Style: Learners of Japanese as
a Foreign Language. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual
Matters, 2008. Pp. viii, 225. $49.95, paper. ISBN
9781847691002.
This book is an investigation of how learners of
Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) and mem-
bers of their host families use the masu form,
which is conventionally labeled as the addressee
honorific marker, in their dinnertime conversa-
tions. It is composed of an excellent first part
followed by somewhat disappointing second and
third parts.
Part 1 consists of three chapters: chapter 1, In-
troduction: An Indexical Approach to Language
and Language Socialization; chapter 2, Social
Meaning and Indexicality; and chapter 3, Func-
tions of the masu Form. In chapters 1 and 2
Cook lays out the basic assumptions and theoret-
ical tenets underpinning her research approach.
She considers that all linguistic forms are poten-
tially indexicalthat is, pointing to an aspect of
the social dimension in the speech situation (p.
3)and that social meanings of utterances are
interactionally constituted, with speakers as active
agents (not passive observers of social norms) who
select linguistic forms to index their identity as
well as affective and epistemic stances toward the
addressee(s) and the content of talk (p. 25).
Adapting Ochss work, Cook employs a two-
step model of indexical relations, in which lin-
guistic expressions directly index particular acts
(goal-oriented behavior), as well as affective
166
and epistemic stances while also indirectly in-
dexing activities (sequences of acts) and social
identity. For example, the Japanese sentence-
final particle wa directly indexes an affec-
tive stance of gentle disposition and indirectly
indexes the speakers female gender identity
(pp. 2730).
Chapter 3 is devoted to a discussion of the
functions of the masu form. Cook points out that
the common understanding of masu as a marker
of politeness or formality cannot account for its
full range of utility, such as its use by parent to
child. She argues that the masu form directly in-
dexes a self-presentational stance, defined as an
affective stance of displaying ones positive social
role to other(s) (shisei o tadasu to hold oneself
up or kichin to suru to do something neatly)
when one is literally or figuratively on stage
(p. 46). It then indirectly indexes politeness,
which is highlighted when used in out-group con-
texts, where polite behavior is expected. By con-
trast, in the in-group context (e.g., the family),
a display of the self-presentational stance fore-
grounds the speakers social identities related to
responsibilities in the group (pp. 4748). For in-
stance, parents tend to switch from the plain to
the masu form when teaching children, doing
household chores, and cooking and serving food.
Parental practice of how and when to present var-
ious social identities through the use of the masu
form socializes children (p. 62).
The books first part is intensive and persuasive,
reflecting Cooks prominent achievements in re-
search on indexicality from a social construction-
ist perspective.
The second part consists of chapter 4, Identity
Construction through Use of the masu Form: JFL
Learners and Host Families; chapter 5, Marked
and Unmarked Uses of the masu Form in the
Homestay Context; and chapter 6, Explicit Lan-
guage Socialization: Socialization to Use Polite
Language. JFL learners are considered cultur-
ally and linguistically similar to children, in that
they are novice members of the host family, with
dinnertime conversations providing learners with
opportunities for language socialization (p. 66).
Analyzing videotaped conversations of nine JFL
learners and their host families, Cook found that
the more advanced learners used the masu form
in a way similar to that of host family members
more so than did the less proficient learners
(p. 146). However, Cook remarks, when learners
use deviates, it is unclear whether it is due to their
lack of linguistic and/or pragmatic competence
in Japanese or to their preference for maintain-
ing distance as a foreign guest (p. 118).
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
Part 3 of the book consists of chapter 7, Im-
plications of the Study for L2 Pragmatics and
Pedagogy. Here, the discussion is superficial.
Well-thought-out guidance as to how to incorpo-
rate into ones teaching the social meanings of
the masu form is not provided. After explaining
that JFL learners without homestay experience
have more difficulty learning speech style shifts,
Cook compares seven elementary Japanese text-
books and declares that they overemphasize the
masu form because of the belief that it is the cor-
rect speech style for nonnative speakers to use
(p. 189). She argues that if the learner attempts to
establish close relationships with Japanese college
classmates or host family members, speaking only
in the masu form may prevent the learner from
achieving such a goal. Moreover, she further ar-
gues that textbooks should provide explanations
closer to reality (p. 191). The fact is, however,
that when beginners in a classroom setting learn
the masu form, they are unlikely to have Japanese
classmates or plans for the near future that in-
clude going to Japan for a homestay.
Cook insists that Japanese language instruction
should incorporate an indexical approach to the
masu form; that is, language is context dependent
and a tool to accomplish interactional goals (p.
193). The direct indexical value of the masu form
for teaching beginners is the self-presentational
stance. Teaching such a difficult concept is a
formidable task, and yet Cook provides no idea
as to how to accomplish it. JFL learners are not
child first language learners. Children learn the
language in in-group settings in which the use
of the masu form is a marked choice, whereas
adult JFL learners must acquire the language in
out-group settings, in which the use of the masu
form is unmarked. Therefore, they have to asso-
ciate the masu form with formality and politeness
before other meanings. JFL learners are not on
stage literally; thus, they would naturally ask, Am
I metaphorically on stage now? The teacher an-
swers affirmatively, explaining that it is because
they are in a class. It is much easier for the learn-
ers if they are told simply that the masu form
is appropriate in formal contexts rather than to
introduce the concept of the self-presentational
stance. Cooks final comment of chapter 7, The
most important factor for JFL learners to acquire
appropriate uses of the masu form is to fully par-
ticipate in Japanese life with a certain sense of who
they are and what is expected of them (p. 197),
is neither practical nor insightful.
YOKO HASEGAWA
University of California, Berkeley
Reviews
DAULTON, FRANK E. Japans Built-In Lexicon of
English-Based Loanwords. Clevedon, UK: Multilin-
gual Matters, 2008. Pp. vii, 185. $89.95, cloth.
ISBN 9781847690302. recognition, spelling, listening comprehension,
To English speakers studying Japanese, the abun-
dance of English-based loanwords in Japanese
presents both a convenient backup when they
need greater vocabulary as well as a challenge
because of the phonological, semantic, grammat-
ical, and pragmatic adaptations that the items
have gone through, along with the lack of a
clean algorithm dictating these transformation
processes. Attempting to use an English word with
Japanese phonology is a risk one takes, which
may or may not result in an acceptable ren-
dition. When used by Japanese speakers, these
originally English words are undecipherable
(p. 16) to non-Japanese speakers. In Japans Built-
In Lexicon of English-Based Loanwords, Daulton ap-
proaches these originally English words that have
become a rich and constantly expanding part of
the Japanese lexicon with the idea of utilizing
them in learning and teaching English language
to speakers of Japanese.
The book is divided into four parts, each
of which contains two chapters. It has six ap-
pendixes, references, and an index. The author
starts in part 1 by examining the nature of
English-based words in Japanese, a major type
of gairaigo, or Japanese words of foreign origin,
in present-day Japan. Citing Loveday (1996) and
other sources extensively, Daulton provides a thor-
ough account of the transformation that English
words go through when they become part of the
Japanese language. The process through which
English words come to be gairaigo is examined
in chapter 2. The role of mass media is noted
in the proliferation of loanwords, needed be-
cause the Japanese could hardly carry on a con-
versation without loan words (p. 37). This part
provides useful information for teachers and
learners of Japanese as a second/foreign lan-
guage. Part 2 (ch. 3 and ch. 4) is devoted to a the-
oretical discussion of the effects of cognates and a
presentation of empirical evidence in support of
the use of cognates in teaching Japanese learners
of English as a foreign language (EFL). Daulton
includes loanwords in cognates because it is the
perceived cross-linguistic similarities that matter
in applied linguistic research (p. 46). Endorsing
the viewpoint that errors are simply indicators of
student learning and emphasizing the advantage
of errors related to use (or misuse) of loanwords
over avoidance, he contends that anti-loanword
writings, which have dominated the English edu-
167
cation scenes in Japan, are based on anecdotal ev-
idence. He cites empirical research findings that
suggest that loanwords aid Japanese EFL learn-
ers in many areas, including lexical acquisition,
and retention of spoken and written English. His
experiment indicates that in written production,
Japanese college students use borrowed words far
more frequently than nonborrowed words, sug-
gesting the positive effect of borrowed words for
the production of English writing. The interpre-
tation of his experimental results is not altogether
convincing, however, because most content words
can be claimed to be borrowed words in one con-
text or another, making the borrowed versus non-
borrowed distinction inconsistent. For example,
why are I and exercise considered borrowed
when we and practice are not? It is not dif-
ficult to imagine contexts in which any of these
words may be borrowed. Part 3 (ch. 5 and ch. 6)
addresses the issue of frequency of use and famil-
iarity, as well as measuring the degree of semantic
and formal overlap between Japanese and English
cognates. In part 4 (ch. 7 and ch. 8), Daulton
suggests ways to use loanwords wisely, avoiding
common and uncommon pitfalls and the difficul-
ties associated with inflectional and derivational
affixes.
To Daulton and to others he cites (Ringbom,
2007; Uchiad, 2003), the large number of cog-
nates that Japanese EFL learners have at hand can
motivate them to use English more actively, espe-
cially when Japanese teachers of English serve as
models for utilizing the loanwords effectively and
when given ample aural practice. As the author
notes, careful distinction should be made between
common loanwords and potential (or possible)
loanwords, for which common Japanese alterna-
tives exist.
Japans Built-In Lexicon of English-Based Loan-
words is written in a mode that is easily accessi-
ble to specialists, including Japanese EFL teach-
ers, as well as to laypeople. Appendixes 2 (the
list of common loanwords) and 3 (academic bor-
rowed words) are extremely useful. They suffer
from a few errors in the romanized representa-
tions of the words (e.g., the inconsistent Japanese
rendition of percentage between Appendixes 2
and 3), and the syllabic /n/ is left indistinguish-
able in the romanization. These are minor er-
rors in the face of the overall contribution that
this book makes, not only to EFL but also to
the teaching of Japanese as a second/foreign
language.
MARI NODA
The Ohio State University
168
JOHNSON, YUKI. Fundamentals of Japanese Gram-
mar: Comprehensive Acquisition. Honolulu: Univer-
sity of Hawaii Press, 2008. Pp. xxi, 399. $23.00,
paper. ISBN 9780824831769. the chapter titles.
Regardless of how the principles and practices of
foreign language teaching may change, as the
author of this book says, grammatical compe-
tence is among the most important components
of language proficiency (p. xiii). In the last two
decades, Japanese grammar reference books have
proliferated; among them is this book by Johnson,
an experienced Japanese language teacher and
linguist.
The books 33 chapters provide explanations
of syntactic aspects of the Japanese language
that are normally introduced in elementary-
and intermediate-level Japanese textbooks. These
chapters were developed from the grammar lec-
ture notes that the author had written for North
American university students of elementary and
intermediate Japanese over the years. Thus, it can
be said that grammatical explanations given in
the book have been field tested with one group
of the target audience that comprises graduate
students and undergraduate students who have
already learned basic Japanese grammar through
regular language courses (p. xvii). The book,
however, is also intended for educators and re-
searchers in Japanese studies and the Japanese
language (p. xvii). How useful it will be to this
target group is yet to be seen.
Although the readers knowledge of basic
Japanese orthographies is assumed, the book
starts with the basics of Japanese sounds and
written symbols (ch. 1). Further, even though
the reader is expected to have had at least 2
years of college-level instruction in Japanese lan-
guage, basic grammatical features of the language
are reviewed in chapter 2 before specific items
are explained in detail in subsequent chapters.
These chapters are organized according to spe-
cific grammatical categories such as particles (ch.
4), stem-form compounds (ch. 9), modal auxil-
iaries (ch. 19), and superlative sentences (ch. 28).
The use of such linguistic technical terms as ti-
tles of the chapters could be overwhelming to
people with no background in linguistics or with
little experience in formal language instruction.
The book would be more user-friendly if paren-
thetical and brief nontechnical explanations of
these terms had been added to the chapter titles
in the table of contents, given that readers will
most likely go to the table of contents first to find
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
out which chapters may contain answers to their
grammatical questions. It should be added, how-
ever, that Japanese phrases treated in respective
chapters are provided under many, if not all, of
Most chapters provide some kind of exercise,
the majority of which are simple presentations of
sample dialogues and passages, whose intent is to
help the reader reinforce key knowledge acquired
in those chapters. As the author admits, the pat-
tern [of exercise presentation] is not consistent
throughout the book (p. xviii). Additionally, no
answer keys are provided to question items of the
exercises. Furthermore, some dialogues and pas-
sages are presented without English translations.
These exercise materials as they are may not be
very useful to the learner without the assistance of
the instructor or an educated native speaker. Us-
ing the English, rather than the typical Japanese
one-character-space, indent style in some passages
and no indent at all in others is rather curious.
Such mechanical matters may have little to do
with grammatical knowledge. However, consider-
ing that all materials presented in Japanese tend
to be taken as authentic by nonnative speakers, es-
pecially learners at the elementary and intermedi-
ate levels (i.e., the books target audience), such
styles that are not widely accepted by Japanese
people should be avoided.
Grammar explanations are written in down-to-
earth language. For instance, the author handles
well the grammatical items that are difficult for
many Japanese language learners of all levels to
understand fully, such as the particle [wa] and
the so-called conditional forms [to], [tara],
[ba], and [nara]. The authors desire
to make elementary and intermediate Japanese
grammar as comprehensible as possible is evident
in her use of means other than verbal explana-
tions, especially in dealing with items that involve
complex concepts. For instance, the use of the
graphic form to explain the subtle and often con-
fusing differences between [te aru] and
[te iru] is useful; also useful is the table
summarizing the usage of [no] and [koto],
the two items whose functions are interchange-
able in some cases but not so in others.
In sum, the author should be lauded for
explaining elementary- and intermediate-level
Japanese grammar in clear and accessible lan-
guage. However, the books functionality is un-
clear, as it cannot be used as either a grammar
dictionary or a workbook.
SUFUMI SO
George Mason University
Reviews
MORI, JUNKO, & AMY SNYDER OHTA. (Eds.).
Japanese Applied Linguistics: Discourse and Social
Perspectives. New York: Continuum, 2008. Pp. xiii,
364. $150, cloth. ISBN 9780826489616.
This book contains 12 chapters on topics rang-
ing from specific grammatical usages to language
policies, all contributed by leading scholars in
the respective subfields of Japanese linguistics.
It demonstrates the diversity of the field, in that
there are scholars who investigate issues beyond
traditional applied linguistics in a narrow sense.
By doing so, it sets the stage for current and fu-
ture researchers to look into different aspects of
Japanese language uses.
The chapters are divided into four parts. Part
1, Reexamination of Language in Action, in-
cludes three chapters. In Conversation and
Grammar: Approaching So-Called Conditionals
in Japanese, Ono and Jones discuss the uses of
the conditional (and temporal) terms to, tara, ba,
and nara in the National Institute for Japanese
Languages Corpus of Spontaneous Japanese.
Among these terms, nara was found to be the
least frequently used in the corpus. Given the
different frequencies and fixed (or rule-based)
uses of the terms, the authors question whether
these terms should be grouped together and ped-
agogically introduced in a similar manner, as
has been done traditionally. Negotiating Agree-
ment and Disagreement in Japanese: An Analy-
sis of Designedly Ambiguous Turn Completion
Points, written by Mori and Nakamura, dis-
cusses opinion negotiation sequences by iden-
tifying agreement and disagreement turns in
conversations. Based on a close conversation
analysis, they claim that language should be
viewed as a dynamic resource used to accom-
plish various types of social interaction rather than
static systems strictly governed by a set of rules
(p. 73). In Construction of Speech Styles: The
Case of the Japanese Naked Plain Form, Cook
discusses contextual dimensions and speech style
by analyzing both classroom happyoo routines and
off-task talk. She shows that the naked plain form
indexes the detached speech style in the students
response turns in the happyoo routine, whereas it
indexes the informal speech style in the off-task,
non-happyo routine.
Part 2, Ideologies, Diversities, and Identities,
consists of four chapters. Keigo Ideology, by Wet-
zel, reviews the development of keigo and explains
Japans course of language ideology. In The Use
of Regional and Standard Japanese Conversa-
169
tions: A Case Study from Osaka, Okamoto takes
the Osaka dialect as an example of a regional vari-
ant and reveals how unclear the boundaries of
the notions of the standard language and regional
language are. When the Coach is a Woman: The
Situational Meanings of So-Called Masculine Di-
rectives in a Japanese Boxing Gym, written by
Okada, looks into a female boxing coachs uses of
language and finds that the coach was more sen-
sitive to and aware of the uses of directives. She
concludes that Japanese womens use of language
is more multifaceted and diverse than previously
thought. Matsumotos chapter Discursive Prac-
tices and Changing Identities in Elderly Japanese
Women reveals that the painful self-disclosure by
the Japanese elderly goes beyond the stereotypi-
cal images of complaint and unhappiness. These
chapters challenge what previously was thought
of as stereotypical and shows the diverse use of
language in reality.
Part 3, Japanese as an Additional Language,
contains three contributions. Ohta finds laughter
as a means for second language (L2) learners
in particular, beginnersto promote successful
interaction maintaining the level of mutual en-
gagement in her chapter Laughter and Second
Language Acquisition: A Study of Japanese For-
eign Language Classes. In Making Inquiries:
Toiawase Strategies by Japanese L1 and L2 Callers
to Japanese Educational Institutions, Yotsukura
discusses both first language (L1) and L2 toiawase
inquiries to educational institutions. She sug-
gests that given their poor performance, L2 learn-
ers may benefit from the explicit teaching of
toiawase. Because toiawase has a typical discourse
pattern, it would serve as a good practice frame
and would help L2 learners become familiar with
Japanese inquiry forms. The chapter by Kanno,
Transnationalism, Imagined Communities, and
Language Minority Education in Japan, exam-
ines a couple of Japanese model schools with chil-
dren of foreign permanent residents and guest
workers. She finds a lack of understanding of
transnationalism in Japans language education
policy and practice. Although she considers the
adoption of English in Japans elementary educa-
tion as evidence of nurturing transnational iden-
tities, I am reluctant to take the same position,
because Japanese policy makers and teachers do
not regard English, Chinese, Spanish, and Por-
tuguese in the same way. However, it is true that
transnationalism is no longer the prerogative of
the privileged few; education that helps children
learn to maintain a balance between participat-
ing in the society in which they currently live and
170
partaking in transnational communities should
not either (p. 293).
Part 4, Critical Reflection on Language Peda-
gogy, contains two chapters. In Learner Com-
petence as a Resource in the Japanese as a
Foreign Language Classroom: Issues in Oral As-
sessment, Yoshimi discusses her experimental re-
sults of learners achievements in the context of
assessment-based roleplay activities in the begin-
ning Japanese as a foreign language classroom.
Drawing on learners personal experiences and
knowledge with foreign language classroom activ-
ities, the learners can become real L2 users. In
Critical Approaches to Teaching Japanese Lan-
guage and Culture, Kubota reminds Japanese
language teachers of the political significance of
their work, as they are linguistic/cultural navi-
gators directing the future of our field and the
larger society (p. 346).
The book is well organized and is written with
relatively few technical terms, which makes it easy
for nonspecialists to read. Although the authors
do an excellent job in providing the background
for their work, the topics discussed in the book
are so diverse that the issues dealt with in each
chapter require more in-depth discussions. If this
book had been made into a multivolume set and
had included more chapters on each topical area,
the readers understanding of the issues would
have been greater and they would become better
informed. Nonetheless, the book serves as a useful
resource for teachers of Japanese, those who are
interested in becoming teachers of Japanese, and
students of Japanese linguistics.
MINEHARU NAKAYAMA
The Ohio State University
LINGUISTICS
BOECKX, CEDRIC. Understanding Minimalist
Syntax: Lessons from Locality in Long-Distance De-
pendencies. Boston: Blackwell, 2008. Pp. ix, 173.
$34.95, paper. ISBN 9781405157957.
The study of locality has been one of the main
tasks of generative syntax for 40 years. The goal is
to determine how structural distance affects syn-
tactic dependencies between syntactic elements.
The research on locality has led to the con-
clusion that only short-distance dependencies
are possible in language and that what we con-
sider long-distance syntactic dependencies must
be understood as the result of a conjunction of
a series of short-distance dependencies. In this
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
book, the author focuses on a long-distance re-
lation (long-distance movement) in languages,
paying special attention to the successive cyclic
movement steps involved in the relation. The
book points to the shortcomings of previous ap-
proaches that deal with successive cyclic move-
ment and then it shows how successive cyclic
movement can be accounted for in a genuine
minimalist analysis, which is based on the lack of
a particular motivation for intermediate steps of
movement and on the existence of a strict lower
and upper bound for movement.
The book is divided into six main chapters,
apart from an introduction (ch. 1) and a con-
clusion (ch. 8).
Chapter 2 examines the phenomenon of suc-
cessive cyclic movementnamely, the proposal
that long-distance movement proceeds in short
steps rather than long-distance movement in one
fell swoop. The chapter discusses the origins of
this phenomenon, its ties to the concept of local-
ity, and the empirical evidence given to support
its existence. On the basis of the evidence pre-
sented, the author justifies the existence of suc-
cessive cyclic movement.
Chapter 3 is a detailed discussion of the two ma-
jor approaches to analyze successive cyclic move-
ment: the uniform paths approach (UPA) and the
punctuated approach (PA). The UPA claims that
all available sites that separate the original and the
final position of the moving element are possible
landing sites for the moving element, whereas the
PA argues that only a series of designated sites be-
tween the original and the final position of the
moving element are available for its landing. The
author examines the empirical evidence put for-
ward in favor of both approaches and concludes
that the UPA, which is also theoretically simpler,
is superior to the PA in empirical and theoretical
grounds and it should be then adopted.
Chapter 4 examines the formation of inter-
mediate steps, focusing on the timing of the in-
termediate steps of movement (i.e., whether the
intermediate steps are formed early in the deriva-
tion or at a later point). After reviewing the em-
pirical evidence given in the previous research for
both possibilities, the book presents additional ev-
idence to support the early formation of interme-
diate steps. This evidence comes from the cross-
linguistic properties of applicative constructions,
which can receive an adequate explanation only
if the intermediate steps are formed early in the
derivation.
Chapter 5 investigates the motivation for in-
termediate movement steps and details the pro-
posal of the book. The book claims that there
Reviews 171
is no motivation for intermediate steps in long- PORTUGUESE
distance movement (i.e., there is no feature or
condition that triggers the intermediate steps of
movement). Hence, elements move to interme- WIEDEMANN, LYRIS, & MATILDE V. R.
diate positions because they carry a feature that SCARAMUCCI. (Eds.). Portugues para Falantes de
must be checked at a later stage of derivation, Espanhol. Ensino e Aquisicao/Portuguese for Span-
and the intermediate movement is not banned by ish Speakers: Teaching and Acquisition. Campinas,
locality constraints. Brazil: Pontes, 2008. Pp. 268. $18.50, paper. ISBN
Chapter 6 serves to further position Boeckxs 97887112795.
approach among others. This chapter contrasts
his proposal with recent proposals to conclude
Portugues para Falantes de Espanhol. Ensino e
that none of the current proposals has any advan-
Aquisicao/Portuguese for Spanish Speakers: Teaching
tage over his because they make use of stipulative
and Acquisition (henceforth PSS) presents a se-
notions, such as domains or phases, or they con-
lection of papers, most of which, according to
flict with the empirical evidence, for instance, by
the editors, were presented at the Second Sympo-
proposing spurious features as the driving force
sium on Portuguese for Spanish Speakers: Acqui-
for intermediate steps.
sition and Teaching, held at Stanford University in
Finally, chapter 7 further shows that the pro-
March, 2006 (p. 30). Readers of PSS have to know
posal can be extended to some other phenomena
Portuguese to read a great part of it, given that
related to locality, such as island phenomena.
five articlesabout a third of the bookare writ-
There is no question that Boeckxs monograph
ten in Portuguese (i.e., those by Akerberg, Rodea,
on successive cyclic movement will become a
da Silva, Carvalho, and Scaramucci). Eight papers
widely cited resource for years to come and will
are written in English (i.e., those by Cowles, Koike
be an important work within current research on
and Gualda; Jensen, Santos, and Silva; Allegro
syntax. It is an excellent book that opens the door
and Madureira; Lowther; Cowles and Pires; and
to further research in the field. The main pro-
Milleret).
posal in the book affects ongoing debates on core
Cowless argumentative paper stresses the im-
notions of syntax, such as the existence (or not) of
portance of the teaching of Portuguese to Span-
domains, the need to reformulate notions such as
ish speakers, as well as the teaching and learning
Last Resort and locality conditions, the question
of cognate languages.
on the driving force of syntactic operations, and
The detailed, empirically based papers by Koike
so forth. Furthermore, the book provides us with
and Gualda, Akerber, and Jensen uncover the ef-
empirical arguments for theoretical points, such
fects of implicit and explicit grammatical input
as the derivational view of syntax. Hence, from a
on transfer and interference. Their findings are
theoretical point of view, the book constitutes a
important because they suggest the need to em-
valuable contribution to the field.
ploy different approaches to teach and manage
The empirical contribution to the book is also
programs for teaching Portuguese to speakers of
important: In addition to particular discussions
English and Spanish as well as heritage speakers
on well-known facts, the book introduces novel
of Spanish, for example, mixing Spanish first lan-
analyses and data, such as an analysis of applicative
guage (L1) speakers, L1 English speakers, and
constructions in different language families.
heritage speakers of Spanish in the same class-
Although there are no direct applications of
room for the teaching of Portuguese as a second
the book to second language learning studies, the
(L2) and third (L3) language.
book and the cross-linguistic research it will trig-
Rodeas paper studies verbal interaction and
ger will lead to a better understanding of the inner
stylistic variables employed by both students and
workings of language and will surely be applied to
teachers, whereas da Silva aims to study ritualistic
research on second language learning. Overall,
speech in both L2 and L3 Portuguese learners.
the broad topic of the book and its repercussions
The data in these two papers seem problematic
for syntax, the extensive cross-linguistic evidence
because the authors do not offer specific informa-
discussed in the book, and the presence of brief
tion on the backgrounds of their participants or
introductions to different crucial current debates
on their data collection methods. Without specific
in theoretical linguistics make this book an excel-
methodological information, I find it difficult to
lent candidate to be read by the nontheoretical
make an informed evaluation of these papers.
linguist.
Santos and Silva analyzed audiotapes of stu-
M. EMMA TICIO dents of varied backgrounds learning Portuguese
Syracuse University during two different terms to test Bakhtins idea
172
of dialogue as a collaborative but regulated activ-
ity. They reveal, not surprisingly, the existence of
asymmetrical relationships in the classroom.
Using a variety of methods and a large number
of participants, Carvalho studies the perceptions
and attitudes that native speakers of Portuguese
living in Rio de Janeiro have toward speakers of
Portunhol (Spanish-influenced Portuguese). She
finds, surprisingly, that although Portunhol is not
stigmatized by Portuguese speakers in Rio, speak-
ers of varieties of Portuguese closer to the na-
tive norms have better employment opportunities
than speakers of less nativelike forms.
Scaramuccis paper studies how Spanish-
speaking candidates react to the Celpe-Bras pro-
ficiency examination implemented by Brazils
Ministry of Education to Brazilians and foreigners
and observes the washback effect of the test and
its effects thereof on both teachers and students.
Her analysis of the data she obtained from a ques-
tionnaire that is part of the Celpe-Bras test sup-
plemented by a questionnaire of her own design
demonstrates that students respond positively to
the test, whereas professors adapt their teaching
practices to suit the test to a certain extent.
Rangel and Madureiras and Lowthers papers
deal with teaching Spanish to speakers of Por-
tuguese. Although these two papers may be use-
ful and of interest to teachers of Spanish and
other foreign languages, it is hard to see why
the editors of PSS included them in their vol-
ume, given that neither the editors nor the au-
thors explain what there is to be gained from re-
searching the teaching of Spanish to Portuguese
speakers that could be of use to improve, or even
understand, the teaching of Portuguese to Span-
ish speakers.
Cowles and Piress and Millerets papers eval-
uate programs for teaching Portuguese to speak-
ers of Spanish and are of use to administrators
of such programs who aim to develop a more ef-
fective curriculum. The authors elicit direct re-
sponses from students and insightfully explore
important programmatic questions such as the
strengths and weaknesses of designing intensive
language programs and the important issue of
classroom linguistic homogeneity (i.e., the prob-
lems created by mixing L1 Spanish speakers and
L1 English speakers in the same L2 Portuguese
classroom).
Although the quality of the papers in PSS
is uneven, the editors of the book are to be
commended because the majority of the papers
represent a firm contribution to the emergent
field of teaching Portuguese to speakers of Span-
ish. In this sense, I am convinced that PSS will
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
meet the goals stated by the editors in the fore-
word: defining more clearly the current field
of [teaching Portuguese] scholarship and pro-
moting further progress (p. 36). I recommend
this book to teachers of Portuguese to Spanish
speakers and others, as well as to administrators
and others involved in testing and assessing such
programs.
EDUARDO D. FAINGOLD
The University of Tulsa
RUSSIAN
MERRILL, JAMES, JULIA MIKHAILOVA, &
MARIA ALLEY. Animation for Russian Conversa-
tion. Newburyport, MA: Focus, 2008. Pp. viii, 161.
$29.95, paper. ISBN 9781585103102.
The premise of this book, now in widespread ac-
ceptance, is that language instruction should be
based on authentic cultural material. In this in-
stance, the material is animated film, and that
renders the book the first of its kind in Rus-
sian language pedagogy. The authors have cho-
sen four well-known works of Russian animation
Ceburaska, Karlson, Ezik Hedgehog, and Vinni-Pux
Winnie-the-Poohand developed teaching mate-
rial based on them intended for students from
the Novice High to Intermediate Mid levels ac-
cording to American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages (ACTFL) guidelines. Each of
the works was prepared by a different author, and
for that reason, the four sections of the book are
not uniform in length, format, or organization.
The differences are small, however, and do not
detract from the structural unity of the book. The
sections, each with an introduction, are preceded
by a brief general introduction (p. vii) and a bibli-
ography of further readings (p. viii). They are fol-
lowed by an appendix of a lexicon describing ap-
pearance and personality (pp. 158161). It should
be noted that there are occasional infelicities in
the glossing of Russian words where the transla-
tion is incorrect or opaque (e.g., byt vinovatym
to be guilty for, p. 114, where of is required,
not for; donasivat to wear clothes after some-
one else, p. 114, which does not properly convey
the meaning of this verb to wear as a hand-me-
down or to wear until worn out). The authors
may wish to consider revising the title in a second
edition. The current title does little to suggest the
content of the book or even that it is a tool for the
language classroom rather than a manual on the
pragmatics of spoken Russian.
Reviews
With the exception of Ezik, each animation is
divided into units. The primary unit is designated
as an episode in Vinni-Pux and Karlson but un-
designated in Ceburaska, and it may be secondarily
divided into parts. Each ultimate unit, whether
primary or secondary, comprises no more than 10
minutes of viewing time. For each, the authors an-
ticipate two viewings, and one author suggests a
first viewing without sound so that students can
focus on the visuals and animation, notice details,
and make predictions about what the cartoon may
be about (p. 99). Four sets of exercises are pro-
vided: one preceding the viewings, one following
each viewing, and one concluding the unit, with
the total number for each unit generally between
10 and 20. There are animation-final exercises,
as well. There is a glossary for each unit, and the
main points of grammar covered by the exercises
are listed by unit in the table of contents (pp. v
vi). The exercises are of three types: (a) content
related, under headings such as Verno ili neverno?,
Kto govorit sledujuscee?, V kakom porjadke?, and Vo-
prosy; (b) grammar/lexicon related, each under
the heading upraznenie, comprising exercises re-
lating to topics such as diminutives, government,
verbs of motion, aspect, existential constructions,
and impersonal constructions; and (c) creative,
under the headings Davajte pogovorim! and Pismo.
All of the exercises are brief, and many begin
with a reference to a construction used in the
relevant unit, emphasizing that grammar is not
something separate from language but the foun-
dation of it. In the words of one of the authors,
The goals of the exercises . . . are to reinforce vo-
cabulary, to review grammar, to work on the key
constructions used in the episodes, to encourage
students to communicate using the cartoon mate-
rial, and to push students towards the higher level
of performance (advanced) by means of build-
ing a paragraph-length discourse with the focus
on narration and description in all time frames
(p. 99).
Although this book as presently constituted is
a valuable pedagogical tool with much potential,
its organization would benefit, I think, from two
additions, should a second edition be required.
First, an index of both grammatical constructions
(e.g., partitive genitive) and lexical constructions
(e.g., xodit k komu), including a reference to rele-
vant exercises for each entry, would be helpful as
an organizational tool for users. Second, a gen-
eral glossary, subdivided into words of high(er)
frequency, and therefore worth memorizing, and
words of low(er) frequency, would communicate
to users the different kinds of word knowledge
needed by learners of Russian past the beginning
level.
173
The authors might also consider a clearer gra-
dation in, and appropriate labeling of, the com-
plexity of exercises with respect to the ACTFL
guidelines for the audiences addressed by the
book (i.e., learners at Novice High to Intermedi-
ate Mid levels). With regard to such a gradation,
I have in mind, given that there are four anima-
tions, a different level of exercise associated with
each one. As the exercises now stand, they are, in
range of complexity, much the same from anima-
tion to animation, leaving the instructor to pick
and choose, with no guidance as to the authors
intent with regard to level. Finally, I suggest an
expanded array of warm-up exercises, designed
to help the instructor introduce, in Russian, new
lexicon and to draw the attention of students, by
way of preview, to the grammar for which they
should be prepared.
MARK J. ELSON
University of Virginia
SPANISH
BRODSKY, DAVID. Spanish Vocabulary: An Ety-
mological Approach. Austin: University of Texas
Press, 2008. Pp. xiii, 637. $75.00, cloth; $29.95, pa-
per. ISBN 0292718101, cloth; 0292716680,
paper.
The authors stated goal is to assist students at
all levels . . . to enhance their Spanish vocabulary
and to explore the wide-ranging connections be-
tween Spanish and English vocabulary by means
of a multifaceted approach . . . , ranging from
presenting words in a historical context to devel-
oping an understanding of the shape or feel
of Spanish (p. vii). The title may steer readers
toward preconceived notions of what they will en-
counter, yet many will be surprised by both the
arrangement and breadth of this volume. The
structure indeed invites browsing, in much the
way that one encounters intriguing tidbits of in-
formation in an almanac or another reference
work. Such an approach would clearly prove re-
warding; however, readers are better served by be-
ginning with the introductory pages, where Brod-
sky outlines his objectives, organizational pattern,
and system of notation. Otherwise, one risks being
confounded by the unique structure of the work.
One of the authors premises is that because
English is a Germanic language, native speakers
of English who study or teach Spanish generally
fail to exploit the fact that Latinate roots remain
dominant in the English lexicon and can be of
immeasurable value in enriching ones Spanish
174
vocabulary. Brodsky devotes one chapter to the
influence of learned Greek and Latin on Span-
ish, another to systematic linguistic change over
time, and another to various topics concerning
non-Romance influences on Spanish and words
clustered around such diverse themes as religion,
the family, food, time, and the body. More than
150 pages at the end of the volume provide de-
tailed aids to mastering grammatical gender as
well as assistance with the acquisition of families
of related words.
The introduction offers such teasers as What
is the difference between scarlet, crimson, carmine,
and vermillion? and What is the connection be-
tween starboard and the stars? (pp. 1314), and
each question is cross-referenced to the section
where the answer can be discovered. Because un-
derstanding one concept often presupposes fa-
miliarity with another introduced previously and
because knowledge of either one may prove es-
sential for comprehension of items that appear
later, there is a seeming circularity about this work.
Many of the most fascinating observations occur
either parenthetically or in footnotes, and at times
several near-digressions suggest a random qual-
ity. Etymologies of English words and phrases be-
come so intriguing that one occasionally risks los-
ing sight of the fact that the book is primarily in-
tended to help readers develop a stronger Spanish
vocabulary. Brodskys passion for the story under-
lying many etymologies is unmistakable, as when
he devotes over a page to the history of the word
anfitrion (pp. 370371).
The volume provides considerable comparison
among Spanish, other Romance tongues, and En-
glish, and the author should be commended for
his consistency in providing up-to-date informa-
tion concerning spelling reform, regional vari-
ations in definitions, and rulings by the Real
Academia Espanola concerning diacritical marks,
ambiguities of meaning, and acceptance of vari-
ants. Although the collection of etymologies is in-
deed rich, one must accept at face value certain
statements of origin, particularly folk etymologies,
as attributions for such items are limited. Readers
would welcome additional reference sources for
several of the more unusual word histories.
Among Brodskys most engaging discussions
are those that treat political, social, and histor-
ical influences on the Spanish language. There
is significant focus on national and regional vari-
ations, including linguistic taboos. Should some
readers be disappointed to find less concerning
the contributions of Latin American indigenous
languages than they might have anticipated, it
may be that they have lost sight of the fact that
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
Brodskys primary emphasis is on helping readers
acquire Spanish lexical items by linking them to
familiar words or roots, most of which have En-
glish, German, or Romance connections.
Although one appreciates Brodskys efforts to
make linguistic terminology comprehensible to
nonspecialists, at times such information appears
to have been placed too randomly or introduced
too late, as when he waits until page 158 to distin-
guish between voiced and unvoiced consonants, a
fundamental concept that would have proved use-
ful earlier in the text. Given the breadth of topics
addressed, it seems surprising that the bibliogra-
phy, which includes both the classic sources one
would expect to see consulted and several fairly
recent works, is limited to little more than two
pages.
Should Brodsky prepare a revised edition of
this volume, he would be well advised to include
both an extensive topical index and a list of any
words or phrases about which he offers substantive
commentary, footnotes, or parenthetical remarks.
Such a list would necessarily be lengthy, yet with-
out it, those who recall having been fascinated
reading about the origins of avestruz (p. 331), bis-
nieto (p. 366), carnaval (p. 337), cementerio (p.
115), cretino (p. 346), cubalibre (p. 539), cucaracha
(p. 336), echar de menos (p. 185), gringo (p. 119),
guapo (p. 482), lechuza (p. 186), romero (p. 353),
or veto (p. 169) will have considerable difficulty lo-
cating such items among the more than 600 pages
of text.
It remains unclear at which stage of language
acquisition this volume might be most helpful.
Despite the fact that Brodsky expects it to prove
useful both to those initiating their study of Span-
ish and to those who already have a grounding in
the language, it will doubtlessly be more valuable
to the latter group, as they will possess much of the
requisite knowledge that will facilitate their ability
to establish the kinds of linguistic connections the
author encourages.
CHARLES MAURICE CHERRY
Furman University
EWALD, JENNIFER, & ANNE EDSTROM. (Eds.).
El espanol a traves de la lingustica: Preguntas y re-
spuestas. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press, 2008.
Pp. viii, 280. $38.95, paper. ISBN 978157473
0272.
This volume compiles linguistic essays that at-
tempt to answer frequently asked questions in
Reviews
language classes. The book is divided into 24 chap-
ters, each one answering a question. The issues ad-
dressed range from phonetics to pragmatics. Each
chapter contains a series of activities organized as
follows: (a) opinions or perceptions after reading
the chapter, (b) analysis of some situations or ap-
plication of the concepts explained in the chapter,
and (c) suggestions for further research.
In chapter 1 Edstrom and Garca Vizcano concepts like high involvement and high considerate-
try to dismiss the incorrect notions some stu-
dents have regarding the study of linguistics. This
opening chapter gives a clear overview of the
different levels of linguistic studyphonology,
morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and
sociolinguisticsand it describes the process and
purpose of linguistic analysis. In chapter 2 Gynan
discusses second language (L2) learners percep-
tions that Spanish speakers talk faster than En-
glish speakers, and he explores the underlying
emotional aspects of the struggle to participate in
a conversation with native speakers in a culturally
appropriate way. Chapter 3 explains grammatical
gender and the difficulties of English speakers in
making sense of a feature that is not present in
their native language. Alarcon explores notions
of classification and goes over the evolution of the
gender system in Spanish, concluding that termi-
nology may be the cause of learners problems. In
chapter 4 Comajoan explores the concept of as-
pect in the verb system, drawing from research in
the area and providing clear examples of use. He
concludes that the use of one aspect or the other
in Spanish is tied to the meaning that speakers
want to convey.
Chapter 5 sheds light on the second-person
pronouns in Spanish. Uber starts with a histori-
cal overview, and she points out the often missing
explanation of voseo in Spanish language courses.
In chapter 6 Rodrguez Sabater writes about re-
gional variation that affects pronunciation, gram-
mar, and, ultimately, the lexicon. Chapter 7 ad-
dresses a belief often found among L2 students,
namely, that Spanish is easier to learn than other
languages, only to find structures that do not
have a corresponding counterpart in their native
language. To illustrate this point, Woolsey uses
the topic of ser and estar and the problems stu-
dents have when they turn to the incomplete and
faulty rules they have learned in language classes.
Clements, in chapter 8, analyzes the nature of pro-
drop languages like Spanish, where the use of the
subject pronoun is not obligatory, and he con-
trasts them to languages like English and French
that have an obligatory overtly stated subject per
sentence.
175
Chapter 9 focuses on politeness and issues of
social interaction that are essential (but often not
addressed) for students who are planning to study
abroad. Felix-Brasdefer uses the framework of
speech acts to analyze and illustrate what happens
during a linguistic exchange in Spanish. Chap-
ter 10 delineates pragmatic considerations regard-
ing turn-taking and interrupting. Garca explores
ness styles, emphasizing overlap and interruption
during conversation that may be perceived as rude
in non-Hispanic cultures. In chapter 11 Balkan
focuses on language change and the use of loan-
words. The author also explores languages in con-
tact and Spanglish in the context of the United
States. In chapter 12 Colombi goes into the rea-
sons and purposes of choosing either language
(Spanish or English) in a given conversation and
of codeswitching. Klee, in chapter 13, discusses
basic notions of borrowings and loanwords. The
author gives a detailed overview of the languages
that have been in contact with Spanish and pro-
vides numerous examples of lexical borrowings in
Spanish. Chapter 14 focuses on Caribbean Span-
ish and the perceived difficulties of understand-
ing certain regional variations. Lamboy conveys
five features that distinguish this form of Spanish
and provides expressions and their equivalents in
other countries to illustrate his claims. In chap-
ter 15 Blake writes about hard preteritsnamely,
the irregular conjugations of certain verbs in the
preteritdrawing from the verb system of Latin.
In chapter 16 Scida reveals similarities and differ-
ences between Spanish and other Romance lan-
guages. The chapter deals with the various linguis-
tic levels to explain the features that are shared
among Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and
French. In chapter 17 Stafford and Sanz under-
take a discussion of age and its correlation to
learning an L2. This chapter explores the issues
of feral children and different circumstances in
which people learn an L2, dispelling notions like
the impossibility of learning an L2 after puberty.
In chapter 18 Elola and Liskin-Gasparro exam-
ine the oft-cited problem of learners who can
function better in the receptive skills (listening
and reading) than in the expressive ones (speak-
ing and writing). The chapter mentions views
of linguistic competence and that many learners
have not realized that their proficiency in one skill
does not necessarily reflect on their competence
in the others; the chapter ends by suggesting use-
ful strategies to advance linguistic ability. Chapter
19 looks into the benefits study abroad has on L2
development. Lafford focuses on the uncertainty
176
that learners experience before making such an
investment of time and money to make the right
decision and obtain maximum benefit. In chap-
ter 20 Lunn discusses the matter of translation
and the numerous occasions when speakers try
to translate word-for-word, disregarding the fact
that there is no exact equivalence between the first
language and the L2. Lunn names several aspects,
such as syntax, register, and idiomatic expressions,
that can cause confusion for learners if they try
to translate everything. In chapter 21 Potowski
takes a look at the growing number of classes for
native or heritage speakers and carefully profiles
the differences between speakers who came to the
United States after age 12 and speakers who were
born here and have contact with Spanish only in
the home setting. In chapter 22 Oskoz reviews er-
ror correction and summarizes the different types
of errors and the strategies available to correct
them in the classroom without being obtrusive or
disconcerting. Chapter 23 examines the correla-
tion between culture and the learning of an L2.
Chapter 24 observes the different perceptions stu-
dents have regarding group or pair work and their
benefits and downfalls.
This book is easy to read and can be an excel-
lent complement to a linguistics course. Although
chapters fulfill their claim and answer questions
frequently asked in language classrooms, there is
an imbalance regarding the amount of research
that went into the topics. Some chapters list works
cited, whereas others (ch. 17 and ch. 19) provide
an impressive list of obras consultadas, which will
be useful for those who would like to pursue the
inquiry of topics such as second language acquisi-
tion and study abroad.
CARMEN SCHLIG
Georgia State University
GREENIA, GEORGE D. Generaciones: Composicion
y conversacion en espanol . 2nd ed. San Diego, CA:
University Readers, 2007. Pp. xxvii, 207. $49.95,
paper. ISBN 0976316293.
Generaciones is designed for use in an intermedi-
ate Spanish composition and conversation course.
Each of the nine chapters is divided into two
parts: (a) Conversacion y exploracion, which uses
both structured discussions and open-ended con-
versations to help students gather information on
the theme of the chapter; and (b) Composicion y
concrecion, which aims to help students write in
various registers of Spanish. The book pays partic-
ular attention to writing as a process, writing as a
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
task, and writing with an audience in mind. It also
suggests that students create a portfolio and that
all writing be responded to, especially its content,
but not necessarily graded. Ancillary materials are
available but were not included for review.
The structure of the exercises provides multiple
drafts and opportunities for self- and peer-editing
in the written product. The different stages sug-
gested for pre-escritura, borradores, and revision fi-
nal present an excellent way to guide writing as
a process. In addition, the exercises accommo-
date multiple ways of learning, as they promote
Venn diagrams and other visual and tactile repre-
sentations as organizational schemes for the ideas
generated in the prewriting stages. A variety of
classroom activities are included to promote col-
laboration in both the generating and writing of
ideas.
The preface to the instructor is helpful in sug-
gesting additional topics for classroom discussion
based on each chapters theme. Appendix 1 is ex-
tremely valuable in presenting evaluation criteria
that differ according to the writing task presented
in each chapter. It is exciting to see a textbook
include assessment as part of task design. The
preface to the instructor implies, however, that
students get frustrated when the instructor places
an emphasis on correcting grammatical errors;
this idea is further stressed in the appendix. This
practitioner finds that students often welcome
grammatical correction more than content sug-
gestions. In any case, it would be wise to make al-
lowances for the students who crave grammatical
feedback. Perhaps an optional grammar and me-
chanics addendum to the proposed rubric could
include the student keeping track of recurring
grammar issues in his or her writing. This docu-
ment could be attached to the portfolio and serve
as an editing checklist.
Each chapter also includes a section in English
called Curiosidades de cultura y lenguaje, which in-
troduces opportunities for discussion of cultural
issues that may not arise otherwise. This practi-
tioner used one of the ejercicios de redaccion that in-
clude authentic English-speaking students com-
positions as well as the instructors comments for
use as editing practice (p. 34), in the classroom,
and found that it was well received by the students.
The main weakness noted in the textbook
is the readings. Although authentic, they seem
outdated or anachronistic, some as old as 1985
(p. 12) and the most recent one from 1996 (p. 7).
Their use presents a problem that is twofold. First,
the content of most readings would seem odd,
if not foreign, to a current college student. For
example, as it stands, the readings use the words
pesetas (pp. 7, 66), yuppies (p. 43), duros
Reviews
(p. 124), and Walkman (p. 84). They mention
Junior as Schwarzeneggers latest movie (p. 77)
and refer to a Paul Simon concert as an example
of unbearable noise (p. 84). Second, and more
important, an opportunity is missed to explore
current interpretations of the themes proposed
in the chapters. For example, a reading lists the
number of worldwide HIV-infected people at be-
tween 8 and 10 million (the end of 2007 reflected
a number closer to 34 million). A passage in chap-
ter 4 on La feminizacion de los hombres (p. 70) does
not include references to metrosexuality, which
is an issue with which all millennials are familiar.
Similarly, the chapter on the environment and
technology includes an article on the Biosfera 2
(p. 101) and an article on the development of the
barcode (p. 103) but makes no mention of sus-
tainable farming and organic foods, iPods, mp3s,
or podcasts. In chapter 7, which treats friendship
and relationships, there is an article on the night
net (p. 124) that discusses connecting online but
does not mention Facebook, texting, or Twitter.
This same chapter has a reading that includes a
reference to the magazine Sassy, which has not
been published since 1996. Finally, chapter 8 has
a reading dealing with the projected increase in
the Hispanic workforce for the year 2000.
Even in the text itself, independent of the read-
ings, there are references to a grabadora and a ra-
dio Walkman (p. 100), and in chapter 8 there is a
list of professions for which it would be helpful to
be bilingual (p. 143) that fails to mention nursing
and other health fields or elementary education.
A chart on page 148 on the population and pro-
ductivity of certain countries shows the U.S. pop-
ulation as 248,710 million (it is currently closer
to 304,059 million), and on page 158 a maquina
electrica is listed as a necessary item to have before
one starts a job search.
In summary, the textbook does an excellent job
of developing writing as a multistep task (includ-
ing assessment) but could benefit from contem-
porary readings to guide classroom discussion and
the generation of ideas.
MARIA C. GARRIGA
Thomas More College
LIPSKI, JOHN M. Varieties of Spanish in the United
States. Washington, DC: Georgetown University
Press, 2008. Pp. vii, 303. $29.95, paper. ISBN 978
1589012134.
The varieties of Spanish spoken in the United
States have long been a subject for scholarship;
177
however, until now no single monograph has ad-
dressed all major Spanish dialects spoken in the
United States. In an engaging style and impecca-
ble publication, Varieties of Spanish in the United
States brings together research done on the sub-
ject over the last century. Although considering
each of the main dialects of Spanish separately,
Lipski emphasizes the permanent place that Span-
ish occupies in U.S. society, making a compelling
case for recognizing it as a national language. In
fact, in this era of anti-immigrant sentiment and
bilingual education bans, Lipskis book comes as
an eloquent attempt to legitimize U.S. Spanish as
a protagonist in the weaving of the nation, as the
books cover so well illustrates.
In the introduction, Lipski presents a readable
personal narrative about his career as a linguist,
during which he has developed his enduring re-
lationship not only with the Spanish language as
used in the United States but also with the people
who use the language (p. xi). Here, the author
sets the tone of his book: Each chapter reveals not
only his vast knowledge about the Spanish lan-
guage but also a great deal of information about
the social and historical contexts within which it
flourishes within U.S. territory.
Chapter 1 introduces the dialects discussed
in the book and provides historical and demo-
graphic information about U.S. Spanish-speaking
communities. The books purpose is presented
as to compile in a single volume useful descrip-
tions of the major varieties of Spanish found in the
United States at the beginning of the twenty-first
century (p. 12), a survey that organizes and doc-
uments work to date and serves as a useful source
of information for future researchers.
Chapter 2 will be particularly valuable for re-
searchers in the field. Here, Lipski shows his
archival research skills and presents a compre-
hensive survey of scholarship on U.S. Spanish
drawn from journals, bulletins, dissertations, con-
ferences, and textbooks dating from as early as
1906 through the prolific civil rights era, and up
to the last two decades of the 20th century, when,
according to Lipski, the most incisive scholarship
on U.S. Spanish was produced. If it is true that we
need to know where we come from in order to
know where we are heading, then this chapter is
essential for todays researchers in a field that is
evolving incredibly fast.
Chapter 3 discusses the popular and often con-
tradicted view of U.S. Spanish as Spanglish.
Here, Lipski explores the origins of this term and
surveys works that define it as a mixed code. Read-
ing Lipskis well-informed explanations of the na-
ture of U.S. Spanish and his critique of its treat-
ment by nonlinguists as a third language, I was
178
left hoping for a more direct criticism of the
term. Not until the conclusion do Lipskis views
become clear, when he takes a stand against the
term Spanglish as so inaccurate as to be meaning-
less (p. 70). He meticulously builds his argument
about the inaccuracies behind the term by review-
ing misconceptions in the works of scholars such
as Stavans, clarifying fundamental characteristics
of language-contact situations, and differentiating
them from ones encountered in second language
acquisition. In addition, he illustrates his discus-
sion of vestigial bilingualism with brief discussions
of common linguistic variables, providing a good
starting point for scholars interested in studying
language attrition in these communities.
In chapters 4 through 12 Lipski covers each
of the major Spanish dialects: Mexican; Cuban;
Puerto Rican; Dominican; Central American in
general and specifically Salvadoran, Nicaraguan,
and Guatemalan; and the traditional varieties of
New Mexico and Louisiana. Each chapter opens
with a historical overview of the country where the
dialect originated, including the main sociopoliti-
cal events that triggered waves of emigration to the
United States. Next comes detailed and current
demographic information about each groups
main U.S. communities. The section that follows
adheres to the tradition of dialectology manuals.
Here, Lipski uses his encyclopedic knowledge of
dialects of Spanish to describe, first, the national
varieties prior to contact and, second, their coun-
terparts spoken in the United States. Each chap-
ter ends with a useful annotated bibliography of
scholarship on the particular dialect.
The final chapter, chapter 13, explains the main
contact phenomena common to all varieties: lex-
ical borrowing, loan translation and calques, and
codeswitching. Although basic and straightfor-
ward, it does not shy away from debates in the
field, and it includes a discussion about the diffi-
culties of classifying the insertion of the discourse
marker so in bilingual speech as borrowing ver-
sus codeswitching. The book closes with a 45-page
bibliography that compiles an amazing amount of
scholarship on the subject.
This book is suitable for graduate and advanced
undergraduate courses as complementary read-
ings in Spanish dialectology and EnglishSpanish
contact phenomena. The sociolinguistic informa-
tion about the dialects and their speakers makes
it obligatory reading for teachers involved in
bilingual or heritage language education. For re-
searchers in the field, the history of scholarship
and its accompanying bibliography are major con-
tributions, the only shortcoming being the spo-
radic lack of information about the sources of
The Modern Language Journal 94 (2010)
examples used and some of the linguistic facts
mentioned.
What is unique in Lipskis book and differenti-
ates it from a traditional dialectology manual are
the relationships he traces between demographic
and historical facts and their consequences in the
formation of U.S. Spanish varieties. The sociolin-
guistic profile of these communities is gradually
constructed through references to issues of lan-
guage attitude, national identity, social configura-
tions, and cross-dialectal convergence. Lipski has
argued that dialectology has evolved along with
the rest of linguistics, as it is no longer reduced to
butterfly-collecting-style drudgery but is best de-
fined as the response to the question of how and
why languages vary regionally and socially. Vari-
eties of Spanish in the United States represents well
this evolution.
ANA MARIA CARVALHO
University of Arizona
TECHNOLOGY
BLAKE, ROBERT J. Brave New Digital Classroom:
Technology and Foreign Language Learning. Wash-
ington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2008.
Pp. xv, 189. $25.95, paper. ISBN 978158901212
7.
Brave New Digital Classroom serves many purposes
and can be used within multiple levels of instruc-
tion, making it one of the best buys on the market.
It can be used as a textbook for computer-assisted
language learning (CALL)-related courses, as a
reference guide for new as well as more experi-
enced foreign language (FL) instructors, or as a
resource guide for instructional technology staff
such as instructional technology consultants or
language resource directors looking for ways to
motivate their instructors.
Blakes book answers one of the main CALL is-
sues: how these technologically assisted activities
should fit in with the foreign language curricu-
lum (p. 3) in a simple, user-friendly, yet com-
plete and concise manner. At the same time, as
expected, there are several technological terms
that some FL instructors may find overwhelming
or intimidating. If used for teaching the peda-
gogy of technology in the FL curriculum, those
instructors will ultimately be much more aware
of and familiar with the terminology and mate-
rial in general. The short but concise glossary at
the end helps put into perspective the numer-
ous terms and concepts one needs to understand
Reviews
the world of FL technology. Although Blake does
not include a corresponding list of Web sites re-
lated to these terms and some of their correspond-
ing organizations, he does often reference per-
tinent Web sites in the Notes section of each
chapter. Inevitably, these listings may soon be-
come obsolete or inaccurate, which leads us to an-
other issue associated with the wonderful world of
technology.
Keeping current in any field is a main challenge
for instructors, but in particular, those who incor-
porate technology are faced with a quickly chang-
ing world that constantly demands upgrades and
revisions. As Blake addresses in chapter 1, books
related to the digital classroom require constant
review and analysis to stay relevant in todays ed-
ucational system. He also examines four myths
about technology and second language acqui-
sition, which provides helpful information and
advice for department chairs, instructors, and lan-
guage resource personnel who must confront the
problem of faculty members who resist incorpo-
rating technology into their teaching.
Chapter 2, which presents the history and basics
of the World Wide Web, contains valuable infor-
mation and background needed to understand
the working fundamentals of the Internet. Impor-
tant in this chapter is Blakes thorough discussion
on pedagogy for Web-based learning. Without this
discussion, one would not be able to incorpo-
rate CALL resources into the FL classroom. Blake
stresses the use of authenticating class material
and examines useful strategies for content-based
instruction.
A concise history of CALL in chapter 3 is a
fascinating journey of the fields evolution and
progress over the past 50 years. As Blake explores
the rapid changes in the technology and tools re-
lated to FL instructional technology, he invites in-
structors to evaluate the overwhelming amount of
material available and to consider their pedagog-
ical goals and ultimate effectiveness for successful
language learning.
179
To facilitate authentic communication activi-
ties in an FL classroom setting, many instructors
incorporate computer-mediated communication
programs, which Blake reviews in chapter 4.
Providing concrete examples and noting the
advantages and disadvantages of several first-
and second-generation tools, from email to
synchronous chats, this chapter is key to under-
standing their ins and outs and to being able to
evaluate which might be most useful in particular
classes.
For readers interested in developing, evaluat-
ing, or improving distance learning for FL classes,
chapter 5 covers indispensable background in-
formation and clear evaluations to consider in
the process. The case studies included help put
into perspective the different goals and learn-
ing outcomes produced in traditional, hybrid,
and distance-learning environments, validating
the role that online learning plays and will con-
tinue to play in FL education.
The Discussion Questions and Activities sec-
tion at the end of each chapter is one of the high-
lights of Blakes book. This section allows readers
to evaluate their understanding of the material,
or that of their students, depending on the use of
the text as well as to put into action many of the
techniques and tools explained throughout the
chapter.
The last chapter does an excellent job of
concluding and measuring all of the informa-
tion and suggestions Blakes book provides. It
is aptly titled Putting It All Together. As one
questions, not if or what technology to use, but
how to use it, this book can provide complete,
concise, and effective answers. Brave New Dig-
ital Classroom is an indispensable tool within
the CALL environment and will prove to be
an essential resource for present and future FL
educators.
JEAN JANECKI
University of WisconsinLa Crosse