English in french-speaking african countries: the case of Gabon

A number of historically French-speaking countries have adopted English as second or one of the official languages. This does not only pose a problem of multilingualism at State level as well as at social level, but it also questions the actual status of English as a language at both levels. In fact, English does not only have to compete with French, but also with native African languages. This article gives an insight into the status of English in Gabon – a French-speaking country in western central Africa. Gabon has not (yet) adopted English as one of the official languages, but the status of the language needs to be investigated from a sociolinguistic perspective. The paper retraced the story of English in Gabon by outlining three periods of contact between the English language and the populations of Gabon. The presence of English throughout the three periods is then linguistically attested through an empirical study of English loanwords in the general vocabulary of Gabonese native languages. The second topic that the article covers is the contemporary situation of the language in the country whose policy refers to it as foreign language. Meanwhile, the influence of the American lifestyle and music, the education system and the elites that were educated in English-speaking countries produce a different social view on the language. This growing social status may signal prominent new developments in the future. This leads the author to set perspectives of the language as it is spoken in Gabon

'Picturesque and dramatic' or 'dull recitals of threadbare fare': good practice in history teaching in elementary schools in England, 1872-1905

This article draws on late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century teaching manuals, reports of Her Majesty's Inspectors, history textbooks ('readers'), other administrators' and teachers' accounts, policy documents and pupils' reminiscences to refute common and generalised assessments of the period (often by those who have not looked closely at these specific sources) that the teaching of history was a negative and boring experience, limited mainly and simply to reading comprehension of lengthy pages devoid of timelines and visual materials. The article concentrates on the experience of English elementary schools and draws comparisons between past and present teaching approaches. The findings show that there is extant evidence that there did exist in the late Victorian period clear conceptions of how to make history accessible to children, many of which reflect current best practice in the subject. They also show that many leading educationalists, and probably the teachers who read them, were aware of the need to make the subject accessible to children. The pupils themselves have left very little evidence of their experience, but some pupils were enabled to develop picturesque understandings of the past of benefit to their lives beyond the classroom. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis

Changing Standards? Children's awareness and knowledge of features of written standard English at ages 10-11

This paper reports the findings of a small-scale research project, which investigated the levels of awareness and knowledge of written standard English of 10- and 11-year-old children in two English primary schools over a six-year period, coinciding with the implementation in the schools of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS). A questionnaire was used to provide quantitative and qualitative data relating to: features of writing which were recognised as standard or non-standard; children's understanding of technical terminology; variations between boys' and girls' performance; and the impact of the NLS over time. The findings reveal variations in levels of recognition of different non-standard features, differences between girls' and boys' recognition, possible examples of language change, but no evidence of a positive impact of the NLS. The implications of these findings are discussed both in terms of changes in educational standards and changes to standard English

Развитие языка как информационной синергетической системы

Исходя из определения языка как синергетической информационной системы, автор предлагает новый подход к изучению истории языка. а именно с позиций динамической теории информации. Язык может изменяться в рамках так называемого пространства под влиянием ключевых параметров этой системы и в зависимости от определенных механизмов рецепции информации.Виходячи із обґрунтування, що мова є синергетичною інформаційною системою, у статті запропоновано новий підхід до вивчення історії мови, а саме з позицій динамічної теорії інформації. Стверджується, що мова спроможна змінювати свій стан у рамках так званого простору станів системи під впливом керівних параметрів даної системи та/або в залежності від дії певних механізмів рецепції інформації.The article focuses on some issues of language development from the point of view of the dynamic theory of information. We argue that language is a synergetic informational system, capable of changing its state within the so-called 'space of states' under the influence of control parameters and/or depending on certain mechanisms of information reception

THE STUDY OF JARGON USED IN CAPOEIRA SENZALA UNIVERSITAS BRAWIJAYA GROUP

This study is designed to figure out what the jargons used by Capoeira Senzala Universitas Brawijaya group are and what the meanings of jargon used by Capoeira Senzala Universitas Brawijaya group are. It is conducted not only to understand but also to describe the application of the jargons used by Capoeira Senzala Universitas Brawijaya group. The data sources are the members and the instructors of this group. has found out 40 jargons used by Capoeira Senzala Universitas Brawijaya group. Jargon is classified into two terms, namely lexical term consisting of 12 terms and technical terms which consist of 28 terms used by Capoeira Senzala Universitas Brawijaya group. Moreover, the meanings and the usages are significant in communication. It can be concluded that jargons used by Capoeira Senzala Universitas Brawijaya have their own specific meaning which can be understood by people in that group community or group.   Key words: jargon, Capoeira, Senzala, Capoeira Senzala, Universitas Brawijaya, lexical term, and technical term

Reading aloud in Dickens' novels

My argument is that in response to the pervasive family and social activity of reading aloud in the Victorian age, Dickens composed his novels in ways that would further encourage and facilitate such practice. The focus of this essay will be Dickens' representation of characters' speech. This aspect is especially interesting since it highlights the relation between "fictional dialogue" and "natural speech." It seems that the more closely the fictional dialogue follows natural speech, the higher the level of orality achieved. Dickens employed explicit markers to simultaneously elicit and assist the oral reproduction of the distinctive voices of many of his characters--through phonetic spelling, narrative comments, and punctuation, or through a combination of the above. These markers illustrate plainly the writer's active participation in creating a unique possibility for spoken performance of his characters' voices. They also show that in the writing process Dickens took into account the "other" reader who read through listening, either due to illiteracy or because of a personal preference for aural reception. Although these markers have been mentioned by critics from a similar perspective,1 their function in relation to reading aloud has not been systematically recognized and studied.Not