LINGUIST List 10.365

Tue Mar 9 1999

Qs: Language rights, Deictic shift, Second language

Editor for this issue: Jody Huellmantel <jodylinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Larry Rosenwald, Language rights
2. Fergus, like as a prompt
3. Laura Wagner, "motherese" in SLA

A sociologist colleague of mine, a guy named Tom Cushman, has just
started to edit a magazine called the _Human Rights Review_. He was
asking for ideas about topics for particular issues, and I suggested to
him that there was some very interesting work being done in the area of
language rights. He was attracted by the idea, and might like to devote
an issue to this topic. I gave him some names of people to consider,
but I have only a cursory knowledge of what's being done in the field
today, so I told him I'd post a query on LINGUIST. If you have ideas
about the subject - what such an issue should include, whom he might ask
to contribute - or if you yourself might like to contribute to such an
issue - could you write him directly at tcushmanwellesley.edu ?

Thanks very much, 

Larry Rosenwald 
Wellesley College
Department of English

Currently I am interested in researching like as a prompt for deictic
shift in discourse, particularly when followed by a verbal or
nonverbal recreation - as in, "He was like, 'What-EVER.'" or "His hair
was all, like, 'Boosh!'" or "I was like, 'Damn.'"

I am curious if there is a body of work that has covered this already,
or if there is a current theoretical perspective on this construction.

I'm trying to find any references about the usefulness of using
"motherese" type properties (especially the exaggerated pitch contours,
but other properties are of interest as well) in teaching a second
language.

Thanks!

Laura Wagner

Department of Psychology
University of Massachusetts - Amherst
wagnerpsych.umass.edu