LINGUIST List 3.245

Thu 12 Mar 1992

Disc: Intro. Texts

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1. Vicki Fromkin, Re: 3.237 Queries: Intro. Lx, Polarity, Idioms, EST
2. "Michael Kac", Re: 3.237 Queries: Intro. Lx, Polarity, Idioms, EST

Message 1: Re: 3.237 Queries: Intro. Lx, Polarity, Idioms, EST

re. Intro Lx for Chinese students. A couple of years ago Fromkin &
Rodman was translated into Chinese and published by the Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences. I do not have a copy however but the two linguists
who did the translation planned I know to put it in a context which
could be understood by Chinese students. The translators were Chen Ping
(PhD from UCLA) and Shen. Wish I could tell you more. Also wish I
had a copy. Not sure any of this will help but ....

Vicki Fromkin

Message 2: Re: 3.237 Queries: Intro. Lx, Polarity, Idioms, EST

To Mike Maxwell: To compound the mystery, *off the wall* DOES appear to
be usable prenominally (unlike *off the cuff*): so e.g. *That was a to-
tally off the wall statement* seems fine. Why? I dunno.

Warren Brewer's query about a suitable text for his introductory course in
Taiwan, and comparable queries that come in to LINGUIST with some frequency,
puzzle me a little. Most of us have the technological wherewithal to dis-
pense with conventional textbooks altogether. We can write up our lecture
notes on our word processors, make high quality hard copy thereof and repro-
duce them cheaply via Kinko's and other copy services. Granted, it may take
some initial work to do the writeup but once you've done it you've got
(a) a text tailored exactly to what you're going to teach; (b) something
you can easily update and modify; and (c) a text that will cost your students
a fraction of what they'd have to pay for a book from a publisher. For this
reason, I've essentially stopped using textbooks for low-level classes.

Michael Kac