LINGUIST List 7.875

Tue Jun 11 1996

Qs: Journal proliferation, Ling & Computers, Summer Courses

Editor for this issue: Ljuba Veselinova <lveselinemunix.emich.edu>

Directory

1. Martin Haspelmath, journal proliferation
2. giulietta, Linguistics and Computers Classes
3. Manfred Prokop, Summer courses in Linguistics

I see a need for discussing what I perceive to be the unconstrained
proliferation of linguistics journals in recent years. Would other
LINGUIST readers be interested in commenting on this?

The past few years saw the start of the new journals Language
Variation and Change, Natural Language Semantics, Journal of East
Asian Linguistics, Journal of French Linguistics, Lexicology,
Cognitive Linguistics, Functions of Language. In the near future, we
will see the addition of Linguistic Typology, Journal of Germanic
Linguistics, Bilingualism, English Language and Linguistics, and
probably others.

Is this a healthy trend? Or does it lead to the dilution of the
quality of published research? Is the field of linguistics (and
library budgets worldwide) still growing at a pace to justify this
proliferation? Are a sufficient number of older journals disappearing
to make room for the newcomers? Or is the resulting fragmentation of
the field perhaps inevitable anyway?

A few weeks ago Pier Marco Bertinetto brought up the issue of journal
costs. I feel that we as linguists have more influence on the number
of new journals coming out than on their prices--we could simply
refuse to serve as editors or to adorn their editorial boards.

Martin Haspelmath
(Free University of Berlin)

I 'm interested in knowing of a course for this summer in linguistic
and computer. Especially on how corpora work and are created. Could
anyone give me a clue for some courses with such applications? Or give
me some mailing list which I can subscribe to? I'd really appreciate.


Giulietta

An advanced (MA) student from the University of Giessen, Germany,
would like to take a few courses in summer school in North America
next year. He is especially interested in problems of communication
analysis, comprehensibility, new and old media, etc. from a linguistic
perspective.

Suggestions for locations, course program etc. would be appreciated.

	
- 
Dr. Manfred Prokop
Modern Languages and Comparative Studies, University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E6
Tel: 403/492-3538; Fax: 403/492-2715