Multilingualism and Applied Comparative Linguistics

Reviews / Votes

'Multilingualism and applied comparative linguistics is an impressive collection of articles, all based on original research, that investigate key and current issues in applied linguistics. Its main focus is on multilingualism and intereactions between speakers of different languages, but it also branches out into the areas of translation and interpreting, and the relationship between language and culture. It does all of this whilst maintaining a strong overall coherence. It is thus a 'must read' for anyone working in the areas of applied linguistics, translation studies, or TESOL."-Dr Jeannette Littlemore, Senior Lecturer, Centre for English Language Studies, University of Birmingham"This is an unusually solid and interesting multi-author collection of papers - a number of which, I venture to say, will be widely cited in years to come. Two principle strands of thematic kinship among the contributions are indicated by the title. Additionally, all eleven chapters have clear and direct bearing on foreign language teaching with all but the first presenting new experimental findings. One attractive feature of the collection is that it asks, and answers, a wide variety of pertinent questions, some well off the beaten track. For example: *Is English more idiomatic than Spanish? If not, a lexical approach should be applicable to Spanish too. (Helene Stengers)*Because it has traditionally been aimed at bilinguals, interpreting training focuses on such matters as memory training and includes no ostensible language teaching. But do classic methods of interpreting training work as language teaching activities and if so, in what respects and why? (Alessandro Zannirato)*Does increased use of lexical chunks really result in learners being perceived as more proficient? (June Eyckmans)*Are teachers of L2 for the specific purposes of business and economics justified in thinking that L2 technical terms require relatively little attention (compared to sub-technical terms) on account of such factors as greater transparency? (Lieve Vangehuchten)*What does controlled experimentation say about the relative effectiveness of teaching grammar with consistent, explicit reference to the mother tongue? (Michal B. Paradowski)"-Seth Lindstromberg, Hilderstone College, Broadstairs, kent