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Elsevier

Books in Social sciences and humanities

  • Word Order Universals

    • 1st Edition
    • John A Hawkins
    • English
    Word Order Universals is a detailed account of word order universals and their role in theories of historical change. The starting point is the Greenberg data set, which is comprised of a sample of 142 languages for certain limited co-occurrences of basic word orders, and a 30-language sample for more detailed information. In the Language Index, the 142 have been expanded to some 350 languages. Using the original Greenberg samples and the Expanded Sample, an alternative set of descriptive word order statements is provided. Comprised of eight chapters, this book begins with an introduction to the theory of word order universals, encompassing topics such as word order variation across languages and theories of universal grammar. The reader is then introduced to the work of Joseph Greenberg and Theo Vennemann on word order universals; implicational universals in Greenberg's data and the Expanded Sample; and the predictions made by implicational and distributional universals for word order change. Reformulated universals for historical reconstruction are also discussed, along with some laws of reconstruction derived from synchronic universals. The final chapter is devoted to the Expanded Sample, with particular reference to its quantities as well as its typological and genetic classification. This monograph will be a useful resource for specialists in grammar and linguistics.

  • Developing Country Debt

    Pergamon Policy Studies on Socio-Economic Development
    • 1st Edition
    • Lawrence G. Franko + 1 more
    • English
    Developing Country Debt presents a variety of views and perspectives on the topic of debt in developing countries, with emphasis on the revolutionary effects of the post-1973 OPEC oil prices on the world's economic system. The book shows how the problem of developing country debt has become inexorably intertwined with the successful functioning of the global economic system. This book is comprised of 14 chapters and opens with a historical overview of developing nations' debt before turning to LDC debt since the 1973 OPEC price increases and the developing countries' abilities to carry debt. The myths of debt are also analyzed from a banker's perspective. The next section presents case studies detailing the economic and political conditions of selected countries with substantial debt and varying degrees of economic difficulty, including the Philippines, Jamaica, Turkey, and Peru. The remaining chapters examine alternative proposals for debt relief and place the analysis of developing country debt in a broader, global context. LDC debt is considered from three perspectives: the development needs of LDCs; the safety and soundness of United States banks; and the U.S. national interest. The role of the International Monetary Fund as a lender of last resort is also considered. The final chapter assesses the implications of debt for trade and the prospects for world economic growth. This monograph will be of interest to economists, bankers, politicians, and policymakers.

  • Linguistic Evidence

    Language, Power, and Strategy in the Courtroom
    • 1st Edition
    • William M. O'Barr
    • English
    With the permission of a North Carolina court, more than 150 hours of courtroom speech were recorded for this study. These tapes provided a rich archive for a variety of different types of inquiry, including the ethnography of courtroom speech and social psychological experiments focused on effects of different modes of presenting information in courts of law. Four sets of linguistic variables and related experimental studies have constituted a major portion of the research: (1) "powerful" versus "powerless" speech; (2) hypercorrect versus formal speech; (3) narrative versus fragmented testimony, and (4) simultaneous speech by witnesses and lawyers. All four sets of studies focus on the central question of importance of form over content of testimony.

  • Chinese Education Since 1949

    Academic and Revolutionary Models
    • 1st Edition
    • Theodore Hsi-en Chen
    • English
    Chinese Education Since 1949: Academic and Revolutionary Models covers the developments in the education in China. This book is composed of 11 chapters that discuss the contrasting models of education: Academic Model and Revolutionary Model. It addresses the effectiveness of combining these models. This book begins with the description of a political education; ideological remolding; development of a new school system; assessment of worker-peasant education; types of literacy campaigns; review of the Language Reform after 1949; description of Spare-time Education; and analysis of Sovietized Education. Other chapters consider the study of Friendship Association, the Hundred Flowers campaign, and the response of the so-called intellectuals. A chapter is devoted to the educational revolution and transitional period. The last chapter focuses on the revolutionary model of education. The book can provide useful information to historians, sociologists, students, and researchers.

  • Nasals, Nasalization, and the Velum

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 5
    • English
    Although nasalization has been discussed in the context of more general aspects of linguistics in other books, this text is the first and primary resource focusing solely on nasalization. This volume features articles discussing all aspects of nasalization, including physiology, perception, aerodynamics, acoustics, phonetic and phonological representations, research methodology, and instrumentation. Each chapter examines important research advances achieved within the last ten years and closes with a detailed discussion of the current research.

  • Getting Motivated by Ernest Dichter

    The Secret Behind Individual Motivations by the Man Who Was Not Afraid to Ask Why?
    • 1st Edition
    • Ernest Dichter
    • English
    Getting Motivated by Ernest Dichter: The Secret Behind Individual Motivations by the Man Who Was Not Afraid to Ask ""Why?"" presents a collection of personal account of the life experiences of Ernest Dichter. This book provides several recollections in the personal experiences of the author arranged in such a way that they hang together as psychological chain reactions rather than in a chronological or systematic fashion. This book is organized into 27 chapters with each chapter representing a specific experience that depicts a lesson in life. This book is a valuable resource for sociologists and psychologists. Readers who are seeking motivation in their lives will also find this book useful.

  • Consumer Education in the Human Services

    Pergamon Policy Studies
    • 1st Edition
    • Alan Gartner + 2 more
    • English
    Consumer Education in the Human Services: A Social Policy Book focuses on the trends in consumer education and inclusion of the human services sector, aside from budgeting and purchase of goods, among the considerations in consumer education. The selection first offers information on consumers in the service society and consumer education and advocacy, including the service society, activating consumers, and models of consumer education. The text also looks at consumer education from the feminist perspective. Topics include feminist housing, transportation, and medical care. The manuscript ponders on low-income consumers and disabled consumers as enabled producers, as well as facts regarding low-income service consumers and poor consumers in the 1970s. The text also concentrates on health care, self-care and health planning, and costs of medical care. Private insurance discrimination, flaws of family-related insurance coverage, and women and the health delivery system are discussed. The book is a valuable source of information for readers interested in consumer education.

  • Foreign Language Learning, Today and Tomorrow

    Essays in Honor of Emma M. Birkmaier
    • 1st Edition
    • Jermaine D. Arendt + 2 more
    • English
    Foreign Language Learning, Today and Tomorrow is a collection of papers that attempts to shed lights into the concerns and issues that will be encountered by foreign language instructors. The title first deals with the futurism in foreign language learning, and then proceeds to humanism in learning foreign languages. Next, the selection presents a thematic approach in learning a second language. The text then covers the individualization of foreign language learning. Chapter 5 cites some studies, which claim that children can learn to read far earlier. The selection also covers the system for evaluation of a foreign language program, along with the sequence of learning activities that work well in the classroom. Chapter 8 talks about possibility of language learning thrive as an elective in American schools, while Chapter 9 deals with individualizing and sequencing training for inter-cultural communication. The last two chapters detail the alternatives in education and suggestions for the continuing development of pre- and in-service programs for teachers of second languages. The book will be of great use to foreign language instructors. Individuals who are involved in the design and implementation of school curriculum will also benefit from the text.

  • Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory

    Selections for Students from Volumes 1-4
    • 1st Edition
    • Michael B. Schiffer
    • English
    Advances in Archeological Method and Theory: Selections for Students from Volumes 1 through 4 provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of archeological method and theory. This book covers a variety of topics, including cult archeology, cultural evolution, models of hunter–gatherer adaptation, and archeobotany. Organized into 13 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the general cultural significance of cult archeology, from their political and economic aspect to their symbolic meanings. This text then examines the applicability of evolutionary theory to archeology. Other chapters consider the fundamental principles of adaptation as applied to human behavior and review the state of application of adaptation approaches in archeology. This book discusses as well the research on hunter–gatherer adaptation. The final chapter describes the kinds of studies of modern material culture that archeologists are doing and their reasons for doing them. This book is a valuable resource for archeologists and anthropologists.

  • The Sociolinguistics of the Deaf Community

    • 1st Edition
    • Ceil Lucas
    • English
    This is a unified collection of the best and most current empirical studies of socio-linguistic issues in the deaf community, including topics such as studies of sign language variation, language contact and change, and sign language policy.Established linguistic concerns with deaf language are reexamined and redefined, and several new issues of general importance to all sociolinguists are raised and explored. This is a book which interests all sociolinguists as well as deaf professionals, teachers of the deaf, sign language interpreters, and anyone else dealing on a day-to-day basis with the everyday language choices that deaf persons must make.

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