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Roland Barthes and Language Theory, 2002.
Examines the structuralist semiotic theory of sociologist Roland Barthes.
1,676 words (approx. 6.7 pages), 5 sources, MLA, $ 54.95
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Abstract
In Roland Barthes' structuralist semiotic approach to sociology, it is clear that much insight into the character of society and culture can be derived by linguistic analogy. The paper shows that Barthes develops the view that language has a dual function that is public, available for all to see in a social context on one hand and on the other a psychological, i.e., private or imaginative, function. Creative and imaginative processes are associated with the impulse to respond to and express or interpret the public or social meanings that are made in and by language in its cultural function. The paper shows that much of what the individual experiences as either social or personal begins with language--identity, features of experience, narrative, communication with others and so on.
From the Paper
"Thus Barthes looks at how linguistic forms, whether advertisements, art, rhetoric, or forms of social organization that function as communication, are actually used, with a view toward showing how their function indicates or signifies meaning for the (personal and private) experience of society. In other words, Barthes is looking at what social, public expressions intend to accomplish, with a view toward exposing the truth of or agenda behind those communicative processes. Signs and symbols, including language but also images, art, sounds, and so on, are the media of communication. The signs may be psychological or physical or both, and either manifestly or by way of some kind of code meant to convey (or conceal) meaning, these signs (signifiers) refer to or stand for (signify) some thing. The semiotic sociology, then, seeks to account for, or so to speak "decode," what is seen or expressed overtly. It is necessary because all linguistic designations come from somewhere."
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Scientific Method, 2002.
This paper defines and analyzes the tenants of the scientific method, a procedure for the empirical investigation of a problem.
827 words (approx. 3.3 pages), 9 sources, MLA, $ 29.95
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Abstract
According to the paper, the procedure includes observation, deduction and research question development, hypothesis formation and experimental testing. The writer illustrates how employing the scientific method consists of seven steps-- observation; idea; logic, major and minor premise; hypothesis, necessary conclusion; hypothesis testing and experimental design; data evaluation; and results interpretation.
From the Paper
"Step four, hypothesis with necessary conclusion, involves the development of a testable hypothesis. When the hypothesis is generated, valid selection criteria must be used. This criteria includes the following: multiple working hypotheses, with a minimum of null and principle hypotheses; objectivity; presentation which seeks to gain knowledge rather than to presume outcome; falsifiability, hypotheses must be susceptible to adverse developments; consideration of the most parsimonious hypothesis when multiple equal ones are given; and the hypothesis must be logically valid (Gastaldo, 1999, pp. 1-2)."
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Profanity for the 21st Century, 2003.
A paper supporting the use of profanity in modern America. Looks into the origins and current status of profane words and proves their harmlessness.
2,020 words (approx. 8.1 pages), 7 sources, MLA, $ 63.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses America's progressing desensitization to profanity and argues that this trend is not a bad thing. By comparing profane language from the past to modern usage, as well as using examples from television and movies, the author proves that it could be possible for the idea of bad words to be erased and replaced with the idea of bad connotation alone. Specific emphasis on the word ?fuck?. The paper includes a graph.
From the Paper
"?Fuck [taboo]: v.t. To cheat, trick, take advantage of, deceive, or treat someone unfairly. Very common?? (Wentworth, 203-4) This is just around one-tenth of the definition of the word ?fuck? from Harold Wentworth?s Dictionary of American Slang. An interesting point to be taken from this partial definition is the seemingly paradoxical inclusion of both the ?[taboo]? tag for the word and the phase ?Very common.? Can a word really be taboo (forbidden/unmentionable) if it is in ?very common? usage? Apparently it can. There are a huge amount of taboo ?bad? words in the English language, words that are spoken with relative freedom but censored from media and prohibited in schools. This censorship, however, has been rapidly losing its importance in American society, with movies, television and everyday conversations becoming more accepting of these curse words that were once so feared. Many censorship activists say that this lax attitude toward profanity is a sign of the decline of American society, and that steps must be taken to set the United States back on track to being a less offensive country. I say, ?Fuck that.? Despite the negative connotation in which I just used the word, ?fuck? and other profane words can be used with positive connotations, and thus it is not truly the words themselves that are disagreeable, but the connotation with which they are used. The desensitization of America to profanity is not a bad thing; it is possible, if trends continue, for the idea of bad words to be almost completely demolished and replaced by the idea of bad connotation."
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The Bonobo Ape, 2002.
Examines language, memory and planning in the bonobo ape.
13,987 words (approx. 55.9 pages), 32 sources, MLA, $ 249.95
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Abstract
This paper is in two parts. The first part reviews and summarizes past work in ape language research, including the Gardners' work with the chimp Washoe, Francine Patterson's work with Koko the gorilla, Lyn Miles's work with Chantek the orangutan and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh's work with bonobos and chimps. The second part is a proposal for an experiment to teach American Sign Language to a group of bonobos and then use these communicative abilities to test their memory and planning abilities. It includes descriptions of bonobo behavior in the wild and captivity, an argument for gestural language as the first human language and a description of the means of teaching and testing the bonobos in the proposed experiment. The paper includes a table and illustrations.
From the Paper
"During the Oligocene epoch of the Tertiary period, a small monkey-like creature lived in the rainforest trees in central Africa. About thirty million years ago, this primate ancestor diverged into two distinct species; one would father the line of Old World monkeys, including baboons and macaques. The other would become the predecessor of modern apes and humans. Around twenty-two million years ago gibbons split away from that line and formed a branch known as the lesser apes. Six or seven million years later, orangutans too diverged from the ape lineage and migrated to the Asian islands of Sumatra and Borneo, where they remained highly arboreal. Another eight or nine million years passed, during which this ape line began to spend more time on the ground, and gorillas split off to become their own species. Two million years more went by, bringing us to the Pliocene epoch, which began about five million years ago. It was at this crucial point in evolutionary history that our ancestors and the ancestors of modern chimpanzees and bonobos took different paths, the former leading to bipedality, ground-based life, and hominization, the latter eventually splitting into two more distinct species about three million years ago, both of whom would remain remarkably similar to us physically, behaviorally, emotionally, and intellectually (Goodall, Hook, Leakey, Linden 1992)."
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Independent Subsystems in Human Memory, 2002.
An examination of how English and Urdu letters of the alphabet are served by independent systems in human memory.
2,838 words (approx. 11.4 pages), 14 sources, MLA, $ 84.95
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Abstract
This paper describes an experiment to examine the systems of the human memory responsible for language processing. It is designed to show how visual information is stored in a visual spatial sketchpad that is involved in manipulating visuo-spatial images. The experiment explores the average storage capacity of this spatial pad and the number of subsystems that might be involved in the processing of various languages. Once verified it establishes a firm ground for comprehension of how languages are processed.
From the Paper
"Long term memory is the capacity store that can store large amounts of information up to long periods of time. Long term memory is used in this experiment for the storage of letters because it has a larger capacity and items entered in the LTM have a bigger retention interval. Short term memory can store up to 5 to 7 letters and hence for the encoding and retrieval of 12 to 13 letters, LTM has to be employed."
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Archaeology of Language Origins, 2000.
This paper gives an archaeological perspective on the origins of language. The writer employs graphs and photographs to trace the source of language in the human brain.
2,922 words (approx. 11.7 pages), 48 sources, MLA, $ 86.95
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Abstract
The paper looks to answer the following questions: Can apes or any other non-humans use symbols or language? How does our understanding of the relationship between mind and brain help us to investigate which fossil hominins first used language? What do we know of the brains of fossil hominins and the constraints on brain size increase? What is language ?as we know it??
From the Paper
"A symbol is considered to be something that ?stands for something else? (Davidson & Noble 1993). Davidson and Noble also suggest a second criterion, that is, symbols as accepted by social custom or convention. A ring worn on a finger can symbolize marriage, (although the social convention varies within groups of people) and is an example containing both criteria. The second criterion cited above stems from Wittgenstien?s ?private language argument?."
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Language Games, 2002.
Discusses Ludwig Wittgenstein's idea of sensation.
1,575 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 6 sources, $ 55.95
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Abstract
Discusses Ludwig Wittgenstein's idea of sensation. Linkage of the sensations (art, aesthetics, religion) as individual sensations linked by language. Idea that language is unexact means of describing the senses. Language games as semantics. The language of aesthetics. Wittgenstein's exercises. Wittgenstein's theories and changing concept of language games. Notion of human culture.
From the Paper
"LANGUAGE GAMES
INTRODUCTION AND THESIS:
Wittgenstein separates the idea of a sensation with that of a word to describe it. How often, for example, have we heard someone say "I feel; your pain!" which, as Wittgenstein would be prompt to point out, is impossible. The sensations, art, aesthetics, and religion are individual sensations, with a communal linkage called "language". But, compared to one's sensations, language is the most inexact means of describing what one feels or senses.
People, as Wittgenstein theorizes, "cannot be said to learn of my sensations only from my behaviour, for I cannot be said to learn of them-I have them" (Wittgenstein, 1953, p. 89). On the other hand, this sort of "investigation" of sensations makes Wittgenstein ask whether "..."
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Semiology Of Language, 2002.
Discusses signs and meaning.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 2 sources, $ 47.95
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Abstract
Discusses signs and meaning. Spoken and written speech, images, symbols, gestures. Communal nature of language; shared meaning. Connection between a work of art and the artist. Example from documentary film of architect/sculptor Maya Lin and her design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Social and political contexts of meaning.
From the Paper
"Semiology is the study of signs and meaning, from the signs we know as language to other forms of communication by means of images, symbols, gestures, and so on. All messages have a relational component. Language is communal in that it has meaning only within a community of people who accept that meaning, and meaning exists only as shared meaning. Semiotics has been applied to language in various ways, including an analysis of how we read and write and understand the written word, with written language seen as a form of symbolic interaction between writer and reader. The semiology of language analyzes the morphemes of language and how they acquire meaning in both spoken and written speech. Signs also come in the form of images, pictures, symbols, and so on, and these have meaning also within a community context."
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Language Acquisition, 2002.
Examines differing concepts of the rationalist and the empiricist theorists on how language is acquired.
2,700 words (approx. 10.8 pages), 11 sources, $ 95.95
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Abstract
Examines differing concepts of the rationalist and the empiricist theorists on how language is acquired. Compares the two approaches as applied to children's first language acquisition. The minds of young children. Structure-oriented & process-oriented groups. Environmental factors. Social interaction vs. cognitive theories. Semantic learning characteristics. Current research.
From the Paper
"The fierce debate between the rationalist and the empiricist theorists on the issue of language acquisition has captured the imagination of the linguistic world for decades. Even though each group has produced results that contribute to the research on language acquisition, the complete process of language acquisition still remains a mystery. While the rationalists? concept of specific language mechanisms in the brain has prevailed for many years, new research by connectionist theorists has tilted the balance towards the empiricists? approach.
In this paper, the two competing approaches will be examined and compared in detail. Their application in children?s discourse will be explored to assess their validity. Finally, the work..."
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The Creoleness of Middle English, 2001.
Asking the question whether Middle English language can be defined as a creole or not.
3,297 words (approx. 13.2 pages), 9 sources, MLA, $ 94.95
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Abstract
This paper deals with the question whether Middle English could be considered a creole or not. In this essay it is argued that Middle English cannot be considered a creole. First the writer looks at the definition of the word creole and then looks at some creolization criteria. Finally, it looks at the "creole hypothesis" i.e. the hypothesis that Middle English would be a creole, in a sociohistorical and sociolinguistic framework.
From the Paper
"There are two terms that need to be defined before going further. The first term is pidgin. In short, a pidgin is a language which has been drastically simplified in structure and vocabulary, in order to serve communication needs. It is no-one?s native language. Pidginization may arise when two language communities come into sudden direct contact, for instance in trade contact or military invasion.
"The second term that needs to be defined is creole. A creole is usually preceded by a pidgin. This is how a pidgin may become a creole: In a few exceptional sociolinguistic circumstances, a pidgin may be adopted as the first language of a community and acquires native speakers. In this case it undergoes elaboration, i.e. creolization. Normally, there is also an expansion in function (Poussa 40)."
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