Not only is April 23 the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, but the UN has chosen it as UN English Language Day in tribute to the Bard. If growth in the number of speakers is a measure of success, then the English language certainly deserves to be celebrated. Since the end of World War I, […] … learn more→
Tag Archives: English
English has taken over academia: but the real culprit is not linguistic
English Lit degree: Shakespeare OUT, Sex and Ethnicity IN
I’ve bemoaned what’s happened to mathematics in higher education quite a few times. “College” mathematics has been defined down, down, down, so that the material that is today taught in the 10th grade is also taught today in college, as College Algebra. The reason for this strange redefinition of terms is because administration has a […] … learn more→
Should Faculty be able to speak English?
By now it is a cliché, the math or science professor whom no one can understand. If one complains one might be accused of being culturally insensitive or racist. Or told to be open-minded and listen more carefully (I suppose the mind and ear are connected). Or worse, and commonly, “Well, we couldn’t find and […] … learn more→
English’s self-inflicted wounds
What happened to English? According to the Modern Language Association, in the late 1960s and early 70s, English accounted for about 7.5 percent of all bachelor’s degrees granted in the United States, but the portion plummeted to around 3.5 percent in the early 80s, climbed a bit to nearly 5 percent in the early 90s, […] … learn more→
Unconscious language learning
Unconscious learning could be the secret to speeding up learning a second language. … learn more→
