Abstract
This paper reviews the TELD-3 or the Test of Early Language Development - Third Edition, a standardized screening test assessing language capabilities in children between two to seven years of age. The paper describes the contents of the test kit and discusses the measuring tools used in this system. The paper also praises the TELD-3 for being a child friendly assessment tool that can be effectively used to assess receptive language and expressive language strengths and weaknesses within a child, as well as to evaluate student progress after interventions. The paper also points out, however, that as the norms for the TELD-3 were derived from a sample of children residing in 35 American states it is limited by it's American formed results and its bias towards the English language.

From the Paper
"The TELD-3 is a child friendly assessment tool. Test items involve realistic, colored pictures that hold the child's interest. In addition, test items are varied and involve activities such as listening to a story. For younger children, test materials also include actual objects, such as a doll, shoe and blocks. As a result of the stimulating format of the test, children are less likely to become bored and restless. Also, the test procedure is designed to facilitate breaks in between subtests, thus reducing fatigue in test takers."

Tags:learning measurement, language development, children

Abstract
This paper describes the evolution of the word humour from its early appearance as a Latin noun through the ages with several references to works by Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare.

From the Paper
""Humour," according to Adrian Room's Dictionary of Changes in Meaning, is one of the most renowned words in the English language for its radical semantic shift (143). It is a descendant of the Latin noun umor, "moisture," which is related to the verbs umere "to be wet" and uvescere "to become wet"; and adjective umidus "wet" (Shipley, 441). The addition of the letter h to the beginning of the word is the result of an incorrect folk association to the Latin humus, which means earth or soil (Klein, 750; Harper).
"Its Indo-European root is ugw- and wegw- for "wet, moist, to sprinkle" (Klein, 750; Claiborne). The Old Norse wegw led to the expression "in its wake" from the Germanic *wakw- , "wet spot," referring to a crack in the ice. It has been suggested that its suffixed zero-grade form *ugw-sm is the base of the Latin humere. The suffixed zero-grade form *ugw-no led to the Greek hygros, "wet, liquid" (Watkins). Other words coming from the same root include the Armenian oyc, "fresh," and the Old Norse vokr, "moist, damp" (Klein, 750)."

Tags:root, language, meaning

Abstract
This paper describes the use of the word "like" in its two least popular meaning among English lovers and most common form among English speakers: the quotative, as in "and I was like, 'what?'", and the hedge word, as in "I like bombed on that exam". The author points out that, although she feels embarrassed about how her use of the word affects people's perception of her intelligence, she feels very strongly, as others do, that the current uses of the word "like" have very real, even innovative, purposes. The paper relates that the ability of "like" to indirectly quote or relay speech, behavior and thought with one word sets it apart from other words with similar functions. The author states that she sometimes uses the word to be purposely and purposefully imprecise. The paper concludes that informal usages of the English language help communicate sincerity and friendliness and demonstrate a natural process for the standard to eventually become archaic.

From the Paper
"But, despite what Lily Thorns may like to believe, the quotative and hedge-word "like" were not born of wealthy teenaged girls from Southern California in the 1980s. In the 1962 novel "A Clockwork Orange" by English author Anthony Burgess, the hedge-work "like" is also frequently used by the narrator, Alex - a young man of high intelligence, in fact. The usage is not exclusively American. I also notice it was used by my aunt and uncle, both of whom are in their 50s and were born and raised in Manchester (as was Anthony Burgess, for that matter), as a hedge word--although usually at the end of their sentences, much like the hedge-phrase "as it were". "

Tags:popular, archaic, function, emphasis, grammaticalization

Abstract
This paper explains that, although there is a larger amount of evidence supporting the notion that human language develops from natural and inborn processes, socialization and learning is important to the development of language. The paper first describes the basic components of language, which are classified as content morphemes and grammatical morphemes. The paper then presents research to support both arguments that language is innate and that the development of human language is closely linked to the development and transformation of human cognition.

From the Paper
"From day one, we seem naturally equipped to develop and explore language. When a new infant is born, he/she is immediately able to distinguish his/her mother's voice. Young infants start to babble at a very young age as if they are trying to communicate with one's caregivers. Amazingly enough, deaf children initially start to babble as well, but eventually stop verbal communication because they do not hear any feedback. An interesting aspect of language development is an infant's ability to be sensitive to all languages when under the age of 6 months."

Tags:inborn, morphemes, non-communicative, devices, cognition

Abstract
This paper uses evidence from ten different sources to analyze the hypothesis that honeybees can communicate the relative distance, direction and even the quality of the food source from their hive to their colleagues with their unique "dance language." This paper also examines alternative explanations and possibilities for the evidences.

Outline
Hypothesis
Evidence
Alternatives
Possibilities
Summary

From the Paper
"Even with the overwhelming contradicting evidences to Frisch's original experiments, his original hypothesis of honeybees using forms of "dances" (dance language) to communicate the distance, direction, and quality of food sources is still true. The dances never had to be 100% accurate nor reliable for it to be considered true-even we (humans) make mistakes with our languages. For example, if you forgot someone's directions, does that disprove the fact someone communicated to you the directions using a language in the first place? There is no way to proof whether the bees that did not locate the resources just chose not to (which brings up more questions), or maybe just have forgotten the information-they do have very small brains!"

Tags:frisch, hive, colonies, tail

Abstract
This essay begins with a quotation taken from the Bible, describing the story of the Tower of Babel. It then proceeds to break down language, from its origins through its evolution down to modern times. It attempts to portray that although Babel is a myth, its premise is true-all language and thus people were cut from essentially the same cloth.

From the Paper
?And the Lord said, ?Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.?? (Genesis 11:6-7) It is the humans? ability to communicate through spoken word which differentiates us from our primitive counterparts. The legend of Babel identifies language as the tie that binds a society together and denotes a direct correlation between language and the advancement of a particular society. According to tradition, after the Lord destroyed the world by flood, the sons of Noah, who spoke one language and who were descendants of the same origin, were given the task to repopulate the earth. Perpetually plagued by the sins of Adam, they were driven to build a tower so great that they themselves would be seen as gods. Therefore the Lord debilitated them by removing their ability to communicate with one another, which forced them to diverge into separate, distinct societies. Although the story grossly over simplifies both the complex history of man and the evolution of language, its premise does have some merit. Popular modern languages can be traced ancestrally to a few families. Furthermore, languages that have survived - English as the most prominent example - are considerably indebted to the influence of the powerful societies that spoke them."

Tags:babel, bible, comparsion, english, european, indo, language, myths, stories

From the Paper
"The work of Noam Chomsky overturned all former approaches to language, from ancient Greeks to those of his own teachers, and challenged assumptions about linguistic research, including both empiricist and nonempiricist methods (Newmeyer 1986:66). One of modern linguistics most influential contributors, Noam Chomsky, rose from a humble background to not only add fresh insight, but to revolutionize the way the world thought of linguistics as a discipline. Chomsky is a renowned professor of linguistics at MIT, in addition to being one of North America's most prominent political dissidents; he has authored over 30 political books dissecting such issues as U.S. intervention in the developing world, the political economy of human rights and the propaganda role of corporate media. This care for the unvoiced people of the world shines through in his theory of the innateness and creativity of language. Through a careful look at Chomsky's life, philosophy of language, and contribution to the field of linguistics, one can see his overwhelming power over the now widely accepted notions regarding the discipline. His substantial addition to the field cannot be overlooked in a survey of linguistics, for he single-handedly created numerous breakthroughs in theories and research styles."

Tags:language, linguistics

Abstract
This paper examines the globalization of culture and how the American popular culture shapes it. It investigates how economic dominance, communications technologies, social and political events influence global mass media. The paper also describes the role of the English language in creating a single world culture.

From the Paper
"When we look at the dominant form of culture that characterizes our society today, it is often referred to as "globalization." But to many, this idea of a unified world is characterized by the concept of "Americanization." To a large extent, the shared culture around the world is becoming more and more influenced by American culture. There are many reasons for this, but primarily these are the result of the economic dominance of that nation, the development of global systems of communication, and the spread of English as the new international language. The following paper will address all of these issues in order to fully understand the reasons why the United States has a stranglehold on the global market in mass culture."

Tags:americanization, globalization

Abstract
This paper tidentifies and analyzes the important contributions made by Noam Chomsky to the field of lingusitics. It looks at important concepts such as generative grammar, I-language and universal grammar. The resistance to the behaviorist approach to understanding language is ultimately linked to his anti-establishment politics.

From the Paper
"The idea of universal grammar is a central one to Chomsky's linguistic theory. Inherent to this idea is the concept that human beings are equipped with a distinct language faculty in our minds; this faculty is governed by an innate understanding of universal grammar, "All the minds of human beings include the principles that movement is structure-dependent and that heads are on certain sides of phrases; they are part of the common Universal Grammar. It is not relevant to UG theory that English has a particular set of properties, French another, German another; what matters is what they have in common" (Cook & Newson, 1996, p. 32)."

Tags:anti, counterculture, establishment, generative, grammar, language, politics, universal

Abstract
The paper shows that when we think about communication, we think about the spoken word and that our thoughts are always about the words people use and their fluency of speech. Yet, at the same time, we are also taking in information from nonlinguistic sources. The author notes that people's mannerisms, clothing, and appearance are also important, as well as their tone of voice. Researches have estimated that, in face-to-face communication, as much as 90 percent of the social meaning may be carried in the nonverbal message and that facial appearance and response may contribute more to our meaning of their message than all their words. The paper explores the importance of both types of communication and how they are put across.

From the Paper
"As popularly used, language refers to a system of words. This development is not surprising, since words distinguish human communication from that of lower animals. Words, as symbols, usually convey information in a quite deliberate, no instinctive way. For this reason, language is sometimes treated as a set of verbal symbols."

Tags:symbol, coding, culture, language