Lessons on the English Verb: No Expression without Representation (review)

This article investigates the effects of ethnic acceptance and prejudice on English language learning among immigrant nonnative speakers. During 2004 and 2005, the author conducted participatory dialogues among six Vietnamese and Mexican adult immigrant English language learners. The researcher sought to answer five questions: (1) What are some nonnative English speakers’ experience regarding the way native speakers treat them? (2) How have nonnative English speakers’ experiences of ethnic acceptance or ethnic prejudice affected their learning of English? (3) What do nonnative English speakers think they need in order to lower their anxiety as they learn a new language? (4) What can native English speakers do to lower nonnative speakers’ anxiety? (5) What can nonnative English speakers do to lower their anxiety with native English speakers? Even though many of the adult immigrant participants experienced ethnic prejudice, they developed strategies to overcome anxiety, frustration, and fear. The dialogues generated themes of acceptance, prejudice, power, motivation, belonging, and perseverance, all factors essential to consider when developing English language learning programs for adult immigrants.

This work studies two related phenomena in human language: the ability of verbs and other lexical items to describe how a situation (event or state) develops or holds in time (sc LEXICAL ASPECT) and the view some verbal auxiliaries and affixes present of the development or result of situations at a given time (sc GRAMMATICAL ASPECT). Through this investigation I reveal a formal situation structure represented by aspectual phenomena, a structure to which other linguistic elements refer, particularly tense. I examine data in a variety of languages, taking particular care to distinguish between aspect semantics and cancellable pragmatic implicatures associated with aspect forms. The semantic-pragmatic distinction provides a tool for determining what properties need to be accounted for in the semantic representation and what may be adduced as evidence for these properties. In particular, I show that oppositions generally assumed to be semantically equipollent ($+/-$) are semantically privative ($+$/unmarked), with unmarked forms interpreted in accordance with pragmatic principles. Lexical aspect semantics is represented by the privative features ($+$telic), ($+$dynamic), and ($+$durative). These features define the Event Time (ET) as a situation structure consisting of a nucleus and a coda. Grammatical aspect oppositions, also represented privatively, crucially interact with this structure: ($+$imperfective) views situations intersecting a Reference Time (RT) at the nucleus, and ($+$perfective) views them at the coda. The conception of grammatical aspect as a view of the ET-RT intersection allows the representation of tense to be limited to a relation between a RT and the deictic center (C). Complex temporal phenomena--perfect and extended tenses--are shown to be interactions between grammatical aspect and tense. The privative analysis allows aspect semantics to be built up monotonically--from the lexical aspect ET features, the grammatical aspect view of the ET, and tense. The semantics restricts pragmatic interpretation in principled ways, based on marked and unmarked features. Chapter 1 introduces theoretical issues and assumptions. Chapters 2-4 outline the semantic structure of lexical aspect, grammatical aspect, and tense, respectively. Chapters 5-6 apply the analysis to the aspect and tense systems of English and New Testament Koine Greek.

Douglas W. Rae, The Political Consequences of Electoral Laws. Revised edition. New Haven and London: Yale University Press [Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press’, 1971, pp. xi, 203. - Douglas W. Rae and Michael Taylor, The Analysis of Political Cleavages. New Haven and London: Yale University Press [Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press], 1970, pp. vii, 152. - Volume 5 Issue 3

The progressive aspect in stative verbs, due to their semantic, and in achievement verbs, due to their occurrence at a single moment, is widely recognized as unacceptable and uncommon. This paper reports on the judgment of EFL learners of English as well as native speakers on compatibility of progressive aspect with these two verb categories. To the mentioned aim, 70 EFL learners of English, assigned to four groups of elementary, low intermediate, high intermediate and advanced learners, as well as 10 native speakers were chosen as the participants of the present study. A test of grammatically judgment of progressive form in state and achievement verbs in which the participants were given some sentences containing state and achievement verbs in progressive form along with some fillers was devised and the participants were asked to evaluate if they were grammatically acceptable or not. The results showed that the majority of native speakers judged progressive use in both state and achievement verbs as acceptable while advanced learners, with a wide margin, considered progressive forms unacceptable. When the results of all groups were analyzed, it was concluded that the higher the level of participants was, the more they accepted the progressive form as unacceptable.

Poetry as a discourse is arranged by grammatical and lexical aspects. Therefore, to know what grammatical and lexical aspects are used by the author in writing the poem Papua, this study uses a method called the descriptive method. The grammatical aspects contained in the poem Papua, namely referential (reference) consist of (1) reference persona (first person singular, first person singular bound form, second person singular, and second person singular bound form), (2) demonstrative reference and (3) comparative reference and coupling (conjunctions) and conjunctions (conjunctions) consist of addition conjunctions (additives) and causal conjunctions. The lexical aspects contained in the poem Papua, namely repetition consist of epizeuksis repetitions and anaphora repetitions, synonym phrases with phrases, and absolute antonymy. Both of these aspects, grammatical and lexical aspects, are used by poets to compose word by word to produce a cohesive and coherent poetic text.

The adoption of linguistic rules in native and non-native speakers: Evidence from a Wug task

This article presents data in which some Sino-Korean verbs behave like dyadic verbs, while others behave like monadic verbs. To account for this difference in adicity, a syntactic analysis of Sino-Korean verb formation is offered under the Distributed Morphology framework: the sharp contrast in adicity is attributed to the distinction between verb formation from roots and verb formation from non-roots; specifically, dyadic verbs are root-derived and monadic verbs are word-derived or non-root-derived. In the latter case, a Sino-Korean root merges with a truncated word. Whereas in the former case, a Sino-Korean root combines another root. In the meantime, the possibility is entertained that such a mode of verb formation may revolve around so-called multiple object constructions in Korean. Extending the present analysis to English data, the article concludes itself by touching upon the point that the current analysis may also be applied to some English noun-containing verbs such as monadic sight-see and dyadic baby-sit.

This paper describes and compares reflexive verbs in English and French. In collecting the data, a number of books and research works related to the subject have been analysed, using the contrastive method. Results of the analysis indicate that reflexives display a great difference between the two languages. The main observed similarity occurs with the emphatic form. Indeed, the English pronouns “myself”, “himself”, “ourselves” etc, and their French counterparts moi-même, lui-même, nous-mêmes are used in the same way. Points of differences are presented as follows: while French puts the pronominal clitics me, te, se, nous, vous before the verb, English places pronouns after e.g., se blesser “to hurt oneself”. One of most important differences that several verbs take reflexive pronouns in French while their English counterparts don’t e.g., se demander “to wonder”. It has also been noted that, in English, the same pronouns are used to express both emphatic and non-emphatic forms while French distinctively uses toi-même, elles- mêmes etc. to emphasize; and the pronominal clitics in simple forms. In the reciprocal voice, the English pronouns “each other” and “one another” are less ambiguous than their French corresponding ones. For instance, Nous nous aimons means both “we love ourselves” (reflexivity) and “we love each other / one another” (reciprocity). Finally, it is shown that some English verbs do not appear with reciprocal pronouns but their French equivalents do e.g., “to meet” se rencontrer.

Reviewed by: Quebec: The Story of Three Sieges; A Military History John R. Grodzinski Quebec: The Story of Three Sieges; A Military History. Stephen Manning. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2009. Pp. 194, $34.95 The many battles fought at Quebec have been a source of endless fascination to historians and the subject of many books and articles. This entry is one of several titles that appeared during the 250th anniversary of the Battle of the Heights of Abraham and was prepared [End Page 765] by British author Stephen Manning, an honorary visiting professor at the University of Exeter, who specializes in Victorian military history. His fascination with military events at Quebec comes from the fact that on three occasions in the eighteenth century, Quebec was at the heart of two different colonial conflicts that had significant continental and transatlantic implications and now form a shared history with Canada, America, Britain, and France. Manning's aim was to examine two battles from the Seven Years' War between Wolfe and Montcalm in 1759 and Lévis and Murray in 1760, along with the siege of 1775 and 1776 during the American War of Independence. Manning also chose to make this a populist history and so avoided the use of endnotes, which he feared would limit the book's appeal to a broader readership. This decision is unfortunate, as it would be interesting to learn how the author used several stimulating primary source materials from the National Army Museum dealing with the 1759 battle and the American siege. The narrative decidedly takes the Anglo, or rather, English-speaking perspective, as the text and bibliography reveal. There is cursory discussion of French commanders, strategy, and plans, just enough to set the stage or provide some colour from the opponent's side without really providing a solid contextual understanding of the challenges France faced. Nevertheless, the author has produced an engaging overview of the three sieges that serves as a useful introduction to the wars he examines. The author offers the usual praise of Wolfe, who 'verged on the brilliant' (49), but also gives some credit to the efforts of the Royal Navy during the campaign. Indeed, the Royal Navy's role in what was essentially an amphibious operation with elements of an assault rivercrossing has not been well explored by historians. Thus, it is probable that it was officers of the navy and not Wolfe who had 'awareness of the tide and moon' (49) in order to set the assault date. Manning makes particular mention of Rear Admiral Charles Holmes and Captain James Shads who commanded the landing force and it would have been useful to learn more about them. However, it is the land battles, not joint operations that are central to this account of the Battle of Quebec. The author also tackles several myths, including Wolfe's courting death the day of the battle or the delivery of the first British volleys, which the author explains was not a volley by the entire British line in unison; rather the fire commenced on the British right and then progressed leftwards, unit by unit. Unfortunately, without notes it is [End Page 766] difficult to determine how the author balanced the various accounts to reach his conclusions. Sainte Foy is very much a dénouement to this story. Despite the loss of Quebec, the French under Lévis could upset British plans, revealing that while the fall of Quebec was important to British war aims, Montreal would have to be taken and the remaining French field army defeated. Unfortunately for Lévis, he could not resist the reinforced and resupplied forces at Quebec and two other armies that all soon converged on Montreal. Fifteen years after Sainte Foy, Quebec was again under siege, with the British now cast in the role of the besieged when rebelling American colonists sought to eliminate Quebec as a base from which the British could crush the rebellion. Manning states that had Washington ordered General Benedict Arnold and his army to march with General Richard Montgomery, Saint Jean would have fallen earlier than it did and the rebels would have reached Quebec before the onset of...

Reviewed by: From Spinster to Career Woman: Middle-Class Women and Work in Victorian England by Arlene Young Helen McKenzie (bio) Arlene Young, From Spinster to Career Woman: Middle-Class Women and Work in Victorian England (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2019), pp. xii + 220, $29.95 paperback, $110.00 cloth. From Spinster to Career Woman: Middle-Class Women and Work in Victorian England opens with talk of revolution. Rather than the industrial revolution, Arlene Young charts a transformation for young women, one which slowly granted them a doorway into the professional world. Young [End Page 167] argues that the need for employment and reconceptualisations of professionalism, the middle-class woman, and femininity worked in dialogue through the second half of the nineteenth century. Focusing on nurses and typewriters, the book demonstrates how demographic determinates, social constructions, and literary representations influenced Victorian middle-class women who worked. Young sheds light on how the rise of the professional nurse and typewriter coincided with and manipulated Victorian "fixations" such as "the Woman Question, the Strong-Minded Woman, the Glorified Spinster, and the New Woman" (13). Young challenges scholarship by Christopher Keep and Katherine Mullin that predominantly focuses on the historical context and wider conceptions of work in the nineteenth century. Instead, she offers a fresh perspective by bringing literary representations into conversation with social and historical material. She warns that imposing modern views hampers understanding of the radical nature of nursing and typewriting in Victorian England. Moreover, Young argues that the demographic imbalance—the higher proportion of women to men through the nineteenth century—is essential to understanding social debates about women striving to work, challenging critics such as Ellen Jordan who downplay its role. Through her analysis of cultural and literary history, Young convincingly demonstrates how this imbalance shaped Victorian society. Young quotes from an 1892 issue of the Woman's Herald to establish the methodology integral to the book: "Ideals of womanhood are largely originated by heroines in real life, and by heroines in fiction, as well as by the unconscious but powerful interaction of these two factors" (4). Real and fictional heroines embody Young's premise that the periodical press and fiction contributed to social change and that the powerful interaction between cultural and literary constructions is integral to book history research. The texts under discussion include prose and fiction by well-known midcentury authors and prominent New Woman writers, as well as vignettes from the Idler, but the study also encompasses writers and periodicals on which there is little scholarship, offering a welcome addition to Victorian literary and social history. The book is effectively structured by pairing historical chapters on the rise of each profession with chapters analysing fiction. Each chapter (re)traces the developments of the nineteenth century, allowing Young to add new dimensions to the revolution rather than simply moving sequentially through the time period. However, as the profession of typewriting did not emerge until much later in the century, there is a slight imbalance of focus between nursing and typewriting, particularly in the number of fictional typewriters. The trope of marriage pervades the book, facilitating effective discussion of the incompatible Victorian constructions of femininity [End Page 168] and professionalism that meet in the figure of the middle-class working woman. In the first chapter, Young scrutinises shifting conceptions of employment, professionalism, and femininity in the context of the Woman Question. Focusing on the midcentury, she argues for the impact of the demographic gender imbalance and explores the burgeoning opportunities for middle-class women's remunerated employment. Further, Young contends that support or criticism for women's employment in the periodical press was not dictated by simple divisions between genres, readerships, and popularity, highlighting the plethora of voices in these debates. The second and third chapters offer valuable insights into middle-class women's path to professional nursing. As Young states, "The transition of the lady nurse from selfless volunteer to trained and efficient professional was anything but smooth" (39). Chapter two charts the historical events and debates integral to the professionalisation of nursing, including the Crimean War and the Guy's Hospital crisis in 1880. The Crimean War was influential in cementing associations...

Reviewed by: Minding the Public Purse: The Fiscal Crisis, Political Trade-offs, and Canada's Future Christopher Bruce Minding the Public Purse: The Fiscal Crisis, Political Trade-offs, and Canada's Future. Janice Mackinnon. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2003. Pp. xiv, 316. $44.95 In 1991, Janice MacKinnon, an academic historian with little political experience, was parachuted into a safe NDP seat as part of Roy Romanow's promise to increase female representation in the Saskatchewan legislature. She was immediately named to cabinet as minister of social services, and within two years was promoted to minister of finance. In this book, she sets out to provide an insider's look at how provincial and federal governments dealt with the debt crisis of the 1990s. What I found to be the most interesting aspect of the book - a view that she seems to share herself - was the stark contrast between the approaches taken by her government and that of Alberta. Whereas Alberta was driven by the ideological premise that smaller government was better, Saskatchewan clearly took the view that government was both a protector of, and provider for, its citizens. Whereas the Alberta government went to great lengths to publicize the extent of its debt problems, in order to justify its dramatic restructuring policies, Saskatchewan's politicians were dragged into five years of budget cuts only when threatened with financial disaster. [End Page 641] Whereas Jim Dinning chopped and slashed with the enthusiasm of the Red Queen 'cutting off their heads,' Janice MacKinnon resembled the Walrus, crying as each rural hospital was closed, as each agricultural subsidy was sacrificed. But where the two provinces differed most significantly was in the theoretical underpinnings of their policies. Whatever one might think of the ideological motivation for the 'Klein revolution,' it is undeniable that his government had a well-conceived battle plan based on the extensive literature on 'reinventing government.' Although Alberta cut budgets, it simultaneously introduced measures to maintain the level of services by encouraging agencies to increase efficiency. Among many other policies, the number of hospital boards was reduced dramatically; some services were privatized; charter schools were encouraged, to create competition; key performance indicators were introduced; some regulatory functions were turned over to industry groups; and the internal budgeting process was revised to restrict the influence of special interest groups. In contrast, Ms. MacKinnon provides few, if any, examples of a plan any deeper than 'reduce the deficit to zero within four years.' Indeed, she notes herself that 'moving beyond promoting efficiency to experimenting with innovative ways of delivering services represented an ideological fork in the road' (137) - a fork at which Alberta and New Brunswick took one turning, while Saskatchewan took the other. It appears that left-wing governments, such as hers, were not willing to contemplate the possibility that government agencies might be inefficient. And because they were efficient already, there was no point trying to improve them. As a result, as Ms. MacKinnon describes it, Saskatchewan's budgetary changes were restricted primarily to cuts, not to restructuring. Of course, it is possible that Saskatchewan did have a deeper plan behind its budget-cutting exercises and that Ms. MacKinnon chose not to reveal it. This is a real possibility, as I found that the greatest weakness in this book was that it treated economic issues superficially. At times the reader is given the impression that Ms. MacKinnon saw her role less as the guardian of the Saskatchewan economic system than as a player in a political game - in which the primary purpose was to score points off one's political adversaries. Ms. MacKinnon's conversion from spendthrift socialist to fiscal conservative appears to have occurred virtually overnight, and with little explanation. For example, instead of providing arguments to convince the reader that the left wing of the NDP was wrong when it contended that 'the fiscal crisis was a phantom conjured up by right-wing governments' (136), or that the government's best policy was to renege on its debt, she merely asserts that proponents of these views were wrong. [End Page 642] The result is that although I found the first two-thirds of this...

Canadian Public AdministrationVolume 57, Issue 1 p. 178-182 Book reviews / Comptes rendus Whatever Happened to the Music Teacher? How Government Decides and WhyBy , Savoie, Donald J.. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2013. Pp. xi, 323, bibliographic references, index. Governing: Essays in Honour of Donald J. SavoieEdited by , James Bickertonand , B. Guy Peters. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2013. Pp. xi, 342, index. Ken Rasmussen, Ken Rasmussen Professor of Public Administration Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Regina, Regina, SaskatchewanSearch for more papers by this author Ken Rasmussen, Ken Rasmussen Professor of Public Administration Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Regina, Regina, SaskatchewanSearch for more papers by this author First published: 13 March 2014 https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12064Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume57, Issue1March 2014Pages 178-182 RelatedInformation

General Alper, Donald K., and David Biette. Introduction: Weathering the Storm: State of the Relationship, 2003. American Review of Canadian Studies 33, no. 1 (Spring 2003): 1-4. Alper, Donald K. Review of Parallel Destinies: Canadian-American Relations West of the Rockies, ed. John Findlay and Ken S. Coates, American Review of Canadian Studies 34, no. 1 (Spring 2004): 141-144. Association for Canadian Studies in the United One Myth, Two Wests: Special Issue on the West(s). American Review of Canadian Studies 33, no. 4 (Winter 2003). Axworthy, Thomas. An Independent Canada in a Shared North America: Must We Be in Love or Will an Arranged Marriage Do? International Journal 59, no. 4 (August 2004): 761-783. Banda, Maria, and Stephen Clarkson. Congruence, Conflict, and Continental Governance: Canada's and Mexico's Responses to Paradigm Shift in the United States. American Review of Canadian Studies 34, no. 2 (Summer 2004): 313-347. Barry, Donald. Managing Relations in the Post 9/11 Era: Do We Need a Big Idea? Policy Paper on the Americas, Centre for Strategic and International Studies 14, Study 11, November 2003. Burney, Derek. Canada-U.S. Relations: Risk of Complacency, the Need for Engagement. Policy Options (December 2003-2004): 46-51. Carment, David, Fen Osler Hampson, and Norman Hillmer, eds. Canada Among Nations 2003: Coping with the American Colussus. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2003. Carroll, Francis M. A Good and Wise Measure: Search for the Canadian-American Boundary, 1783-1842. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001. Carson, James T. Review of Noble, Wretched, and Redeemable: Protestant Missionaries to the Indians in Canada and the United States, 1820-1900, by Carol Higham. American Review of Canadian Studies 31, no. 3 (Fall 2001): 523-524. Clarkson, Stephen. Uncle Sam and US: Globalization, Neoconservatism, and the Canadian State. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002. Coates, Ken S., and John M. Findlay, eds. Parallel Destinies: Canadian-American Relations West of the Rockies. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002. Cohen, Andrew. While Canada Slept: How We Lost Our Place in the World. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2003. ______. Canada Matter in Washington? Does it Matter if Canada Doesn't Matter? In Canada among Nations 2002: A Fading Power, eds. Norman Hillmer and Maureen Appel Molot, 34-48. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2002. Cooper, Andrew F. Waiting at the Perimeter: Making U.S Policy in Canada. In Canada Among Nations 2000: Vanishing Borders. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2000. Cuccioletta, Donald. Globalization and a Unipolar World: Canada and U.S. Relations at the Beginning of the 21st Century. Canadian-American Public Policy 54 (September 2003): 44-59. Dale, Richard. Review of Canada and the United States: Ambivalent Allies, 2nd ed., by Stephen J. Randall and John H. Thompson. American Review of Canadian Studies 31, no. 3 (Fall 2001): 527-529. Davie, Michael B. Political Losers: In Canada, U.S., Ukraine, 1st ed. Ancaster, Ont.: Manor House, 2001. Donaghy, Greg. Tolerant Allies: Canada and the United States, 1963-1968. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002. Dymond, Bill, and Michael Hart. The Potemkin Village of Canadian Foreign Policy. Policy Options (December 2003-January 2004): 38-45. ______. The 2002 U.S. Elections and Canadian Interests. Policy Options (February 2003): 28-32. Ek, Carl. Relations. New York: Novinka Books, 2003. Findlay, John M., and Ken S. Coates, eds. Parallel Destinies: Canadian-American Relations West of the Rockies. Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest in Association with University of Washington Press; Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002. …

The article examines English analytical causative constructions in the light of cognitive semantics and functional linguistics which makes it possible to identify six syntactic patterns. Each pattern includes two predicates – the first is usually expressed by a causative verb, the second – by different parts of speech or different verb forms (Infinitive, Participle I, Participle II, Gerund, Adjective, Noun). As for the participants of the action (the CAUSER and the CAUSEE), they are the nominal elements of the pattern and are presented by animate or inanimate nouns. This fact is determined by the type of the pattern and the nature of the causative verb involved. The analysis suggests that apart from paradigmatic causative verbs, these patterns can also include verbs that prototypically do not belong to causative verbs in English.

This paper presents a novel approach for clustering English verb forms, denoted as VBs, a task crucial for advancing linguistic analysis and natural language processing (NLP). We propose a methodology that utilizes a variational autoencoder (VAE) to capture the low-dimensional semantic representations of verbs, derived from high-dimensional text data sourced from extensive English corpora. The VAE comprises an encoder to reduce text data to a latent space and a decoder to reconstruct the input, ensuring meaningful feature extraction. After this, an improved density peak clustering (DPC) algorithm is applied to these representations, which automatically determines the number and center of clusters based on semantic attributes. We conducted comprehensive experiments to demonstrate that our method surpasses traditional clustering methods on several metrics, including the profile coefficient and the adjusted Rand index. This study not only offers a robust technique for verb form clustering but also contributes significantly to computational linguistics by providing a more nuanced understanding of verb semantics.