Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction by William O'Grady

125 Reviews Issues in Applied Linguistics Vol. 1 No. 1 ideas in his book practical Criticism did much to improve those dismal classes that proffer literature to native speakers, but it is ? £ P dology meets the needs of in v A i f P P s which are developed and applied by the editors of this valuable collection. A close and attentive reading for meaning can teach many skills, above all the ability to disentangle ideas from prose and to express them in appropnate language. The underlying problem, too seldom recognized, ,s that literature is not only something other than ordinary writing, ,t does not readily lend itself to simplistic exercises. As Brumfit puts it, we are not using literature simply as a servant of language. To use but not to use? that is the question esJvf J f P ™ , P P ° « and guidance from these /• » L ? ° g a l i z a t i o n , S.J. Burke somewhat pedantically but usefully lists all the tasks that literature migh perform, and the list is valuable for its extent, ranging from literacy to. humanitanan attitudes. It sounds grandiose but one would noi wish to contradict. Literature can be all things to all men and perform a multitude of linguistic services in the classroom. Sandra V ! a t U r a 1 a n d R i c ,S h a r d s mcth U h l S n c i l e SU y l e V f ener convinced that would justify their often tentative experiments by reference to the judgment of people as distinguished as Michael Long, Christopher Candlin and H.G. Widdowson. With those on one's side, who is to fear? The book certainly ought to be read by everyone in the profession. From it teachers will acquire not only the assurance of a sustaining philosophy that justifies their decisions to incorporate literature in their program but also most specific guidance about how to do it efficiently. The book is written by people who know and respect literature so that not even the most arrogant critical specialist can condemn them as being superficial in their perception or deficient in their judgments. At the same time, it does accept that, in the ESL context, literature must be made useful, and it explains how that can be accomplished. If it reaches only into the hands of those already tempted to explore, it will even then constitute the beginnings of a very necessary revolution in the classroom, and how grateful learners would be for this. John Povey wrote his doctoral thesis on 20th-century literature and is a professor in the Department of TESL & Applied Linguistics at UCLA. His teaching has both reflected this bias and fueled his own interest in world literatures in English and the role that English literature might play in advanced ESL classes. T P P more openly practical when ,n a more pedagogic mode, she distinguishes m r e S p e c i f l c a n d e r h a s °f h ^ V r ° that bo th may be advanced by the reading of liteature. In addition, several essays deal with teaching in Africa It is n«! r«L g °g . P « t derives from the editors- particular personal expenence on that continent, yet, although the conditions there are unique, they offer the kind of valuable g e r a h i c a l i n t e r ZZlZi U S a a n d e d fu s e M d (Received April 2,1990) K f v d n ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ classrooms.Ta Z A P ^ h e s on an increasingly important ssue. the development of new literatures in English as a second anguage (of which Africa and India are the most productive™d K a c h r u t o r C O m e f r m a c t u a l P ^ in the E S L considered i S incre , u ^ingly incorporated in teaching within the countries of the various authors ? n^,n . i T M m 1 S cS? ,? S ,V C t h a t E S L H t e r a t u r e t h a t i n g s h o u , d b a r e l 'I f U g h S U C h h a s y Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction by W i l l i a m O'Grady, Michael Dobrovolsky and Mark Aronoff. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989. 490 pp. Adapted from Contemporary Linguistic Analysis, published in Canada by Copp Clark Pitman, Ltd. Reviewed by Stephen Adewole University of California, Los Angeles w n t thin„c I K ^'l ' g g book because it says all the w irh fnln P y . but it sustains my opinions with intelligent specific reference and often ardent prose It is hard to know whether this book would convince the die-hard who dismiss literature as an element marginal to language teaching. It does most certainly provide ammunition to the convinced and partly aVe t o r e a c h f o r e a r C S n 0 t a c h a l l e n i n Contemporary Linguistics surely deserves its title for a number of reasons. First, it is based not only on theoretical expertise but also on the experience of authors who have taught