If horror meister Stephen King was a computer programmer, his language of choice would probably be COBOL: it’s quite verbose in exposition, has been around for ages and people still make a lot of money…
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Articles on Language
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My team and I recently ventured into the Brazilian Amazon to record the Tembé language and preserve some of its stories for future generations. This built on earlier work with our mobile phone app that…
Just about everyone has a personal stake in language, and many people — expert and amateur — feel entitled to an opinion. But linguists care more than most people, and when linguistics hit the media, linguists…
In the heart of Northumberland, England, is the pretty town of Alnwick. For bibliophiles, a stop at its second-hand bookshop is a must. Barter Books is housed in the town’s old railway station and, on…
New software will allow researchers to more accurately estimate the date of when a Medieval text was written. The University…
The village of Akazu’yw lies in the rainforest, a day’s drive from the state capital of Belém, deep in the Brazilian Amazon. Last week I went to Akazu’yw, carrying a dozen Android phones with a specialised…
University students across the nation will be handing in their first assignments of the academic year over the next few weeks. Academic staff will sigh, as they do every semester: “my students can’t write…
Imagine a student turning up at university and not knowing basic multiplication. He or she could be hard-working, bright, enthusiastic but completely unable to answer a basic question like: what’s six…
Of the 7,000 languages spoken on the planet, Tembé is at the small end with just 150 speakers left. In a few days, I will head into the Brazilian Amazon to record Tembé – via specially-designed technology…
We humans tend to consider ourselves apart from other species. But we’re not really so different. So what makes us unique? I’d say it’s language, though not everyone would agree. Some people insist it’s…
Duolingo, a new free language-learning site, says it can help you learn a language for free while simultaneously using your learning exercises to translate the web. A pretty big claim, but at the heart…
Despite the breadth of issues in the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper released this week, so far the debate has focused largely on language learning in schools. With fewer and fewer students…
No matter where in the world you live, chances are you’ve eaten “pulses” some time in the last week. These foods, otherwise known as “food legumes” or “grain legumes,” have been a part of the human diet…
Plagiarism at university is a time-old scourge. Some would have us believe it can be sought out with ever-improving technology, and with more consistent vetting of student essays with the latest detection…
Gibbons and humans have more in common than might immediately seem apparent. Among many behavioural traits shared by our two species is singing. Not just that – the songs of gibbons have the potential…
One in four Australians was born overseas, almost half have at least one parent who migrated here, and more are speaking Asian languages than European for the first time, according to census data for 2011…
Early exposure to both sign and spoken language has been proven to maximise cognitive and linguistuic skills in deaf children…
Language experts have applauded Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s pledge to dramatically boost foreign language education, but warn that a financial investment of about $2 billion and a long-term commitment…
There will be no more important piece of policy making this year than the White Paper on “Australia in the Asian Century” led by Ken Henry. It is a rare case of long-term thinking in government, of policy…
Thinking in a foreign language leads to more rational decision making and favourable risk-taking, research from the University…
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, Monash University
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Professor of Linguistics, Monash University
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Course coordinator, The University of Queensland
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Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis
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Professor of English Language and Literature, University of Oxford
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Professor of Linguistics, University of York
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Associate Professor in Linguistics, Macquarie University
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Associate Professor in Language, Literacy and TESL, University of Canberra
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Professor of Linguistics and English, Florida International University
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Professor of African Language Studies, University of the Western Cape
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Postdoctoral research fellow (Forensic Linguistics/ Language and Law), University of the Western Cape
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Professor, Charles Darwin University
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Professor of Communication and Journalism, Texas A&M University
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Director, Office of Scholarly Communication and Publishing, University of Pittsburgh
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Professor of Linguistics
