Applied Languages Books

Smith assumes you know the basics of C++. What he presents here is how to implement higher level data structures within the language. These include sets [an unordered group], lists [where an ordering is implied], stacks, queues and trees. Workhorse structures that are used in many areas of programming. The ideas behind each structure are rolled out, and example code is given, to implement the structure.

The book appears directed at a new or intermediate C++ programmer. Advanced programmers should already be well versed in these ideas.

A native of the Kashmir, Braj Kachru believes that anglophones in Asia have the right to determine the direction of their own varieties of English. He celebrates the creativity of Asians who use English to express their own culture and insists that Indians, Singaporeans, etc. have the right to establish their own canons of correctness.

In Chapter 1, Kachru introduces a number of technical terms used by linguists. In Chapter 2, he summarizes his model of three concentric circles that has become standard since he formulated it in 1985. The Inner Circle consists of Great Britain and the countries settled by it, the Outer Circle consists of countries that have institutionalized the English language to one degree or another (usually after having been colonized), and the Expanding Circle consists of all other countries that are promoting the study of English as a foreign language (EFL).

In Chapter 3, he describes the regional variety called South Asian English (SAE), giving historical background as well as examples of words borrowed into English. Chapter 4 focuses on Japan, but gives a misleading impression that English words borrowed into Japanese are examples of "Japanese English."

The remaining chapters cover: convergence and hybridization of English with local languages; the "myths" of the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) industry; implications of writing literature in Indian English; the question of whether English "kills" endangered languages; and trends in English pedagogy in Asia.

Kachru sometimes blurs his own distinction between the Outer and Expanding Circles, combining Singaporeans (who often speak English with each other) and Japanese (who rarely do unless a foreigner is present) when he appeals to a grand notion of "Asian Englishes" whose speakers deserve power simply by virtue of numbers. One wonders, however, how many people actually converse in English.

In Chapter 11, Kachru explains the dramatic subtotal of 533 million anglophones. The component figure of 200 million English "users" in China is a 1995 estimate by Zhao and Campbell who assumed that everyone who graduated junior high school after passing an English exam "uses" English. The figure of 333 million for India is an update of "almost one in every three Indians" reported in a 1997 survey commissioned by a respected Indian weekly.

Aside from these unverified statistics, there are outdated ones which beg for updating. For example, the tables on page 56 which show that over 20% of Indian faculty and graduate students prefer Indian English over British or American English are dated 1976. Surely, these statistics must have changed in the past 30 years, probably in the direction of increasing preference among Indians for their own variety of English.

Another problem with this book is that 8 of its 11 chapters are updates of articles that Kachru published during 1966-1998. References to 1980s studies as "recent work" seem strange, and the overall cohesiveness of the book is strained. On the other hand, the piecemeal approach is well-suited for showing the reader how multi-faceted the overall topic is.

The editing of the book is sloppy, making it a poor showcase for the skill of Hong Kong anglophones. Table 2.1 confuses biweekly/semi-weekly and contains a significant numerical error. The publisher or editor seems also to have avoided the effort of inputting proper nouns into their spell-checker dictionary, leading to inconsistent spelling of the names of several people including the author himself.

For more info, read the longer review I wrote for Asia Times (www.atimes.com) Jan 28, 2006.

Hitchcock has put together an insightful collection of essays together in this volume. Especially enlightening is Brian Poole's contribution on Bakhtin and Cassirer. This is a good volume for those looking deeper into Bakhtin's past and philosophic roots.

I find this book interesting and easily comprehensible by individuals who are interested in Systems Science.

It looks into all aspects of Systems Science, such as Law of Requisite Variety, Systems Concept, Variety Management & etc.

I would highly reccommend this book for beginners and soon these individuals would love Systems Science.

I found this book to be very helpful to help my 4 year old son learn the alphabet. As a parent and teacher I needed a resource that clearly gave me ideas that I could use to teach letter-sound combinations and this has a format that is easy to follow and is filled with ideas for each letter of the alphabet. This is a must for parents and teachers.

Fortran just keeps chugging along. You rarely see Fortran texts in the computer section of bookstores anymore. Largely supplanted by newer programs with fancy user interfaces. But this book shows that there is still a lot of scientific activity that depends on Fortran.

The text is directed at a reader already well versed in statistics. But who is not primarily a programmer. So it offers you a crash course in object oriented statistical programming, using Fortran as the language. This is probably an easier approach than trying to teach a programmer several years of advanced statistics.

Frankly, C++ or Java or C# are better for OO coding. But the book reflects the reality of a lot of existing Fortran code that you probably need to use or conform to. And F95 does give you a basic OO ability.

I would buy three more copies if it had the author's picture on the back cover.

Written by two psychotic professors who are experts in the field. The book, though written for mature readers , is lucid and leads the reader scenically to thre climax on Process Algebras. The book is a bit disjointed though. In Theoretical Computer Science, where the more general a "general emotional disturbance" is the better, I suggest that the authors should have had worsened their illness somwhat (I am being funny now!) by utilizing Category Theory, Domain Equations, and Universal Algebra as a unifying framework for the topics in the rest of the book. Also, they should have ncluded more on Category Theory and in particular, Domain Equations in this book. They should had shown the interrelationships between the three frameworks as well: the book would have been lengthened somewhat but more complete.
Although I am just about to read the book, I feel I am mature enough to follow where a Math book is going upon looking through it in sequence.
I am an undergrad at CUNY Bachelaureate Program Queens College Math Department who is trying not to be arrogant.

A very useful undergraduate level reader in environmental ethics. I use it in the course I teach in the UK. It would also make a good tool for self-teaching or for self-led small group study. For each chapter of readings there are discussion topics, an exercise, suggestions for a debate and a selection of further reading. The wide-ranging readings are carefully chosen, edited and arranged into key themes such as morality, aesthetics, ecofeminism and environmetnal ethics in society. The only other book to cover similar material in a similar manner is Louis Pojman's 'Environmental Ethics: Readings in Theory and Practice'. In my opinion they are equally valuable, making it difficult (should it be neccessary) to choose between them. From a British perspective they both lack historical depth. Botzler and Armstrong's book has only two readings from the eighteenth century or earlier (St Francis and Kant) but this can be supplied from elsewhere if needed.

If you are language teacher or aiming to be , you need this book.You'd begin to think deeply what language is, what language learning is and then what language teaching is. This book will bring you a chance to consider the relationship of educational linguistics to the study of language education.