Language across Difference

Language across Difference

Author: Django Paris

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2011-07-28

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 1139499890

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Once a predominantly African-American city, South Vista opened the twenty-first century with a large Latino/a majority and a significant population of Pacific Islanders. Using an innovative blend of critical ethnography and social language methodologies, Paris offers the voices and experiences of South Vista youth as a window into how today's young people challenge and reinforce ethnic and linguistic difference in demographically changing urban schools and communities. The ways African-American language, Spanish and Samoan are used within and across ethnicity in social and academic interactions, text messages and youth-authored rap lyrics show urban young people enacting both new and old visions of pluralist cultural spaces. Paris illustrates how understanding youth communication, ethnicity and identities in changing urban landscapes like South Vista offers crucial avenues for researchers and educators to push for more equitable schools and a more equitable society.


Book Synopsis Language across Difference by : Django Paris

Download or read book Language across Difference written by Django Paris and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-07-28 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Once a predominantly African-American city, South Vista opened the twenty-first century with a large Latino/a majority and a significant population of Pacific Islanders. Using an innovative blend of critical ethnography and social language methodologies, Paris offers the voices and experiences of South Vista youth as a window into how today's young people challenge and reinforce ethnic and linguistic difference in demographically changing urban schools and communities. The ways African-American language, Spanish and Samoan are used within and across ethnicity in social and academic interactions, text messages and youth-authored rap lyrics show urban young people enacting both new and old visions of pluralist cultural spaces. Paris illustrates how understanding youth communication, ethnicity and identities in changing urban landscapes like South Vista offers crucial avenues for researchers and educators to push for more equitable schools and a more equitable society.


Language Across Difference

Language Across Difference

Author: Assistant Professor of Language and Literacy Django Paris

Publisher:

Published: 2014-05-14

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 9781139101448

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A window into ethnic and linguistic difference among Latino/a, African American and Pacific Islander youth in contemporary US schools.


Book Synopsis Language Across Difference by : Assistant Professor of Language and Literacy Django Paris

Download or read book Language Across Difference written by Assistant Professor of Language and Literacy Django Paris and published by . This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A window into ethnic and linguistic difference among Latino/a, African American and Pacific Islander youth in contemporary US schools.


Dialogue Across Difference

Dialogue Across Difference

Author: Patricia Gurin

Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation

Published: 2013-03-15

Total Pages: 498

ISBN-13: 1610448057

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Due to continuing immigration and increasing racial and ethnic inclusiveness, higher education institutions in the United States are likely to grow ever more diverse in the 21st century. This shift holds both promise and peril: Increased inter-ethnic contact could lead to a more fruitful learning environment that encourages collaboration. On the other hand, social identity and on-campus diversity remain hotly contested issues that often raise intergroup tensions and inhibit discussion. How can we help diverse students learn from each other and gain the competencies they will need in an increasingly multicultural America? Dialogue Across Difference synthesizes three years’ worth of research from an innovative field experiment focused on improving intergroup understanding, relationships and collaboration. The result is a fascinating study of the potential of intergroup dialogue to improve relations across race and gender. First developed in the late 1980s, intergroup dialogues bring together an equal number of students from two different groups – such as people of color and white people, or women and men – to share their perspectives and learn from each other. To test the possible impact of such courses and to develop a standard of best practice, the authors of Dialogue Across Difference incorporated various theories of social psychology, higher education, communication studies and social work to design and implement a uniform curriculum in nine universities across the country. Unlike most studies on intergroup dialogue, this project employed random assignment to enroll more than 1,450 students in experimental and control groups, including in 26 dialogue courses and control groups on race and gender each. Students admitted to the dialogue courses learned about racial and gender inequalities through readings, role-play activities and personal reflections. The authors tracked students’ progress using a mixed-method approach, including longitudinal surveys, content analyses of student papers, interviews of students, and videotapes of sessions. The results are heartening: Over the course of a term, students who participated in intergroup dialogues developed more insight into how members of other groups perceive the world. They also became more thoughtful about the structural underpinnings of inequality, increased their motivation to bridge differences and intergroup empathy, and placed a greater value on diversity and collaborative action. The authors also note that the effects of such courses were evident on nearly all measures. While students did report an initial increase in negative emotions – a possible indication of the difficulty of openly addressing race and gender – that effect was no longer present a year after the course. Overall, the results are remarkably consistent and point to an optimistic conclusion: intergroup dialogue is more than mere talk. It fosters productive communication about and across differences in the service of greater collaboration for equity and justice. Ambitious and timely, Dialogue Across Difference presents a persuasive practical, theoretical and empirical account of the benefits of intergroup dialogue. The data and research presented in this volume offer a useful model for improving relations among different groups not just in the college setting but in the United States as well.


Book Synopsis Dialogue Across Difference by : Patricia Gurin

Download or read book Dialogue Across Difference written by Patricia Gurin and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2013-03-15 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Due to continuing immigration and increasing racial and ethnic inclusiveness, higher education institutions in the United States are likely to grow ever more diverse in the 21st century. This shift holds both promise and peril: Increased inter-ethnic contact could lead to a more fruitful learning environment that encourages collaboration. On the other hand, social identity and on-campus diversity remain hotly contested issues that often raise intergroup tensions and inhibit discussion. How can we help diverse students learn from each other and gain the competencies they will need in an increasingly multicultural America? Dialogue Across Difference synthesizes three years’ worth of research from an innovative field experiment focused on improving intergroup understanding, relationships and collaboration. The result is a fascinating study of the potential of intergroup dialogue to improve relations across race and gender. First developed in the late 1980s, intergroup dialogues bring together an equal number of students from two different groups – such as people of color and white people, or women and men – to share their perspectives and learn from each other. To test the possible impact of such courses and to develop a standard of best practice, the authors of Dialogue Across Difference incorporated various theories of social psychology, higher education, communication studies and social work to design and implement a uniform curriculum in nine universities across the country. Unlike most studies on intergroup dialogue, this project employed random assignment to enroll more than 1,450 students in experimental and control groups, including in 26 dialogue courses and control groups on race and gender each. Students admitted to the dialogue courses learned about racial and gender inequalities through readings, role-play activities and personal reflections. The authors tracked students’ progress using a mixed-method approach, including longitudinal surveys, content analyses of student papers, interviews of students, and videotapes of sessions. The results are heartening: Over the course of a term, students who participated in intergroup dialogues developed more insight into how members of other groups perceive the world. They also became more thoughtful about the structural underpinnings of inequality, increased their motivation to bridge differences and intergroup empathy, and placed a greater value on diversity and collaborative action. The authors also note that the effects of such courses were evident on nearly all measures. While students did report an initial increase in negative emotions – a possible indication of the difficulty of openly addressing race and gender – that effect was no longer present a year after the course. Overall, the results are remarkably consistent and point to an optimistic conclusion: intergroup dialogue is more than mere talk. It fosters productive communication about and across differences in the service of greater collaboration for equity and justice. Ambitious and timely, Dialogue Across Difference presents a persuasive practical, theoretical and empirical account of the benefits of intergroup dialogue. The data and research presented in this volume offer a useful model for improving relations among different groups not just in the college setting but in the United States as well.


Talking Difference

Talking Difference

Author: Mary Crawford

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 1995-06-22

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 1446265730

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`I love the warmth and wit in this book, but I say this in no way to detract from the seriousness of its subject matter and its incisive treatment by Mary Crawford... this is a great book and an important book which articulates current critical thinking about research around gender and language. Mary Crawford writes brilliantly, powerfully and lucidly... I thoroughly recommend it′ - British Psychological Society Psychology of Women Section Newsletter This refreshing re-evaluation of current wisdom - both academic and popular - about men′s and women′s language critically assesses the abundant social science research of recent years and its representation in the mass media. Exploring a wide range of topics, from talk shows to self-help books, Mary Crawford offers a new understanding of the role of language practices in both maintaining - and disrupting - gender inequality. The book addresses such provocative questions as: Why has the study of gender and language so often focused on the limitations of women′s talk? How do academic practices constrain our understanding of how gender relations are re-created and maintained in language use? Why do assertiveness texts usually ignore indirect modes of speech such as humour and storytelling?


Book Synopsis Talking Difference by : Mary Crawford

Download or read book Talking Difference written by Mary Crawford and published by SAGE. This book was released on 1995-06-22 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: `I love the warmth and wit in this book, but I say this in no way to detract from the seriousness of its subject matter and its incisive treatment by Mary Crawford... this is a great book and an important book which articulates current critical thinking about research around gender and language. Mary Crawford writes brilliantly, powerfully and lucidly... I thoroughly recommend it′ - British Psychological Society Psychology of Women Section Newsletter This refreshing re-evaluation of current wisdom - both academic and popular - about men′s and women′s language critically assesses the abundant social science research of recent years and its representation in the mass media. Exploring a wide range of topics, from talk shows to self-help books, Mary Crawford offers a new understanding of the role of language practices in both maintaining - and disrupting - gender inequality. The book addresses such provocative questions as: Why has the study of gender and language so often focused on the limitations of women′s talk? How do academic practices constrain our understanding of how gender relations are re-created and maintained in language use? Why do assertiveness texts usually ignore indirect modes of speech such as humour and storytelling?


Difference Or Disorder

Difference Or Disorder

Author: Ellen Kester

Publisher:

Published: 2014-07-09

Total Pages: 122

ISBN-13: 9780692254585

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Accurately differentiate between errors that are related to second-language influence or are due to a communication disorder. Is your student having difficulty because they have an impairment or because they are learning a second language? Improve instructional targets for culturally and linguistically diverse students in the general education classroom as well as make gains and improve referrals for special education. The framework used in this book makes it easy for any education professional to distinguish between language differences and language disorders regardless of your own language background.


Book Synopsis Difference Or Disorder by : Ellen Kester

Download or read book Difference Or Disorder written by Ellen Kester and published by . This book was released on 2014-07-09 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Accurately differentiate between errors that are related to second-language influence or are due to a communication disorder. Is your student having difficulty because they have an impairment or because they are learning a second language? Improve instructional targets for culturally and linguistically diverse students in the general education classroom as well as make gains and improve referrals for special education. The framework used in this book makes it easy for any education professional to distinguish between language differences and language disorders regardless of your own language background.


Raciolinguistics

Raciolinguistics

Author: H. Samy Alim

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-09-30

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 0190625708

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Raciolinguistics reveals the central role that language plays in shaping our ideas about race and vice versa. The book brings together a team of leading scholars-working both within and beyond the United States-to share powerful, much-needed research that helps us understand the increasingly vexed relationships between race, ethnicity, and language in our rapidly changing world. Combining the innovative, cutting-edge approaches of race and ethnic studies with fine-grained linguistic analyses, authors cover a wide range of topics including the struggle over the very term "African American," the racialized language education debates within the increasing number of "majority-minority" immigrant communities in the U.S., the dangers of multicultural education in a Europe that is struggling to meet the needs of new migrants, and the sociopolitical and cultural meanings of linguistic styles used in Brazilian favelas, South African townships, Mexican and Puerto Rican barrios in Chicago, and Korean American "cram schools" in New York City, among other sites. Taking into account rapidly changing demographics in the U.S and shifting cultural and media trends across the globe--from Hip Hop cultures, to transnational Mexican popular and street cultures, to Israeli reality TV, to new immigration trends across Africa and Europe--Raciolinguistics shapes the future of scholarship on race, ethnicity, and language. By taking a comparative look across a diverse range of language and literacy contexts, the volume seeks not only to set the research agenda in this burgeoning area of study, but also to help resolve pressing educational and political problems in some of the most contested raciolinguistic contexts in the world.


Book Synopsis Raciolinguistics by : H. Samy Alim

Download or read book Raciolinguistics written by H. Samy Alim and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-09-30 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Raciolinguistics reveals the central role that language plays in shaping our ideas about race and vice versa. The book brings together a team of leading scholars-working both within and beyond the United States-to share powerful, much-needed research that helps us understand the increasingly vexed relationships between race, ethnicity, and language in our rapidly changing world. Combining the innovative, cutting-edge approaches of race and ethnic studies with fine-grained linguistic analyses, authors cover a wide range of topics including the struggle over the very term "African American," the racialized language education debates within the increasing number of "majority-minority" immigrant communities in the U.S., the dangers of multicultural education in a Europe that is struggling to meet the needs of new migrants, and the sociopolitical and cultural meanings of linguistic styles used in Brazilian favelas, South African townships, Mexican and Puerto Rican barrios in Chicago, and Korean American "cram schools" in New York City, among other sites. Taking into account rapidly changing demographics in the U.S and shifting cultural and media trends across the globe--from Hip Hop cultures, to transnational Mexican popular and street cultures, to Israeli reality TV, to new immigration trends across Africa and Europe--Raciolinguistics shapes the future of scholarship on race, ethnicity, and language. By taking a comparative look across a diverse range of language and literacy contexts, the volume seeks not only to set the research agenda in this burgeoning area of study, but also to help resolve pressing educational and political problems in some of the most contested raciolinguistic contexts in the world.


Individual differences in early instructed language learning

Individual differences in early instructed language learning

Author: Raphael Berthele

Publisher: Language Science Press

Published:

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 3961103240

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Variability in predispositions for language learning has attracted scholarly curiosity for over 100 years. Despite major changes in theoretical explanations and foreign/second language teaching paradigms, some patterns of associations between predispositions and learning outcomes seem timelessly robust. This book discusses evidence from a research project investigating individual differences in a wide variety of domains, ranging from language aptitude over general cognitive abilities to motivational and other affective and social constructs. The focus lies on young learners aged 10 to 12, a less frequently investigated age in aptitude research. The data stem from two samples of multilingual learners in German-speaking Switzerland. The target languages are French and English. The chapters of the book offer two complementary perspectives on the topic: On the one hand, cross-sectional investigations of the underlying structure of these individual differences and their association with the target languages are discussed. Drawing on factor analytical and multivariable analyses, the different components are scrutinized with respect to their mutual dependence and their relative impact on target language skills. The analyses also take into account contextual factors such as the learners’ family background and differences across the two contexts investigated. On the other hand, the potential to predict learner’s skills in the target language over time based on the many different indicators is investigated using machine learning algorithms. The results provide new insights into the stability of the individual dispositions, on the impact of contextual variables, and on empirically robust dimensions within the array of variables tested.


Book Synopsis Individual differences in early instructed language learning by : Raphael Berthele

Download or read book Individual differences in early instructed language learning written by Raphael Berthele and published by Language Science Press. This book was released on with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Variability in predispositions for language learning has attracted scholarly curiosity for over 100 years. Despite major changes in theoretical explanations and foreign/second language teaching paradigms, some patterns of associations between predispositions and learning outcomes seem timelessly robust. This book discusses evidence from a research project investigating individual differences in a wide variety of domains, ranging from language aptitude over general cognitive abilities to motivational and other affective and social constructs. The focus lies on young learners aged 10 to 12, a less frequently investigated age in aptitude research. The data stem from two samples of multilingual learners in German-speaking Switzerland. The target languages are French and English. The chapters of the book offer two complementary perspectives on the topic: On the one hand, cross-sectional investigations of the underlying structure of these individual differences and their association with the target languages are discussed. Drawing on factor analytical and multivariable analyses, the different components are scrutinized with respect to their mutual dependence and their relative impact on target language skills. The analyses also take into account contextual factors such as the learners’ family background and differences across the two contexts investigated. On the other hand, the potential to predict learner’s skills in the target language over time based on the many different indicators is investigated using machine learning algorithms. The results provide new insights into the stability of the individual dispositions, on the impact of contextual variables, and on empirically robust dimensions within the array of variables tested.


Language Across the Curriculum & CLIL in English as an Additional Language (EAL) Contexts

Language Across the Curriculum & CLIL in English as an Additional Language (EAL) Contexts

Author: Angel M.Y. Lin

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-09-15

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 9811018022

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This book will be of interest to a broad readership, regardless of whether they have a background in sociolinguistics, functional linguistics or genre theories. It presents an accessible “meta-language” (i.e. a language for talking about language) that is workable and usable for teachers and researchers from both language and content backgrounds, thus facilitating collaboration across content and language subject panels. Chapters 1 to 3 lay the theoretical foundation of this common meta-language by critically reviewing, systematically presenting and integrating key theoretical resources for teachers and researchers in this field. In turn, Chapters 4 to 7 focus on issues in pedagogy and assessment, and on school-based approaches to LAC and CLIL, drawing on both research studies and the experiences of front-line teachers and school administrators. Chapter 8 provides a critical and reflexive angle on the field by asking difficult questions regarding how LAC and CLIL are often situated in contexts characterized by inequality of access to the linguistic and cultural capitals, where the local languages of the students are usually neglected or viewed unfavourably in relation to the L2 in mainstream society, and where teachers are usually positioned as recipients of knowledge rather than makers of knowledge. In closing, Chapter 9 reviews the state of the art in the field and proposes directions for future inquiry.


Book Synopsis Language Across the Curriculum & CLIL in English as an Additional Language (EAL) Contexts by : Angel M.Y. Lin

Download or read book Language Across the Curriculum & CLIL in English as an Additional Language (EAL) Contexts written by Angel M.Y. Lin and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-09-15 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book will be of interest to a broad readership, regardless of whether they have a background in sociolinguistics, functional linguistics or genre theories. It presents an accessible “meta-language” (i.e. a language for talking about language) that is workable and usable for teachers and researchers from both language and content backgrounds, thus facilitating collaboration across content and language subject panels. Chapters 1 to 3 lay the theoretical foundation of this common meta-language by critically reviewing, systematically presenting and integrating key theoretical resources for teachers and researchers in this field. In turn, Chapters 4 to 7 focus on issues in pedagogy and assessment, and on school-based approaches to LAC and CLIL, drawing on both research studies and the experiences of front-line teachers and school administrators. Chapter 8 provides a critical and reflexive angle on the field by asking difficult questions regarding how LAC and CLIL are often situated in contexts characterized by inequality of access to the linguistic and cultural capitals, where the local languages of the students are usually neglected or viewed unfavourably in relation to the L2 in mainstream society, and where teachers are usually positioned as recipients of knowledge rather than makers of knowledge. In closing, Chapter 9 reviews the state of the art in the field and proposes directions for future inquiry.


Language across Languages

Language across Languages

Author: Emanuele Miola

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2015-09-18

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 1443883115

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Since the first written documents in the history of mankind (produced at the end of the 4th millennium BC), translation has always played a pivotal role in human societies. Translators were needed whenever the need for contact between different-speaking communities arose, such as for the purposes of communication, commerce, and declarations of war, or peace. Translation is even more important in today’s world. Globalization has brought the nations of the Earth closer, to the extent that books, movies and television programs released or aired far away in the world are just a click of the mouse away. However, such cultural products still have to be translated in order to be enjoyed by a wider audience. In international relations, diplomacies work very much on the basis of what is said and written, meaning that official documents and political charts need to be correctly and precisely translated. Hi-tech devices, such as tablets and smartphones, have their software translated into an increasing number of languages, in order to be accessible to a larger number of people. The challenging issues that arise for translation studies from these socio-cultural changes in Western Europe and all over the world are tackled in this volume according to two intertwined viewpoints: From a strictly linguistic perspective, typological differences between genetically unrelated languages challenge linguists in gaining an overall understanding of what language really is: how can linguistic categories, be they verbal, nominal or pertaining to other domains of the grammar, be defined? How are they shaped in syntax? From the point of view of anthropological linguistics, on the other hand, the cross-linguistic differences that come to the fore illustrate that translating – as well as language itself – is one of the basic cognitive strategies of the human mind.


Book Synopsis Language across Languages by : Emanuele Miola

Download or read book Language across Languages written by Emanuele Miola and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2015-09-18 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the first written documents in the history of mankind (produced at the end of the 4th millennium BC), translation has always played a pivotal role in human societies. Translators were needed whenever the need for contact between different-speaking communities arose, such as for the purposes of communication, commerce, and declarations of war, or peace. Translation is even more important in today’s world. Globalization has brought the nations of the Earth closer, to the extent that books, movies and television programs released or aired far away in the world are just a click of the mouse away. However, such cultural products still have to be translated in order to be enjoyed by a wider audience. In international relations, diplomacies work very much on the basis of what is said and written, meaning that official documents and political charts need to be correctly and precisely translated. Hi-tech devices, such as tablets and smartphones, have their software translated into an increasing number of languages, in order to be accessible to a larger number of people. The challenging issues that arise for translation studies from these socio-cultural changes in Western Europe and all over the world are tackled in this volume according to two intertwined viewpoints: From a strictly linguistic perspective, typological differences between genetically unrelated languages challenge linguists in gaining an overall understanding of what language really is: how can linguistic categories, be they verbal, nominal or pertaining to other domains of the grammar, be defined? How are they shaped in syntax? From the point of view of anthropological linguistics, on the other hand, the cross-linguistic differences that come to the fore illustrate that translating – as well as language itself – is one of the basic cognitive strategies of the human mind.


Sacred Language, Vernacular Difference

Sacred Language, Vernacular Difference

Author: Annette Damayanti Lienau

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2024-01-09

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 0691249881

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How Arabic influenced the evolution of vernacular literatures and anticolonial thought in Egypt, Indonesia, and Senegal Sacred Language, Vernacular Difference offers a new understanding of Arabic’s global position as the basis for comparing cultural and literary histories in countries separated by vast distances. By tracing controversies over the use of Arabic in three countries with distinct colonial legacies, Egypt, Indonesia, and Senegal, the book presents a new approach to the study of postcolonial literatures, anticolonial nationalisms, and the global circulation of pluralist ideas. Annette Damayanti Lienau presents the largely untold story of how Arabic, often understood in Africa and Asia as a language of Islamic ritual and precolonial commerce, assumed a transregional role as an anticolonial literary medium in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By examining how major writers and intellectuals across several generations grappled with the cultural asymmetries imposed by imperial Europe, Lienau shows that Arabic—as a cosmopolitan, interethnic, and interreligious language—complicated debates over questions of indigeneity, religious pluralism, counter-imperial nationalisms, and emerging nation-states. Unearthing parallels from West Africa to Southeast Asia, Sacred Language, Vernacular Difference argues that debates comparing the status of Arabic to other languages challenged not only Eurocentric but Arabocentric forms of ethnolinguistic and racial prejudice in both local and global terms.


Book Synopsis Sacred Language, Vernacular Difference by : Annette Damayanti Lienau

Download or read book Sacred Language, Vernacular Difference written by Annette Damayanti Lienau and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2024-01-09 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How Arabic influenced the evolution of vernacular literatures and anticolonial thought in Egypt, Indonesia, and Senegal Sacred Language, Vernacular Difference offers a new understanding of Arabic’s global position as the basis for comparing cultural and literary histories in countries separated by vast distances. By tracing controversies over the use of Arabic in three countries with distinct colonial legacies, Egypt, Indonesia, and Senegal, the book presents a new approach to the study of postcolonial literatures, anticolonial nationalisms, and the global circulation of pluralist ideas. Annette Damayanti Lienau presents the largely untold story of how Arabic, often understood in Africa and Asia as a language of Islamic ritual and precolonial commerce, assumed a transregional role as an anticolonial literary medium in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By examining how major writers and intellectuals across several generations grappled with the cultural asymmetries imposed by imperial Europe, Lienau shows that Arabic—as a cosmopolitan, interethnic, and interreligious language—complicated debates over questions of indigeneity, religious pluralism, counter-imperial nationalisms, and emerging nation-states. Unearthing parallels from West Africa to Southeast Asia, Sacred Language, Vernacular Difference argues that debates comparing the status of Arabic to other languages challenged not only Eurocentric but Arabocentric forms of ethnolinguistic and racial prejudice in both local and global terms.