Keith Davidson
Biographic Data
| ID | 9282255 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Keith Davidson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Keith |
| FAMILY NAME | Davidson |
| SIGNATURE | DAVIDSON K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Center for Applied Linguistics |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9269-3227 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
French pretensions
The ‘English’ have an ambiguous relationship with the language of their nearest neighbour, France. There is a history, ‘1066 and all that’. Christmas Day 2016 saw the 950 th anniversary of the crowning at Westminster Abbey of the French Duke William of Normandy as King of England (not, please note, of ‘Britain’); William having defeated King Harold – and so the very last ‘English’ monarch – at the battle of Hastings. (The other ‘nations’ of these…
When is an /r/ not an /r
These notes are largely based on Lodge (2009), and the IPA transcriptions on Wells (2000). Michael Bulley has singled out for discussion one variant in the articulation of the /r/ phoneme in British English which he characterises as ‘w-for-r’, ‘close to /w/, but distinct from it’ (Bulley, 2014: 46). The focus is on /r/ in syllable-initial position, including /r/ in initial consonant clusters. He describes this particular, not to say singular, var…
English, ‘so to say’
Among common speculations about the ultimate demise of English as the world's lingua franca (see Jeffrey Gil in ET 105, March 2011, reconsidering Chinese as a possible replacement) Nicholas Ostler (2010) is one more to project ‘the breakdown of English-speaking hegemony’, but his case is more curious than most. After an exhaustive, not to say exhausting, survey of ancient empires and modes of communication, in which Latin as the last lingua franc…
Language and identity in Switzerland
A proposal for Federal status for English as a Swiss language. I have written previously on the role of English as a vehicular language in plurilingual Switzerland ( ET 42, April 1995) and more recently on the cachet of English in the Swiss media ( ET 95, September 2008). Switzerland sits at the heart of Europe, not as a member of the European Union but with continually negotiated bi-lateral arrangements and now relatively open borders. As elsewh…
Swiss ‘cool’
The cachet of English in the Swiss press. Plurlingual Switzerland has three ‘official’ languages, standard forms of German, French, Italian, and a further ‘national’ language, the ancient Latin dialects of Romansh spoken in the eastern Alpine valleys by less than one per cent of the population. But there are problems for the Swiss in learning each other's languages. And, as in other as in other European countries, there is an increasing range of …
The nature and significance of English as a global language
THE DEMOGRAPHICS of the English language are well known, and the following approximations are based on figures, always provisional, projected by Crystal, Graddol, and McArthur. Anglophones (to use a broader term than ‘native’ or ‘mother tongue’ speakers of English – terms which in any case pose problems) make up some 12% of the global population. Speakers of English in the UK constitute about 16% of the 380 or so million Anglophones worldwide. In…
Lacking consonance
Puzzled by Michael Bulley's ‘Consonantal beginnings’, in ET80 (Oct 04) who does admit to some difficulty in discussing initial consonant clusters in English, when he says: ‘The conventions of writing can mislead us about speech.’ While the restoration of the phonetic symbols in the ‘full and proper form’ of the article ( ET80 ) now elucidates some of the puzzles in the previous version ( ET79 ), difficulties remain in maintaining a clear distinct…
Très SHOW
Creative wordplay in franglais : mixed messages in French publicity glimpsed from a bus
Breaking the spell
Beyond their GRASP
Notions of grammar, spelling and punctuation in the National Curriculum for schools in England – an introduction to the NATE Position Paper
The Malta experience
A discussion of the role of English in a unique Mediterranean island, in relation to Margie Berns's article ‘English in the European Union’ ( ET 43, Jul 95)
Is English a Swiss language
Following on from Virginia Pulcini's article on English in Italy ( ET 40, Oct 94), an account of English in Switzerland
Double standards
A discussion of language standards, standard language, and examinations in terms of the National Curriculum for state schools in England and the tensions that have followed in its wake
No prominent works on this page.
Double standards
A discussion of language standards, standard language, and examinations in terms of the National Curriculum for state schools in England and the tensions that have followed in its wake
Is English a Swiss language
Following on from Virginia Pulcini's article on English in Italy ( ET 40, Oct 94), an account of English in Switzerland
The Malta experience
A discussion of the role of English in a unique Mediterranean island, in relation to Margie Berns's article ‘English in the European Union’ ( ET 43, Jul 95)
Beyond their GRASP
Notions of grammar, spelling and punctuation in the National Curriculum for schools in England – an introduction to the NATE Position Paper
Breaking the spell
Lacking consonance
Puzzled by Michael Bulley's ‘Consonantal beginnings’, in ET80 (Oct 04) who does admit to some difficulty in discussing initial consonant clusters in English, when he says: ‘The conventions of writing can mislead us about speech.’ While the restoration of the phonetic symbols in the ‘full and proper form’ of the article ( ET80 ) now elucidates some of the puzzles in the previous version ( ET79 ), difficulties remain in maintaining a clear distinct…
Très SHOW
Creative wordplay in franglais : mixed messages in French publicity glimpsed from a bus
The nature and significance of English as a global language
THE DEMOGRAPHICS of the English language are well known, and the following approximations are based on figures, always provisional, projected by Crystal, Graddol, and McArthur. Anglophones (to use a broader term than ‘native’ or ‘mother tongue’ speakers of English – terms which in any case pose problems) make up some 12% of the global population. Speakers of English in the UK constitute about 16% of the 380 or so million Anglophones worldwide. In…
Swiss ‘cool’
The cachet of English in the Swiss press. Plurlingual Switzerland has three ‘official’ languages, standard forms of German, French, Italian, and a further ‘national’ language, the ancient Latin dialects of Romansh spoken in the eastern Alpine valleys by less than one per cent of the population. But there are problems for the Swiss in learning each other's languages. And, as in other as in other European countries, there is an increasing range of …
Language and identity in Switzerland
A proposal for Federal status for English as a Swiss language. I have written previously on the role of English as a vehicular language in plurilingual Switzerland ( ET 42, April 1995) and more recently on the cachet of English in the Swiss media ( ET 95, September 2008). Switzerland sits at the heart of Europe, not as a member of the European Union but with continually negotiated bi-lateral arrangements and now relatively open borders. As elsewh…
English, ‘so to say’
Among common speculations about the ultimate demise of English as the world's lingua franca (see Jeffrey Gil in ET 105, March 2011, reconsidering Chinese as a possible replacement) Nicholas Ostler (2010) is one more to project ‘the breakdown of English-speaking hegemony’, but his case is more curious than most. After an exhaustive, not to say exhausting, survey of ancient empires and modes of communication, in which Latin as the last lingua franc…
When is an /r/ not an /r
These notes are largely based on Lodge (2009), and the IPA transcriptions on Wells (2000). Michael Bulley has singled out for discussion one variant in the articulation of the /r/ phoneme in British English which he characterises as ‘w-for-r’, ‘close to /w/, but distinct from it’ (Bulley, 2014: 46). The focus is on /r/ in syllable-initial position, including /r/ in initial consonant clusters. He describes this particular, not to say singular, var…
French pretensions
The ‘English’ have an ambiguous relationship with the language of their nearest neighbour, France. There is a history, ‘1066 and all that’. Christmas Day 2016 saw the 950 th anniversary of the crowning at Westminster Abbey of the French Duke William of Normandy as King of England (not, please note, of ‘Britain’); William having defeated King Harold – and so the very last ‘English’ monarch – at the battle of Hastings. (The other ‘nations’ of these…
Linguistics (12 works) · Philosophy (11 works) · History (8 works) · Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity (6 works) · Political science (5 works) · English language (4 works) · Lexicography and Language Studies (4 works) · Linguistic Variation and Morphology (4 works) · Psychology (4 works) · Sociology (4 works)