Skeuomorphism in Modern Design: Apple’s Overhaul Sheds Light on Fascinating Concept
What do iPhones, cigarettes, and the floppy disk icon we click on to save a file have in common? All of them contain examples of skeuomorphism – design elements that are not functional or necessary, but that mimic older designs. Throwbacks like the brown “cork” pattern surrounding a cigarette filter or the long-obsolete floppy disk […]
University of Maryland Launches Graduate Studies in Interpreting and Translation Program
Joining a small cadre of U.S. universities that offer graduate degrees in Translation and Interpretation, the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland (College Park) has launched its Graduate Studies in Interpreting and Translation Program (GSIT). The program is currently accepting applications for the Fall 2013 academic year, due February 1 for international students […]
Pidgins and Creoles: The Formation of Nonstandard Language
What do popular English colloquialisms like “long time no see”, “lose face”, and “no can do” have in common? Far from neologisms, these simple, staccato utterances all originated centuries ago as a means of facilitating trade between the English and Chinese. Beginning in the 17th century, as English merchants crossed the Indian Ocean and sailed […]
Fourth-Annual Conference on Language Immersion Education, October 18-20
October 18-20 in St. Paul, Minnesota will mark the fourth-annual Conference on Language Immersion Education. An offshoot of the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota, this conference brings together academics, professionals, students, and experts from around the world in discussion and open exchange of research-based ideas on immersive […]
Learning Hebrew in the Gaza Strip
A newly-instated elective course for high school students in the Gaza Strip may have an unpredictable effect on Israeli-Hamas relations. Beginning this fall, Hebrew will be added as an elective for ninth-graders in a handful of Gaza schools. If deemed successful, the program may spread to other schools in the area. Israeli youths have been […]
“Mind-Reading” Technology May Help Paralyzed Patients Communicate Through Spelling
The famous case of French journalist and editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who was paralyzed after a stroke and left unable to speak, brought to public attention the condition known as locked-in syndrome. Though unable to speak or write, Bauby dictated his memoirs through the technique of partner-assisted scanning. Bauby’s aide, Claude Mendibil, slowly listed the letters […]
Presidential Rhetoric at the 2012 RNC and DNC
During this election season, American presidential hopefuls will raise and spend some 6 billion dollars, according to experts. No less important, the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will spend countless words to woo the electorate, relying on many familiar rhetorical tricks of the trade. To examine one of those devices – repetition […]
Tactile Preference: New Study Examines the QWERTY Effect
Does it seem arbitrary to prefer typing certain letters on a keyboard over others? A new study out of the University College of London suggests that a predilection for keys found on the right side of the keyboard is not merely a phenomenon of modern mediums, but an organic extension of sifting sense through our […]
Before Baby Talk, Baby Thought: New Study on Language Recognition in Infants
A recent study conducted by University of Pennsylvania psychologists Elika Bergelson and Daniel Swingley may show that the first signs of language recognition in infants occur earlier than has initially been believed. The study tested language comprehension in 6- to 9-month old infants by recruiting caregivers to bring children to the lab to complete a […]
How the Battle over Language is Shaping Russo-Ukrainian Relations
Although northern Ukraine is considered by many linguists to be the point of origin of the Slavic people, the country itself has, for centuries, been politically overshadowed by its behemoth neighbor to the east. From Tsarist times – which saw the Ukrainian language lose clout as monarch after monarch limited its use in the public […]