Humanities & Social Sciences Library

How is “wicked” used in the youth context? Interested in finding out and comparing the meanings and semantics between “true feelings” and “mixed feelings”? Explore collocations, concordances and more with the Library’s newest resource — the British National Corpus!

The British National Corpus (BNC) XML edition contains samples of written and spoken language that is meant to represent a wide cross-section of current British English,both spoken and written. BNC contains 100 million words and contains written and spoken corpora.

For more details, check our databases page.

Vague language explored
edited by Joan Cutting.
Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillian, 2007
P299.A46V126

New perspectives on language and sexual identity
Liz Morrish and Helen Sauntson.
Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
P120.S48M875

Identity trouble : critical discourse and contested identities
edited by Carmen Rosa Caldas-Coulthard, Rick Iedema.
Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
P302.I19

The grammar detective : solving the mysteries of basic grammar
Gillian Mary Hanson.
London : Continuum, 2008
PE1112.M393

English as a lingua franca : a corpus-based analysis
Luke Prodromou.
London ; New York : Continuum, c2008.
PE1073.P964

ICT and language learning : from print to the mobile phone
Marie-Madeleine Kenning.
Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
P53.28.K36A

Linguistic policies and the survival of regional languages in France and Britain
Anne Judge.
Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
P119.32.F7J92

Language interrupted : signs of non-native acquisition in standard language grammars
John McWhorter.
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2007.
P204.M177

From Malaysia to France, there is an increasing spotlight on hymenoplasty, an operation to restore a broken hymen. This can be a life saving operation in certain conservative societies, where a woman’s virginity can be a serious matter concerning family honour.

The issue was reported in the New Straits Times on Monday, and has been reported on again by the New York Times. The matter raised is the same, and there are striking parallels between the concerns of the women interviewed.

One commentator believes the rise of hymenoplasty operations to be a result of young women caught between their conservative home societies and the more liberal attitudes of Western societies.

Read the article from the New York Times here, and the article from the New Straits Times here.

A criminal trial of two suspects in Australia has been suspended by a judge after five members of the jury were found to have been playing Sudoku during the trial proceedings. There is usually a total of 12 jurors present.

The jurors were discovered when it was noticed that the jurors were writing ‘notes’ vertically rather than horizontally. What is disturbing is that the trial was for drug offences, which carried potential life sentences for the accused.

The jurors in their explanation said that they found it difficult to follow the evidence presented, which could be rather drawn out. However the fact remains that such inattention is disturbing, given the gravity of the trial and the potential sentences which could be meted out. This also calls into question the ability of the jury to understand complicated evidence, such as scientific evidence.

However this does not mean that there are advantages to a jury trial. Juries have been known to refuse to convict a person despite the evidence, in a process known as jury nullification, or jury equity. This could be done if the jury felt that a law was unjust, or if they felt there were strong mitigating factors, despite the evidence presented. Of course this also means that it is possible to win trials using emotional appeals to the jury.

The trial itself has been scheduled to be reheard after a new jury is selected. Read the full article here.

Hits and misses: the google generation
Times Higher Education
5 June 2008
By Matthew Reisz
Does the Google generation, which has grown up with a deluge of data just clicks away, lack the independence of thought and critical rigour needed for higher study?

This article is about the effect of Google and Web 2.0 on scholarly learning in universities. How can British universities capture the attention of the Google generation who believe in instant gratification and turning in term papers with plenty of references from Google result lists?

According to the article, academic librarians would have to make information literacy workshops one of their key mission statements. Additionally, academic libraries would have to reinvent themselves by carving out “learning suites” and “think tanks” –aka learning spaces — so that self-directed and group learning styles can be supported.

The writer also thinks that Web 2.0 tools like blogging might result in anti-establishment attitudes that may pose a threat to British university traditions and rituals. Especially when “the Google generation” is so focused on the here and now. In my opinion, to say that students create anarchy and chaos on campus via their blogs is a sweeping statement that supports the fallacy of hasty generalization! I’m sure not all students are bent on creating trouble for their universities;they just need an outlet to voice their problems and opinions.

The article ends off saying that librarians have to help students undo what the latter have learnt though Google and social-networking sites. The bit about teaching students about information integrity in Google result lists is quite clear but some elaboration is needed for the sematics behind the meaning of “undoing what [has been] learnt in social-networking sites.”

Label France
Call no.: DC1.L116
Location: Lee Wee Nam Library

Label France is published by the French Ministry of Foreign and European affairs and the Library has the English edition of this magazine. This quarterly publication gives readers an insight into French culture including aspects such as tourism, lifestyle, economy, literature and the like.

The latest issue (issue no. 69) featured the french and their love of books as the main story. French public libraries and the current state of the French publishing industry are also highlighted in this issue. Fashionistas can look forward to the story on the haute-couture fashion show by Christian Dior and John Galliano.

LIEN

Lien is a bilingual French and English monthly newsletter published by Alliance Francaise de Singapour that reports on local cultural events sponsored by Alliance Francaise. It also highlights French cinema and other French cultural products. Limited copies of Lien are available in HSS Library, Media Resource Library and Library 2.

Can’t get your print copy? Fret not. There’s always the online version.

The essence of style : how the French invented high fashion, fine food, chic cafés, style, sophistication, and glamour
Joan DeJean.
New York : Free Press, 2005.
Call no.: DC128.D326

“The Essence of Style” is one of my favourite books on France and French culture. Why is Paris the City of Light and what role did the Sun King, Louis XIV, play in redefining France as the land of luxury goods and glamour as well as making Paris the fashion capital of the world? Read this book!

For French Film Fans
Searching for french films in the Library? Type in Subject terms “motion pictures” and “french” in the catalogue and limit by audiovisual type. The Library has a sizable collection of French films to support the University’s teaching needs.

The Science of Sarcasm (Not That You Care)
By DAN HURLEY
June 3, 2008

According to the above NYT news article, individuals who lose the ability to perceive sacarsm and irony are unable to use the part of the brain that decodes visual and social contexts.

Dr. Rankin,a professor at University of California, San Francisco, had conducted experiments where dialogue on paper is compared to dialogue in face-to-face encounters. Apparently, paralinguistic cues play quite an important part in communicating sarcasm. Additionally,those who have lost the use of the right hemisphere will not be able to appreciate humour, puns and jokes.

However, even normal folks with “intact brains” have strengths and weaknesses in the ability to detect social cues. How do we sharpen our cognitive abilities then? Read more books? Talk to people who like to engage in verbal sparring and language puzzles? Let’s leave such research to the brainier folks to figure out.

An article by the International Herald Tribune has reported on the intricate relationship between the people and the monks. The monastery is often especially important in rural areas, as it can be the only institution which offers the rural villagers an education or spiritual comfort.

This bond between the monks and the laity is reported to be strengthening due to Cyclone Nargis, which has devastated the Irrawaddy delta. The monks are reported to be at the forefront of providing aid to survivors of the cyclone.

In separate news, Singapore volunteers have spoken of their first hand experiences in the delta. They reported that their trip was smoother than expected, possibly due to the presence of a respected monk with them, namely Venerable K Gunaratana. The volunteers reported that they experienced no problems with roadblocks or with taking pictures.

This article thus suggests that the position of the monks continues to be highly respected in Myanmar, despite the recent military crackdown. The respect given to the monks appears to be strengthening instead.

Read the full IHT article here. The ChannelnewsAsia report is accessible at this link.

Dr. Chee Soon Juan and his sister Ms. Chee Siok Chin have both been given jail sentences for contempt of court, at 12 and 10 days respectively. The defamation damages have not been decided (if they are granted).

It is interesting to note the (generally) negative public reaction to Dr. Chee in the Asiaone forums. One forum poster even criticised Dr. Chee for wasting the time of the Prime Minister.

It is even more interesting to compare the generally negative local reaction to Dr. Chee, with the articles written by the New York Times, which seems to view Dr. Chee in a more positive light.

This can be viewed from the title of the New York Times article, which is “Power and Tenacity Collide in a Singapore Courtroom”. The word “tenacity” usually carries a positive overtone.

Read the Asiaone report here, and the forum commentaries here. The New York Times article is available here.

It is unusual to find articles on Singapore in the New York Times, or in the BBC news.

The New York Times has a strong bias towards reporting on American news, and on Middle Eastern news. However there have been a pair of articles commenting on the state of Singapore politics, such as J.B Jeyaretnam’s proposed establishment of a new political party.

More recently, there has been an article written on Dr. Chee Soon Juan’s debate in court with M.M. Lee and PM Lee. The foreign interest paid to politics in Singapore is slightly surprising to this blogger, although the different viewpoints are interesting. For example the quotes taken by the New York Times from the courtroom debate between Dr. Chee and MM Lee are quite different from that of the Straits Times, in its own commentary.

However, one suspects that the writer of the New York Times articles, Seth Mydans, is not entirely neutral with regard to his views on Singapore politics.

Read the articles here and here