The Languages of Nation ─ Attitudes and Norms

The 15 papers in this collection were selected from the English-language presentation to an August 2009 conference in Toronto, Canada. Scholars of the English language and of linguistics go beyond the usual mono-lingual context to consider mechanisms by which language norms and prescriptions generally emerge, especially in contexts of contact and cross-cultural awareness. They cover managing language policies, colonialism and literary canons, transmarine and transatlantic allegiances, re-defining boundaries: ideology and language norms, identifying norms and attitudes in post-colonial contexts, and prescribing norms beyond borders with foreign language teaching. Distributed in the US by UTP Distribution. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Carol Percy is Associate Professor of English at the University of Toronto, Canada. Her work on eighteenth-century normative linguistics began with Captain Cook and his editor, and women grammarians. Recent articles provide literary and cultural contexts for popular grammars, and consider prescriptive attitudes in the popular press ? book reviews and classified advertisements.
Mary Catherine Davidson is Associate Professor of English at Glendon College, York University, Canada. Her book Medievalism, Multilingualism, and Chaucer (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) examined multilingual identity in the writing of Gower, Langland, and Chaucer. Her current book project charts the changing status of American English in the representation and reception of dialects and second languages in Hollywood film in the 1940s and 50s.