Although second language learners pragmatic competence (their ability to use language in context) is an essential part of their general communicative competence, it has not been a part of second language tests. This book helps fill this gap by describing the development and validation of a web-based test of ESL pragmalinguistics. The instrument assesses learners knowledge of routine formulae, speech acts, and implicature in 36 multiple-choice and brief-response items. The test s quantitative and qualitative validation with 300 learners showed high reliability and provided strong evidence of...

The book consists of three parts. The first part -Innovation of and for learning and development- comprises twelve articles. The second part of the book is devoted to examining the issues of -Networking and cohesion- and comprises six articles. The third part of the book is called -University for development of new learning and mobility- and comprises fifteen articles. Though dealing with the problems of the countries in-transition, these articles touch upon more general points of higher education. The articles should catch the eye of those readers and researchers who are interested in the...

The papers in this volume analyze the language situation under globalization in several European countries. How does the spread of Global English affect the integrity of the local systems? Changes in lexical and discursive repertories are evidenced and discussed. It is shown how new social identities are linguistically constructed and redefined in the social consciousness of the various local communities. The authors see globalization as a major change-in-progress that sets in relief the dual capacity of language: communication and identification. The collection reconciles empirical...

This collection of essays from different conceptual and methodological backgrounds brings disciplines together to discuss the category of gender. It connects various disciplines and negotiates the space for gender studies in and between the academic fields. This volume elaborates gender within two conceptual frameworks: The first touches upon the institutionalisation and acceptance of women s and gender studies in different countries; the second framework comprises case examples for applying and incorporating the category of gender by and in the fields of literary studies, art history,...

This book investigates the conception of finality in nature (-teleology-) in Immanuel Kant s -critical philosophy- and in Maurice Blondel s work. The introduction explains the genuine necessity of a reflection on the problem of finality in nature and the role Kant s and Blondel s philosophies could play in it. The first part of the study describes Kant s teleology from the perspective of the whole of his -critical philosophy- and shows both its strengths and its weaknesses. The second part exposes Blondel s conception of finality in nature and explains how it can be seen as a successful...

While stopping globalisation no longer seems to be a valid option, the task of shaping it has gained priority. But who can effectuate good global governance? The ability of international institutions to provide reliable international structures seems challenged by the recent developments in international politics. What are the implications of the war in Iraq for international law and future global policy? How can governmental and non-governmental actors frame global governance? And what are the prospects of global development policy? These complex questions can only be addressed effectively...

This book explores the first encounter in the mid-fifteenth century between Western Europe and the West African Coast, arguing that it did not produce hostility, but rather a climate of beneficial mutual exchange. It examines West African pre-colonial social history and asserts that around the year 1500 West Africa became a safe haven for those fleeing political or religious persecution in Europe. Among them were mercantile settlers, Tangomaos or Lancados, known to have arrived on the West African Coast after the Portuguese explorers in 1446. They exchanged commodities, culture, religious...