Legacies Of English Research Articles

Which language(s) matter(s) the most? Exploring the ‘schoolscapes’ of rural primary schools in Uganda

This article is an ethnographic investigation into the power and ideological relation between English and Luganda in the sociocultural and pedagogic spaces of rural primary schools in Uganda. This study focuses on the ‘schoolscape’ and examines how teachers choose the languages they use for instruction. The article also examines how signage within and without the classroom space is an extended metaphor of the power dynamics that exist between English and Luganda. The study answers two questions: firstly, what are the signage-making practices in rural Ugandan primary schools and what do these say about the status of local languages? Secondly, what are the teachers’ views regarding the signage-making practices in school? The study data were collected through observation, photography and interviews. The data is qualitatively analysed with the linguistic landscape and nexus analysis approach. The overarching claim made is that ‘schoolscapes’ are in effect microcosmic representations of wider debates foregrounded on the national language policy, which privileges English above indigenous languages. Moreover, teachers believe that indigenous languages such as Luganda hinder learners from acquiring English and therefore limit their use in learners’ interactions at school. This article calls for a rethinking of such a status quo and the deconstruction of the colonial legacy of English so as to accord greater importance to local languages for purposes of teaching and learning.

A Quintessentially English Glove Legacy

The English artisan skills required to produce exquisitely embellished, leather gloves is an important English legacy. The historic cities of Worcester and Bath have, since the 17th Century, been centres of craftsmanship for Glove makers and Design. There is something quintessentially English in the narrative of this heritage having strong connection to English culture and branding. Three important archival glove collections are housed in the Fashion Museum, Bath, the Museums Worcestershire collection and Dents Gloves. The paper will uncover the story of English glove design, manufacturing and social time whilst exploring the relevance of these collections for designers and makers today.

The English Legacy of the Second Amendment History and Myth

According to the majority opinion of Justice Scalia in District of Columbia v. Heller, pre-Second Amendment adoption English history informs the Amendment’s meaning. The majority opinion discusses the historical background after analyzing the language of the Amendment: “Putting all of these textual elements together, we find that they guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation. This meaning is strongly confirmed by the historical background of the Second Amendment. We look to this because it has always been widely understood that the Second Amendment, like the First and Fourth Amendments, codified a pre-existing right.”My paper investigates the actual historical practice in England regarding gun rights before the adoption of the Second Amendment. It focuses on four topics involving rights to bear arms in England of that era: the Declaration of Rights, the writings of Blackstone, the Game Laws, and the Militia.​The paper concludes that although Heller purports to be based on pre-second Amendment historical practice, its description of that practice is more mythical than real.

German influence on Italian jurists' perceptions of the British constitutional model in the late nineteenth century

SUMMARYIn Great Britain, the Magna Carta of 1215 was regarded as the guarantor of parliamentary sovereignty for centuries. During the nineteenth century the Charter continued to be interpreted in law schools, particularly through William Blackstone's 1759 edition. By the mid-nineteenth century, both politicians and lawyers proceeded with a revision of the law, and provided the first Statute Laws Revision Act of 1856. Two further acts followed in 1861 and 1863, repealing hundreds of obsolete laws; subsequent legislation abrogated much of Magna Carta and, by the 1880s, even more chapters of the Charter were revoked. In the rest of Europe throughout the nineteenth century, eminent continental scholars were authoritative voices regarding the interpretation of the English juridical system. By examining historical, legal and political-theoretical aspects of the continental, particularly the German, reception of the English concept of law, the aim of this article is to contribute to a wider understanding of European constitutionalism of that time, since the nineteenth century can be considered a constitutional era. Various aspects of constitutional history both within and outside of continental Europe are examined from a comparative, juridical and historical perspective. In Italy, German studies on English constitutional and parliamentary history were translated and commented on. This article is a working hypothesis about the influence, or the rejection, of the legal system in place across the Channel. The essays by distinguished German jurists interpreting the English institutional inheritance were translated into Italian. These translations and, in particular, the comments thereon, reflect the road taken by Italian legal thought to reach a constitutional model and to gain an insight into what lessons Germans drew from the English legacy in order to form their own doctrinal opinion.

Accidental Encounter: Why John Quincy Adams Translated German Culture for Americans

This article explores the significance of a chance encounter with a foreign culture during the early American republic. It examines the diaries, letters, essays, poems, reviews, and translations produced by John Quincy Adams during his four-year diplomatic appointment in Berlin (1797–1801). His transmission of German works and perspectives to America coincided with a growing American resistance to the legacy of English and French cultural influence. His contribution, while inspired by a curiosity about German culture, was primarily intended to provide Americans with a fresh way of viewing the United States. Adams’s accidental encounter with German society, ideas, and culture highlights key cultural concerns in the early republic and alerts us to the productive unpredictability of cultural transfer.

Love and Silence in the Renaissance: From the Italian Novella Tradition to its English Legacy

The Medieval and Renaissance European literary traditions are testimony to a habit of considering language as the primary medium for love, but there were also interesting exceptions connected to the opposite power of silence. Matteo Bandello’s novella III 17 is a case in point: the tale is centred upon the impotence of amorous words and the paradoxical power of silence. Bandello to some extent appropriated a topic already present in Boccaccio’s Decameron, but it was his novella that fascinated sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England: his tale appeared in both English prose and verse translations, as well as being adapted for the stage in a comedy. This paper considers how this peculiar relation between silence and words within love bonds was treated by Bandello and then appropriated both in narrative and theatrical contexts by English writers such as William Painter, Geoffrey Fenton, John God, Gervase Markham, and Lewis Machin.

Uncommon Law: America's Excessive Criminal Law & Our Common-Law Origins

This essay explores the role that U.S. criminal courts play in shaping the uniquely punitive social order of the United States. U.S. courts have long been defined against the common law of England, from which they emerged. In this essay, I consider the English legacy and suggest that while the United States does draw heavily from common-law traditions, it has also innovated to alter them, a process that has established a criminal justice system even more punitive than that of England.

Young adults' linguistic manipulation of English in Bangla in Bangladesh

It is commonly assumed in the print media that bilingual young adults in Bangladesh are subjugated by the colonial legacy of English and they are ‘polluting’ Bangla, the national language of Bangladesh, by their indiscriminate insertion of English in it. However, this ethnographic study on a group of young adults in a university in Bangladesh shows that this assumption is simplistic and inadequate. A close linguistic analysis of extracts from their face-to-face and virtual conversations on Facebook illustrates that they (1) use linguistic and semantic forms of both English and Bangla very creatively, strategically and pragmatically, (2) bring in diversity to Bangla not only from English but also from different genre of discourses, and eventually (3) transgress the boundary of the Bangla language. English in fact provides them with newer metalinguistic and indexical opportunities. The study also identifies that the nationalist stance in favour of Bangla may not allow a fuller appreciation of the complex linguistic scenario in Bangladesh. At the end, the study suggests a prospect of a future research that may provide important insights into the socio-cultural dynamics of bilingualism in English and Bangla in the social landscape of Bangladesh as well as in other multilingual contexts.

Experience, evidence, & sense: The hidden cultural legacy of English (review)

Experience, evidence, & sense: The hidden cultural legacy of English (review)

Experience, evidence, and sense: the hidden cultural legacy of English

PART I. INTRODUCTION Making the familiar look foreign PART II. EXPERIENCE AND EVIDENCE Experience: an English key word and cultural theme Evidence: words, ideas, and cultural practices PART III. SENSE The discourse of sense and the legacy of British Empiricism A sense of humor, a sense of self and similar expressions A strong sense, a deep sense and similar expressions Moral sense Common sense From having sense to making sense PART IV. PHRASEOLOGY, SEMANTICS AND CORPUS LINGUISTICS Investigating English phraseology with two tools: NSM and Google Notes References Appendix Index

Anita Desai’s In Custody and the English Legacy

This paper shows how Desai’s novel illustrates the legacy left by the British Empire in an ambivalent way: it pays tribute to English literature, and at the same time uses the (former) colonizer’s language to emphasize the changes and disruption the subcontinent has inherited from British presence and departure. Through the central protagonist the novel stages a difficult positioning in a post-Independence and post-Partition India faced with new forms of hegemony.

"I Am Isabel, You Know?": The Antipodean Framing of Jane Campion’s Portrait of a Lady

"I Am Isabel, You Know?": The Antipodean Framing of Jane Campion’s <i>Portrait of a Lady</i>

Who May Be President? Constitutional Reinterpretation of Article II's 'Natural Born' Presidential Eligibility Clause

Although facially clear, the natural-born citizen provision of Article II's presidential eligibility clause has never been definitively interpreted by the courts. This paper considers whether the concept of natural-born is a self-defining concept, or whether instead it is a concept that is subject to a variety of interpretive theories. It does so by examining the traditional interpretive approach adopted by Constitutional scholars for examining the intended meaning of Article II's presidential eligibility requirements. Such an analysis finds that the traditional approach is inadequate, particularly in light of neglected aspects of English common law, the lack of congruency of the English legacy with the American political experiment, the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the history of congressional regulation in this area. The paper responds to these problems within existing traditions of natural born interpretation by proposing a new approach that includes a recognition of Congress's constitutional power to extend natural born citizenship to classes of citizens beyond those born within the territorial boundaries of the United States. Discussion concludes with an examination of how application of the new interpretative approach would expand the number of American citizens who may be considered natural born for purposes of presidential eligibility; how Congress might operationalize these new understandings; and why reconceptualization of the meaning of the citizenship clause is preferable to previous interpretations of Article II.

Introduction: Theorizing New English(es)

Englishes, new Englishes, world English(es), global English(es) are all terms which highlight the legacy of English and facilitate an obscured political agenda to legitimate and promote it as the l...

The American Tradition of International Law: Great Expectations, 1789-1914

CHAPTER ONE The English Legacy- The Law of Nations and International Law CHAPTER TWO The Jurists- the International law of Christendom CHAPTER THREE The Lawyers and Judges- International Law in the Courtroom and the Constitution CHAPTER FOUR The Utopians- International Law and World Peace CHAPTER FIVE The Scientists- The Codification and Science of International Law CHAPTER SIX Dreamers and Diplomats- The Promise of International Law

Britain and the American South: From Colonialism to Rock and Roll

Britain and the American South: From Colonialism to Rock and Roll edited by Joseph P. Ward, with essays by R. J. M. Blackett, Kathryn E. Holland Braund, Holly Brewer, S. Max Edelson, Franklin T. Lambert, Michael O'Brien, Brian Ward, Hugh Wilford, and Marcus Wood. In this volume of collected essays, historians analyze central aspects of the cultural exchanges between Britain and the American South. Along with the Spanish and the French, the British were among the first Europeans to have contact with the native peoples in what would come to be known as the American South. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the British were intensively engaged in colonizing much of the region and developing its economy. The American Revolution severed the governmental links between Britain and its Southern colonies, but economic, social, religious, and cultural ties persevered during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The volume illuminates Britain's evolving relationship with the South over a period of four centuries, an era that witnessed Britain's rise to imperial dominance and then the gradual erosion of its influence on the wider world. It considers the British influence upon, and often critical responses to, Southern institutions and cultural formations such as religion, gentility, slavery, and music. Two essays focus on Britain's response to the Confederacy, while others look even further into the past, concentrating on the English legacy in colonial times, its influence on Southern religion, and Britain's relationship with the Creek Indians. Moving into the twentieth century, the book features analysis of the South's relationship to the British Left from 1930 to 1960, and an investigation of the South's role in 1950s British popular music. With an engaging afterword that explores the difficulties in comprehending both Britain and the American South in the present day as well as in the past, this book shows that the relationship between the two has always been and continues to be complex, subtle, and meaningful. Joseph P. Ward is chair of the history department at the University of Mississippi.

James Bryce: Englishness and Federalism in America and Australia

That the Constitution of the United States served as a model for the Australian federation is well established, and is in any case evident from the resemblance of federal institutions between the two countries. Yet substantial differences remain, largely through the determination of the Australian founders to retain the parliamentary heritage of the Westminster system of government. It has been pointed out that fames Bryce's lavish expositions of the American federation distorted American realities when they were viewed through uncompromisingly English lenses. It was Bryce's version of the American federation that allowed the Australian founders to accommodate their new creation to the English legacy. However, in Bryce's acclaimed comparative work, his overriding aim was to promote the abiding excellence of English institutions. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.

Media and politics in french political science

Abstract. The study of the relationship between media and politics has long been marginal in French political science. The take–off of research has been stimulated by the impact of the Presidential election under the Fifth republic and by the increasing role of television and spin–doctors in this new electoral context. If French studies on political communication converge with international research, they are also characterised by strong peculiarities. The material of case–studies is not campaign–centred, but gives room to various TV programmes, to a wide range of media uses by French politicians. The contribution of historians, the influence of a literary tradition of ‘textual’ analysis of political speech are important. The publishing of books on this topic also reveals a surprisingly intense participation from spin– doctors, journalists and even politicians. Three main ‘schools’ are contributing to the dynamics of French research. Linked to the tradition of semiological and literary studies the first one focuses on the study of political discourse in the media. Merging the legacy of English–speaking studies and the French tradition of electoral studies a second one develops an analysis of the campaigning process and of its effects. More recently, a new generation of researchers has widened the object of research to the complex network of relations between politicians, journalists and consultant. Linking successfully the most recent developments or international research and the peculiarities of academic tradition, research on political communication appears as one of the most dynamic areas of French political science.

Controlling Voices: The Legacy of English A at Radcliffe College 1883-1917

But in fact Dorothea received mostly Cs, comments that some passages were simply no good, and hieroglyphs alongside a paragraph that was badly massed. Few comments addressed the content of her writing. For Dorothea, English A, the first-year writing course, played a part in revising her sense of herself as a college student and as a woman of intellect. Her compositions indicate that this process was occasionally painful, not only because the social norms of the academy discouraged professors from eagerly seeking her acquaintance but also because her attempts at academic writing were not affirmed, only corrected, and her personal interests and views were totally ignored. Perhaps to spare others a painful adjustment, Dorothea wrote a theme in the form of a letter of advice to future women students:

Racial and Ethnic Relations in America

All chapters conclude with Discussion Questions, Key Ideas, Key Terms, and Notes. 1. Natives and Newcomers. An Overview of Assimilation in America. Development of Assimilation Theory. Race and Ethnicity: A Conceptual Note. 2. Together or Apart? Some Competing Views. Subprocesses of Assimilation. Gordon's Theory of Assimilation Subprocesses. Three Ideologies of Assimilation. Two Anti-Assimilationist Ideologies: Separatism and Secessionism. The Models of Assimilation as Descriptions. 3. The Rise of Anglo American Society. The English Legacy. Indian-English Relations. Servants and Slaves. The Colonial Irish. The Colonial Germans. The Revolutionary Period. 4. The Golden Door. The First Great Immigrant Stream. Changing Patterns of Immigration. The Second Great Immigrant Stream. The Third Great Immigrant Stream. 5. Nativism and Racism. Nativism. Scientific Racism. Immigration Restriction. Contemporary Racism. 6. Japanese Americans. Japanese Immigration and Native Reactions. The Japanese Family and Community in America. War, Evacuation, and Relocation. Japanese American Assimilation. Japanese American Success. 7. Mexican Americans: From Colonized Minority to Political Activists. The Colonial Model. The Immigrant Model. Mexican Immigration and Native Reaction. 8. Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans: Identity and Incorporation. Identification and Diversity. The Colonization of Puerto Rico. Cultural Assimilation: English and Spanish. Mexican American and Puerto Rican Success. 9. African Americans: From Slavery to Segregation. The Period of Slavery. Immigrant or Colonized Minority? Emancipation and Reconstruction. The Restoration of White Supremacy. Migration and Urbanization. The Civil Rights Movement. 10. African Americans: Protest and Social Change. The Rise of Direct Action. Renewed Visibility of Black-White Conflict. African American Assimilation. African American Success. 11. Native Americans: The First Americans. The English Penetration of the Continent. Anglo American-Indian Policies. Indian Removal. Plains Wars and Reservations. From Separatism to Anglo Conformity. Cycling between Anglo Conformity and Cultural Pluralism. Pan-Indian Responses and Initiatives. Immigrant or Colonized Minority? 12. Native Americans: A Struggle to Maintain Political and Cultural Pluralism. Cultural Assimilation. Secondary Structural Assimilation. Primary Structural Assimilation. Marital Assimilation. Other Forms of Assimilation. American Indian Success. 13. The New Immigration. Changes in the Laws and the Immigrant Stream. The Vietnamese. Resurgent Racism and Nativism. 14. Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination. Theory and Practice. The Educational Approach. The Legal Approach. Political Participation. 15. The Future of Ethnicity. Further Reflections on Assimilation and Ethnicity. Consequences of Colonization and Immigration: An Alternative View. Some Applications of the Alternative View. Some Tentative Conclusions about Racial and Ethnic Relations in the United States. The Future of Ethnicity in the United States. Across National Boundaries. Appendix. References. Name Index. Subject Index.