Cover: Language Awareness, 14th Edition by Paul Eschholz; Alfred Rosa; Virginia Clark
VALUE

Language Awareness

Readings for College WritersFourteenth Edition ©2024 Paul Eschholz; Alfred Rosa; Virginia Clark

Language Awareness helps students understand how language operates and how it evolves over time―and this knowledge, in turn, helps students use language effectively in their own writing. This beloved reader has stood the test of time and has been revised with feedback from instructors ac...

Read more
Students - Buy or Rent

ISBN:9781319540494

ISBN:9781319332136

Cover: Language Awareness, 14th Edition by Paul Eschholz; Alfred Rosa; Virginia Clark

Explore the transformative power of language

 

Language Awareness helps students understand how language operates and how it evolves over time―and this knowledge, in turn, helps students use language effectively in their own writing. This beloved reader has stood the test of time and has been revised with feedback from instructors across the country. The new edition features a blend of classic and contemporary readings on a wide range of language topics, from code-switching and multilingualism to "fake news" and the rise of AI chatbots. The reading apparatus includes the unique Language in Action activity, which connects the everyday and the academic by examining current language-related topics and controversies which complicate and deepen students understanding of each reading. The book also includes instruction on critical reading, academic writing, research, and citation, making it the only book you will need for your composition course.

 

Features

  • Compelling readings connect language and culture. In ten thematic chapters ranging from language communities and evolution to the language of discrimination and social justice, 61 classic and contemporary readings — by authors ranging from Stephen King and Jhumpha Lahiri to John McWhorter and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — provide insights that students can use as they think and write about culturally relevant  topics. By connecting language, culture, and power, the readings encourage students to examine language in their own lives and in the world around them in their writing.
  • With its chapters on critical reading and the writing process and the apparatus accompanying each selection, Language Awareness offers more support for student writers than any comparable reader. Two student essays provide models for students.
  • Unique Language in Action activities follow each reading selection and link the readings to other current events and cultural conversations about language. These activities ask students to apply what they have learned to other text and images, such as websites, social media, and news stories, thereby giving them the practice they need to find and connect other sources in their own writing.

New to This Edition

  • Nineteen new selections, such as Jhumpa Lahiri’s “I Am, in Italian, a Tougher, Freer Writer,” Robert Rubsam’s “How Scribbling in the Margins Transformed My Reading,” and Ocean Vuong’s “Surrendering” discuss the most important language concerns facing our culture. New topics covered include code-switching, news headlines’ shaping of public perception, online argument, and technology’s effect on American Sign Language.
  • An updated chapter on current language developments provides multiple perspectives on three current changes and debates: the growing popularity of singular they—and possible alternatives; the use of Latinx; and what AI chatbots might mean for student writing. Writing suggestions encourage students to join the conversation by doing their own research and contributing their perspective to the debates.
  • Integrated coverage of digital learning is woven throughout the book’s coverage. Instruction for students has been updated with consideration of students who may be learning virtually or using the book digitally; new Language in Action activities and writing suggestions engage students with the language of social and other online media, encouraging their literacy in these areas.

“Language Awareness has width and depth on many issues of writing, speaking, argument, and overall communication.” — Michael Young, Robert Morris University

“An effective textbook that offers a variety of readings and topics regarding the power of language.” — Jasna Shannon, Coker College

“Language Awareness covers many subjects that are important to teach first-year writing students, especially difficult subjects like race and gender identity…Its a useful tool to get students to think critically about language and challenge their own beliefs.” — Cailin Wile, Eastern Kentucky University

Digital Options

EPUB3_EBOOK icon

E-book

Read online (or offline) with all the highlighting and notetaking tools you need to be successful in this course.

Learn About E-book

Table of Contents

* New to this edition
PART 1

Chapter 1. Reading Critically
Getting the Most Out of Your Reading
     Be Specific, Natalie Goldberg
Practice Reading, Annotating, and Analyzing
     Whats in a Name?, Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Reading as a Writer

Chapter 2. Writing in College and Beyond
Developing an Effective Writing Process
     Mixed Results, Mya Nunnally (student essay)

Chapter 3. Writers on Reading and Writing
     Reading to Write, Stephen King
     Shitty First Drafts, Anne Lamott
     The First Sentence, Iman Humaydan
     The Makers Eye: Revising Your Own Manuscripts, Donald M. Murray
     How Scribbling in the Margins Transformed My Reading, Robert Rubsam *

Chapter 4. Writing with Sources
What Does It Mean to Write with Sources?
Write with Sources
Learn to Summarize, Paraphrase, and Quote from Your Sources
Integrate Borrowed Material into Your Text
Avoid Plagiarism
     Can America Prescribe English with a Clear Conscience?, Jake Jamieson (student essay)

Chapter 5. A Brief Guide to Writing a Research Paper
Establish a Realistic Schedule
Locate and Use Print and Online Sources
Evaluate Your Sources
Analyze Your Sources
Develop a Working Bibliography of Your Sources
Take Notes
Document Your Sources
MLA-Style Documentation
APA-Style Documentation

PART 2

Chapter 6. Understanding the Power of Language: How We Find Our Voices
     Coming into Language, Jimmy Santiago Baca
     The Day Language Came into My Life, Helen Keller
     The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action, Audre Lorde
     Surrendering, Ocean Vuong *
     On and On: Appalachian Language and Academic Power, Meredith McCarroll
    Address at the Youth Takeover of the United Nations, Malala Yousafzai

Chapter 7. Language Communities: Where Do We Belong?
     Speech Communities, Paul Roberts
     All-American Dialects, Richard Lederer
     Code-Switching Is Not Trying to Fit in to White Culture, It’s Surviving It, Ida Harris *
     Sign of the Times, Sara Novic
     Mother Tongue, Amy Tan
     I Am, in Italian, a Tougher, Freer Writer, Jhumpa Lahiri *

Chapter 8. Language Evolution: How and Why Does Language Change?
     Words on the Move, John McWhorter
     How New Words Are Born, Andy Bodle
     What are Gender Pronouns and Why is it Important to Use the Right Ones?, Glen Hosking *
     Textspeak Is Modernizing the English Language (*English), Lauren Collister
     The (Sometimes Unintentional) Subtext of Digital Conversations, Deborah Tannen
     How A Visual Language Evolves as Our World Does, Amanda Morris *

Chapter 9. Language That Manipulates: Politics, Advertising, and Doublespeak
     Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled, Donna Woolfolk Cross
     Selection, Slanting, and Charged Language, Newman P. Birk and Genevieve B. Birk
     Fake News Starts with the Title, Benjamin Horne
     The Headlines That Are Covering Up Police Violence, Sarah J. Jackson *
     Weasel Words: The Art of Saying Nothing at All, William Lutz
     The Ways of Silencing, Jason Stanley

Chapter 10. The Language of Discrimination: Hate, Prejudice, and Social Justice
     The Language of Prejudice, Gordon Allport
     The F Word, Firoozeh Dumas
     A History of ‘Wokeness’: How a Black Activist Watchword Got Co-Opted in the Culture War, Aja Romano *
     The Racist Trope That Won’t Die, Brent Staples
     The Fight Over the Words of Immigration, Jeff Gamage
     Nobody Mean More to Me Than You, June Jordan

Chapter 11. Language and Gender: Power, Abuse, and Equality
     We’re All Mad Here: Weinstein, Women, and the Language of Lunacy, Laurie Penny
     The Careless Language of Sexual Violence, Roxane Gay  
     Happy Feminist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie   
     How “Ma’am” Went from Being a Respectful Word for Some—But Polarizing for Others, Janelle Davis *
     The Language We Use to Talk about Pregnancy and Abortion Is Changing. But Not Everyone Welcomes the Shift, Harmeet Kaur *
     How to Refer to My Husband-Wife, Michelle Tea  

Chapter 12. The Language of Lying: Ethics, White Lies, and Fraud
     The Truth about Lying, Judith Viorst
     Lying Words, James Pennebaker
     Learning to Lie, Po Bronson
     Is Lying Bad for Us?, Richard Gunderman
     Psychology of Fraud: Why Good People Do Bad Things, Chana Joffe-Walt and Alix Spiedel
     How Self-Deception Allows People to Lie, David Robson *

Chapter 13. The Language of Conflict Resolution: Dignity, Apology, and De-escalation
     Resolve Current and Future Conflicts with Dignity, Donna Hicks
     How Those Who Want to Divide Us Use Language to Stoke Violence, H. Colleen Sinclair *
     The Language of Online Argument, Ian Leslie *
     The Five Ingredients of an Effective Apology, Guy Winch *
     Further Adventures of Flex Cop, Michael Gardner
     Stalling for Time, Gary Noesner

Chapter 14.  Contemporary Language Issues
THE GREAT SINGULAR THEY DEBATE
     We Need the Singular They, Stephanie Golden
     The Tragedy of the Singular They, Tom Flynn *
LATINX: YES OR NO?
     What Does ‘Latinx’ Mean? A Look at the Term That’s Challenging Gender Norms, Yesenia Padilla
     Stop Using ‘Latinx’ if You Really Want to Be Inclusive, Melissa K. Ochoa *
WHO’S AFRAID OF CHATGPT?
     How ChatGPT Robs Students of Motivation to Write and Think for Themselves, Naomi S. Baron *
     Why I’m Not Scared of ChatGPT, Christopher Grobe *

Headshot of Paul Eschholz

Paul Eschholz

Paul Eschholz and Alfred Rosa are professors emeriti of English at the University of Vermont. They have directed statewide writing programs and conducted numerous workshops throughout the country on writing and the teaching of writing. Eschholz and Rosa have collaborated on a number of best-selling texts for Bedford/St. Martins, including Subject & Strategy; Outlooks and Insights: A Reader for College Writers; Models for Writers; with Virginia Clark, Language Awareness; and, with Virginia Clark and Beth Simon, Language: Readings in Language.

Headshot of Alfred Rosa

Alfred Rosa

Paul Eschholz and Alfred Rosa are professors emeriti of English at the University of Vermont. They have directed statewide writing programs and conducted numerous workshops throughout the country on writing and the teaching of writing. Eschholz and Rosa have collaborated on a number of best-selling texts for Bedford/St. Martins, including Subject & Strategy; Outlooks and Insights: A Reader for College Writers; Models for Writers; with Virginia Clark, Language Awareness; and, with Virginia Clark and Beth Simon, Language: Readings in Language.

Headshot of Virginia Clark

Virginia Clark

Virginia Clark was a professor of English at the University of Vermont and served as chair of the English department. With Paul Eschholz and Alfred Rosa, she is the coauthor of Language Awareness.

Instructor Resources

Need instructor resources for your course?

Unlock Your Resources

Instructor Resources

Download Resources

You need to sign in to unlock your resources.

request locked icon

Instructor's Resource Manual for Language Awareness, Fourteenth Edition (.pdf)