Japanese generative grammar Ed. by Masayoshi Shibatani (review)

REVIEWS453 Throughout the text, there are occasional points at which C&S seem to be overly concerned with either traditional Hausa grammatical terminology or the students' English-based concepts. The term 'continuative pronoun' is retained (pp. 68-9) for what they recognize to be really a pronoun plus a particle, though written as one word. The orthography hardly seems a convincing pedagogical reason to obscure the real nature of the constructions involved. In the same section there is a reference to 'continuative pronouns followed by nouns of quality'; only later in the paragraph is the crucial point made that the pronoun plus particle is followed by /dà/, and only then by a noun of quality—the standard Construction for possession, regardless of the nature of the English translation. Weaknesses of this type are, however, only occasional. Treatments of such major concepts as aspect (82-3), and of many details like the usage of the verb /bä/ 'give' (137) are admirable. Some types of drill are meaningful only if students are told not to look at the transcription in their books. These include phonetic 'discrimination drills' in the first several units; but the crucial instruction is not given there. The instruction first appears, and is then worded very emphatically, several units into the course. Attention on the part of the instructor will, of course, make it possible to add this instruction as soon as it is needed. C&S use two extremely valuable classroom procedures which, in language texts from the days of World War II until the present, have generally been handled haphazardly if at all. The first is structured practice in comprehension. In general, the content of a dialog previously practiced is repeated in narrative form; questions (in Hausa) on the narrative are provided for the students to answer. The second consists of imaginative instructions for guided conversation, in many cases with sample dialogs. This makes possible such unexpected transitions as one from a dialog discussing brands of cigarettes to a conversation involving the purchase of a used car; vocabulary and grammatical constructionsjust learned arecombined with more familiar material in ingenious and relevant ways. There are, understandably, a few typographical errors, most ofwhich can readily be noted and corrected in class. Perhaps the most unfortunate one is on a map on p. 237 (designed for a drill, which is highly effective and enjoyable, on describing routes and giving mileages); where the compass points are given, the Hausa word for 'north' is misspelled. No textbook can be expected to make a good teacher out of an inherently poor one; one can envision many ways in which this text can be misused, or not used to a fraction ofits potential. Cowan & Schuh can in no way be blamed for such possible failures. A good textbook can, however, help to make a good teacher better, and a good instructional program more effective and exciting. To that end, this textbook can be expected to succeed. It is an excellent example of the best in applied linguistics , language pedagogy, and cultural orientation. It is refreshing to be reminded that some linguists are still language teachers, and among the best. It is to be hoped that other linguists will find it possible to produce comparable texts for many other languages. The bold vision oflinguists in the early 1940's, associated with the American Council of Learned Societies and the Army Specialized Training Program, can still inspire a new generation of more sophisticated scholars. [Received 28 July 1976.] Japanesegenerativegrammar. Ed. by Masayoshi Shibatani. (Syntax and semantics, 5.) New York: Academic Press, 1976. Pp. xvii, 574. $29.00. Reviewed by Chisato Kitagawa, University ofArizona According to Shibatani, one characteristic of this book 'lies in its presentation of perhaps the most rigorous applications of current theoretical apparati [sic] to 454LANGUAGE, VOLUME 53, NUMBER 2 (1977) various grammatical structures of a non-Indo-European language', providing 'the first comprehensive illustration of how the detailed study of a non-Indo-European language can shed light on current theoretical problems and controversies' (xii). The book in its totality, containing twelve articles on diverse issues in Japanese generative grammar, amply justifies such an appraisal. S-Y. Kuroda's 'Subject' is a superb expository account on the concept of...