Tuimarishe Kiswahili Chetu: Kitabu cha Wanafunzi wa Mwaka wa Pili/Tatu Lioba J. Moshi (review)

BOOK NOTICES 201 ofa text can shed light on clause type ('nominal' or 'verbal') in Arabic expository text. In the third paper, R. R. K. Hartmann argues that bilingual dictionary compilation should be informed by a corpus of parallel texts. The section ends with a theoretical discussion by Rod Haden about how Contrastive Analysis and Error Analysis can be carried out in the context of discourse analysis. Many of the papers in this volume are too short to do justice to their topics. Had the authors had more space to develop their themes, some of the papers could have been more successful in making their points. The majority of them, however, do succeed in providing insight for linguists concerned with the functional and pragmatic aspects of lexicon and grammar to ponder. [Sandra A. Thompson, University of California, Santa Barbara.] Tuimarishe Kiswahili Chetu: Kitabu cha Wanafunzi wa Mwaka wa Pili/ Tatú. Lioba J. Moshi. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1988. Pp. xv, 163. Textbooks for the less commonly taught languages , especially those for advanced students, deserve attention because there are so few of them. Swahili grammars and exercise books for students beyond the beginning level are available , but a volume integrating all the language skills is harder to find. Tuimarishe Kiswahili Chetu is such a book, intended for classroom use. According to the author, it emphasizes conversation , comprehension, and composition. Grammatical explanations are included, but they are brief and designed to reinforce rather than introduce. The book contains twenty lessons, a selection of proverbs and riddles, a chart of the concord system, and a brief glossary. Each lesson is introduced by exercises for practicing grammatical structure. A reading passage and accompanying comprehension questions follow; the readings cover a wide range of topics, from childrearing and health to language use. Two lessons target poetry and its structure, and two others are drawn from the writings of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. For the most part the subject is relevant and unlikely to lose its timeliness soon. Moshi's pedagogical approach shows no influence of recent developments in second language acquisition theory. The lessons are very traditional, relying on structural exercises and controlled reading, and very little attention is given to actual communication. The kazi maalum sections, which are supposed to promote discussion, are quite brief and provide nothing substantial to help initiate student participation . Although the author asserts that 'Language is best learned in context,' neither the readings nor the exercise include contextual information. Furthermore, of the readings, only the two selections from Nyerere are authentic in the sense that they were produced for some purpose other than language teaching. Although it is true that few textbooks for more advanced Swahili students are available, I am not convinced that a textbook such as this one is really needed. It is inadequate as a reference grammar or as a dictionary. Most ofthe readings lack context, and the overall structure ignores most of the current thinking about how second languages are learned/acquired. The final troubling aspect of the book is the lack of accurate attribution for some of the illustrations. This book may have been intended to fill a gap in Swahili language teaching materials; however, its approach and materials do not offer much for natural or communicative classrooms. [Greta D. Little, University of South Carolina.] Dictionnaire Xârâcùù-Français (Nouvelle -Calédonie). By Claire MoyseFaurie and Marie-Adèle Néch éro-Jorédié. Paris: Edipop, Les Editions Populaires, 1986. Pp. 287. It is generally agreed that all 24 (or so) of the indigenous languages of New Caledonia belong to the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian language family. Their relationship to other Austronesian languages, however, has long been considered problematic. The earliest comprehensive survey of the languages is Leenhardt Langues et dialectes de l'Austro-Mélanésie (Paris, 1946). Shortly thereafter André G. Haudricourt published the first of a number of contributions to New Caledonian linguistics which extended over a period ofmore than thirty years. Other important contributors to the study of New Caledonian languages during this period are George W. Grace of the University of Hawaii and Haudricourt's students J. C. Rivierre, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre and Clair...