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Language Is!
181 pages, Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 1971
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November 9, 2025
This is a language textbook that surprisingly takes more a descriptive / linguistics approach from 1971. It was probably intended for Canadian high school students, college students (trade schools), or possibly early university students. For teachers, there are some writing prompts, activities, and group or class-wide projects that would still really work in today's classrooms. This was also an interesting window into community standards, values, and the culture of the time. The authors either were truly of the hippy subculture or wanted to use that zeitgeist to appeal to the youth of the time.
Although the book was refreshingly free of general sexism or racism that comes from older books, I was thoroughly annoyed with the pronoun "he" being used in all cases where singular "they" would have been used in today's publishing. It was so jarring and momentarily confusing every time. How on Earth was this ever a common practice? They are clearly talking about men and women, but use "he" in all instances. Just an awful decision! Elsewhere, we find the heartwarming fundraiser of underage high-school girls giving massages to shirtless underage boys and shirtless male teachers from the same school!!! This was from an article written into an Albertan newspaper suggesting that all of this met community standards for professional boundaries between teachers and students at the time. I am glad we have seen so much growth in professional boundaries since this decade. Of course, this book is presented as though First Nations people do not exist since they're not mentioned once throughout.
Overall, it was a fascinating look back at this time, and the book still has relevant observations and useful activities and projects on studying the English language. Review written in 2025.
Although the book was refreshingly free of general sexism or racism that comes from older books, I was thoroughly annoyed with the pronoun "he" being used in all cases where singular "they" would have been used in today's publishing. It was so jarring and momentarily confusing every time. How on Earth was this ever a common practice? They are clearly talking about men and women, but use "he" in all instances. Just an awful decision! Elsewhere, we find the heartwarming fundraiser of underage high-school girls giving massages to shirtless underage boys and shirtless male teachers from the same school!!! This was from an article written into an Albertan newspaper suggesting that all of this met community standards for professional boundaries between teachers and students at the time. I am glad we have seen so much growth in professional boundaries since this decade. Of course, this book is presented as though First Nations people do not exist since they're not mentioned once throughout.
Overall, it was a fascinating look back at this time, and the book still has relevant observations and useful activities and projects on studying the English language. Review written in 2025.
Displaying 1 of 1 review