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160

emphasis on the questions and narrative routines surrounding young Indige-
nous children. The second part follows Indigenous children into the classroom,
where standard English is the medium of instruction and often a new variety for
students. The next part focuses more tightly on three educational issues: oral
assessment of Indigenous languages, speech pathology assessment for Indige-
nous students, and hearing loss. The fi nal part takes a broader sociolinguistic
approach and discusses the implications of some of these patterns with an eye to
language contact and mixing as well as the shift toward English. Taken together,
the chapters provide a clear, compelling, and novel description of the linguistic
diversity and discursive complexity of these children’s environments as well as
the challenges in establishing educational policies and practices that build
upon the many strengths and skills these students bring with them to school.

REFERENCE

Schieffelin , B. , & Ochs , E. (Eds.). ( 1986 ). Language socialization across cultures . New York :

Cambridge University Press .

( Received 1 June 2009 )

Kendall A. King

University of Minnesota

doi:10.1017/S0272263109990428

APPLICATIONS OF COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS: COGNITIVE
APPROACHES TO PEDAGOGICAL GRAMMAR . Sabine De Knop and
Teun De Rycker (Eds.). Berlin : Mouton de Gruyter , 2008 . Pp. 415 .

Pedagogical grammar and cognitive linguistics are brought together in this volume.
The aim of a cognitive linguistic approach to teaching grammar is to provide im-
plicit or explicit linguistic instruction on features and patterns considered rele-
vant and to organize instructional materials in a manner that refl ects the
acquisition of grammar according to this view. De Knop and De Rycker claim that
there is a lack of a strong theoretical framework to support the teaching of
language. They suggest a usage-based and cognition-oriented linguistic theory to
pedagogical grammar. This volume includes 13 contributions presented in three
parts: (a) cognition and usage, (b) tools for conceptual teaching, and (c) concep-
tual learning.

Part 1 consists of four chapters that analyze the basic form-meaning units of

a language, including a review of the major theoretical approaches in cognitive
linguistics such as Langacker’s cognitive grammar and Goldberg’s construction
grammar. Part 2 includes four chapters and examines the potential contribution
of a cognitive approach to contrastive and error analysis. Using Italian and
Spanish data, the contributors highlight the necessity of cognitive tools in
analyzing language-internal and language-external similarities and differences
between languages. Part 3 examines the constraints involved in the learning of
motion events, temporal structure, and dynamic action. The authors of these

Book Notices

161

chapters study the implementation of Long’s concept of focus on form in the
teaching of motion events as well as the construal of external temporal structure
(tense) and internal temporal structure (aspect) of language.

De Knop and De Rycker should be commended for this edited volume, which

will no doubt be of value to the burgeoning fi eld of cognition-based pedagogical
grammar. The chapters compiled in this volume make a solid connection between
the theories of cognitive linguistics and pedagogical grammar. The inclusion of
theory, pedagogical implications, and data from a variety of language families
make this volume useful for teachers and curriculum designers to gain insight
into the usefulness of a cognitive approach in identifying, describing, analyzing,
and interpreting the constraints involved in language learning. However, for
students new to the fi eld of cognitive grammar, this volume should be accompa-
nied by an introductory volume to cognitive linguistics.

( Received 3 June 2009 )

Baburhan Uzum

Michigan State University