Catalog Search Results
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (30 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
This lecture looks at how we define and categorize words into parts of speech, and considers the fascinating ways in which words expand or move into new categories. Study how we characterize nouns, verbs, adverbs, and their syntax, and delineate the difference between a phrase, a clause, and a sentence.
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 35 minutes) : digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Excerpts from journals, letters, poetry and prose enrich this narrative biography of Anne, Charlotte and Emily Bronte. The program introduces the sisters' major works and illuminates their basic, recurrent themes. Samples of their own art-work, on-location photography of northern England, as well as prints, paintings and sketches portray the land and the period.
Publication Date
2014.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 56 min.) : digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Southerners talk too slowly. New Yorkers are rude. New Englanders don't say much at all. Anybody who lives in the U.S. knows the clichés about how people in the various parts of the country handle the English language. American tongues is the first documentary to explore the impact of these linguistic attitudes in a fresh and exciting manner. For over ten years American tongues has entertained and educated audiences from the high school level on...
4) Shall We?
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (35 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Continue with the category of auxiliary (helping) verbs, beginning with the familiar usage issue of can" vs. "may." Then study the workings of modal auxiliary verbs (such as "might," "must," and "shall"), the primary helping verbs of "be," "have," and "do," and the ongoing controversy over the most notorious of auxiliary verbs: "ain't."
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (34 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Within the grammar of conversation, study the distinction between involved discourse, which relates to negotiating relationships, and informational discourse, which involves delivering information. Then grasp the important roles of discourse markers, small words such as so," "well," and "oh," that help organize discourse and manage our expectations in conversation.
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (34 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Examine some new grammatical expressions that are on the rise, and explore the controversy they ignite within the linguistic community. Remember that English usage is a living process, and language must respond to its audience and context, adapting as necessary to fit new conditions. Conclude by considering changes to watch for in our language.
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (32 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Learn about the popular, and often incorrectly referenced, study from the 1960s that opened the door to the modern study of nonverbal communication. Understand why nonverbal communication matters so much, and learn how it interacts with verbal communication to reemphasize or deemphasize the message.
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (30 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Examine the biological drives, such as territorialism, that influence our nonverbal reactions. Define the three "levels"of territories and see how they affect our reaction. Understanding this is an inherent reaction in everyone can help reduce social conflicts.
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (33 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Now dive into descriptive grammar: the rules that describe actual usage. In examples ranging from contractions to word order and negation, observe the wealth of grammatical knowledge that you know intuitively. Consider how comparing the descriptive with the prescriptive can help you make more informed choices about usage.
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (30 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Can we predict behavior and personality based on the body or the face? Are taller people more likely to earn more money than shorter people? What makes someone’s face attractive? Dr. Frank looks at the myths and facts about how age-old cultural references in seeking mates and partners have evolved into snap judgments about personality types, which can have an effect on our potential success.
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (30 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Unravel the long history of how nonverbal communication has evolved, how and why we originally interacted with others, and how the biological history of our bodies suggests that our ability to communicate verbally was so limited, the only way we could send messages to friends and foes was through facial expressions and body language. You’ll also explore the seven emotions communicated most strongly and accurately through our faces.
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (33 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
First, examine how we judge what is acceptable or unacceptable in English, and how we distinguish acceptable" from "stylistically preferable." Consider how grammar often takes on larger meanings related to education and culture. Grasp how understanding the differences and diversity within our language allows us to become more nuanced speakers and writers."
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (34 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Enter the world of pronouns, beginning with personal pronouns and the complications that arise around conjoined constructions (e.g., you and me). Then take on interrogative pronouns-including when to use "who" vs. "whom"-and indefinite pronouns (such as "none"), asking questions such as whether "none" can be both singular and plural.
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (33 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Explore the use of the often-criticized passive voice, beginning with a clear definition of what distinguishes the passive voice from the active. Consider the benefits of the passive voice for situations in which responsibility for an action is unclear, for maintaining continuity in writing, and for scientific writing in which the narrative requires objectivity.
15) Only Adverbs
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (34 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Discover the rich world of adverbs, as they modify not only verbs, but also adjectives, other adverbs, clauses, and sentences. Investigate intensifiers (such as very," "surely," and "possibly"), which can either strengthen or hedge statements, and study the subtleties of "flat" adverbs-adverbs that have the same form as their adjective counterparts."
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (33 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Begin this immersion in conjunctions with the controversy surrounding sentences that begin with conjunctions (such as And furthermore..."). Review the functions of coordinating conjunctions ("and," "but," "yet"), subordinating conjunctions ("if," "because," "unless"), and contested uses of the conjunction "plus." Chart the rise of an unusual new coordinator in colloquial use: the word "slash."
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (34 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Punctuation acts as a fundamental component of written usage. It shapes and clarifies meaning, and it organizes language on the page. Review the modern rules regarding the punctuation marks that structure sentences: commas, semicolons, colons, and dashes. Highlight core uses of commas, and consider how punctuation follows different rules in texting.
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (32 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Take a closer look at facial expressions, learning that some reactions may be superficially easy to read, while other expressions demonstrate a conflict of feelings or nuances that often get lost in the interpretation. Learn how Darwin, as well as contemporary psychologists Paul Ekman and Carroll Izard, studied facial and body expressions to determine that certain expressions of emotion may be universal across cultures, despite social display "rules"that...
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (31 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Here, investigate prescriptive grammar: the set of rules that tell us what we should and shouldn't do in formal English. Trace the history of specific grammatical rules and of academic usage guides, and note how such guides justify right" vs. "wrong." Learn about historically famous grammarians, whose opinions about usage still influence us today."
Publication Date
2016.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (31 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Investigate countable and uncountable nouns, and learn the details of how we use them with modifiers such as fewer" and "less." Then delve into irregular plurals in English, observing the variety of ways they are formed. Finally, learn about collective nouns and the question of subject-verb agreement, as in, "there's/there are a few reasons."






