John Moss - Böcker

Issues in English Teaching invites primary and secondary teachers of English to engage in debates about key issues in subject teaching.The issues discussed include:*the increasingly centralised control of the curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy in the school teaching of English in England and Wales as a result of initiatives such as the National Literacy Strategy*new technologies which are transforming pupils' lived experience of literacy or literacies*the accelerating globalisation of English and the independence of other versions of English from English Standard English. A National Curriculum with a nationalist perspective on language, literacy and literature cannot fully accommodate English*what has become 'naturalised' and 'normalised' in English teaching, and the educational and ideological reasons for this*hierarchies that have been created in the curriculum and pedagogy, identifying who and what has been given low status, excluded or marginalised in the development of the current model of English.Issues in English Teaching will stimulate student teachers, NQTs, language and literacy co-ordinators, classroom English teachers and aspiring or practising Heads of English, to reflect on the identity or the subject, the principles and policies which, have determined practice, and those which should influence future practice.

Issues in English Teaching invites primary and secondary teachers of English to engage in debates about key issues in subject teaching.The issues discussed include:*the increasingly centralised control of the curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy in the school teaching of English in England and Wales as a result of initiatives such as the National Literacy Strategy*new technologies which are transforming pupils' lived experience of literacy or literacies*the accelerating globalisation of English and the independence of other versions of English from English Standard English. A National Curriculum with a nationalist perspective on language, literacy and literature cannot fully accommodate English*what has become 'naturalised' and 'normalised' in English teaching, and the educational and ideological reasons for this*hierarchies that have been created in the curriculum and pedagogy, identifying who and what has been given low status, excluded or marginalised in the development of the current model of English.Issues in English Teaching will stimulate student teachers, NQTs, language and literacy co-ordinators, classroom English teachers and aspiring or practising Heads of English, to reflect on the identity or the subject, the principles and policies which, have determined practice, and those which should influence future practice.

"At the Speed of Light There is Only Illumination" collects a dozen re-evaluative essays on Marshall McLuhan and his critical and theoretical legacy; from intellectual adventurer creating a complex architecture of ideas to cultural icon standing in line in Woody Allen's "Annie Hall". Given McLuhan's prominent status in many academic disciplines, the contributors reflect a multi-disciplinary background. John Moss and Linda Morra chose the essays from a gathering of McLuhan's academic devotees. The contribution - from "McLuhan as Medium" and "McLuhan in Space" to "What McLuhan Got Wrong" and "Trouble in the Global Village" - to provide a kaleidoscope of new views. As Moss writes of the collected essays: "Some are big and some are small, some exegetic and some confessional, some stand as major statements and others are sidelong glances; some resonate with the concerns of public discourse and others are private or privileged or impious and provocative. Each consists of many parts, each a design on its own. They speak to each other...they may have come together as one version of what happened."

What historically has been called the Dark Ages since the 14th century has proved to be less dark than previously thought. It would be true to say that the 600 year period following the Roman withdrawal from Britain until the Norman Invasion of 1066 was more ‘obscure’ than ‘dark’.It was a time of Angle, Saxon and Jute invasions of Britain prompted by mass migrations westward from Eastern Europe by warring tribes like the Goths, Vandals and Huns, by Vikings from the north, Moors from the east and Scotti tribes from the west. Most of these diverse peoples left scant written record of their history or culture, evidently more intent on conquest.What is known of them comes from Early Medieval sources, like the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, from religious Irish clerics and medieval writers like Bede, Nennius and Gildas who often relied on earlier unverifiable narratives. Later accounts by Henry of Huntingdon and Geoffrey of Monmouth were more akin to storytelling than history and were often lavishly interspersed with ancient myths and folklore.In the light of contemporary studies and extensive archaeological research, this book attempts to cast a light into some of that obscurity.

The people we know as the Celts were an Iron Age culture that originated in central Europe, probably around modern-day Hungary, Southern Germany and the Czech Republic, some three thousand years ago. They were groups of distinct tribal peoples who shared a common language and culture that thrived until they were confronted by an aggressive and expansionist Roman Empire set on conquest.This book traces their many migrations westward over the following centuries, and their advances into the Atlantic coastal regions, especially into countries like France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Britain and Ireland, largely replacing the Neolithic people that formerly occupied these territories. These migrations were rarely peaceful and as a result the Celts were widely regarded as warlike and inherently aggressive.The book describes the many inter-tribal and territorial confrontations that occurred during the Roman period. It explains the fighting methods, tactics and style of Celtic warfare as well as the warrior leaders like Boudicca, Brennus, Ambiorix and Vercingetorix, and others who emerged to resist Roman incursions. Despite fierce resistance, in the end, little of that great culture survived intact. Many of these tribes were savagely and purposely exterminated as a matter of policy, others were Romanised to become reluctant citizens of the Roman Republic, and only those whose territories lay in the northern and western extremities of the Empire – in the British islands, Ireland and Brittany in North-West France, avoided total subjugation.Several hundred of these ancient Celtic and other related tribes are included here. Although each had its own distinct identity, they shared a common culture with a widespread and unifying system of religious belief largely held together by Druids. The tribes described in the book include Gauls, Germans, Galatians, Lusitanians, Britons, Picts, Cambrians and Caledonians, among many others.

Detective Miranda Quin is not only fighting crime, she’s fighting for her life. The summer before 9/11, Toronto homicide detective Miranda Quin wakes up to find her lover dead beside her, yet has no memory of going to bed with him. Horrified by the results of the forensic investigation, the normally feisty Miranda moves through events in a daze while her partner, Detective David Morgan, offers support.Because Miranda is the prime suspect, neither she nor Morgan are able to pursue the case officially, freeing them from jurisdictional constraints. They find it impossible to avoid being pulled into the rush of events that follow from one mysterious death to another in a quirky narrative that brings in a New York policeman who reads Thoreau and a beautiful and dangerous European wine expert who is not what she appears to be. As the plot moves from Toronto to New York and London, a deadly fraud leads to explosive revelations of drug smuggling as a cover for international terrorism.

For better or worse, what we are is often determined by our family; the events that occurred many years before we were born, and the choices that were made by our forebears are our inheritance - we are the inexorable product of family history. So it is with nations. The history of Great Britain has been largely defined by powerful and influential families, many of whose names have come down to us from Celtic, Danish, Saxon or Norman ancestors. Their family names fill the pages of our history books; they are indelibly written into the events which we learned about at school. Iconic family names like Wellington, Nelson, Shakespeare, Cromwell, Constable, De Montfort and Montgomery... there are innumerable others. They reflect the long chequered history of Britain, and demonstrate the assimilation of the many cultures and languages which have migrated to these islands over the centuries, and which have resulted in the emergence of our language.This book is a snapshot of several hundred such family names and delves into their beginnings and derivations, making extensive use of old sources, including translations of The Domesday Book and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, as well as tracing many through the centuries to the present day.

The origin of the names of many English towns, hamlets and villages date as far back as Saxon times, when kings like Alfred the Great established fortified borough towns to defend against the Danes. A number of settlements were established and named by French Normans following the Conquest. Many are even older and are derived from Roman placenames. Some hark back to the Vikings who invaded our shores and established settlements in the eighth and ninth centuries.Most began as simple descriptions of the location; some identified its founder, marked territorial limits, or gave tribal people a sense of their place in the grand scheme of things. Whatever their derivation, placenames are inextricably bound up in our history and they tell us a great deal about the place where we live.