Synopsis
Davies (emeritus professor, linguistics, U. of Edinburgh) examines the complexity of the knowledge and skills possessed by the native speaker of any language, and suggests that the complexity may be less exclusive, more ordinary and attainable by non-native speakers. Originally published as The Native Speaker in Applied Linguistics (1991), the new edition includes minor textual adjustments, and two new chapters—one on the challenge to the native speaker by World Englishes, post-modernism, and post- colonialism, and the other on the connection between second language acquisition research and assessment. Distributed by UTP Distribution. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Biography
Alan Davies has taught and researched English and Applied Linguistics in Kenya, Nepal, Australia, Hong Kong and the U.K and is now Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics in the University of Edinburgh. In the 1960s he developed the English Proficiency Test Battery, which the British Council used prior to ELTS and IELTS. A former editor of the journals Applied Linguistics and Language Testing, his publications include Principles of Language Testing (Blackwell 1990), An Introduction to Applied Linguistics (Edinburgh U.P. 1999) and Dictionary of Language Testing (Cambridge U.P. 1999).