LANGUAGE, VOLUME 79, NUMBER 4 (2003) 814

been called the slingshot argument in deference to

the minimal machinery or presuppositions required
and its giant-slaying potential. Kurt Godel hinted at
a proof which seems to demonstrate that if a compo-
sitional semantic theory treats true sentences as
standing for facts, then all true sentences must stand
for the same Eleatic Great Fact. Such a collapse
would constitute a knock-down argument against ap-
proaches to the semantics of natural language postu-
lating reference to facts. Nevertheless, the truth of
the matter is that most incarnations of the argument
are confused and inconclusive, with unclear or un-
necessary strong commitments and assumptions.
N starts by examining the most prominent current
antirepresentationalist program in the second chap-
ter, namely Davidsons view of the relation between
semantics and ontology as well as his arguments
against facts, representations, and the scheme-con-
tent distinction. In Ch. 3, Nexamines Gottlob Freges
compositionality principle and his abandonment of
semantic innocence. The fourth chapter is devoted
to Russells claim that true sentences stand for facts
rather than truth-values and to the details of his theo-
ries of facts and descriptions. In Ch. 5, Godels ver-
sion of the slingshot argument is introduced. The
following five chapters spell out the details of Ns
reconstruction of Godels argument and different
slingshot proofs that assume no particular account of
reference. Interestingly, N shows that the slingshots
used by Davidson and Willard van Orman Quine do
not really demonstrate the impossibility of facts be-
cause they rely on certain logical equivalences and on
a nonquantificational theory of descriptions, which is
needed in order for those equivalences to obtain. N
shows that an inconsistency results when one posits
a nonextensional connective that freely allows the
use of inference principles using descriptions within
its scope. This inconsistency arises because descrip-
tions contain formulae as proper parts. If the inter-
change of descriptions is allowed when they are
satisfied by the same object, then one is basically
allowing the interchange of formulae, which ulti-
mately leads to collapse into one Great Fact. Rus-
sells theory ultimately does not face this problem,
given that for him: (1) facts contain objects and prop-
erties as components; (2) the structure of a sentence
mirrors the structure of the fact for which it stands;
and (3) descriptions are quantificational devices.
Thus, substitutivity collapses do not arise because
two definite descriptions of the same object will not
contribute the same descriptive properties to a fact
in general.
Ns conclusion is that fact-based representational
semantic theories survive the existing slingshot argu-
ment and would survive any conceivable, more pow-
erful slingshot argument that could be constructed
against them. This is because what a slingshot argu-
ment demonstrates is only that these theories have
to satisfy nontrivial conditions in order to avoid logi-
cal and ontological collapse (the descriptive con-
straint). Given that current semantic theories based
on situations or propositions take these to be complex
or structured objects (as in situation semantics or in
the theory of structured propositions), they also seem
to survive Ns constraint (unlike the Strawsonian or
the Austinian theories). Ultimately, Ns book can be
read as a slingshot argument against most concep-
tions based on deficient collapsing arguments and
against theories of facts, situations, or propositions
that refuse to make some tough decisions on the se-
mantics of predicates and descriptions. Facing facts
is certainly wiser than eliminating them. [JAVIER GU-
TIE

RREZ-REXACH, Ohio State University.]

Actes du trente-deuxie`me Congre`s des
Algonquinistes. Ed. by JOHN D. NI-
CHOLS. (Papers of the Algonquian Con-
ferences 32.) Winnipeg: University of
Manitoba, 2001. Pp. x, 616. ISSN
00315671. $54.
The Algonquian Conferences are well known
among linguists, anthropologists, and students of Na-
tive American cultures as an outstanding series in
terms of longevity and variety of approach, and no
less by the high quality of the papers themselves.
Essays of particular interest to linguists in this vol-
ume include several language-specific studies: In
Contraction in Fox (Meskwaki) (164230), IVES
GODDARD provides an exhaustive survey of vowel
contraction in Fox and other Algonquian languages,
arguing that the phenomenon has been misunder-
stood as a recent innovation but must instead date as
far back as proto-Algonquian; The Mikmaq future:
An analysis (24957), by STEPHANIE INGLIS and
ELEANOR JOHNSON, reads Mikmaq tense endings in
terms of Mikmaqs system of evidentials; and in A
preliminary survey of animacy categories in Penobs-
cot (395426), CONOR QUINN draws out a list of
semantic properties that complicate the received
viewthat the animacy (gender) category is based on a
living vs. nonliving distinction with items not falling
neatly in the distinction being simply added to the
lexicon.
One particularly strong cluster of essays deals with
referential strategies in Algonquian languages. Text
strategies in Metchif (45569) by RICHARD A.
RHODES, Point of view, reported speech, and obvia-
tion in two Fox texts (493515) by E. LEE SKJON,
and Obviation, coreference and relational verb
forms in East Cree (25868) by MARIE-ODILE JUN-
KER and LOUISE BLACKSMITH all look closely at the
complex mechanisms available in Algonquian lan-
guages for providing cross-references, especially in
BOOK NOTICES 815
narratives and reported speech. The last essay is pre-
sented in East Cree syllabic orthography as well as
English, a first for linguistic essays even in this con-
ference series, and includes the authors fascinating
proposals for Cree equivalents of English grammati-
cal terms. The volume includes two strong essays on
syntax: Constraints on dependencies in Passama-
quoddy (3560) by BENJAMIN BRUENING offers sev-
eral ingenious reasons for believing that a movement-
like phenomenon occurs in some environments in
that language; and in The syntax of emphatic ani in
Eastern Swampy Cree and in Plains Cree (42754),
CHARLOTTE REINHOLTZ and H. C. WOLFART argue
that the particle mentioned in the title falls into a class
of postpositional adverbs called focusing particles in
other languages that are realized in syntactic structure
in [Spec, FocusP], a structural focus position above
IP (451).
In addition to these, articles with relevance to lan-
guage studies include Symmetry preferences in Al-
gonquian abstract designs by linguist and
anthropologist J. PETER DENNY (11427), The Al-
gonquian-French manuscript ASSM 104 (1661) by
GEORGE F. AUBIN (116), and many other thoughtful
anthropological and sociological studies in this ex-
cellent volume. [DAVID GOLUMBIA, University of Vir-
ginia.]
Second language acquisition processes
in the classroom: Learning Japanese.
By AMY SNYDER OHTA. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum, 2001. Pp. 298.
ISBN: 0805838007. $79.95.
It has been more than a half-century since the con-
cept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD)
was first introduced by Lev Vygotsky. In keeping
with current movements in the field of second lan-
guage acquisition (SLA), Amy Snyder Ohta situates
classroom interaction within a sociocultural frame-
work. Modifying the ZPD slightly from Vygotskys
original model, she includes peer interlocutors as
providers of cognitive apprenticeship. Consistent
with other qualitative research in the field of SLA,
she regards these peer interlocutors as not necessarily
needing to be more advanced than their fellow stu-
dents in order to respond to the needs of second lan-
guage (L2) learners in the classrooms. Even true
peers have different capabilities, and it is the nature
of diverse interactive roles that enables peers to pro-
vide assistance.
Applying sociocognitive perspectives, O also
sheds light on the role of private speech in the course
of the language acquisition for L2 learners. She dis-
cusses the function of private speech both from ana-
lytical perspectives and from an empirical view in
the frame of foreign language (FL) classrooms.
The author provides abundant evidence from
classroom data to develop these theoretical view-
points. The data regarding benefits frompeer interac-
tive tasks is classified into such categories as general
development, grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary,
and interactional style. Her evidence indicates the
presence of private speech in various forms in the
FL classrooms, illustrated in a manner accessible to
even a non-Japanese-speaking audience.
One of the traditional focal points in SLA, feed-
back, is also examined. The author provides a tangi-
ble classification to categorize the rather broad
umbrella term corrective feedback. According to
her study, different types of feedback provide differ-
ent opportunities for learners.
Well-defined, sequential stages of listener re-
sponse are provided although the number of subjects
in the study is rather small (a total of four). The study
indicates the existence of the acknowledgment of
back-channeling in the beginning stages of learning
FL and the individuality of output in such utterances.
The book addresses a wide range of topics from
the use of the first language (L1) and L2 in peer
interaction to related pedagogical matters. The data
on the use of L1 in the interaction is naturally con-
nected to the topic of instructional design. The analy-
sis of this data leads to a discussion regarding task
design and task implementation. In this section, O
puts the focus on the teacher as the agent with the
potential to orchestrate the learning experience
through task design and task allocations.
The book presents a thorough analysis of class-
room interaction data and provides resources for L2
researchers, FL field practitioners, and, in particular,
teachers of Japanese. [JUNKO HONDO, Lancaster Uni-
versity.]
Evolving identities: The English lan-
guage in Singapore and Malaysia. Ed.
by VINCENT B. Y. OOI. Singapore:
Times Academic Press, 2001. Pp. xvii,
214. ISBN 981210156X. $39.
This is an overview of the changing status of En-
glish in Singapore and Malaysia, where English is a
colonial legacy but is increasingly taking on the new
roles of expressing local identities and cultures.
While this book provides detailed descriptions of
some linguistic aspects of Singaporean English (SE)
and Malaysian English (ME), it focuses more on ar-
guing why the Englishes used in Singapore and Ma-
laysia (SME) should be viewed as legitimate varieties
of English, used by their speakers to express their
multicultural identity in a globalized world. Also,
much emphasis is given to discussing how the pres-
sure to adhere to an internationally recognized stan-
dard and the need for a local standard can be