Norbert Francis | John Benjamins

Francis, Norbert 2023 Review of Fletcher (2023): Storythinking: The New Science of Narrative Intelligence Narrative Inquiry: Online-First Articles | Review

Francis, Norbert 2022 Review of Tsu (2022): Kingdom of characters: The language revolution that made China modern Chinese Language and Discourse 13:2, pp. 328–332 | Review

Francis, Norbert 2022 Review of van Peer & Chesnokova (2023): Experiencing Poetry: A Guidebook to Psychopoetics Scientific Study of Literature 12:1/2, pp. 164–167 | Review

Francis, Norbert 2020 New research on the adoption and transformation of Chinese writing Chinese Language and Discourse 11:1, pp. 134–145 | Review article

A major study has been released on the emergence in East Asia of the logographic, or logo-syllabic, writing systems inherited from Chinese writing, attending primarily to the adaptations and innovations implemented in Korea, Vietnam, Japan and by speakers of the Tai languages of Southern China… read more

Francis, Norbert 2016 Language and dialect in China Chinese Language and Discourse 7:1, pp. 136–149 | Article

In the study of language learning, researchers sometimes ask how languages in contact are related. They compare the linguistic features of the languages, how the mental grammars of each language sub-system are represented, put to use in performance, and how they interact. Within a linguistic… read more

Francis, Norbert 2016 Prospects for indigenous language bilingualism in Mexico: A reassessment Language Problems and Language Planning 40:3, pp. 269–286 | Article

This retrospective overview looks back twenty years to the first series of reports from the field on a study of bilingualism and literacy learning. Continuing research in the same community during this period allows today for a reassessment of the claims, proposals and overall approach of the… read more

Francis, Norbert 2015 New poetics in China: A review of experimental Chinese literature Chinese Language and Discourse 6:2, pp. 205–217 | Article

A new study of modern Chinese poetry has been published that deserves the attention of linguists working in both the applied and theoretical fields. The focus of the book is experimental and avant-garde literature, and as such it raises questions that are different than the ones we are accustomed… read more

Francis, Norbert 2005 Democratic language policy for multilingual educational systems: An interdisciplinary approach Language Problems and Language Planning 29:3, pp. 211–230 | Article

This article outlines a proposal for evaluating educational policy and planning for multilingual school systems. Often, debates on language policy in education suffer from a restricted perspective that elevates socio-political considerations above all others. Assigning secondary importance to… read more