Home > Subject Guides > English Language

English Language

 
Subject Guides

Other Links
Library Instruction
Online (LION)

Related Subjects
English Literature

Contact Information

Phone: +65 6516 2029
Central Library

 

 

This subject guide covers resources available at the NUS Libraries. This is not a comprehensive subject guide, but rather a selective list of materials that are most useful for locating information in English Language.

This guide contains the following sections:

Databases
Journals
Reference Sources
Theses
Library Instruction & Tips
Internet Sources
Newspapers
Research, Writing & Citation Styles 

Databases

Databases are a good a place to begin research. They may contain articles in journals, papers in conference proceedings, newspapers, chapters in books, reports and reviews.

CSA Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA)
LLBA abstracts and indexes the international literature in linguistics and related disciplines in the language sciences. The database covers all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Complete coverage is given to various fields of linguistics including descriptive, historical, comparative, theoretical and geographical linguistics. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,500 serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, and dissertations.

Guide to LLBA is available at: CSA Illumina Help & Support (HTML).

Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)
ERIC is an online digital library of education research and information. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, ERIC provides unlimited access to more than 1.2 million bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials. In addition to the journal literature, ERIC indexes education-related materials from scholarly organizations, professional associations, research centers, policy organizations, university presses, the U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies, and state and local agencies.

For a guide to searching ERIC, click on "Help and Tutorials" on the right panel of the ERIC homepage.

MLA International Bibliography
The MLA International Bibliography is a subject index for books and articles published on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics. It is produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA), an organization dedicated to the study and teaching of language and literature. The electronic version of the Bibliography dates back to 1925 and contains over 1.7 million citations from more than 4,400 periodicals (including peer-reviewed e-journals) and 1,000 book publishers.

Guide to MLA International Bibliography is available at: Searching the MLA International Bibliography (HTML).

Humanities Abstracts
Produced by The H.W. Wilson Company, Humanities Abstracts is a bibliographic database that cites articles from English-language periodicals. Periodical coverage includes some of the best-known scholarly journals and numerous lesser-known but important specialized magazines.
Subjects covered include Archaeology, Area Studies, Art, Classical Studies, Communications, Dance, Film, Folklore, Gender Studies, History, Journalism, Linguistics, Literary & Social Criticism Literature, Music, Performing Arts, Philosophy, Religion and Theology.

Guide to Humanities Abstracts is available at: Wilson Web Tutorials (HTML).

Arts & Humanities Citation Index
Accessed via Web of Science, this Institute for Scientific Information database provides bibliographic citations to journal articles, letters, editorials and book reviews. Subject coverage includes archaeology; architecture; art; Asian studies; classics; dances; folklore; history; languages; linguistics; literature; literary reviews; music; philosophy; poetry; radio; television; film; religion and theatre. Updated weekly.

Guide to Arts & Humanities Citation Index is available at: Web of Science Tutorial (HTML).

Jstor
Provides back issues of core journals in the humanities and social sciences from the earliest issues to within a few years of current publication. Users may browse by journal title or discipline, or may search the full-text or citations/abstracts. New issues of existing titles and new titles are added on an ongoing basis.

Guide to Jstor is available at: Searching Jstor - A Brief Overview (HTML).

Expanded Academic ASAP
From arts and humanities to
social sciences, science and technology, this database meets research needs across all academic disciplines. Access scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers - many with full text and images.

Guide to Expanded Academic ASAP is available at: Expanded Academic Search Tips (PDF).

More databases available at: NUS Libraries> E-Resources> Databases

Top


Journals

Below is a select list of journals in English Language that are available in the NUS Libraries:

Applied Linguistics
Discourse Studies
Journal of Child Language
Journal of Linguistics
Journal of Phonetics
Journal of Pragmatics
Journal of Semantics
Journal of Sociolinguistics
Journal of the International Phonetic Association
Language and Communication
Language in Society
Language Variation and Change
Language: Journal of the Linguistic Society of America
Linguistic Inquiry
The Linguistic Review
Linguistics
Natural Language & Linguistic Theory
Phonetica
Semiotica
World Englishes

More E-Journals available at: NUS Libraries> E-Resources> EJournals

Top


Reference Sources

This is a select list of reference sources that give background information including broad overview, definitions, key issues, major dates or events, keywords and bibliographies.
Dictionaries

A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics

Phonetic dictionary of the English language

The Routledge dictionary of English language studies

Encyclopedias

The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language

Encyclopedia of language and linguistics

Encyclopedia of linguistics

International encyclopedia of linguistics

The linguistics encyclopedia

Guides & Handbooks

A concise introduction to linguistics

English words : a linguistic introduction

Exploring language structure : a student's guide

The handbook of applied linguistics

The handbook of English linguistics

The handbook of language variation and change

The handbook of world Englishes

How to study linguistics : a guide to understanding language

The linguistic student's handbook

Linguistics : a guide to the reference literature

For other background sources, search the Library catalogue, LINC at http://linc.nus.edu.sg/.

Top


Theses

NUS Theses

Selected theses & academic exercises received from the NUS English Language & Literature Dept are kept in the Library's Closed Stacks under the call number PR13.

More on how to search NUS theses available at: http://www.lib.nus.edu.sg/lion/l/wtheses.html.

Foreign Theses

Index to Theses with Abstracts accepted for Higher Degrees by the Universities of Great Britain and Ireland (E-Resource)
Listing of theses with abstracts accepted for higher degrees by universities of Great Britain and Ireland since 1716.

Guide to Index to Theses with Abstracts accepted for Higher Degrees by the Universities of Great Britain and Ireland available at Search Help.

Proquest Dissertations & Theses Database (PQDT) (E-Resource)
A comprehensive database of dissertations and theses records from around the world. Where available, PQDT provides 24 page previews of dissertations and theses. It allows natural language searching and the menu-driven search facility helps users find information quickly and easily.

Guide to Proquest Dissertations & Theses Database available at PQDT Demo.

More foreign theses databases are available at: NUS Libraries> E-Resources> Databases by Type> Theses & Dissertations

Top


Library Instruction & Tips

This is a list of customized "How to search" Library sessions teaching users how to search specific databases, Library catalogue, etc.  It may include notes on how to use specific resources.

Database Searching for Language & Linguistics: A library session for EN3208 students

Doing Research on Language & Linguistics

How to Import References into EndNote Web

Top


Internet Sources

Blogs on the English language and linguistics

John Well’s phonetic blog
Blog by John Wells, Emeritus Professor of Phonetics at University College London. Contains musings about pronunciations, spellings & accents, often rooted in current social context.

Language Guy
Michael Geis—retired Professor Emeritus of Linguistics—writes about how language is used and abused in real life.

Language Log
Blog by Mark Liberman, director of Linguistic Data Consortium and Trustee Professor of Phonetics at University of Pennsylvania.

Polygot Conspiracy
Blog by a linguistics PhD student at the University of Michigan. His interests include linguistic practices on the internet and language ideologies.

The Web of Language
Language in the news by Dennis Baron, a professor of English at the University of Illinois.

Wordmall
Blog by Michael Sheehan, a retired language teacher with weekly radio show about language.

Other internet sources

A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English
Created by a law Ph.D. candidate and postgraduate teaching assistant, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, with the help of volunteers. This online dictionary adopts the Oxford English Dictionary approach of defining words. Includes etymology, pronunciation, and examples of where and how the words are used.

Glossary of Linguistic Terms
An A-Z glossary of linguistic terms by SIL International.

The International Phonetic Association
Check out the International Phonetic Alphabet chart and download phonetic fonts.

Linguist List
Includes a forum where academic linguists can discuss linguistic issues and exchange linguistic information.

Domain of Linguistics by Linguistics Society of America
Good general introduction to linguistics.

Semiotics for Beginners
E-book by Daniel Chandler.

Top


Newspapers

Factiva (E-Resource)
A resource for searching and obtaining full-text articles from major newspapers around the world such as New York Times, Financial Times and others as well as journals. Articles from the Straits Times and Business Times are covered from January 1995.

Guides to searching Factiva are available at Factiva Learning Programs.

LexisNexis Academic (E-Resource)
Another database for searching and obtaining full-text newspaper articles from major world newspapers and journals. The issues covered for the Straits Times and Business Times are from May 1992.

Guides to LexisNexis are available at LexisNexis Help.

Press Clippings
A useful source for topical and current information not available in journal articles or books. Articles on Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and ASEAN compiled from the Straits Times and Business Times are arranged by broad subject categories. They are located in the Singapore/Malaysia Collection, Central Library.

More information on the Press Clippings collection is available at Press Clippings Collection in NUS Libraries

The guide to broad Subject Headings for Press Clippings collection is available at Press Clippings Collection - Subject Headings List.

Top


Research, Writing & Citation Styles

Research

Approaching English language research

English corpus linguistics : an introduction

Research in applied linguistics : becoming a discerning consumer

Researching language in schools and communities : functional linguistic perspectives

Writing

The essentials of academic writing

From idea to essay : a rhetoric, reader, and handbook

Good reasons : designing and writing effective arguments

How to write a BA thesis : a practical guide from your first ideas to your finished paper

How to write a thesis

The office of assertion : an art of rhetoric for the academic essay

Reasoning and writing well : a rhetoric, research guide, reader, and handbook

Rewriting : how to do things with texts

Writing and presenting research

Writing with a thesis : a rhetoric and reader

Citation Styles

Cite right : a quick guide to citation styles--MLA, APA, Chicago, the sciences, professions, and more

The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism

Concise rules of APA style

Doing honest work in college : how to prepare citations, avoid plagiarism, and achieve real academic success

Links to citation style guides on-line

Style sheet of the Linguistic Society of America

More information and resources on selected citation styles: http://libpweb1.nus.edu.sg/lion/s/citation.html

Top


Content by:
Central Library
Last updated: 26-08-2008

12 Kent Ridge Crescent Singapore 119275                             © 2008 National University of Singapore Disclaimer