1Randy IngrahamEnglish 401 Final EssayIntroductory CommentsThe number of linguistic journals is overwhelming. I am continually amazed by the sheerquantity of information that’s produced in academia. The only way to fathom how this happens is to see it as a process of contextualizing questions each just sufficient enough to be different. There is no doubt that each journal offers worthwhile research, but the relationship between volume and return is questionable. For instance, as part of my Senior Concepts requirement in Anthropology, our class along with thirty-some other universities reviewed the Journal of Anthropology. (The purpose was to post synopses of all its articles to the internet.) Each student was responsible for reviewing and writing condensations of 2-3 journals per week as well as reviewing each other’s. What struck mewas how little the content and methodology had changed over the past 100 years or so. What was common to most of these articles was a continual reconfiguring of questions within theoretical frameworks in such a way that questions could in fact be structured; in other words, a question emerged as a possibility of it being asked, almost like making questions by simply rearranging a few words. And what invariably occurred were intricate articles that reasserted methodologies and theoretical ideas, which often ended up looking like busywork. It’s bothersome to think that years of scholarly toil resulted in little more than curious twists to nothing very noteworthy. And what’s more,2anthropologists do years of fieldwork, which makes one wonder if their motives were obligatory and perfunctory or intentional and passionate. It just seems that before all else,research comes down to structuring and answering questions according to the rules of publishing. However, the only way to understand and appreciate the proliferation of scholarship, is that it compels academics to stay involved, to continually reassert their skills, to reconfirm their abilities among peers, and for those reasons it’s justified. Review of journalsDialogue Journals: Interactive Writing to Develop Language and Literary: The differences between people from different cultures can be insurmountable when it comes to developing and finding a common ground for communication. This site is to help learners find a medium to express their experiences through English as a second language(ESL). Dialogue journals is an effective way for "interactive writing with a teacher or other individual" by opening up "new channels of communication…[in] natural contexts for language and literacy development." Through written communication the learner and teacher can directly relate "on a wide range of topics and in a variety of genres and styles." By interacting on a regular basis, what the teacher tries to encourage is effective communication about everyday life experiences, which helps the non-native speaker to better focus on concerns related to immediate and practical demands. This enables bilateral dialogue where each individual's abilities can be addressed on both language andcultural levels. By having a one-to-one relationship with the teacher, the learner can develop the language skills needed to function better in his/her new environment.3"Because the teacher is attempting above all to communicate with the learner, the teacher's writing is roughly tuned to learners' proficiency levels." The correctness of writing is secondary to overall language development and interactive skills within society. The benefits are: "Extended contact time with learners, Management of classes with learners of varying language, ability, and interest levels, Assessment of learner needsand progress, Facilitation of language learning." The correctness of writing is an ongoing process where the teacher may rephrase the learners' questions by correcting their grammar, or by restructuring the words so the actual content of the questions are effectively conveyed. I think this method of learning for ESL students is extremely effective because by writingit compels the writers to concentrate more on communication, it removes some of the intimidating influences of the classroom, and it allows the teacher to personalize responses and corrections. I think the internet classroom will become more common throughout academia once these benefits are experienced and appreciated.http://www.cal.org/ncle/digests/dialogue_journals.html (note: a lowercase hyphen belongs between dialogue & journals)Language and Cognitive Processes: The aims and scope of this journal is to provide "an international forum for the publication of theoretical and experimental research into the mental processes and representations involved in language use…[and] to provide an interdisciplinary approach to the study of language." Not only does it include experimental and developmental psychology research, but it considers information from4"linguistics, philosophy, cognitive neuropsychology and computational modeling…in the form of experimental and observational studies, theoretical discussions, short notes and replies, and review articles." The journal was first published in 1985 to primarily develop a forum for "multi-disciplinary perspective on the psychology of language" that encourages discussions about "previously published findings." Also, in order to "stimulate debate," the editors invite "theoretical 'position papers' that present novel theoretical perspectives on either established or novel phenomena of relevance to the psychology of language…[so as] to foster genuine debate and to provide an outlet for theoretical innovation and discussion." The objective and experimental findings of language need to be continually critiqued by theoretical perspectives because science can only reduce empirical findings to infinitely small units, which cannot explain all of the cause-and-effect relationships between language and cognition. Therefore, theoretical interpretations are needed to render these findings understandable. Indeed, language must interpolate physical relationships, or to fit them into linguistic structures, so that pure science has purpose and meaning to humans. Too often, scientific finds are considered worthy simply because they medically improve human existence, however it's necessary to be mindful of the philosophical and ethical meanings of these results. http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pp/01690965.htmlUnrestricted Online Literary