A Book Review of The Sixth Language by Robert K. Logan, Stoddart Publishing Company, Toronto, Canada, 318 pages.

By Susan B. Barnes

Physicist Robert K. Logan, who once collaborated with Marshall McLuhan, is fascinated by the impact of language systems on culture. In his earlier book, The Alphabet Effect, Logan argues that many of the important ideas in Western science, mathematics, politics, economics, social organization, and religion are intrinsically tied to the phonetic alphabet, because in addition to being a writing system, the alphabet is a system for organizing information.

Building on his research in The Alphabet Effect, Logan continued to explore language and he developed an argument for the existence of five separate languages. In his book calledThe Fifth Language, Logan contends that speech evolved into the two separate languages of writing and mathematics. As the sophistication of writing and mathematics became more advanced, they gave rise to the language of science. Science and the scientific method required more complex information-gathering activities, which led to the development of a fifth language -computing. Now in his latest book, The Sixth Language, Logan contents that computing has evolved into a sixth language called the Internet. Using historical examples combined with scientific and cognitive theories, he describes how the language system of the Internet developed and its impact on education, work, and society.

Education is a key concern that Logan addresses in several of his books. He has been conducting research at The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) in Toronto to observe classroom use of computers. His approach to the study of computers in education is influenced by McLuhan and the idea that computers are a medium of communication. An additional influence on his work is theoretical physics because working with computers for physics projects revealed the ways in which computers can be used as information-processors. By combining McLuhanesque ideas with his physicist experiences, Logan contends that languages contain both communications and informatics. E-mail, conferencing, and discussion lists are examples of how the Internet is used as a communication medium. In contrast, informatics is the "the science of obtaining and transmitting information" (p. 5). Although informatics is a term generally applied to computers, Logan argues that it should be applied to all forms of language because each of the six languages acquire, store, and transmit information differently. Moreover, when a new language system is introduced into a culture, it can influence other types of social activities, such as work and educational practices.

According to Logan, "The effects of a medium impose a new environment and set of sensibilities upon its users. For example, microcomputers in the classroom and the workplace affect social interactions because the display monitors encourage and facilitate sharing" (p. 18). In contrast, the Internet supports collaboration because students can share ideas across distances in close to real time. In addition to creating new media environments, computers and the Internet create new social challenges.

Using historical examples, Logan demonstrates how social patterns repeat from culture to culture and technology to technology. Alphabet literacy and the printing press fostered separation and fragmentation, which were further reinforced in the industrial age. In contrast, electronic involvement with other cultures on a global scale is reminiscent of earlier oral cultures in which people were more involved with each other and their communities. In opposition to the separation tendencies of alphabet literacy, the Internet fosters a new electronic "global village" that brings people together. Moreover, the Internet supports decentralized rather than centralized communication, that was the pattern of the industrial age.

Logan moves from an overview of historical patterns to a description of evolutionary linguistics and an exploration of the six modes of language. After describing the six modes, the book explores the relationship between language and cognitive development. When a language system becomes too complex, another develops to solve the complexity problem. For example, when numerical calculations used in the industrial and scientific era became too complex, the computer was developed to automate information-processing procedures. The language of computing is the organization and communication of information through the medium of a computer. It includes all of the information stored in computers along with the skills and techniques required to operate a computer. Integrating computer skills into education is a major topic of this book.

Logan contends that our present educational system is not working because it is based on an industrial model of delivering knowledge that is similar to the ways factories produce and deliver products. Delivering knowledge is an old paradigm that should be changed. Education needs to be made more relevant for students living in an information-age economy. Moreover, schools tend to focus on specialized content rather than developing both a knowledge base and a set of information-processing skills. In educational settings, Logan claims, the computer is not a tool to automate teaching. Instead it is a new learning environment in which students learn and develop cognitive skills through exploration and discovery. "We must work backwards from the desired effects if we wish to find a curriculum that will serve the needs of the Internet age" (p. 22).

He states: "The Net and the Web embrace text, graphics, audio, and video and hence align and integrate all aspects of our perceptual sensorium and our cognitive competencies" (p. 42). It should be noted that the six languages identified by Logan are all verbally-based or numerically based systems. Although, he acknowledges the existence of nonverbal languages, such as music and visual arts, they are not included in this study. Herein lies a weakness in the book. Computers and the Internet have introduced a new visual language through icons and graphical interfaces. Similarly, the use of emoticons, ASCII art, and graphic accents in Internet correspondence introduce new nonverbal elements into language systems. These nonverbal elements will certainly either evolve into another language or they will alter our existing forms of written and verbal languages. As a result, nonverbal communication is an issue that needs to be addressed in educational curriculum. Logan agrees, but he states the subject was too vast to be covered in his research. Maybe in his next book, Logan will begin to explore the nonverbal language systems being introduced by digital media.

Throughout his books, Logan presents important insights and ideas about language and cognitive development. For example, he makes a number of key observations about the relationship between computers and education.

1. The microcomputer is the first medium to compete with television for children's attention. When computers are connected to the Internet, attention and interest increase because of the vast amount of available multimedia information.
2. Microcomputers are interactive and this characteristic enables students of explore and discover. Interactivity contributes to a student's greater sense of control over learning and the information found with a computer.
3. Third, computers promote educational activity. Because they are interactive, computers enable students to develop new cognitive skills and reinforce their traditional literacy skills. Computers help to develop left-brain organizational skills associated with language. Additionally they promote right-brain forms of patterning and larger global categorization. Thus, computers encourage both right and left-brain thinking skills.
4. Computers can be used for both individual and self directed learning. When used for individualized instruction, computers can provide instant feedback without embarrassing students when they make a mistake. However, instead of using computers like a textbook, they should be used a s a dynamic tool to individualize the use of text based information. Students should be allowed to follow their own individual paths when exploring topics under study.
5. The computer can potentially promote a positive attitude toward learning and help to improve a positive self-concept. Most students enjoy working with computers and their enthusiasm for the technology can be translated into a positive attitude toward learning.
6. The computer has the potential to change teaching patterns and social patterns in the classroom. Instead of isolating students from each other, computers in the classroom tend to get students more involved with each other because students ask question and discuss their computer activities. In contrast, reading a book tends to be a private activity. As a result, an intense socialization emerges with computers in the classroom. Moreover, peer teaching and learning occurs because students who use the Internet can find resources from people outside the classroom. Logan makes a number of positive observations about computers in the classroom. However, the idea of directed learning could be emphasized a little more in this section because students can get lost in cyberspace if they are not directed properly. Furthermore, the quality of information found on the Internet is questionable and this is an issue that teachers are presently grappling with.
7. Computers in the classroom started as a grass-roots movement because they were first introduced by teachers, parents, and pupils rather than administrators. It should be noted, in the United States the computer industry also played a large role in bringing computers into the schools through equipment donations and lobbying efforts. Clinton and Gore's policy statements and government funding has also contributed to the high investment in educational technology in American classrooms.
8. The computer is a medium that can help to integrate school curriculum. A characteristic of the computer is its ability to integrate rather than fragment. For example, word processing software can be used to integrate language, communication and subject skills together.
9. Finally, "The microcomputer will act as an agent of reform, challenging the notion that a formal school is the best setting for educating children" (p. 196). Private entrepreneurs are already providing competition to public education. This competition could encourage publicly supported education to reform some of its practices to better meet the needs of students (not clientele). Logan observed that presently success in reforming education with computers has been modest, except of their use in special education.

In an information age, students need to be provided with tools and knowledge that will enable them to continuously learn and update their skills. Presently, educational systems are based on older forms of literacy and paper-based information. This older model does not prepare students for the newer world of electronic information. As a result, there is a mismatch between old and new technologies. Logan takes the position that schools must prepare individuals for the new demands of a post-industrial information society, which requires people to work with information. "Each reader or viewer brings his or her own experience to a medium and transforms the content according to his or her own need, which McLuhan expressed with his famous one-liner, 'the user is the content'" (p. 56 ). Similarly, each student brings their own experience to the exploration of the Internet.

The Sixth Language, continues Logan's quest to understand the nature of language and its relationship to culture. By bringing together historical examples, cognitive science, and scientific theory, this books makes an important contribution to our understanding of computers in education and the larger society. The Sixth Language is highly recommended for anyone involved with instructional design and for educators who are using computers in their classroom. As we turn the corner into the 21st Century, our educational practices will need to adapt to the technological and social challenges facing the information society. This book greatly contributes to our understanding of the sixth language-the Internet.