This series of video IS interesting but so informative. The following is some thoughts I had after watching it.
First,nonlinguistic communication, the imparting of the information without using language, has so much for us to look into. As it was mentioned in the video, one reason for the existence of nonlinguistic communication ways is that they are efficient. The same as language, they carry meanings as well. And the meaning that a gesture or some other body language carries vary due to the different situation they are in--it's also culture-, region-based or even group-based. No doubt, body language usually helps understanding. It was kind of interesting to know how body language makes boundaries during a conversation. I didn't realize it before, but as I've heard that, I think that is so true.
Facial expression, another interesting part in the video, gave us some insights on how the different parts of muscle work when having different expressions. One thing I still remember is about eh courtesy and real smiles. What have been described by one of the linguist there really makes sense, but there may be some exceptions like some one always smile with his/her mouth muscle move. Maybe some of the smiles are real, but get misunderstood?
Another thing was in my mind is about the language learning. When the linguists were talking about articulation system when producing certain sounds, it reminded me of the "critical period" theory. Personally, I think there may be a critical period for people to acquire/learn a language. Many people moved here when they were adults and they found there are certain sounds they always have problem to make them sound "authentic". So, the question I had is: Is this partly because their articulation system has been shaped at their age so it is hard for the existing one to make some new sounds they did not produce before?
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
English Language Development
A brief view on the historical development of English language is very important to language teachers, I think. This view would give us a peek on how the language we are using now differ from that of many years ago. It also would be helpful if we or our students are interested in reading some literature works that are not translated. Meanwhile, by reading the development of English, we can have a concept on how dialects of English have developed in many areas and how English language was influenced by other languages in the world, and how it adopted foreign words from many other languages. It's kind of interesting to see how languages in the world interact with each other. As far as I know, Japanese has borrowed words,Chinese does that, too. And so does English.
We have so many languages in the world, but why English become the global language? I also think it would be nice for the language teachers to know about the background on this. Giving students some insights on that may increase their motivation in learning English. This is what I found on that:
One of the more remarkable aspects of the spread of English around the world has been the extent to which Europeans are adopting it as their internal lingua franca. English is spreading from northern Europe to the south and is now firmly entrenched as a second language in countries such as Sweden, Norway, Netherlands and Denmark. Although not an official language in any of these countries if one visits any of them it would seem that almost everyone there can communicate with ease in English. Indeed, if one switches on a television in Holland one would find as many channels in English (albeit subtitled), as there are in Dutch.
As part of the European Year of Languages, a special survey of European attitudes towards and their use of languages has just published. The report confirms that at the beginning of 2001 English is the most widely known foreign or second language, with 43% of Europeans claiming they speak it in addition to their mother tongue. Sweden now heads the league table of English speakers, with over 89% of the population saying they can speak the language well or very well. However, in contrast, only 36% of Spanish and Portuguese nationals speak English. What's more, English is the language rated as most useful to know, with over 77% of Europeans who do not speak English as their first language, rating it as useful. French rated 38%, German 23% and Spanish 6%. English has without a doubt become the global language.
We have so many languages in the world, but why English become the global language? I also think it would be nice for the language teachers to know about the background on this. Giving students some insights on that may increase their motivation in learning English. This is what I found on that:
One of the more remarkable aspects of the spread of English around the world has been the extent to which Europeans are adopting it as their internal lingua franca. English is spreading from northern Europe to the south and is now firmly entrenched as a second language in countries such as Sweden, Norway, Netherlands and Denmark. Although not an official language in any of these countries if one visits any of them it would seem that almost everyone there can communicate with ease in English. Indeed, if one switches on a television in Holland one would find as many channels in English (albeit subtitled), as there are in Dutch.
As part of the European Year of Languages, a special survey of European attitudes towards and their use of languages has just published. The report confirms that at the beginning of 2001 English is the most widely known foreign or second language, with 43% of Europeans claiming they speak it in addition to their mother tongue. Sweden now heads the league table of English speakers, with over 89% of the population saying they can speak the language well or very well. However, in contrast, only 36% of Spanish and Portuguese nationals speak English. What's more, English is the language rated as most useful to know, with over 77% of Europeans who do not speak English as their first language, rating it as useful. French rated 38%, German 23% and Spanish 6%. English has without a doubt become the global language.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Play the language game
I think Dr. Smidt was right about the videos that we are watch for the recent three weeks. They are fun and informative. I enjoyed the first two sections at least. Some thoughts popped up in my head after watching the part of “Playing the Language Game”.
At the very beginning of the semester, we had a discussion about if we acquired our language or we learned our language. If my memory serves, it may be proper to say “We acquire our L1, and we may try to learn a L2.” A person who learns a L2 may not able to acquire it, but it is not often for a person to fail to acquire his/her L1.
However, how do children acquire language? It seems that they do it without seeming to learn it? Why can a 3 year-old child speak kind of complicated language but can’t tie their shoes? Obviously, few parents would teach their kids grammar, like syntax when they are at that young age. But they can make correct sentences with the words they know; even they know the 3rd person singular forms of verbs? How do they get that? I agree with the linguists in the video---language is not acquired by imitating. But, is that because they were equipped that in their mind when they were born like the birds can fly without being taught? Or their innate knowledge interacts with the environment that they are in and help them produce new knowledge, as the analogy example in the video? Maybe. Children may do have a system of knowledge they were born with; this system interact with the environment that they are immersed; then, they become able to create the sentences they’ve never heard before. Gradually, their language ability grows and they would eventually acquire it.
At the very beginning of the semester, we had a discussion about if we acquired our language or we learned our language. If my memory serves, it may be proper to say “We acquire our L1, and we may try to learn a L2.” A person who learns a L2 may not able to acquire it, but it is not often for a person to fail to acquire his/her L1.
However, how do children acquire language? It seems that they do it without seeming to learn it? Why can a 3 year-old child speak kind of complicated language but can’t tie their shoes? Obviously, few parents would teach their kids grammar, like syntax when they are at that young age. But they can make correct sentences with the words they know; even they know the 3rd person singular forms of verbs? How do they get that? I agree with the linguists in the video---language is not acquired by imitating. But, is that because they were equipped that in their mind when they were born like the birds can fly without being taught? Or their innate knowledge interacts with the environment that they are in and help them produce new knowledge, as the analogy example in the video? Maybe. Children may do have a system of knowledge they were born with; this system interact with the environment that they are immersed; then, they become able to create the sentences they’ve never heard before. Gradually, their language ability grows and they would eventually acquire it.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Slang & idioms in ESL teaching
This week, our group were assigned an activities, which is to find out the meaning of some popular slang used by university students in US. Honestly, I did not know very much about those slang, even though I have been in this context for about two years now. While doing that exercise, some questions came to my mind: What are the difference between slang and idiom? Should we teach slang in ESL class? Why should we teach them? Isn't slang viewed as nonstandard English? Which class use slang most often?
I found out that the definition of slang is "nonstandard vocabulary of a given culture or subculture",while idiom mean "a phrase that is commonly understood in a given culture or subculture to have a meaning different from its literal meaning". I was told that a math teacher told a black kid not to use slang in his English because they are not standard English. It seems that slang are views as a "bad" language in many people eyes. It is said that in Japan, using slang would have a negative context for the person. Then, should ESL teachers teach slang in class or avoid them? Which group of people usually use slang?
Actually, some experts say that there are some categories and subcategories of slang in slang. Each category is used by a specific group. Many people use them for entertaining. if I am going to teaching ESL students, I probably will not promote the use of slang and idioms, but I feel that I have a responsibility to familiarize the nonnative speaker with this type of language.After all, whether we like it or not, this nonstandard English has existed for years and will continue to exist. Knowledge of slang and idioms is fundamental to nonnative speakers' understanding of the language that native speakers actually use. It is also essential for those who want to integrate into our culture; without slang and idioms, students will always be outsiders. This nonstandard English may even be important for students' safety and well-being.
I found out that the definition of slang is "nonstandard vocabulary of a given culture or subculture",while idiom mean "a phrase that is commonly understood in a given culture or subculture to have a meaning different from its literal meaning". I was told that a math teacher told a black kid not to use slang in his English because they are not standard English. It seems that slang are views as a "bad" language in many people eyes. It is said that in Japan, using slang would have a negative context for the person. Then, should ESL teachers teach slang in class or avoid them? Which group of people usually use slang?
Actually, some experts say that there are some categories and subcategories of slang in slang. Each category is used by a specific group. Many people use them for entertaining. if I am going to teaching ESL students, I probably will not promote the use of slang and idioms, but I feel that I have a responsibility to familiarize the nonnative speaker with this type of language.After all, whether we like it or not, this nonstandard English has existed for years and will continue to exist. Knowledge of slang and idioms is fundamental to nonnative speakers' understanding of the language that native speakers actually use. It is also essential for those who want to integrate into our culture; without slang and idioms, students will always be outsiders. This nonstandard English may even be important for students' safety and well-being.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Language Variations: Dialects
Dialects always sound an interesting topic to me. There are probably thousands of dialects in my country. I have no idea about how many dialects exist in my hometown, but I know each town in this county has its own dialects. Huge difference could be found among some, so it may happen that people who do not live very far could not understand each other very well. Actually, my mom is from different county than my dad. I remember that when I was young, I liked visiting my mom’s parents. However, I was laughed at because I spoke a little different than the people there do; even people were just kindly joking.
Finegan is so right about the dialect use. People use dialects to show their social identities-- to indicate which group they belong to. Many people may be able to more than one dialect, but they would prefer to speak one of them. Finegan states that what counts most are just the views of the speakers. This is so true.
The topic about “Northern Shift” and “Southern Shift” are presented in this chapter. I’ve heard about that before. The shift itself is amazing, but I wondered about the reason behind those shift. Is that because people who move to that area tend to talk alike, then those shift happened? Why did they happen in this way instead of the other way? I think it may be worth researching. I’ll try to see what I could find.
Finegan is so right about the dialect use. People use dialects to show their social identities-- to indicate which group they belong to. Many people may be able to more than one dialect, but they would prefer to speak one of them. Finegan states that what counts most are just the views of the speakers. This is so true.
The topic about “Northern Shift” and “Southern Shift” are presented in this chapter. I’ve heard about that before. The shift itself is amazing, but I wondered about the reason behind those shift. Is that because people who move to that area tend to talk alike, then those shift happened? Why did they happen in this way instead of the other way? I think it may be worth researching. I’ll try to see what I could find.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Lamguage Variation-Registers
When reading the instruction for the writing sample analysis, one topic I was not feeling so comfortable with is the register. It seems that Chapter 10 helped me figure out what register is. My understanding is that register means different types of language characteristics in different social situations. I hope I got it right.
It is interesting to know that language repertoire refers to the set of language varieties that present in the speaking and writing patterns of a speech community. I was wondering if language repertoire is like a stock of a certain community’s language patterns. People use this language with what has been exist in this storage. This storage has different marks styles, in lexical, phonological, grammatical, and semantic. When people in this community are interacting with some other people for some particular purposes in different location with different mode, they switch from one language to another. When they are writing, they may use different language than they usually say in everyday life. This contributes to the fact that oral and written languages have their own styles. However, in different types of writing, the registers are different, too. The example that Finegan present in this Chapter is a legalese, we can see the register features of this type of text. As for the oral example, what we read is an interview. I think its style must be different from that of an impromptu speech.
It is interesting to know that language repertoire refers to the set of language varieties that present in the speaking and writing patterns of a speech community. I was wondering if language repertoire is like a stock of a certain community’s language patterns. People use this language with what has been exist in this storage. This storage has different marks styles, in lexical, phonological, grammatical, and semantic. When people in this community are interacting with some other people for some particular purposes in different location with different mode, they switch from one language to another. When they are writing, they may use different language than they usually say in everyday life. This contributes to the fact that oral and written languages have their own styles. However, in different types of writing, the registers are different, too. The example that Finegan present in this Chapter is a legalese, we can see the register features of this type of text. As for the oral example, what we read is an interview. I think its style must be different from that of an impromptu speech.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Linguitics Study is Fun
The far as this semester goes, the more I think studying linguistics is fun.
I do think the video "He said, she said" is interesting. Actually, I think Dr. Tannen's speech is more like a book, a book on linguistics but delivered to the audience/reader in a lively and humorous way. Conversation style is a topic about what happens in our real life. Those patterns do not sound too far from us, however, as for the deep side, we just do not know if we don't look into it closely. One thing I was wondering is if what Tannen focuses on is something about sociolinguistic.
The chapter on semantic is not boring to read as well. Most of hose terms are not new to me, but I enjoyed reading those examples that listed in the book. There are something new in the section, for example, I did not know modalities can be divided into epistemic and deomtic ones, even though I knew those are modalities. I feel kind of anxious to know what I will discover in the rest of the book and in the rest of the semester.
I do think the video "He said, she said" is interesting. Actually, I think Dr. Tannen's speech is more like a book, a book on linguistics but delivered to the audience/reader in a lively and humorous way. Conversation style is a topic about what happens in our real life. Those patterns do not sound too far from us, however, as for the deep side, we just do not know if we don't look into it closely. One thing I was wondering is if what Tannen focuses on is something about sociolinguistic.
The chapter on semantic is not boring to read as well. Most of hose terms are not new to me, but I enjoyed reading those examples that listed in the book. There are something new in the section, for example, I did not know modalities can be divided into epistemic and deomtic ones, even though I knew those are modalities. I feel kind of anxious to know what I will discover in the rest of the book and in the rest of the semester.
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