Language Comparison Poster

Please click on the link below to view my poster. It is easier to read when in fullscreen. :)
Thanks!

http://prezi.com/odquj2_jovhl/language-comparison/

Unit 10 Blog Entry

Activity Topic 1Activity 1: Language Variation in the USWhen listening to some of the accents from the first website, I was surprised that some were not as strong as one typically thinks (for example, I could barely tell the difference between the Minnesota accent and the Oregon accent, when I typically think I hear major differences in those actual areas visiting). The International Dialects of English Archive provided a much stronger accent in such places as Kentucky and Massachusetts- more like what one would typically imagine hearing. Many of these accents are influenced by their original settlers. Each area was originally settled by a group of individuals who carried their own way of speaking and own dialects from the mother country. When settling in the US, some changes were made, but each area was more secluded and eventually developed its own sound. The IPA would help capture accents by using the actual sounds produced, especially in the case of vowel sounds and when consonant clusters or consonant endings are dropped.

Activity Topic 2
Activity 1: What would you do?As shocked and disturbed as I was while watching the video clip, I took some time to reflect and realized that this unfortunately does happen to some extent pretty regularly in the community where I work. Students judge each other and their teachers, teachers judge each other and their students. In my classroom, we attempt to discuss all backgrounds and diversity amongst ourselves. But it is odd how sometimes they are so fascinated (like about the girl whose family came from Haiti), and other times they act so intolerant (like the boy whose family came from Mexico). During these activities of diversity, we really try to encourage an open mind and discuss acceptance and valuing of everyone. It would be beneficial to include acceptance and diversity trainings to offer to both teachers and parents- trainings could even be family-oriented to promote an open mind as a family and to set a good example. While watching the other videos as well, it was disheartening to see the injustices, but somewhat uplifting to see how many people actually stand up to those injustices. It was inspiring to listen to the people confront the discrimination, and each for different reasons. One man summed it up nicely, though, “They’re all human beings.”

Activity 2: Do you speak American?The section that helps me most, right now, as an educator was about “Ebonics”, African American English, and the article explained that it has its own grammatical system, and it is not the “lazy or ignorant” form of English. I found this interesting, because working in an inner city school, I do see many non-African American students using the language as well, as they are immersed in the same community. I like the way the article presented AAE not as an incorrect English, but as a separate language with its connection to African roots. It would be nice to share this information with a few other teachers, who constantly lecture the children about Standard English grammar, when the students are simply staying true to what they know. This might create a better understanding and less cultural discrimination amongst teachers and students in the city district.  

Grammar Mini Lesson: Present Continuous Tense

Unit 9 Blog Entires

Topic 1

2^nd part of the Fisherman story rewritten:

John would be a farmer if he could, but he does not have the money to buy land.

His brother bought land last winter, but sold it to the neighbor when the economy crashed. John loves fishing, but longs to be more successful. When he felt down, he painted his boat, “Troubled Waters,” blue and shined it up. John asked his brother what he thought of the new look, but his brother just laughed and said, “You’re always fishing for compliments.”

John did not argue with his brother because he had no energy, but instead, he made more nets, hoping to increase his catch the next day.

Other confusing parts would include the phrase “when the economy crashed.” ELL students might not understand what it means for the economy to crash, and a better way to phrase that might be to explain why he sold the land (maybe he needed the extra money, or he decided it was not worth the investment to hold onto the land). An ELL would need to be instructed on what it means to “long” for something, as long would typically be considered an adjectives and they probably would have had no prior exposure to “longing” as a verb. Another confusing part is the idiom “when he felt down”, as well as the idiom “fishing for compliments”. A new language learner would know down as a direction word, not an adjective; and would have difficulty comprehending what it means to fish for compliments, as opposed to fishing for fish as the fisherman does. “The new look” could be difficult to understand as well, because a boat does not “look”. The final phrase that could cause problems for an ELL would be at the end of the story, when “catch” is used as a noun instead of a word. This story seems like a nice way to incorporate mini lessons on some of the odd rules of the English language, as it gives examples of the many tricky aspects of the language that ELLs will run into at some point in time.   

Topic 2
Timeline:***His brother bought land last winter, but sold it to the neighbor when the economy crashed.
                       (simple past)

***He is hoping to catch more fish tomorrow, but he doesn’t know if it will be any better.                       (simple present)  
***If he is able to catch two nets full of fish, he will be able to pay off his debt.
                        (simple future)

After watching the video, I firmly believe that grammar cannot simply be learned and mastered through immersion, but must be taught in explicit, direct lessons. I was appalled by the chunk of a piece taken from the paper by the high school student who spent ten years in the US, but the writing did not make sense. This is sufficient proof that while some rules can be “picked up” throughout exposure, many rules must be broken down and taught, even with all of the exceptions and tricky rules.  

Pragmatics: Grice's Conversational Maxims (u08a2)

After some serious reflection, I realize that I abandon the Maxim of Quality almost daily! I do so without even realizing it to be considerate in politeness, but more frequently to achieve sarcasm.  One part of such a discussion goes as follows:

     Me: Ladies and gentlemen, please get your pencils boxes out and ready. It is time for writing.
     Students: (groan, growl, eye rolls)
     Me: I know, I’m such a horrible teacher.

The way I signaled my sarcasm, was to exaggerate the word “horrible”, smile, and give a wink. The students giggled back and got right to work. Looking back, I almost always give a smile to signal my sarcasm, but the younger students do sometimes have difficulty telling if I am serious or not.

In a conversation I overheard, I noticed that the vagueness of a short answer defied all the conversational maxims at the same time.

    S1: So where do you live? Maybe we could get coffee sometime or something.
    S2: Oh, I’m like 30 minutes away.
(I know for a fact S2 lives right up the street.)

In one simple sentence, S2 did not really answer the question in an effort change the topic- therefore suspended the Maxim of Relevance. S2 also neglected the Maxim of Quality and Maxim of Quantity by giving an untrue response that gave less information than S1 was trying to gain. And, finally, S1 did not respect the Maxim of Manner, as her response was ambiguous by not specifying even which direction she supposedly lived.

Pragmatics: u08a3 Application Question

(Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Rashid are both parents of students in the district where Mrs. Thomas also teaches.)

Mrs. Thomas: Johnny has Mr. Smith as a teacher next year. I hear he is an excellent teacher.
Mrs. Rashid: He's very nice.
Mrs. T: Are you happy with the school district?
Mrs. Rashid: There are many lovely people in the neighborhood.

In this conversation, the miscommunication occurs when Mrs. Thomas asks the question, “Are you happy with the school district?” and Mrs. Rashid violates the Maxim of Relevance by not responding in a relevant way. Instead, she says, “There are many lovely people in the neighborhood.” Mrs. Thomas is probably interpreting that message to mean that Mrs. Rashid is in fact not happy with the school district, since she avoided answering the question in a relevant way and transitioned to a different topic. Mrs. Rashid does not want to discuss the school district, and is probably trying to avoid any negative discussion since it is where Mrs. Thomas teaches. She may or may not be happy with the school district, but is trying to remain respectful of Mrs. Thomas’ feelings by not discussing the district either way.