Sharping

The article is helpful since the writer explains ways how many writers often use words to much. The excessive use of the word it, is targeted and explained how to change sentences and how to not use the word so much. The article explains how many words are used too much in sentences and how to cut these smaller words out to make sentences more clear. Cut out the smaller word and make the sentences shorter and more to the point and not fill then up with words not needed. Using many of these small words it, is to be, using these words often make sentences too long and cutting them out can make them more clear and understanding. To sum up what I got from the reading was using weak smaller words can make many sentences dull and more complex than what they should be. Removing these words can make sentences less crowed and more clear to readers.

last practice for final

Dear all,

As a last practice for our final exam, please open the Picasa show of four comic slides, and find ONE grammar mistake on each slide (no punctuation)!

Write the four corrected sentences on a piece of paper.
Exchange your piece of paper with your neighbor and let him/her check whether you were right.

Here's the LINK.

Have fun!

Dr. V

Esperanto

Esperanto which was designed as a neutral lingua franca, which simply means second language was published by Dr. Lejzer (Ludovic) Zamenhof in 1887. Dr. Zamenhof was a Jewish ophthalmologist in Warsaw who contributed in the ideology of a planned international language through collective use of the masses. It was created so that anyone from any background or origin would be able to learn this language without the so called “complexities and inconsistencies of the European languages”. After the First World War the language of Esperanto was clearly established internationally. A lot of people began to take interest in the language during the war because it helped people cross national lines, because they were able to join in unity in a common language. During the 1920’s many people organized in support of Esperanto language. The Rousseau Institute of Educational Science in Geneva organized the first International Conference on the Teaching of Esperanto in Schools. The League of Nations stepped in as well, along with others institutes in support of devoting time and studies to Esperanto. Many institutes also conducted research of Esperanto in order to conclude if Esperanto could easily be learned on a broader scale. These studies were later found inconclusive because of inadequate experimental conditions. After the Second World War there were great consequences that were attributed to teaching and learning Esperanto. A lot of studies around the globe went on to establish whether Esperanto held any value in being taught. After these studies were conducted there was proof that Esperanto held a strong positive effects in direct correlation with General English. These studies were created to prove that Esperanto had a helping hand in effectively linking languages together. For example Italian pupils learned Esperanto followed by French and Japanese pupils learned Esperanto first and then took lessons on learning English. Along with experiments comes limitations, and there were certain limitations that surfaced along with these studies. These limitations however, do not disprove the significance of Esperanto in aiding with the transition into picking up other languages. Esperanto is a useful link into leveling the playing field in learning other languages. The problem that arises is the public debate about education, linguistic rights for students on a broad scale. I simply believe that if Esperanto is a helping aid, in obtaining knowledge to learn a new language then it should be practiced. There is no harm that comes from learning useful information to further ones intelligence, especially when ones intelligence can be spread outside of one’s indigenous language. Interlinguistics is important in the development and advancement of education, especially when the world today is heading in a more international platform. Esperanto is a great way to ease the transition into learning new languages and it should be considered on a broader spectrum to contribute foreign language education.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Today, we are playing the game, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"

As you come into the classroom today, pick a post-it note and write a number on it from 1-20 in the order of people coming in.

We'll do a lottery (one student will choose a number from 1-20), and the person who wins is selected to become a millionaire: You'll get 10 comic slides with grammar mistakes in them to be displayed on the Smartboard, and you have to find the mistakes in front of the class. The good thing is, you have three JOKERS:

1) you can ask the audience (everyone gets a sheet of paper, and each individual student will write the answer he/she thinks is right on it in fat letters).

2) you can call someone you know on your cell phone, read the text to him/her, and get the answer this way.

3) you can ask the instructor ONE question of the following:
a) Which speech bubble is the mistake in?
b) What kind of category is the mistake?

For each right answer you give, you receive one piece of candy. If you give a wrong answer, you're out, and the person with the lottery number following immediately yours will get to take your place. You are allowed to keep the candy you have already won up to the point where you made the mistake. If you get all 10 questions right, you're the candy millionaire of ENGL300 ;-)

Here is the link to the slide show of 20 comics with grammar mistakes.
We can play the game twice.

The Amish Language

Even though Amish people live in America - a country whose official language is English - most Amish people do not actually speak English. A "hybrid dialect" of Pennsylvania Dutch and Pennsylvania German is what constitutes the Amish language in its spoken form. Interestingly, standard English has still found its way into this dialect, because if you listen to an Amish person speaking, you will notice that every few words (anywhere from every 5-20) will sound familiar, because it is an English word. Even though the Amish language is distinctly different from standard English, it is still close enough that we would probably be able to listen to a conversation between two Amish people and still follow along well enough that we would be able to extract the main point of what they are saying.

While the spoken form of the Amish language is distinctly different and unique, the written form is much more standardized. Because Pennsylvania Dutch is a language that is usually spoken and not written, most Amish do not write in their own dialect. When they write, they do so in standard English (which to me, just sounds way too complicated). Young children are only able to speak the dialect (Pennsylvania dutch), because that is the language that everyone talks in. That is all they hear so that is all they know. They do not learn any English before they start school because they do not need to write before school. Once they do begin school, they will learn to speak and write English, and all of their lessons will be taught in English. This is interesting because the school will typically be in a strictly Amish town, and the teacher will be an Amish person as well. But even still, the English language that is not utilized in conversation (and therefore, the affairs of the town) is what kids are taught in school.

Even further, Amish people are usually trilingual. On top of being able to speak Pennsylvania Dutch and English, most Amish can also speak High German. Religion is the focal point of an Amish society, and the Bible's they use are often written in this High German. Because of this, church services are typically performed in this High German as well. This third language is evidently an essential part of the Amish community because religion is an essential part of the Amish community, and a knowledge and acquisition of this third language is necessary to be able to fully participate in the religious sanctions.

Language of the Piraha

Linguistics generally focuses on what idioms across the world have in common. But the Pirahã language -- and this is what makes it so significant -- departs from what were long thought to be essential features of all languages
The language is incredibly spare. The Pirahã use only three pronouns. They hardly use any words associated with time and past tense verb conjugations don't exist. Apparently colors aren't very important to the Pirahãs, either -- they don't describe any of them in their language. But of all the curiosities, the one that bugs linguists the most is that Pirahã is likely the only language in the world that doesn't use subordinate clauses. Instead of saying, "When I have finished eating, I would like to speak with you," the Pirahãs say, "I finish eating, I speak with you." The debate amongst linguists about the absence of all numbers in the Pirahã language broke out after Peter Gordon, a psycholinguist at New York's Columbia University, visited the Pirahãs and tested their mathematical abilities. For example, they were asked to repeat patterns created with between one and 10 small batteries. Or they were to remember whether Gordon had placed three or eight nuts in a can.
The results, published in Science magazine, were astonishing. The Pirahãs simply don't get the concept of numbers. His study, Gordon says, shows that "a people without terms for numbers doesn't develop the ability to determine exact numbers." His findings have brought new life to a controversial theory by linguist Benjamin Whorf, who died in 1941. Under Whorf's theory, people are only capable of constructing thoughts for which they possess actual words. In other words: Because they have no words for numbers, they can't even begin to understand the concept of numbers and arithmetic.

The scientist is convinced that linguists will find a similar cultural influence on language elsewhere if they look for it. But up till now many defend the widely accepted theories from Chomsky, according to which all human languages have a universal grammar that form a sort of basic rules enabling children to put meaning and syntax to a combination of words.
Whether phonetics, semantics or morphology -- what exactly makes up this universal grammar is controversial. At its core, however, is the concept of recursion, which is defined as replication of a structure within its single parts. Without it, there wouldn't be any mathematics, computers, philosophy or symphonies. Humans basically wouldn't be able to view separate thoughts as subordinate parts of a complex idea.
And there wouldn't be subordinate clauses. They are responsible for translating the concept of recursion into grammar. Renowned US psychologist Pinker believes that if the Piraha don't form subordinate clauses, then recursion cannot explain the uniqueness of human language -- just as it cannot be a central element of some universal grammar. Chomsky would be refuted.
The logical way forward now would be to try to prove that the Pirahã can actually think in a recursive fashion. According to Everett, the only reason this isn't part of their language is because it is forbidden by their culture. The only problem is nobody can confirm or deny Everett's observations since no one can speak Pirahã as well as he does.
Despite this, several researchers -- including two Chomsky colleagues -- will travel this year to Maici to try and check parts of his claims. But for some, it's already getting too crowded in the jungle. "I'm concerned the Pirahã will simply become one more scientific oddity, to be exploited and analyzed right down to their feces," complains Peter Gordon.

To Grammar or Not To Grammar

To Grammar or Not To Grammar by James Jones

Grammar is a scholastic topics that has been consistently pushed throughout many of our school careers. For many students since early elementary school we have been expected to learn sentence structure, grammatical errors, punctuation, tenses etc. For most this grammar has been something that we have easily adjusted to and gotten better with over time, however there is a large number of people who simply can’t grasp it. Teachers take pride in knowing grammar and many feel that they are going about the right way of teaching it, but the low number of those who can actually retain it proves differently. This article focuses on whether or not Grammar should be taught anymore. The question arises from the fact that many students are no longer learning grammar from the traditional way its always been taught, which consist of handbook or cd lessons, followed my rigorous drilling, ending with test. Many students are able to regurgitate what they have just learned via test and assignments; however the problem that plagues many is the student’s ability to remember and apply what they have learned to their own writing. The article which was written by three different authors Constance Weaver, Carol McNally, and Sharon Moerman, really puts emphasis on the way teachers are teaching grammar; “ It needs to be more practical” the authors claim. The authors feel that focusing to much on grammar correctness, functions, and labeling is more so convenient for the teachers but does not help the student in the long run. Author Carol McNally believe that students have less of a chance at succeeding in grammar when it is taught in isolation from writing.. “ Teaching traditional grammar in isolation is not a very practical act.

What we have found practical, though, is drawing upon literature for models of effective sentences and paragraphs, while in corporating only the most useful grammatical concepts into our teaching of writing. In teaching grammar to student the focus has been correctness when it should be effectiveness. How can you use grammar correctly if you have not effectively grasped the concept? Through extensive research the authors have concluded that the best way to have effective grammar is by teaching it rather than assigning it. A student who is to successfully learn grammar must be guided and taught concepts that will last far beyond the realms of an assignment. Guiding students through such a strenuous subject will call for more than what most teachers are willing to give. According to the authors the best way to reach students to “eliminate isolated study of grammar from the curriculum, replacing it with mini lessons and hands-on guidance in developing more effective sentences and paragraphs, followed by assistance in learning to edits through”. The best way for teachers to teach what they know about grammar is for them to learn more about grammar, stepping out of the comfort zone of teaching and experiment. The question is are teachers willing to take this extra mile? Many teachers aren’t willing to that, and that is why we have the question To Grammar or Not To Grammar?

In-Class Activity, April 7th: Readability (Fry Graph)

IQ question: Who can guess at what readability level newspapers in the U.S. are written???

Today, we are going to assess our READABILITY, which means the personal grade level we are writing at. We are going to do this by means of a formula developed by Edward Fry: the so-called "Fry graph."

What we need:

3 text samples written by you with EXACTLY 100 words each.

STEP 1: Go to your class blog, and find three of your comments (or your own reading summary, if you have written one already). Copy and paste the three texts into a blank Word document.

TASK 1:

Now, cut down each of these three 100-words samples down to EXACTLY 100 words. You can use the word count of Microsoft Word by pasting your blog comment into a Word document, or you can copy and paste it into the word count tool. Simply delete all the words over 100, even if you have to stop in the middle of a sentence.

TASK 2:

1) Count the number of sentences in your 100 words sample. (If you had less than 100 words, add more by either inventing them, or pasting another one of your blog comments right behind it. The content does not matter, only the number of words (100). If you had more, just stop after having counted up to 100, and delete the rest.) Estimate the length of your last sentence, even if incomplete, to the nearest 1/10. Example: 5.4 sentences for your first sample of 100 words, 3.7 for your second, and 6 for your third.

2) Count the number of syllables in your 100 words sample. You can use the syllable count tool again to count your syllables.

3) Make a table as seen in these INSTRUCTIONS. Draw this table on the handout I give you, because you will receive points for it, and I will collect it at the end of today's lesson!

4) Do the same for your second and third 100-words sample.

5) Total your numbers, and average them. (A little bit of math ;-)). You can use the Microsoft calculator ;-)

7) Make ONE SINGLE dot on the FRY GRAPH I distributed in class where your personal readability lies. Write your name on the handout with your graph and your table, and submit it to your teacher for grading (I'm not grading the height of your readability, only the fact that you participated and understood the procedure!) There are no make-ups for this assignment.

HOMEWORK for Friday, April 9th (although we won't have class, since I'm at an NCATE meeting!!!):

Post a comment to this blog (100-250 words) about what you think about your personal readability level. Do you believe the Fry graph correctly displays the grade level you're writing at? Why, or why not? What could be missing? What could the readability level be used for? Will knowing your personal readability level change anything about your future writing? Do you think you have a different readability level when you blog than when you write a research article like you did for this class?

Some example WebQuests from last year ;-)

Here's a link to WebQuests created by grammar300-1 students in spring 2009.
Here's a link to WebQuests created by grammar300-2 students in spring 2009.

Our Own WebQuest-URLs

1) Freddie Dickerson: 1960s Slang

2) Brittany Richmond: London Cockney Rhyming Slang

3) Broc Pachesa: Computer Slang

4) Nick Sellers: Aussie Slang

5) James Jones: Aussie Slang

6) Sydney Shelton: Aussie Slang

7) Michelle Donegan: Prison Slang

8) John Bastian: Prison Slang

9) Katia Salomon: Ebonics

10) Latia Hayes: Police Slang

11) Alexandria Snelius: 1960's Slang

12) Blake Reeves: Political Slang

13) Morgan Williams: Surfer Slang

14). Sarah Kessler: 1960s Slang

15). Kristyn Looper: prison slang

16.) Kiara Poole : Drug Slang

Intro to WebQuests

This is our second (and last) big project, next to the research essay:

We are going to create a Lesson Plan again; this time focusing on the 6th big E, the E-Search. We will also have a big chunk of Engage and Explore in our Learning Cycle.

Today, we are going to learn a new software tool: WebQuests.

These are meant to be online lesson plans that teachers can use in class, providing their students with links to do research about certain topics. (This is point 6 from our Learning Cycle, the "e-search.") The kids go on a "quest" on www and expand their previous knowledge.

The WebQuests have several different steps the kids have to follow, and they also offer a rubric at the end, so the kids know what they will be graded for. Also, they have a welcome page that explains the topic and what they are going to do.

Our task: WE ARE CREATING A WEBQUEST LESSON PLAN ABOUT THE TOPIC "SLANG."

PROMPT 1:

Read the following 1-page excerpt from the diary of a medical intern, written by Perri Klass. In it, she explains how she had to learn a "totally new language" in order to understand the slang of nurses and doctors. It is like a "secret language," so that the patients won't know what is wrong with them when the medical staff talks about them. Beware - some expressions are quite offensive!

PROMPT 2:

Choose a topic from the following list (or google your own topic) - it needs to be the special language/dictionary of ONE group of society.

soldiers' slang (Slang from Operation Iraqui Freedom)
prison slang
rhyming slang (England; Cockney)
police slang
computer slang
railroad slang
1920's slang
1960's slang
Mountain Bike Slang
Australian Slang
Death Slang
Antarctic slang
drug slang

You can also come up with a topic of your own for which you can find an online dictionary. Past semesters' studens have written WebQuests about skateboarder slang, fashion slang, Clockwork Orange slang, etc.....

When you have chosen your topic (and your dictionary of a certain slang), you have the FIRST COMPONENT of your WebQuest lesson plan. Here's an overview of all the components you need:

COMPONENTS of WEBQUEST lesson plan:

1. a link to your slang dictionary, and a definition of "SLANG"
2.1 a welcome page (Intro) that tells the kids (address them; let me know their grade level) what the topic of your lesson is (which group you're talking about)
2.2 a TASK page that tells the kids what the purpose of your lesson is (why they need to learn about it), and what they will do
2.2b your purpose: why it is important nowadays to know about this slang
3. an assignment page (Process) with e-search assignments (links) for the kids. Here, you need to tell them how to present their findings (such as, to write down what they researched on a piece of paper, fill in a study guide that you prepare, do a ppt presentation, etc.).
4. a grading rubric



For task 3, the PROCESS, you should have the following components:

3.1 I expect you to define the word SLANG for your students. Give them an example for a metaphor (taken from your dictionary). You can also make them write down their own definitions, and then let them click on a link to an online dictionary that defines those terms correctly.

3.2 Create a brief text using the slang you're talking about (either, write it yourself, or use the translation engine on your website). Let the kids translate it into Standard Written English without looking at the dictionary for help. Then, give them the solutions in a later section of your webquest, to check their responses.

3.3 Give them the link to your dictionary, and their first assignment (e.g., create a 10-item dictionary with words chosen from it on their own, etc.)

3.4 Give them some kind of writing assignment about YOUR insider group's slang that you will grade with your grading rubric (prompt examples: "Write a short story using this slang." or "Write an essay about why it is important to learn a certain slang if one wants to "belong" to a group of insiders." or "Is it better to remain true to one's origins and speak one's own language, or does one have to adapt when joining a different group?" or "Why can the use of metaphors be good/bad sometimes?" or "If you were a patient, would you prefer that the doctors speak clear text with you, or wouldn't you mind them talk in secret language?" or "Is a secret language ment to INCLUDE or EXCLUDE people?" or "Develop your own secret society. Write a short essay about what kind of language you would use." BE CREATIVE!!!)

3.5 Create your Grading Rubric with the online functions that WebQuest offers.


SOFTWARE: modeling how to create WebQuests

Go to the homepage of WebQuest. You need to sign up and register for a "30 day free trial." Then, we'll model together how to create the background template and colors, etc. The online builder is pretty easy and self-explanatory, and will guide you through all steps. Remember to ALWAYS SAVE what you typed before you click on another field; otherwise, you'll lose everything!!! You can also insert pictures (which you should do, depending on the grade level you instruct.)


To give you an idea of layout possibilities:

Here's an example WebQuest about Clockwork Orange "NADSAT SLANG" created by one of my former students: http://questgarden.com/69/77/4/080914190240/

TIMELINE for this project: We will work on it for two to three class periods; the rest will be homework. DUE DATE: to be agreed upon.

Grammar Instruction: What Teachers Say

This article focuses on the studies of Brenda Arnett Petruzella and the debate of teaching grammar in a school setting. Many people are torn on this idea and believe that teaching grammar to students is a waste of time. Brenda has supported research that teaching grammar to students has no positive effect of their writings. She claims that many teachers agree that ridding grammar from classroom criteria is a good idea. She states that many college students who received English degrees and became student teachers were ridiculed by the professors they taught for because they were told grammar was not important. these professors stated that their senior students in high school had a better understanding of grammar then their student teachers. With all this said and done, the article began to focus on what researchers believe about this topic and what actual teachers believe about this topic. The article stated that when researchers see this debate and find grammar useless they are talking about the memorization of vocabulary and in-depth material. Teachers believe that grammar is important but they focus more on the fundamentals. Teaches believe that grammar is a necessity in the form of sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling. Teachers say that without this core, fundamental training students would be lost in the grammar world. Teaching grammar in a school setting has been a debate for some time now. Many are torn on this idea and this article shows both sides of the argument. Now it's your time to decide.

Slang

Slang can be described as informal, nonstandard words or phrases (lexical innovations) which tend to originate in subcultures within a society. Slang often suggests that the person utilizing the words or phrases is familiar with the hearer's group or subgroup--it can be considered a distinguishing factor of in-group identity. Microsoft Encarta states: "slang expressions often embody attitudes and values of group members." In order for an expression to become slang, it must be widely accepted and adopted by members of the subculture or group. Slang has no societal boundaries or limitations as it can exist in all cultures and classes of society as well as in all languages. Slang expressions are created in basically the same way as standard speech. As stated in Microsoft Encarta, "expressions may take form as metaphors, similes, and other figures of speech." In addition, it is noted that the words used as slang may be new coinages, existing words may acquire new meanings, narrow meanings of words may become generalized, words may be abbreviated, etc. However, in order for the expression to survive, it must be widely adopted by the group who uses it. Slang is a way in which languages change and are renewed.

"Folk Linguistic Perceptions and the Mapping of Dialect Boundaries" by Broc Pachesa

When people are given a map and asked to map out different areas of dialect for a certain region, there is no doubt that there are many factors that can influence their responses. Erica Benson took twelve participants from different parts of Ohio (2 -Southern Ohio, 2 - North Eastern Ohio, 4 - South-Eastern Ohio, and 4 - Central Ohio) and used two survey instruments on each participant, exploring their beliefs about the dialect areas of Ohio. First, she gave each participant a map of Ohio and surrounding States (Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky, and West Virginia) and asked them to circle and label areas where people speak differently or similarly. The second task, called “the-degree-of-difference task,” gave each participant an alphabetic list of 23 cities in and around Ohio (as well as a map with the cities labeled on it). Benson then asked the participants to rank each city one through four indicating the degree of difference in speech, one representing “exactly like you” and four representing “different.”

The results of the study showed that the participants from the South and Southern-central Ohio had similar responses and that the participants from the Northwest and Central Ohio had similar answers as well. The two participants from the South said that Ohio is divided in half approximately in the middle running east to west. The four participants from Southern-central Ohio answered that dialect is relatively the same and extends into bordering states. The four participants from Central Ohio answered that there appears to be several regions with varying degrees of differentiation while the two participants from Northeastern Ohio mapped out at least four different regions in Ohio that extend beyond Ohio into bordering states.

In conclusion, Erica Benson found that perceptions can be collected in a relatively small geographical region using a hand-drawn-map and/or the degree-of-difference tasks. Secondly, she found that perceptual dialectology and traditional dialectology can yield similar results.

"What Makes Texting Distinctive?" by: Sydney Shelton

To begin with, textography is known as "the use of single letters, numerals, and tyographic symbols to represent words, part of words.." Examples of textography would be logograms or logographs which are, be = b, to = 2, at = @, and 'x' = kiss. Many of these logograms are found in text messaging. Other examples are "zzz" which means the person is sleepy or "2day" which is a shorter version of today.
Another shortened version of speaking through a text message is using emoticons. Examples of emoticons are :-) = smile, ;-) = wink, and (^_^) = cute. When a person is using visual images to represent the way he/she feels, this is called pictogram or pictographs.
The author argues that a emoticon and pictogram used in Egyptian hieroglyphs and often act at two completely separate meanings. For example, the @ can be used as "at" or used as ":-@" which means "screaming." A person can read this two different ways. The options for translating the symbols are listening to the sound or looking at the shape. Although the author points out the symbols are different, there is one similarity to the symbols. The similarity is known as rebus. "A rebus is a message which, in its original definition, consists entirely of pictures that are used to represent the sounds of words rather than the objects they refer to." An example of a rebus is a person looking at a picture of a bee followed by the letters "st" and then the person putting the two objects together therefore getting the word "beast."
The article then goes on to explain initials, which are better known as acronyms for texting. Examples of these would be: DK = I don't know, JK = just kidding, NP = no problem, or GF = girlfriend. Basically, each of these acronyms are created from the first letter of each word. A more complex acronym that shows a better example of using the first letter of each word is: SWDYT = So what do you think? There are other abbreviations that have been known all throughout history such as: ASAP = as soon as possible, RIP = rest in peace, or TTFN = ta ta for now.
Soon after the abbreviations came the omitting of the letters. When creating a text message, a person normally omits the vowels in a word allowing the word to be shorter and making the text message easier and faster to send. As for the omitting of the vowels comes the incorrect and shortening spelling of the words. Examples such as, been versus bin or going to versus gonna are only two of the many that are known.
To sum up the article, the author then asks the question: "Why do they do it?" "Why has distinctive language of texting arisen at all?"

in-class activity on first day after spring break

USING ADVERBS ABUNDANTLY: TOM SWIFTIES...

Today, we are going to talk about "adverbs." Instead of a mini lesson, we will start with a little grammar exercise, and then become creative ;-)


Here are some GUIDELINES about the order of adverbs in a sentence:

THE ROYAL ORDER OF ADVERBS
Verb	Manner	Place	Frequency	Time	Purpose
Beth swims	enthusiastically	in the pool	every morning	before dawn	to keep in shape.
Dad walks	impatiently	into town	every afternoon	before supper	to get a newspaper.
Tashonda naps		in her room	every morning	before lunch.

First task:
Take a quick overview of what ADVERBS are.

Second task: take this short online quiz about adverbs.

Third task (everyone on his/her own):
This is what happens if one uses adverbs abundantly... ;-)
Go to the following website and learn what "Tom Swifties" are.


Task 2:

Get together in groups of 3-4. Go to the following webpage. Your group's task is to create a 5-item test for another group that this group has to solve. Get the emails of the one member of the other group (your partner group), and email this person your quiz. The group that solves most of the 5 items it gets from another group wins!! You need to retype the Tom Swifties that you find on the webpage, but you leave out the last word, i.e., the pun, for the other group to fill in the blank. Don't invent them yourself yet!!!

Examples:

1. How do you start a model-T Ford without a battery?" asked Tom _____________ .

(answer: CRANKILY)

2. "I have to wear this cast for another six weeks," said Tom _________________ .

(answer: DISJOINTEDLY)

3. "I'm shocked," said Tom _____________________ .

(answer: ELECTRICALLY)


You should select sentences that people are able to guess when they think hard.

EMAIL me your 5-item quiz (with solutions). Only one per group, please! Indicate your group members names in this email (because you'll all get participation points for the quiz).


Task 3:

Now, invent 1 Tom Swifty on your own!!! Publish it as a comment to this blog. If you work in groups, indicate all your names on your blog entry. You can also work by yourself. If you can't finish in class, do it as homework for Wednesday, March 17th.

If you missed class today, invent a Tom Swifty on your own, and post it on the blog by Wednesday, March 17th, for homework!

Figures of Rhetoric in Advertising Language

According to Edward F. McQuarrie and David Glen Mick, "when persuasion is the overriding goal the manner in which a statement is expressed may be more important than its propositional content." (p. 424) In advertising, persuasion is almost always the overriding goal. McQuarrie and Mick's article provides a framework for interpreting the language of advertising through rhetoric which they describe as, "a system for identifying the most effective form of expression in any given case." (p. 424)

They explain that as the advertiser seeks to "deviate" from normal forms of expression, the intended consequence is to capture the attention of a consumer that does not have to read or view an ad. For example, "Say hello to your child's new bodyguard," was at one time a Band-

Aid advertisement. While McQuarrie and Mick admit that the same message could be articulated by, "Band-Aid's are strong," or "Your child is important," the language can be seen as more effective as it is a deviation which says to the consumer, "Look, I chose to violate a convention here- take note." (p. 426)

How can AAE become effective standard english writers

AAE Speakers Become Effective Standard English Writers because by speaking like AAE influences their ability to write standard English more effectively. By seeing and hearing how AAE sounds or looks on paper the writer might catch a mistake and be able to fix because the writer knows that's not how the word should be spelled or said outloud.

Also people who speak AAE have fewer problems developing proficiency in standard English. In the process of learning standard English people bring to the classroom expectations which makes put their language and comparing it to standard English making it easier to understand and write.AAE relies less on word endings to convey grammatical information, which gives AAE a wider range of sentence patterns. Also why AAE is effective for Standard English is because it also uses a lot of things the Standard English uses such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, and etc. Making it the same concept of Standard English. AAE isn't the lazy way. AAE defys norm. AAE is its own language, it's just different from Standard English. There are many books and novels written in AAE.

Twins and Language Development

Jennifer Ganger’s article on twin language capabilities compared with singletons of the same age provides insight into the common belief amongst psychologist that twins are at a disadvantage in language development. Ganger summarizes several studies that are used in determining this assumption. She points out flaws in the experiments themselves. Although she points out that there is evidence to support twins are at greater risk of having language problems, there is nothing that is concrete about any of the experiments in her opinion.
Ganger produces several case studies on the subject of twin language.

Twin development versus singleton development has been studied since at least the early 20th century according to Ganger. She summarizes these early studies have problems with unintentional biases towards the twins. The first two studies analyzed were Day and Davis. The Day Study concentrated on early childhood development, while The Davis Study focused on children from age five to nine. The Day study concluded that twins are likely to be up two years behind children without a twin. The Davis study, which was essentially the same study with older children, concluded the language deficiencies were almost always corrected around the age of five to nine. However, twins in the five to nine age groups were still more likely to have articulation problems.

There were a few problems with these studies according to Ganger. One of the biggest problems was the twins studied were not always studied separately. This would skew the results, because the singleton children tested were alone. A few other problems were found and tested in other studies. Other issues that were not taken into account were birth weight, order of birth, time of gestation. These problems directly correlate to learning in all children.

Ganger shows more recent studies have concluded that there are a number of problem with the idea that twins will have language issues simple because they are twins. These more recent studies take into account the weight of the children at birth, the order of their birth, and the gestation period. Researchers took these problems into consideration and found evidence to support the theory that twins are more likely to lack their peers in language development. These studies found the cause of this problem is not simply because twins are born at the same time to the same mother, but the factors that causes slower development in children is usually present in a household with twins. For instance, twins have to share time speaking with adults. This gives the individual twin less time developing language skills. Twins also have a smaller birth rate than singleton children, which is a factor that causes slower development. The cause of a twin’s slower development is not by the presence of another, but the factors the other twin can bring.

The article concludes with a reminder that these tests are averages and do not doom people who are twins. There are many factors that can account for language delays. The language development of twins can be greatly influenced by the parents or guardians. Granger reminds her readers that nothing is concrete or exact in this type of study.

by: Josh Evans

Down's Syndrome and Grammar

In 1973, Rodger Brown and his colleagues conducted a study on the acquisition of grammar among twelve middle class children. Three of these twelve children were diagnosed with downs syndrome and was studied for two years. Brown studied the development of the children’s language and morphemes in their speech. He studied the development of fourteen different morphemes including using the present progressive affix on verbs, the prepositions on and in, plural and possessive “s”, the regular and irregular past tense of verbs, the articles “a” and “the”, third person singular “s”, irregular, third-person singular present tense, and various forms of “be”. The goal of Brown’s study was to investigate the acquisition of these morphemes as the children learned to speak.

The children Brown studied were similar in age and he studied children from ages 12 to 38 months (1 to 3 years) until the children were between the ages of 43 and 67 months (3.5 to 5.5 years). Each of the children lived at home and their primary care giver was their mother, who was asked to keep a diary of the child’s spoken language, in some cases children had used sign language. As the children’s language and developed the parents were asked to record only conversations during specific times in the day like meal times and they were asked to document words/signs/phrases that he child had developed within the month. Brown then drew his conclusions on his study.

In Brown’s conclusion he explained that most children, despite retardation learned the majority of the early morpheme rules. In Brown’s study he noted that the first six rules of the fourteen he had chosen were also the first six that had developed in the children with Down’s syndrome’s speech. He also noted that in the beginning, the children with Down’s syndrome learned these morpheme rules as well as producing their first ten words at a significantly later age than those who did not have the disorder. Although their language developed a litter later, once they had begun to speak, they children with Down’s syndrome acquired the rules at a similar rate to typically developing children. Brown’s study showed that the morphemes which included third person singular “s” and the uncontractable copula “be” form and uncontractable auxiliary “be” form were not developed by any of the children in the study. Also, the irregular third-person singular present tense developed in only one of the children’s language. Brown believed that the reason for this could be from the speech that the children’s caregivers direct at them. For example, the mothers might use a more directive style of speech.

Brown’s study allows us to get a greater understanding of the development of speech among children who have retardation. Although these children did not develop the morphemes as fast as the children who do not have retardation, due to their lack of development in speech, they still learned the morphemes at a pretty normal pace.

Teaching Standard English as a second language

Carrie Secret is a teacher in Oakland, California who teaches Standard English as a second language to her students who speak Ebonics as their home language. She teaches Standard English in a manner that brings Ebonics up to its own level. Her view is that Ebonics is not necessarily broken English, but a language all in its own. With Ebonics as the language that is spoken in their homes, the students are taught to translate their spoken language into Standard English. With this method she teaches that what her students know is not wrong, but a different language. She sees this as more of a positive reinforcement in that it does not negate what they know but instead encourages them to add to their repertoire. When the students speak in class they are 'encouraged' to speak in Standard English because she does not want them the believe that what they know is a bastardized form of the common language. By being encouraged the students are motivated to follow what is taught instead of required which Ms. Secret sees as important. The students are taught in a manner of 'cognitive flow'. This means that one lesson plan will lead to another and then move on to another. She also does not believe in teaching Ebonics to the students in that this will even more solidify the language in them and also impede their progress when outside of class. I do agree with her methods of teaching. A lot of teachers would say that their students are wrong but teaching as a different language would make a student more open to the ideas of another culture.

Survey Topics and Links

1. Latia Hayes: "Does Texting Affect One's Grammar?"
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/latiahayes
2. Blake Reeves: "Religious Identity and Grammar Comprehension"

3. Freddie Dickerson: "The Effects of Texting Lingo on Writing"

4. Alexandria Pearson: The Effects of Texting on Grammar

5. Sydney Shelton: "Relationship Between Gender and Grammar"

6. Katia Salomon: "Perception of Ebonics"

7. Broc Pachesa: "The effect of foreign languages on English grammar."

8. Kiara Poole: "Effects of Socio-Economic Factors on Language and Dialect"

9. Alexandria Snelius: "Grammar and Texting/Informal Emailing, or Instant Messaging"

10. John Bastian:Enlgish/Grammar prior to college

11. Brittany Richmond: "African American English and Its Perception"
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AfricanAmericanEnglish

12. Steven Clair: "Does a Female have Better Grammar than a Male?"

13. Sarah Kessler: "Are Females Better Than Males at Grammar?"

14. Robert Miller: "Internet Lingo"http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F5JK7DK

15. Morgan Williams: How Is Texting Interferring With Grammar?

16. James Jones:

17. Kristyn Looper:Effects of texting on writing

18. Nick Sellers: "Who is Better at Grammar--College Males or Females?"

19. Elliott Zito: "Are Younger Adults (age 18-24) Better at Grammar Than Older Adults (age 40-65)?

20. Daniel Albarran: "Which department has the best over-all knowledge of grammar?

21. Michelle Donegan:Does Social Networking affect grammar

The Order of Words, by Ken Macrorie

The Order of Words

When you think of word order - the way words come together in phrases or clauses - think of how you can control it to bring your writing alive. Good writers master grammar in order to control their words, and meaning is their target. In a given paragraph, they may use an expression that is technically a dangling construction but nevertheless communicate their meaning clearly. A dangling construction fails to make clear who is doing what.

For example, here's the masterful English writer William Hazlitt beginning the third paragraph of his essay on Sir James Mackintosh:

To consider him in the last point of view first. As a political partisan, he is rather the lecturer than the advocate.

The first sentence doesn't show who is clearly doing the considering.

The most common word-order change made by editors is to bring together subjects and verbs which have been seperated.

Original: Professor Rending, in approaching his subject, stumbled in circles, like a drunk.
Revision: In approaching his subject, Professor Rending stumbled in circles, like a drunk.

Placing words in a different order can make the sentence more clear to the reader.

(by: Morgan Williams)

What Is AAE?

AAE is African American English. It refers to the language that African Americans use such as ebonics. It is also known among most Americans as "broken" English. Most Americans believe that spekaing AAE means being "lazy" or "cussed" but in SAE also known as Standard American English there is no set defintion on how the language should be spoken. Some of the same mistakes made in AAE is also made in SAE, so there is no such thing as one being better than the other. It has more to do with heritage and tradition. AAE was developed by slaves who weren't allowed to attend school, as their form of communication. More than just African Americans use this form of language when speaking and writing, people from all different races and nationalities around the world use this form of language when expressing themselves. The reason it's consider to be a "lazy" language is because when speaking it, most people leave out the last consonant, as in "tes(t) or "han(d)." According to the article " if one were jsut being lazy or cussed, or both, why not also leave out the final consonant in a word like "pant"? These are just rules that were created that most people feel they have to follow in order to speak "correct" English, but language should be considered a form of expression not a rule.

Asian ESL Learners

Imagine you are a high school teacher and correct the following essay excerpt by an ESL student. Spot the mistakes. Which ones are characteristic for Asian ESL learners, according to the research essay you have read for today, and which ones are just mistakes anyone could make??? Which grade would you assign for this writing?

The Beijing is a modern city and there are a lot of places to visit. First, there are many new building was build. One of the new buildings, it looks like a bird’s nest. Then, it have a big history. You can visit a lot of old buildings to know the history, just like “the summer Palace”. Finally, many people come from different country, there are kinds of restaurant. You can eat which you want to taste. Beijing is a nice place.

"Chinese learners" by Kiara Poole

"Chinese learners" by Nancy Lay bring a new light into the issue that Chinese students have learning English as a second language. During the article Lay explains of different writing issues that may come up when teaching Chinese speaking students: such as verbs, causes, and tenses. Since English is a subject that many Chinese immigrants struggle with, many students choose to go into fields like science because it comes more natural to them. Many times these students are also called shy, because in the classroom they tend to be less vocal then other English speaking students. There were a few students that stated that, when it comes to being in the classroom, many times they choose not to speak because they don’t want to sound stupid. Even if they feel that they have a valid point.

The article then goes into the details of what makes up the Chinese language, and how it differs from English. There was the issue of sound, such as the difference between voiced and voiceless sounds does not exist. For example there is no difference to them, between bag/back and dog/dock, which can become a problem when they try to learn English. There is also the issue of sentence structure, and the formation of questions from Chinese to English. The article gave the example of "wh- questions." Many Chinese students in the first stage would say "You make how much money?" In the second stage once they learn that the 'wh-question' goes in the front of the sentence, they may say "How much money do u make?”

Lastly the article deals with the issue of writing but there is also the struggle of speaking English as a second language. This goes into details about all the different elements of the English language, meaning adjectives, verbs, noun, and punctuation. Then comparing and contrasting these elements to the structure of Chinese grammar.