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?