I would have to say that, in regard to the readings we did, they neither confirmed nor challenged my understanding of what it means to teach grammar; I previously had little opinion -- or knowledge -- on the matter. I did thoroughly agree with what was said in the readings though. I believe that language diversity and understanding context are very important in teaching grammar.
If I did have any presuppositions about teaching grammar, I thought it would be the way that I learned; mindless worksheets that only served to frustrate the majority of my classmates and me. In this way, these readings really opened my eyes about the advancements that have been made in recent years in regard to learning, and understanding that the context of language heavily dictates what has been deemed "acceptable" grammar.
As the readings say though, we all develop grammar as a child, in order to speak. In fact, it is the spoken language where we spend most of our time using language, and what is deemed acceptable speech is governed not by a dictionary, but by your geographic and cultural location. Having lived in Hawaii for around a year in total -- and especially since I went to school with a bunch of locals -- I have experience with the pigeon language that is spoken on the island. A typical sentence in pigeon might be, "Ho, brah, you like go beach, ya?". To tourists and those unfamiliar with the culture/language, this might seem hard to understand, perhaps even unintelligible to some degree. All the sentence means however is "dude, do you want to go to the beach?", a phrase that would be recognizable across the continental United States. Sadly, I know tourists will hear the language and assume and impose stereotypical thinking upon the speaker. To them, the language doesn't sound "educated", or like what they are culturally accustomed to; even some of the locals refuse to speak in pigeon because they think it sounds too uneducated.
This is the way that the misunderstanding of grammar can infect, and affect people's lives. We don't often view grammar as a source of agency in our lives; the truth of the matter is that the opposite is true. Differences in language have fueled prejudice and destruction in many circumstances. One such circumstance would be when the American Colonies formed, and the difference in language between the Native Americans and the colonists was used to dehumanize an entire population, whose numbers were extremely devastated as a result of this discrimination and prejudice. Language matters. Language brings us together, but it can also drive us apart. This is why, as an instructor of grammar, it is paramount to remember the importance of understanding and appreciating language diversity. Edited American English has its place in the professional world, but grammar is very much alive in every culture; regardless of the languages' manifestations Context is the most vital key to understanding how to teach grammar.
Hey Taylor! So you used many of the patterns-of-the-week throughout this but didn't actually bracket and identify one, but I really liked your use of pidgin Hawaiian English. Another place you could have used a parenthetical dashes (one of our Pattern-of-the-weeks) is in this sentence: In this way, these readings really opened my eyes about the advancements that have been made in recent years in regard to learning, and understanding that the context of language heavily dictates what has been deemed "acceptable" grammar.
ReplyDeleteInstead, the sentence could go like this: In this way, these readings really opened my eyes about the advancements that have been made in recent years in regard to learning— and understanding— that the context of language heavily dictates what has been deemed "acceptable" grammar.
I think by adding these dashes in, it really emphasizes the need to understand different language variations and accept them.
Taylor,
ReplyDeleteYou’ve got some great points in your entry—especially the parts about the importance of spoken language and how it’s directly tied to our cultural origins. I like how you brought up the very specific example of Hawaiian Pigeon Language, and how some tourists harbor a prejudice for it, simply because of the way it sounds. I share a lot of similar feelings about the effects of language on society, and also feel that it’s extremely important to maintain its’ diversity in our classrooms. For me, I’d always been surrounded by Standard English growing up, and suddenly having to think about the immense amount of context that comes into play for students of different cultural backgrounds is difficult for me; the area in which I grew up wasn’t very diverse, and language conflicts at school were barely represented, so I grew up not thinking critically about what they meant.
Your use of punctuation looks great. You used parenthetical dashes, semicolons, and commas pretty flawlessly; the only things that I think I didn’t see were the ellipsis, and the colon…but those weren’t necessarily apart of the pattern of the week, so you’re looking good. I think I also would have liked to see the standard dash used for emphasis, but you doubled up on the parenthetical, so that’s fine. Your use of the dreaded semicolon was spot on: all the sentences were closely related and could have easily stood on their own. Good Job!
I chose the following sentences to edit:
1. I would have to say that, in regard to the readings we did, they neither confirmed nor challenged my understanding of what it means to teach grammar; I previously had little opinion -- or knowledge -- on the matter.
EDIT: I would have to say that, in regard to the readings we did, they neither confirmed nor challenged my understanding of what it means to teach grammar--I previously had little opinion ( or knowledge ) on the matter. [I just threw in the dash instead of the semicolon, and put in parenthesis instead of the parenthetical].
2. If I did have any presuppositions about teaching grammar, I thought it would be the way that I learned; mindless worksheets that only served to frustrate the majority of my classmates and me.
EDIT: If I did have any presuppositions about teaching grammar, I thought it would be the way that I learned: mindless worksheets that only served to frustrate the majority of my classmates and me. [Here is a perfect place to throw in that colon, because the second half of the sentence is basically answering the first half].
3. Having lived in Hawaii for around a year in total -- and especially since I went to school with a bunch of locals -- I have experience with the pigeon language that is spoken on the island PARANTHESIS
EDIT: Having lived in Hawaii for around a year in total (and especially since I went to school with a bunch of locals) I have experience with the pigeon language that is spoken on the island. [Again, I just swapped the dashes for parenthesis. This works because what’s inside the parenthesis/dashes could be taken out entirely, and the sentence would still make some kind of sense. Good work].
Nice post!
-- Michael Molder