Language and Power

After reading the Christensen Article, I began to understand that colonization and the erasure of languages is going to be a vital part of understanding the English language as it is today [complex sentence: dependent clause first, followed by a comma and an independent clause in order to emphasize the gaining of a new, and deeper understanding]. I think that I was able to incorporate the first pattern of the week well into my introduction, however, I also used essentially the same formula as the provided pattern of the week. In this sense, I believe that it was used well, but I didn't take any risks either so I maybe did not learn as much as I would have otherwise had I chosen to experiment a bit more. After experimenting a bit though, I think that I will be able to use the pattern more effectively than prior to my practice.

As far as the rest of the Christensen article is concerned, I believe that the author is absolutely right in calling upon teachers to help fight against the abolition of native, or non-English languages in schools. With the tea party exercise, it really helped put priorities in regard to the teaching of languages into perspective: We have to be able to recognize the the erasure of languages in order to understand why there are the dominant languages, and recognize the importance and relevance of this to our world today. The revival of languages is equally important and there are many things that teachers and schools can do in order to at least do their best in not being part of the colonial movement and erasure of students' native languages: They can make sure to not penalize students who choose to communicate with others in their native tongue because far too often students are forced to cease this type of communication and encouraged to use English instead--a terrible double standard to place on students considering that students with English as a primary tongue are often encouraged to speak the same languages that other students are denied.

The erasure of languages is something that is far too oft considered a relic of the past, however, this couldn't be further from the truth. Colonization and the erasure of languages is a brutal act this is still being carried out upon many populations today. That is why it is so important to go over this situation with students, allowing them to gain perspective on the matter as well as to ensure that they are cognizant enough to not contribute to the problem to the best of their ability. Whilst this erasure is occurring, it is negligence that will bring about the demise of other languages; not the act itself.

Ch. 7 Response

Sentence diagramming seems to be a good way to help students understand (for visual learners at least) the structure of sentences [an aside set off by parentheses; I used parentheses to insert a little detail that adds to the point of my sentence]. While I did not completely understand the way that the sentence diagramming was structured, I was able to get an idea of how I would be able to utilize this technique in order to give my students a better overall understanding of the way that sentences are formed and how different parts of grammar are to be used in conjunction with the rest of the sentence. Of course, I myself need a better understanding of how sentence diagramming works before I am able to use it and teach my students how to use this method as well [reflexive pronoun to show emphasis].

I think that one of the biggest difficulties with teaching sentence diagramming is understanding it actually. It uses a language of its own almost, at least it uses symbols in a way that directly correlate to an understood meaning, much like a key for a map. In a sense, sentence diagramming really is a map, it is just simply a map that is meant to show the directions of how to structure a sentence.

There are many reasons someone would have difficulties understanding sentence diagramming though: They could not understand the symbols used to denote certain meaning within the context of the diagram, they could be confused on how to properly use a certain part of grammar, they could simply have difficulty remembering the correct way to structure the diagram as well--there are a multitude of reasons why sentence diagramming cold be difficult for a student to learn [last and cut off of the list; I used a dash in order to offset the interrupted flow of the sentence].

Despite the difficulty in learning sentence diagramming, I believe that it could still be a valuable tool, although its initial complexity is certainly something that is going to be hard for some students to work past. Visual learners especially be gain the most information from sentence diagramming. The disadvantages of sentence diagramming is that some students may find that it is counter-intuitive to their own personal learning philosophy. If a person just doesn't learn well visually, sentence diagramming is only going to serve to confuse the student instead of help them. I think it will be important during sentence diagramming to be able to recognize the certain strengths and weaknesses that each student posses in regards to learning styles and then to utilize that information in a manner that allows one to teach to each student the best way for that student personally.