Language. A barrier yet a pathway all at the same time. Language is “the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way” (Oxford, 2013). Language is seen differently in cultures. But what does language truely mean? What does lol, ttyl and brb mean? Is it a new language or a incorrect way to communicate?
“Every language is composed of many sub languages” (Gee, pg. 90). I agree with this statement. But when involved in school which “language” appropriate? How can we distinguish language? Just as we wear different types of “masks” depending what crowd we are entertaining determines our actions. The same goes for language. “None of us speak a
single, uniform language, nor is any one of us a single, uniform identity” (Gee, pg. 98). Even simply language from “school talk” to social and then home again. The language is different and is accepted differently depending on the audience. So is it the “job of the teacher to allow students to grow beyond both the cultural models of their home cultures and those of the mainstream and school culture” (Gee, 2012)? I believe it is our job as educators to open the eyes of each student to various cultures including communication. When I first started teaching at Meriden Public Schools we had a professional development days to discuss the importance of language and redirecting certain language “deemed appropriate” by the students. He taught the teachers to say, you may be able to speak that way at home but here this is how we speak. Unfortunately, some of my students home life isn't about education and “respectful” language in our eyes. How many and what kinds of words do children pick up just by hearing them? My students have discussed many times with me if they do not fight back when another student approaches them in a poor manner it shows weakness and their parents find shame in it. To myself walking away shows a sign of strength and control but to the students it shows weakness. I still feel it is my duty as a teacher to help the students distinguish the language of the”elite”. After all, every student for every culture are measured by the same state test and compared to one another. With that said, I also feel it is important for each teacher to try and understand the students language to help “translate” it into the”elite” language. Keith Stanovich described in the Matthew effect about achievement and the importance of recognizing words early. He also discussed reading and the correlation to knowledge. In his eyes , yes, there is a strong correlation called fluid intelligence.
But it isn't always differences in the verbal language but also those who use text to speech. To me voice is an identity. It shows age, gender, and in most cases nationality. Identity is a significant factor when talking about text to speech. To some, a conversation is seen as a dream where they hear how they think their personality is. Unfortunately, language has also been the cause of my stereotypes. For example, in the movie Grown Ups, there was a scene when the wives saw a muscular man standing across from them. But when the man came over to talk to the women his voice was high pinched and unsuspected. To the ladies, his voice made the man undesirable because he was seen as unmasculine. The sound of certain language has certain assumptions. As you can see, language has many barriers from setting to setting and cultures to cultures.
Lastly, in Children of Code, Samantha carries her voice with her. Due to her heavy cargo, Samantha was already pinned as different. When using a voice called “Heather”, Samantha thought it sounded too old for her and was already embarrassed to use it. As mentioned before, voice and language is an identity and for Samatha it wasn't until Perfect Paul did she find a “personality” that fit her.
In conclusion, language is an important piece of education. Each language has many sublanguages. Distinguishing between which language is appropriate is important. Language and communication is an identity making it sometimes challenging to effectively educate students on proper language and not. I choose a basic essay format to collaborate my thoughts. I am used to writing papers on the computer. Portraying my ideas seem to be more fluid and continuous through an essay format. I am still using google docs because it is easy to add my thoughts no matter where I am.
Resources:
- Gee, J. (2012). Social Linguistics and Literacies (4th ed.). New York: Routledge.
- Oxford dictionary
- You tube, Grown Ups clip
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