The second principle in Postman's essay, is that all the knowledge we have acquired in this world is due to the questions we have asked. He suggests three points. First, since questions are the root of all knowledge, we should be teaching the art of questioning in our school systems. Second, Postman explains that for every question asked, there is always an alternate question that could be asked which would offer a different answer. And third, He suggests that the rules of asking questions will shift as we change the subject of knowledge that is being examined. How we question the world will determine what we know about the world.…
Language is central to every single culture on Earth. Not only is it the human race’s main method of communication, it also is the only truly accurate way to record the human experience with integrity. Therefore, language shows most everything about who we are, from one’s homeland to education and everything in between. For instance, in Firoozeh Dumas’ The ‘F Word,’ a young Iranian girl is judged for who she is without any of her contemporaries taking a moment to figure out why.…
Here in the United States, we, historically, have had countless instances, occurrences, and notable events related to racism, discrimination, slavery, and more. Social (and racial) relations in this nation have been constantly changing since the 16th century. In the decades after civil rights, however, these relations between people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds have improved significantly. Despite this fact, one can still argue that there are racist attitudes that continue to exist, especially in social institutions such as our educational system, where researchers have found that non-native ESL students are facing institutional racism mainly based on the concept of language. Media depictions of institutional language-racism…
Throughout our lives we communicate to a vast array of people on a daily basis from teachers to friends to family. Each time we speak to these individuals there tends to be a different “slang” that is used with each yet at the same time still portraying the same message. In groups of different cultures they have a similar voice through language. Even though the languages they speak are different the meanings can be the same. Through this everyone has the ability to show love, anger, sadness, and the ability to teach right from wrong. Two authors from different ethnic backgrounds show how language affects them personally and the ones around them. Kingston, a Chinese author, writes about stories based on the things she heard from her mother and…
In this article, Snow wants to expose the widespread problem most students experience in learning academic language to other students and teachers. She begins by explaining what academic language is and it is something commonly overlooked. She explains academic language as having no real definition. She continues to…
He embodied the counsel to “count others more significant” than ourselves, looking “not only to our own interests, but to the interests of others.”…
My thesis statement is grounded on the ideas of the SROTL Resolution, Garrard McClendon, and Ruthellen Crews. The authors of “Students’ Rights to Their Own Language” argue that students should be able to speak and write in their native language because it is more suitable for them and it is easier for them to identify who they are. In addition, they argued that saying the “dialect of one student being unacceptable is like saying that one group is better than the other” (SRTOL Resolution). I agree that as students we should be able to write in our native language because it defines who we are, however, I believe that we should only write in our native language during our years in elementary and high school. What I learned from personal experiences with the English language is that my teachers during elementary and high school never focused on my oral and written skills. Any written assignments during my four years in high school I was never told that my writing was not…
Week one of Language and Literacy for Teachers has broadened my thinking about the English language, how vast it is and the different ways people communicate. The first, and most interesting topic for me that was brought up in week one was vernacular language. “A vernacular variety of language is the form of language people use in their “everyday” lives when they are not speaking as specialists of experts of any sort.” (Gee & Hayes, 2011, p. 8). Learning about vernacular language led me to think about and explore the different ways language can change depending on factors such as a social setting, social class or geographical location.…
In Neil Postman's "Defending Against the Indefensible", he suggests that our society has been culturally brainwashed. Therefore, Postman has given us seven key elements of critical thinking to help us understand the English language and avoid the manipulation of language: definition, questions, simplicity of words, metaphors, reification, style and tone, and the non-neutrality of media.…
At any moment we are using language we must say or write the right thing in the right way while playing the right social role and to hold right values, beliefs, and attitudes. Thus, what is important is not language, and surely not grammar, but saying (writing)-doing-being-valuing-believing combinations. (484)…
“There is more pleasure to building castles in the air than on the ground.” This quote by Edward Gibbon illustrates the intensity of writing and what gratification it can hold. When one writes, they are not confined to one certain formula. A person is able to express their thoughts and feelings in any way they choose. Language is a border for many people in that some cannot comprehend a certain language, understand how to use it, or recognize what is being said to them. On the other side of the border, they are not viewed as equals or as important compared to those who are not competing with this barrier. In his essay “Coming into Language,” Jimmy Santiago Baca uses his personal experiences to demonstrate how much crossing the border of language can change a person and show them new ways of expressing themselves.…
‘Your use of language sends out lots of little messages, not just about your level of education and where you come from, but about how you would like to be perceived.’…
In the book, “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan asserts that language is a tool of communication.…
On page 11, Postman quotes Niels Bohr as saying, "The opposite of a correct statement is an incorrect statement, but the opposite of a profound truth is another profound truth." What does this statement mean? Do you agree with it? Why or why not?…
His works include many thought provoking essays, comprehension and epitomisation for overseas students. Recent trends in educational practice, a guide to correct English, and teaching English as a second language are some very important to mention. Hill’s interest in linguistics extends to all human behavior and similarities and variations between different cultures.…