Teaching
English at any level involves teaching how to communicate using language, and
understanding what others are communicating through their use of language. Understanding English in terms of communication
lends itself to teaching that there are many ways to communicate through
language, including: speaking, reading and writing. These three areas should all be discussed in
English classrooms.
How we communicate
often depends on who we are communicating with, or our audience. Audience influences the style of language one
uses when communicating, and as teachers it is important to teach that there
are different language styles for speaking and writing that depend on the
audience. Along with style, written
language also requires understanding that there are conventional formats for
communicating information through language. Examples of written language for which style
and format are essential include: resumes, letters, arguments/opinions
(persuasive language), expositions, and news reports. Essential to teaching any language is
explaining how audience plays an important role in determining the style of
language to incorporate into communication.
An understanding of how language
choice is connected to audience naturally leads to understanding how language
usage reflects the identity of the person who is speaking or writing.
As teachers
of English language, we need to be equipping our students with an understanding
of how to best communicate their identity through their use of language—understanding
that depending on their audience, they will need to be able to adjust their
style and format in order to best communicate their grasp of the English
language, and therefore their identity.
Communicating through language is vital to students’ success in class
and in the world as a whole. Some topics
that must be covered to increase students’ success in using language include: vocabulary,
grammar, and style. Plus they must be
provided with examples of various forms of written and spoken language and
opportunities to practice creating their own examples and then be provided with
feedback on their work, and then the opportunity to reflect on the feedback and
make changes in order to improve their work.
This ‘feedback’ loop is essential for growth in learning in all classes.
So here's the big question, Ross: why? you can apply it to many of the things you wrote in this posting, but as an example: why do "we need to be equipping our students with an understanding of how to best communicate their identity through their use of language"? To what ends, and for whose purposes? Likewise, I am not sure what this means here: "An understanding of how language choice is connected to audience naturally leads to understanding how language usage reflects the identity of the person who is speaking or writing."
ReplyDeleteIn part some of what I am asking, Ross, is that you push your assumptions about what you're doing when you teach language and English, about what it does and who it does it for, about why it matters. You assert here some things that matter, but I'm compelled to ask: why?
Thanks for the feedback. The sentence you point to is definitely choppy and needs some follow-up to better understand what I am saying, and explain why linking language to identity matters. I will try and explain what I meant and why it matters with an example from tv. In the Canadian series, "Trailer Park Boys," one of the characters, Ricky, is continually mixing up the words of common sayings. Some examples are: 'make my words' instead of mark my words; 'bottle of joy' instead of bundle of joy; 'eternity test' instead of maternity test; 'responsibles' instead of responsibilities; 'a lite bright went on in my head' instead of a bright light; 'I'm not a pessimist, I'm an optometrist' instead of optomist; and 'ever never' instead of never ever. I enjoy the comic effect, and catch myself mixing metaphors and making mistakes with words similar to these. Discussing such mix-ups matters to show how it's one thing to knowingly choose words for the purpose of comic effect, or use new phrases/combinations of words on purpose, while it is quite different to not know that you are making mistakes with words. That is where the understanding of how the language we use reflects our identity comes in to play. As teachers, I wonder how we can introduce these ideas in our classrooms.
Delete