I wholeheartedly support the idea that STUDENTS should post here as well - perhaps THEY ought to prod us into thinking about English and how it works.
One of the reasons why I am not an avid oral English fan is that many of my colleagues over-empathise with their English learners. We shouldn't pity those who learn our language - but we should guide them towards proficiency, competence and fluency, so that they can learn autonomously, building up their self-confidence by themselves.
I hear from my expat colleagues far too often, "my students have learnt to interact with me in a meaningful way. THEY HAVE GAINED IN SELF_CONFIDENCE!"
To which I might juxtapose a slightly ironic "Really?"
Because the minute these studewnts of my colleagues are on their own (without the benefit of their over-empathetic foreign teacher), their self-confidence plummets again to the bottom of the ocean!
This often is because their empathetic foreign teacher is no longer available to guess the meaning of their students' English phraseology.
They will have reinforced acquired faulty grammar and fossilised mispronunciations, and this will show both in writing and in speaking.
Threads--What do we get from them?
Moderators: Dimitris, maneki neko2, Lorikeet, Enrico Palazzo, superpeach, cecil2, Mr. Kalgukshi2
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Duncan Powrie
- Posts: 525
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LarryLatham
- Posts: 1195
- Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2003 6:33 pm
- Location: Aguanga, California (near San Diego)
I've always been fascinated by that heading. It sounds so grand...
Applied Linguistics!
My goodness! Surely that makes it real science, doesn't it? Practitioners of applied linguistics must be ever so much smarter than mere teachers. They probably do research and all that sort of stuff. So when they say something, it's really important!
I decided I wanted to sign up for Applied Linguistics the day I signed up for Dave's ESL Cafe. (It sounds so much more important than teacher.) So I tell everyone who asks now that I am an Applied Linguistics Dude!!! I think it adds about three inches to my height. Don't you think?
Oh, and I get to drop some nifty names like, Chomski, and Pincker, and Holliday, and....let's see...um...er...well, guys like that! Oh, and Penny Er!
Well, I'd love to chat some more, but unfortunately, I've got to go do the dishes now.
My wife says if I don't hurry up and clean up the kitchen, she'll apply some linguistics to me!!! 
Larry Latham
Applied Linguistics!
My goodness! Surely that makes it real science, doesn't it? Practitioners of applied linguistics must be ever so much smarter than mere teachers. They probably do research and all that sort of stuff. So when they say something, it's really important!
I decided I wanted to sign up for Applied Linguistics the day I signed up for Dave's ESL Cafe. (It sounds so much more important than teacher.) So I tell everyone who asks now that I am an Applied Linguistics Dude!!! I think it adds about three inches to my height. Don't you think?
Oh, and I get to drop some nifty names like, Chomski, and Pincker, and Holliday, and....let's see...um...er...well, guys like that! Oh, and Penny Er!
Well, I'd love to chat some more, but unfortunately, I've got to go do the dishes now.
My wife says if I don't hurry up and clean up the kitchen, she'll apply some linguistics to me!!! Larry Latham
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Sally Olsen
- Posts: 1322
- Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:24 pm
- Location: Canada,France, Brazil, Japan, Mongolia, Greenland, Canada, Mongolia, Ethiopia next
I am going to use my 20 minutes available on the computer to comment on this one.
Luckily there are many teachers who are using Applied Linguistics to do Action Research or research in their own classroom. It is getting to be a more respected field with journals and conferences and all the other academic trappings. Of course, teachers have been doing research in their classrooms since time began but now they are being encouraged to write it down so that others can compare experiences. The two universities I have attended have encouraged this type of research, teach student teachers how to do it and encourage them to publish.
It seems to me that this forum and others are just a more informal kind of publication. It is one that is immediate because your questions are often answered in a day or less. There are often many answers to your question giving you a choice and a chance to puzzle over the difficulty.
As to whether people go back to answers given before or check in Dave's cookbook, it is often the question of having the time (and money) to do this. In Mongolia, the computers were scarce to say the least, often did not work and cost a fortune compared to our salaries. I am sure there are many teachers in this position and so they appeal to someone to answer their question hoping they don't have to spend much time and money to get the answer. It is similar when we refer to books. Finances are often a huge consideration in buying a book and having it sent. When I wrote a lot in Greenland I had the time and availibility of the computer. Now I appreciate the writings of other as I don't have that luxury so don't give up on us! Keep writing all of you. Or write books that are available on the Internet.
Luckily there are many teachers who are using Applied Linguistics to do Action Research or research in their own classroom. It is getting to be a more respected field with journals and conferences and all the other academic trappings. Of course, teachers have been doing research in their classrooms since time began but now they are being encouraged to write it down so that others can compare experiences. The two universities I have attended have encouraged this type of research, teach student teachers how to do it and encourage them to publish.
It seems to me that this forum and others are just a more informal kind of publication. It is one that is immediate because your questions are often answered in a day or less. There are often many answers to your question giving you a choice and a chance to puzzle over the difficulty.
As to whether people go back to answers given before or check in Dave's cookbook, it is often the question of having the time (and money) to do this. In Mongolia, the computers were scarce to say the least, often did not work and cost a fortune compared to our salaries. I am sure there are many teachers in this position and so they appeal to someone to answer their question hoping they don't have to spend much time and money to get the answer. It is similar when we refer to books. Finances are often a huge consideration in buying a book and having it sent. When I wrote a lot in Greenland I had the time and availibility of the computer. Now I appreciate the writings of other as I don't have that luxury so don't give up on us! Keep writing all of you. Or write books that are available on the Internet.
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coffeedecafe
- Posts: 73
- Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 10:17 am
- Location: michigan
applied[apple-eyed]
i just ran across a piece of applied linguistics in a little paper called the courier leader. the first part was some of the familiar examples of english words that look the same but sound different, or sound the same also but have different meanings based on context. the last part was more interesting, and as it is already a reprint of something sent to the newspaper columnist i feel safe in quoting:
"there is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger: neither apple nor pine in pineapple. english muffins were not invented in england or french fries in france. sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which are not sweet, are meat.
quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from guinea nor is it a pig. and why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
if the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? one goose, two geese. so one moose, two meese? doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? if you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? is it an odd or an end?[copyists note: it must be an end, because otherwise it would be odd. furthermore if you just got rid of that last piece, your chore would be at an end. meanwhile you could just call that last lonely item a leftover]
if teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? if a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? in what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? do you ship by truck and send cargo by ship? how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
you have to marvel at the lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down; in which you can fill in a form while filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on. english was invented by people,not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which of course is not a race at all. that is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out they are invisible.
p.s. why doesn't buick fhyme with quick?"
-because that was one slooooooww b_ick-[copyist]
also a slim chance has a very slight chance of success, where a fat chance has no chance at all, even with everything possible working in its favor...
this may be off topic, but i thought some might enjoy it.
"there is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger: neither apple nor pine in pineapple. english muffins were not invented in england or french fries in france. sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which are not sweet, are meat.
quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from guinea nor is it a pig. and why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
if the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? one goose, two geese. so one moose, two meese? doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? if you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? is it an odd or an end?[copyists note: it must be an end, because otherwise it would be odd. furthermore if you just got rid of that last piece, your chore would be at an end. meanwhile you could just call that last lonely item a leftover]
if teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? if a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? in what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? do you ship by truck and send cargo by ship? how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
you have to marvel at the lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down; in which you can fill in a form while filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on. english was invented by people,not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which of course is not a race at all. that is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out they are invisible.
p.s. why doesn't buick fhyme with quick?"
-because that was one slooooooww b_ick-[copyist]
also a slim chance has a very slight chance of success, where a fat chance has no chance at all, even with everything possible working in its favor...
this may be off topic, but i thought some might enjoy it.
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LarryLatham
- Posts: 1195
- Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2003 6:33 pm
- Location: Aguanga, California (near San Diego)
