Forum newsfeeds
Forum Newsfeeds


Sites for Teachers

Sites for Teachers


Go Back   UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum > Learning English > Teaching English

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 18-Jul-2007, 09:00
burro
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Our main responsibility?

Is it our main responsibility as language teachers to help produce language users whose primings harmonise with those already in positions of influence or power (see below)?

"The most important controlling mechanism in the great majority of cultures is education. Examinations are, amongst other things, attempts to ensure that only those whose primings harmonise with those already in positions of influence or power move into jobs that will in turn exercise influence or power over others. So in the UK, examination boards are required specifically to look out for grammar and spelling. Mastery of a subject is, again amongst other things, mastery of the collocations, colligations and semantic associations of the vocabulary of the discipline – mastery, in fact, of the domain-specific and genre-specific primings."

"By primed , I mean that as the word is learnt through encounters with it in speech and writing, it is loaded with the cumulative effects of those encounters such that it is part of our knowledge of the word that it co-occurs with other words."

http://www.monabaker.com/tsresources/LexicalPrimingandthePropertiesofText.htm
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 18-Jul-2007, 15:07
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Country: Bremen - Germany
Posts: 1,114
Current Location: Germany
First Language: English
Member Type: Student or Learner
Thanks: 0
Thanked 15 Times in 15 Posts
Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Our main responsibility?

Maybe you have additionally heard of E-Prime which avoids using To BE: don't say the house is beautiful but say the house looks beautiful to me I mean only to me perhaps not to you. In stead of black and white statements make more subjective satements This means from now on passive is not possible. See below:
E-Prime - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Human life is a collocation. Partnerships are formed and finding the wrong partner is hell. This means human life is more habitual than factual.

My answer to your question: our responsibility is to produce language users who
1. can communicate in different social situations using different registers.
2. can enjoy reading and writing literature
3. can broaden their horizons through interacting with other cultures.
4. can use language to meet their needs whether they are professional or personal

Last edited by Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim; 18-Jul-2007 at 15:34.
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 18-Jul-2007, 21:45
burro
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Our main responsibility?

<1. can communicate in different social situations using different registers. >

You talk about registers, but what about different dialects?
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old 19-Jul-2007, 07:37
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Country: Bremen - Germany
Posts: 1,114
Current Location: Germany
First Language: English
Member Type: Student or Learner
Thanks: 0
Thanked 15 Times in 15 Posts
Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Our main responsibility?

Quote:
Originally Posted by burro View Post
<1. can communicate in different social situations using different registers. >

You talk about registers, but what about different dialects?
I think this is a complex issue. The needs have to be addressed individually. In a way you are right only standard language is taught and dialects are neglected. People even forget that a standard language like Queeen's/King's English was originally nothing but a dialect of the south. Dialects are usually promoted to standard language for a variety of reasons.
1. People who speak a dialect are more dominant and powerful either militarily or politically.
2. Literature and the Bible play a role if they are written or translated in a dialect
3. A dialect which has been promoted to standard language has to gain neutrality ie all people in the country accept it. In Norway for example there are two dialects that have become standard language Bokmål (literally "book language") and Nynorsk Norwegian language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. BBC has already started accepting people from other dialects as newsreaders.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
main current user_gary Ask a Teacher 3 07-Mar-2007 16:21
Main nyggus Ask a Teacher 4 17-Jul-2006 16:16
main problem with relativism? kamezero Ask a Teacher 2 22-Feb-2006 16:37
main drag Unregistered Ask a Teacher 1 20-Dec-2004 05:04
what are main verbs and linking verbs? Unregistered Ask a Teacher 1 08-Nov-2004 08:14


New To Site? Need Help?

All times are GMT. The time now is 20:56.


vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.2.0
Copyright © 2002 - 2008 UsingEnglish.com