An academic profile and informal writings on language, culture and teaching
Introduction Co-teaching, for me, has been a continual source of curiosity, possibility and most of all, frustration. For most of my teaching career in Korea, I have not had to co-teach, but now that I am back in the public school system here, I am once again teaching with a partner. The contrast in the teaching … Continue reading On Co-teaching, Classroom Observation and Mark Fisher’s ‘Market Stalinism’
The intersection of power, language and globalization as understood through the relationships of international couples.
I often find that who I think I am, and the things I value, present a completely different image to other people than to myself. That who I think I am, often is interpreted as something that I personally do not identify with, in the minds of other people. Cross-cultural communication is a tough nut … Continue reading Virtues and Weakness, Cross-culturally
As a linguistics undergraduate who was interested in preserving Endangered Languages, I realized quickly that the general population of the United States holds mostly contrary views concerning language compared with linguists. For whatever reason (take your pick, honestly) the average US citizen is either consciously against the idea of promoting or using non-standard dialects, or … Continue reading Rachel Jeantel, Black English and Linguistic Authority
I’ve finished grading essays and spent the last couple of days evaluating my students speaking abilities, of which I do have some things I want to say. But before I write that piece, I want to write this one. Before work today, I was scrolling through my Facebook feed when I came across this little … Continue reading Extremely Embarrassing Spelling
A great explanation and argument for Language Revitalization. My thoughts on the subject can be read here.
Ghil‘ad Zuckermann
University of Adelaide
Language is an archaeological vehicle, full of the remnants of dead and living pasts, lost and buried civilizations and technologies. The language we speak is a whole palimpsest of human effort and history.
Russell Hoban (children’s writer, 1925-2011 – cf. Haffenden 1985: 138)
Linguicide (language killing) and glottophagy (language eating) have made Australia an unlucky country. These twin forces have been in operation in Australia since the early colonial period, when efforts were made to prevent Aboriginal people from continuing to speak their language, in order to ‘civilize’ them. Anthony Forster, a nineteenth-century financier and politician, gave voice to a colonial linguicide ideology, which was typical of much of the attitude towards Australian languages (Report on a public meeting of the South Australian Missionary Society in aid of the German Mission to the Aborigines, Southern Australian, 8 September 1843, p. 2, cf. Scrimgeour 2007:…
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A few months ago, I saw a video of the Star-Spangled Banner being sung in Navajo. It triggered a moment of clarity for me in that, I recognized in myself no conflict with the song being sung in another language other than English. In fact, it felt almost super-patriotic, considering everything the United States has … Continue reading Linguistic Consciousness-Raising
Language and Authority - part 1 and part 2 Proponents of Official English claim that they seek merely to recognize a state of affairs that has existed since the founding of the nation. After two hundred years of common-law cohabitation with English, we have simply decided to make an honest woman of her, for the … Continue reading National Unification, Bilingulism and Official English
Language and Authority - part 1 We began this discussion on the broad topics of defining language and we found it more difficult than perhaps popularly believed. This time, we will discuss the trend of language decline in the world and why it is not simply a matter of natural language death, but directly tied … Continue reading Language and Authority: Why languages disappear
-- I have made note over the past few posts a desire to attempt to write on the idea of "Authority" in language. This essay, and the one or two that will follow, will be that attempt. Language vs. Dialect It is indicative of complexity, that in the science of Linguistics the terms “language” … Continue reading Authority in Language: Definitions
Mark Rasmussen - MA TESOL 