I'm currently seated at my kitchen table reading the chapter titled "Unforgettable Language" in Fletcher's book (yes we were supposed to have it all read for Friday, but oh well), and reading the part about Adamisms make me realize how great children's language is.
Think about it, at four years-old you are bombarded with thousands of words a day, a lot of which are new. In tangible terms, it would be like unlocking the door to a Lego store, and telling a kid "You have to build something, but you can use everything and anything you want in the store." This is what children are doing when they are learning how to express themselves with new language: they have a bunch of word Lego pieces- some familiar some strange- and they have to put them together to construct meaning. Sometimes the final construction looks odd and topples over after the builder removes their hands, other times they build a veritable Empire State building of a phrase like, "Stop it, you're tickling me with your voice." Whether the child knows it or not, they have combined the sensory (tickling) and auditory (voice) worlds together in one small phrase and it works beautifully.
So how is it that we move from these beautiful, and sometimes messy, phrases of childhood to the fridgedness- almost sterility- of words in adolescence and adulthood? We undoubtedly know more words, and know what they mean, so shouldn't we have even more beautiful language?
I think part of the problem is that as we grow up we learn that there is a "right way" and "wrong way" to use language. Instead of being congratulated for playing with words, and their meanings, students are penalized for "failure" to use words "correctly," rather than being congratulated for thier attempt to create something new. For example, how many times in high school, when reading outloud for an English class, did some of your classmates skip over words saying, "Uh, um...that word," for fear of embarassing themselves infront of the class and the teacher? Better yet, how many times did students in that same classroom boldly ask what a word means?
I think it will be part of any future high school English teacher's job is to allow kids to expirement with words; show them our own interest in words (some of my favorites are poignant and fuscia) to let them know that language does not need to be tied down once you get into high school. At fourteen, and even eighteen, years-old we don't expect them to have a complete grasp on the English language, and words were meant to be molded and reshaped. Better yet, you can question words and the way they are used, and inquisitiveness is a great thing!
While the "What I Want to Do" conversation is a lot easier than the "How I Want to Do It" conversation, I hope that realizing that I want my students to realized the vivacity of language might make the "How" come more naturally. Until then, I'm open to suggestions :)
Whoa whoa whoa. My language is not frigid! Well, sometimes it is when I'm writing a paper. But I LOVE words...I think it was Fletcher who talked about writers having "pet" words and I am definitely a culprit (elitist, comparable, tributary). This may have something to do with the fact that I threw myself into creative writing in my undergrad, but I think there is a way to make academic papers less formal (and generally more interesting). I've always found that when I pay attention to voice in a paper, but merely subtract the "I" statements it tends to be graded better than when I just try to meet the requirements of the paper.
ReplyDeleteI also believe poetry is REALLY important when it comes to realizing the full potential of words. Kids need to write poems! Modern, bizarre poems! I would say more, but I think I'm actually going to turn this into my next blog post. Sorry this comment is so long!
So I'll leave you with this:
"I have strangled flocks of toasters behind the barn
in the lonely alleyway
twittering with fizzling margarine
endorsed by Fabio."
which is an excerpt from a "Bad Bad" poem I wrote in a poetry class. Language can be weird and it can create weird images. I hope our students get to experiment with that.
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteWhile it is important to not discount the value and purpose of language to communicate clearly and precisely (what teachers usually focus on when teaching language "the right way") I agree with you that an exclusion of language play is doing English a great disservice, seeing as how language is also valuable and useful for communicating beautifully and in a new and interesting way.
kevin keating
I enjoyed reading your post. So creative-oriented! I believe, as you mentioned here, that it is very important to make students aware of what you can do with language, instead of only show how words should be used in a language. However, as English (or any language) teacher, we must be wary while using and teaching this approach, particularly with language learners. It may be possible that in playing with Lego pieces (words) to build a big cubic castle (lang.), its inner structure lacks of proper support.
ReplyDeleteI find that agree with a lot of what you say. It unsettles me, remembering that their were classmates of mine who felt uncomfortable to mispronounce a word or ask what a word means. We are at school to learn! Why shouldn't we be allowed to make mistakes, to question? I certainly think it is a good part of our job to make sure a "mistake friendly" environment is maintained in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Brittany, in fact I still get nervous reading aloud in front of people. Too often we are told what is right and what is wrong, which is helpful and important knowledge, but makes language seem cut and dry when it most certainly is not. I think free writes that don't receive a letter grade, would be beneficial. Students could be encouraged to try and use words they are familiar with, but possibly don't quite know the "proper" use, and receive positive feed back on their effort to incorporate new words and how they can use these words in the future. This way there is no pressure of receiving a letter grade to label their success or failure, and give them a chance to try new words and expand their vocabulary, also being able to discuss future use of the word. I hope that is a helpful thought/suggestion. :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog. I liked the part where you related words to legos! Words seem so ordinary to us, using them everyday, but to kids they certainly can be overwhelming! I could also relate to where you talked about stumbling over words when reading. There was always someone, myself included, who stumbled over words or weren't sure how to pronounce something. It's important to encourage students with words, and not discourage them!
ReplyDeleteOkay, this is the third time I've tried to comment on your post so it better work or I'm giving up! Technology and I do not mix, obviously. I do not like small children. At all. But this chapter made me totally envious of them. Here they are spewing out these creative descriptions and new phrases while you and I sit for hours trying to write the perfect sentence, right? I think that's a large part of why older students don't like writing as much. Your blog made me wonder: do you have any possible solutions to make students reclaim that creativity? -Jessica
ReplyDeleteI agree that we are taught that there is a "right" way and a "wrong" way to use language. There are bad words that should not be used and we are taught to never use "and" or "because" at the beginning of a sentence. My question is: who the hell made up that rule? We should teach our students to experiment with words and the feelings that come along with those words. Instead of writing autobiographies in essay form, it would be interesting for us to have our students write them in a poem or in a collection of random words.
ReplyDelete