Next Mini Lessons: Mon., Oct. 6, and homework

The next two mini lessons will be on Monday, October 6th:


1) David Tabler (active & passive voice)

2) Creighton Jackson (sentence diagramming)




HOMEWORK for ALL for Mon., Oct. 6:

Read about sentence diagramming in Grammar for Grammarians, so that you have a fairly good overview of how it's done (important for in-class activity).

AND: Bring the book Grammar for Grammarians!!!

For those who hold the mini lesson:
Please don't forget to submit your one-page overview about what you're going to teach for the 6 E's!

Homework for Monday, Sept. 29th

Read the following page about the world-famous experiment with children with autism and the control group, children with Down's Syndrome. (Click on the link "Autism experiment" on the website that opens. The font looks tiny; just click on it with the cursor, and you'll see it through a magnifying glass!)

The last article we read about autism (see blog summary) mentioned this experiment, without describing it in detail.

Be prepared to be able to describe the experiment in the mid-term exam - it is about the difference in logical thinking between those two groups of students/children.

Accents from Italy

Colin Ott, Creighton Jackson

Today, we'll take a trip to Italy and learn how to speak with an authentic Italian accent.

Listen to the following link as a precursor to what we will all learn today.
http://web.ku.edu/idea/europe/italy/italy1.mp3


Another Great Clip to get a deep Sicilian Accent.
http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=316



Now that you've heard the accent, lets set about disecting it.

• There is typically one pronunciation for every vowel:

A = ah

E = eh

I = Ee

O = Oh

U = Oo

• -ng- pronounces both consonants.

• Initial sm- pronounced as zm-

• Dental Fricatives (-th- as in thousand) are nonexistent and usually pronounced as -d-

• Words which end in consonants are often ended with a heavy accent (often pronounced, stereotypically) as a schwa. This is what is responsible for the “That’s-a Spicy-a meat-a ball-a” phrase.

Now, some practice:

Pronounce the following sentences:

The singer and the banker go to the cafe every Tuesday.

This is the thousandth anniversary of something important happening.

It's a small world after all.

That's a spicy meatball.

Another one bites the dust.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.


Now take a look at this clip from "Life is Beautiful" and Italian movie starring Roberto Benigni speaking English.

London Cockney Accent

Julie, Katrina, Randi, and Stephanie

Hello, actors! We're auditioning you for our new play, London Calling. In order to land a part, you need to master a London Cockney accent.

To get an idea of what we're looking for, click here to listen to a soundbite of a woman speaking with a London Cockney accent.

American English is very different from British English with a London Cockney accent. Here are some tips to help you master the accent:

Drop your h's (Bloody Hell is now Bloody 'ell)
Turn r's at the end of words to h's (Car is now cah)
Replace t's and d's in the middle of words with glottal stops (Bottle is now bo'uhl)
Pronounce u sounds in words as yu sounds (Stupid is styupid)
Pronounce ee with long e sounds, not short i sounds (Been is been, not bin)
Use me instead of my (You got me books 'ere)
Use ain't instead of isn't, aren't, etc. (Well, ain't you a sight for sore eyes)
If -y comes at the end of a word, such as in "happy", pronounce it as a lax "i", like in "it", but raise the pitch of your voice

Use this children's rhyme as your monologue for the audition. Try your best to use a London Cockney accent. Break a leg!

Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed
To see such fun,
And the dish ran away with the spoon

No Need for Subtitles: Iraq Sound Files

Iraq is located on the European continent. Formally a part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq gained its freedom at the end of World War I. They have struggled to maintain their freedom ever since. Because of this, Iraqi people have migrated to the United States to live freely. While living among us, they have been able to adapt our habits, culture and language. Although they are able to learn standard English, they will always have an accent. If you, as an actor, want to convince others that you are an Iraqi native, you might want to start by listening to an authentic accent. Do you believe you have the ability to learn this accent and speak it so clearly that you don't need subtitles, yet it still sounds authenic?

Here are some videos that may get you one step closer to that dream....
In Video 1, an Iraqi man is joking around about the difference in his English because of his accent.

Video 2, is a sample of Iraqi Arabic language

Here is a list of rules for speaking with an Arabic Accent:

1. Use a heavily trilled "r," almost a "hr" sound.


2. Pronounce "ch" as "ty." ("Chapter" sounds like "Tyapter")


3. For the "aw" sound of "a," use a long "o" sound. ("Talk" sounds like "Tohk")


4. Short "o" and "i" often become "aw." ("Work" sounds like "Wark" and "Thirst" like "Thawrst")


5. Short "e" and "u" often become "ah." ("Dependance" sounds like "Depahndance" and "must" becomes "mahst")

Try saying the following sentences with an Iraqi accent:

1. I must talk to you. (I mahst tohk to yaw.)


2. We are going to church today. (We ohre gawing taw tyahrt tawday.) don't forget to trill the "r's"


3. Don't chicken out. (Dawn't tyahk-ahn awt.)


4. Read the first chapter of the book. (Read thah fawrst tyap-tahr awf thah book.)


5. I must work this afternoon. (I mahst wawrk thaws afternawn.)
   
   
   

By Tiara, Ronesha, Jeff and Abby

Irish Accent

Brittany Lingle, Michaela Bazar. Brian Pullyblank

The following link is a link to a sound clip of an Irish accent.
http://web.ku.edu/idea/europe/ireland/ireland.htm

The following video is a clip of P.S. I Love You. Gerard Butler is an Irish actor speaking in his native tongue.



If you want to succeed as an Irish actor, you'll need to be able to convince your audience that you actually are whatever nationality you're portraying. Here are some tips to master an Irish accent:
1. Soften your vowels: use "Ah" instead of a long "A"
2. Harden consonants: use a hard "D" instead of a breathy "D"
3. Speak with a lyrical quality: Irish accents have a very musical tone
4. Practice, Practice, Practice

Instructions courtesy of http://www.ehow.com/how_2002845_speak-irish-accent.html

Here's an Irish poem for you to try out your Irish accent:
A Wish for a Friend
Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers—
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours—
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends
Each day your whole life through!
http://www.islandireland.com/Pages/folk/sets/bless.html

The following link is a link to an audio file of the Irish national anthem:
www.national-anthems.net/windowmedia/EI

Learning Irish

PJ, Charlotte and David present Learning Irish

Break a leg actors! We are putting on a play by Irish Playwright Connor McPherson. It's called The Sea Farer and a significant Irish accent will be necessary in order to pull off the lines successfully.

The following is a teaser clip of the newest play by Connor McPherson called The SeaFarer
found on YouTube.

Here is a sound bite for you to listen to of a man speaking with an Irish Accent.

Pronunciation of Irish-English is inherently different from the American English that we are used to. The major differences comes in the vowel sounds, as well as phonetic pronunciations.
Vowels:
I becomes oi, such as I"ll becomes Oi'll
Long A's become even longer, such as aaable.
Short U's are lengthened, bunt becoming boont, with the exception of u preceding a c, which becomes a short E
Short E's become long A's, everything becomes ayv'rything
Short A's become ah, such as can't becoming cahn't
Th becomes just t
Oi becomes just I
R's are over-annunciated

The dialect itself is also very slow-paced, as the Irish love to hear the sound of their own voice. Therefore, unlike the Scottish clip which is very quick and similar to a Chicago or New York dialect in speed, Irish dialect is very similar in speed to a Southern drawl. The dialect also has a musical tone to it, so when speaking adopt a sing-songy voice.

Irish vocabulary is not all that different from vocabulary already found in the English language, due to the fact that the Irish speak English. However, there are some holdovers from the original language of Ireland, Gaelic, as well as some interesting terms that hold different meanings than their American English counterparts.

Megusshlah: "My darling"

Chiseler: a con-artist, or an unsavory man

Tosser: a fool

It's far easier to sing an Irish dialect, due to its already musical nature, so as practice, we'll use a sample of the Flogging Molly song "Drunken Lullabies" in order to hone our skills.

"Drunken Lullabies" by Flogging Molly
I watch and stare as Rosin`s eyes
Turn a darker shade of red
And the bullet with this sniper lie
In their bloody gutless cell
Must we starve on crumbs from long ago
Through these bars of men made steel
Is it a great or little thing we fought
Knelt the conscience blessed to kill

Must it take a life for hateful eyes
To glisten once again
Cause we find ourselves in the same old mess
Singin' drunken lullabies

Sound Files: France

Amber, Jamie, and Renita

Good Afternoon Students! We are going to be learning to speak with French today. This will help you along the road to greatness. Well, let's get started!

Let's talk about the French alphabet, and it's pronunciation. Here's a chart that tells the letter of the alphabet, and how it is pronounced.

"A" - Pronounced 'ah' "N" - Pronounced 'en'
"B" - Pronounced 'bay' "O" - Pronounced 'op'
"C" - Pronounced 'say' "P" - Pronounced 'pay'
"D" - Pronounced 'day' "Q" - Pronounced 'koo'

"E" - Pronounced 'uk' "R" - Pronounced 'ehr'

"F" - Pronounced 'ef' "S" - Pronounced 'es'

"G" - Pronounced 'ghay' "T" - Pronounced 'tay'

"H" - Pronounced 'ash' "U" - Pronounced 'oo'

"I" - Pronounced 'ee' "V" - Pronounced 'vay'

"J" - Pronounced 'jhay' "W" - Pronounced 'doo-blaw-vay'

"K" - Pronounced 'ka' "X" - Pronounced 'ex'

"L" - Pronounced 'el' "Y" - Pronounced 'ee-grek'

"M"- Pronounced 'em' "Z" - Pronounced 'zed'

Some of these letters can also have accents, this will change the way they sound. Here are different versions of some of the letters: â, ç, é, è, ê, î, ï. They are not different, they are merely letters with accents. Also, the letter 'H' is not pronounced, or it is typically pronounced very lightly. One last thing, for words with more than one syllable, you would stress the last syllable the heaviest. (Info courtesy of: http://www.france-property-and-information.com/french_alphabet.htm )

If you are trying to speak English with a French accent, here are a few tips:

1. Roll your 'r's. This is done by pushing your tongue to the back of your throat and pronuncing the r while your tongue is in the back of your mouth. You can also replace the r with a rough h sound. While doing this, think about gargling, hacking, or groaning. It is essentially the same sound.

2. Eeeeeelongate your e's.

3. Remember that a 'th' sound in English is more of a 'z' sound in French.

4. If you have to pause to think about what you are going to say next, you do not want to say, "hmm." The French equivalent of this moment of thought is "euh." If you are a Frenchman who speaks English a little uncomfortably, you will want to throw in a lot of "euh"'s.

(Info courtesy of: wikihow)

Try some examples:
a) Riding in the rusty red Rio with Rachel made me really reconsider her driving abilities.
b) Raoul loves rice and risqué reality shows.
c) The rain in Spain -- excuse me, France -- falls mainly on the plain!
d) These turkies have not been thoroughly cooked in this oven; the thing is broken!

Here is our first clip of a French speaker.
(Right click and save to desktop, open it from the desktop)


The following is a clip from the French film, Amelie. Watch it and listen to how the native language sounds.


This next clip is taken from Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Of course, the accent is fake (as noted by the French taunter). This could, perhaps, be a great example of how not to use the accent.


And finally, the last video is a "Learn French" clip in which a man slowly goes through the French alphabet while the camera focuses on his mouth. He shows how the letters are formed.

Good Luck!

Homework for Friday, Sept. 26th

Up-date:



We will hear ONE mini lesson today, Wednesday, Sept. 24th: Renita Tanner.



After that, we will start with the group work about our sound files, which we will continue on Friday. The presentations will be next Monday, Sept. 29th, at the smartboard.



HOMEWORK for Friday, Sept. 26th: Read the blog post about "Dialect Boundaries" which we haven't dealt with yet, and answer to it with a comment on the corresponding thread.

We will hear the other mini lesson (Amber Pankau) on Friday, and after that we will finish up our sound files project. In case you don't finish on Friday, make sure you exchange emails with your group members to do it at home. If you exchange your grammar300 emails, the other group members can log into the blog thread of the person who wrote it for the group, to edit it and/or insert their own contributions!!!

In-Class Friday, Sept. 26th: Sound Files of Accents

FOR THIS LESSON, BRING A HEAD SET, IF YOU HAVE ONE!!! (for Friday, Sept. 26th)
__________________________________________________________

Today, we are working in groups to deal with our self-chosen dialect sound files.

This time, we are not talking about dialects of different states of the United States, but about dialects AND accents spoken by non-Americans when they speak English. They can be native speakers of English (English, Scottish, Irish, Australian, etc.), or of a different origin (Russian, German, etc.).

Prompt:

Imagine your group of 3-4 is a training camp for future actors who have to stage a play in a certain dialect or with a certain accent. You are the trainers and have to teach your actors what this dialect/accent sounds like, what the major differences are with regard to Standard English (American English), and how to practice it. Thus, you need some kind of assignment or pronunciation exercise for them.

If you want to spice up your short instruction, you can add youtube files or other videos with sound, besides the soundfile from the IDEA homepage that you have to use. You may also add pictures.

Required components:
a) title and label
b) working sound file URL of dialect or accent
c) short written explanation of pronunciation and vocabulary
d) short pronunciation exercise
e) voluntary: youtube file or other video of people who speak this dialect/accent
f) voluntary: pictures (hyperlink them to source; otherwise it's plagiarism)
g) presentation of your group's instructional plan in front of the class (smartboard; ca. 5 min.) on Monday, Sept. 29th

Get together in a row with 3-4 people, and go to the following homepage:
IDEA (International Dialects of English Archive).

TASK 1: Pick ONE dialect or accent you want to talk about. Create a new blog thread for your group (only one person is typing, and can edit this entry), invent a headline and label, and insert your URL to the dialect sound file you've chosen. You need to come up front to the smartboard computer to actually HEAR your sound file, because your PC's don't have sound - unless you have a headphone with you. I'm bringing one to class. So select a sound file first (group discussion), and then try it out. If it's not what you wanted, you may always change it and take it in turns with the other groups to hear the new sound file you selected.

Ideally, no two groups should have the same dialect/accent, so we'll put the topics on the board to avoid double entries.

TASK 2: Explain in a short paragraph the major differences in pronunciation and vocabulary of speakers of your dialect/accent. Post this on your new thread.

Then, create an exercise. Finally, insert pics and other sound files (voluntary).

Format: you can address your audience (= actors) like you addressed your students in your WebQuests. Imagine they read your blog entry and work with it.

TASK 3: Look on the blog from Spring Semester 2008 for some good layout examples:
http://grammarians2008.blogspot.com/search?q=dialect
Beware: Those students had a different prompt. They were simply creating lesson plans, and have lots of sociology stuff in there. We are instructing actors, not kids who learn about the history and economy of certain countries.

TASK 4: In case you don't finish in class today, exchange emails with your group members. The one person who opened the thread is the only one who can type into it, so you need to email this person your components (if you delegated work) so that he/she can put it up on your thread before Monday's class (Sept. 29th).



P.S.

And this is what happens if your actor students don't learn anything from your intro to their dialect or accent - Dialect Laughing: 16 Horrible Movie Accents ;-)

next 2 mini lessons: Wednesday, Sept. 24th

We'll hear our next two mini lessons on Wednesday, Sept. 24th:


1) Renita Tanner (parallel structure / parallelism)

2) Amber Pankau (lie/lay; sit/set; rise/raise)


Be prepared ;-)

For those who do the mini lessons: Don't forget to hand in your 1 page overview of what you are going to say about the 6 E's!!!

Language Acquisition and Autism

PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BY WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 24th!!!

_________________________________________________


This article focused primarily on the acquisition of language by autistic children and the influence of social interactions. The article states that "autism is a pervasive developmental disorder that is characterized by delays and deficits in language acquisition, the absence of imaginative behaviors such as pretence play, repetitive or stereotyped activities, and profound impairments in social functioning."


Many people believe that language is basically determined by social interactions. This article reports that there are other factors involved in acquiring language. By studying the language development in autistic and Down syndrome children, researchers have found that one's social impairments are an important factor.

Autistic children tend to have difficulties with personal pronouns. They often reverse the 'you' and 'I' in conversations. In a study of pronoun usage amongst children with Down syndrome and children with autism, research revealed that autistic children had more problems with pronoun reversal while Down syndrome kids had issues with 'me' and 'my.' The study also revealed that the children only misused one or the other. They did not incorrectly use 'me'/'my' and 'you'/'I' at the same time. This study leads researchers to believe that autistic children are confused about speaker/listener roles.

Forming questions is also an important part of language. Studies show that Down syndrome kids ask more information seeking questions compared to autistic kids. As the children advanced, the autistic kids asked more complex questions but the DS kids still asked mostly information seeking questions.



The research leads people to believe that there is a disassociation of form and function for autistic children learning language(more specifically, grammar).

Twins vs. "LD"(Language Development)

The article was explaining how their is an assumption that twins are somewhat delayed in language development and they are prone to language disabilities. In other words, twins are known to not catch on quicker than non-twins, who are also known as "Singletons."

The reason this assumption came about was because their were several studies done giving facts that twins are more prone to language delays and disorders because of biological and social factors. These studies also showed that twins are catching up with "singletons" on standarized language test during the childhood.

Day(1932) and Davis(1937),are two researchers who did two of the largest studies on the language of twins as a group. Both researchers used similar methods for each study and therefore came out with somewhat similar results. Day's study consisted of 80 pairs of twins and 140 singletons. The age range of the children were 1.5 to 5.5. Twenty pairs of those eighty twins were between the ages of 2,3,4,and 5 years of age. From this study, 50 utterances were recorded among the children while they were playing with toys that were giving to them by the experimenter. The end results were that among the different levels of language complexity,twins were seen to be at least 2 years behind the non-twins(singletons) by the age of five,whereas Davis, who used pairs of twins between the ages 5-9, found that on certain levels of structural measures, the twins caught up with the "singletons" on average, but will probably have problems with articulation. However, there were several things that the studies lacked, which would not make their information credible.

Among these two studies were some others which made this topic very controversial. Although throughout all of the studies, their results were somewhat correlating, their were still different ways of how each researcher came up with their results. At the end of all of the studies, all results were "on average." It was found that some reason for the child's disability was because of biological factors. However, these conditions are not just found among twins. It can also be found among non-twins (singletons) as well.

What do you think about twins and this language disability? Do you think their is a difference between twins and any other person with a language disability? Do you believe that others(non-twins/singletons) are more exempt from this language disability than twins?

The Language of Thieves

You have time to comment on this summary until class time this Friday, Sept. 19th.

_______________________________________________________

THE LANGUAGE OF THIEVES

When you think of the word “slang” what comes to mind? Almost certainly no one thought of phrases such as “shut your pie hole”, “fiddle sticks”, and “gosh darn it”, all phrases that we have either used ourselves or heard someone else say at least once in our lives. Though most people know the meanings of such phrases they are considered slang terms which essentially contradicts the definition of the term slang. To clarify, the term slang derives from the word “slenja” which literally translates to “sling the jaw” and in Shakespearian days slang was a way to keep the world oblivious to conversations between thieves.

Partially because of its historical context many would argue that slang is a derogatory language used specifically for concealment as the teacher believed in the article entitled Slang: A Lesson in Ninth-Grade Composition. On the contrary, others, such as the student in the story, would argue that slang is a way of expressing oneself in a relevant manner to prevent being excessively vindictive. One thing that the teacher and student agreed upon was slang could be taken in a positive context.

For instance, “window shopping”, “speeding”, and even “has-been” are phrases that have been widely accepted by the American culture because they are said to be unobjectionable and also because there are no other words in the English language to describe such thoughts.

After all is said and done, slang is what you make of it. Since not everyone understands slang terms it can be used to conceal a conversation, but, slang can also be used to express oneself when shouting expletives is not quite appropriate.

Now that you know a little more about the history of slang you should share some of your favorites with the rest of the class. In the comment area please share at least one term that you use instead of resorting to profanity. Example: “fiddle sticks”.

-L.W.

In-Class for Monday, Sept. 22nd: Dialect Boundaries

Establishing Boundaries of Dialect – Where to draw the Line?


For our new topic (dialects), it is important that you know the difference between SLANG and DIALECT.

BUT – if it is regional, where does dialect begin, and where does it end? Is it measurable???

Peruse the following link to the research article about the “Mapping of Dialect Boundaries.” You can also access this document by opening the pdf link. Do selective reading – skim the 23 pages, and pick out the essentials!



PROMPT:

Focus on the question whether it is possible for lay people (not researchers) to establish “boundaries” for dialects – look at the people’s statements in the article: “we have more of a twang to our words,” “never noticed much difference,” “they speak more broken hillbilly slang,” “southern Ohio is like West Virginia but not as twangy,” “well their vocabulary is different,” “they have a different kind of drawl in their voice,” “they have their own way of saying things,” “they slur their words,” “I don’t quite get it… they just talk kind of strange,” etc…….

Could you distinguish certain areas around the place where you grew up or lived for a long time that speak a dialect different from your own? (Name them!) Do you know exactly where the demarcation line is, and what is it, an interstate?

When would you consider such boundaries to be true, so they can be made official? Is there a way at all to ascertain a border between regions where different dialects are spoken?

Post your reflection in a comment to this blog.

In-Class Monday, 15th: Accents, Dialects, and Intonation

On Monday, we are going to begin a new topic: "Dialects & Accents."

In some dialects/accents, the words seem to melt together, and it is hard to tell them apart. There's a technical term for that:

Oronyms (or homophones) - these are words which sound the same. A homophone describes one word of a pair or group of words that have the same sound (like "prince" and "prints"; "allowed" and "aloud"), while oronyms are strings of words (phrases) such as iced ink and I stink.

A definition of oronyms can be found in the book The Language Instinct by psycholinguist Steven Pinker:

[In speech] it is impossible to tell where one word ends and the next begins. The seamlessness of speech is... apparent in "oronyms," strings of sound that can be carved into words in two different ways:

• The good can decay many ways.The good candy came anyways.
• The stuffy nose can lead to problems.The stuff he knows can lead to problems.

TASK 1:

As a small exercise, pick one or two partners, and try to translate the following story.
It is made up entirely of homophones, and was written in 1940 by a professor of French named H. L. Chace, who wanted to show his students that intonation is an integral part of the meaning of language.Write down only ONE translation per group on a piece of paper. It is easier when you read the text out loud. The group who finishes first has won.




LADLE RAT ROTTEN HUT

Wants pawn term, dare worsted ladle gull hoe lift wetter murder inner ladle cordage, honor itch offer lodge, dock, florist. Disk ladle gull orphan worry putty ladle rat cluck wetter ladle rat hut, an fur disk raisin pimple colder Ladle Rat Rotten Hut.

Wan moaning, Ladle Rat Rotten Hut's murder colder inset. "Ladle Rat Rotten Hut, heresy ladle basking winsome burden barter an shirker cockles. Tick disk ladle basking tutor cordage offer groinmurder hoe lifts honor udder site offer florist. Shaker lake! Dun stopper laundry wrote! Dun stopper peck floors! Dun daily-doily inner florist, an yonder nor sorghum-stenches, dun stopper torque wet strainers!"

"Hoe-cake, murder," resplendent Ladle Rat Rotten Hut, an tickle ladle basking an stuttered oft. Honor wrote tutor cordage offer groin-murder, Ladle Rat Rotten Hut mitten anomalous woof. "Wail, wail, wail!" set disk wicket woof, "Evanescent Ladle Rat Rotten Hut! Wares are putty ladle gull goring wizard ladle basking?"

"Armor goring tumor groin-murder's," reprisal ladle gull. "Grammar's seeking bet. Armor ticking arson burden barter an shirker cockles."
"O hoe! Heifer gnats woke," setter wicket woof, butter taught tomb shelf, "Oil tickle shirt court tutor cordage offer groin-murder. Oil ketchup wetter letter, an den - O bore!"

Soda wicket woof tucker shirt court, an whinney retched a cordage offer groin-murder, picked inner windrow, an sore debtor pore oil worming worse lion inner bet. En inner flesh, disk abdominal woof lipped honor bet, paunched honor pore oil worming, an garbled erupt. Den disk ratchet ammonol pot honor groin-murder's nut cup an gnat-gun, any curdled ope inner bet.

Inner ladle wile, Ladle Rat Rotten Hut a raft attar cordage, an ranker dough ball. "Comb ink, sweat hard," setter wicket woof, disgracing is verse. Ladle Rat Rotten Hut entity betrum an stud buyer groin~murder's bet.

"O Grammar!" crater ladle gull historically, "Water bag icer gut! A nervous sausage bag ice!"
"Battered lucky chew whiff, sweat hard," setter bloat-Thursday woof, wetter wicket small honors phase.

"O Grammar, water bag noise! A nervous sore suture anomolous prognosis!"
"Battered small your whiff, doling," whiskered dole woof, ants mouse worse waddling.

"O Grammar, water bag mouser gut! A nervous sore suture bag mouse!"
Daze worry on-forger-nut ladle gull's lest warts. Oil offer sodden, caking offer carvers an sprinkling otter bet, disk hoard hoarded woof lipped own pore Ladle Rat Rotten Hut an garbled erupt.

Mural: Yonder nor sorghum stenches shut ladle gulls stopper torque wet strainers.

TASK 2: Do either/or as a comment to this blog:

a) either, write a sentence containing a homophone and/or oronym, and render this sentence in both possible ways,

2) OR, review what "mondegreens" are, and write down one that you have (mistakenly) heard when listening to lyrics.

In-Class Wednesday, Sept. 15th: URL's for WebQuests

On Wednesday, we will quickly post our URL's on this blog thread (hyperlink your topics!), and then we'll hear two mini lessons.



If you finish your WebQuests earlier, you are welcome to hyperlink your URL before Wednesday's class.



Your homework for Friday, September 19th, will be to read your peers' WebQuests, and compare their professionalism with your own.

Pick your favorite WebQuest (only ONE; it can be your own), and publish the name of its author in a comment to this blog entry, stating in ONE sentence why you found it so extraordinary. The person who wins gets to choose our next reading for the blog summaries!!!
Then, grade YOUR OWN WebQuest with the following grading sheet, which you also received in an email, and either bring your printed-out self-evaluation sheet to class on Friday, and submit it in the first 10 minutes of class, or email it to me before Friday's class starts.

If you are not in class on Wednesday, figure out at home how to hyperlink your WebQuest URL (click on "publish" in the WebQuest editor, and copy the URL; then, go to this blog entry, click on the globe with the paper clip, and hyperlink this URL with "paste" to your topic). Publish by class time on Wednesday. If it isn't published by class time, it won't be graded because your peers and I cannot see it.



I will only grade WebQuests for which the URL's were posted before or in Wednesday's class, and for which I have received your self-evaluation on Friday. No late assignments accepted.





Name of Author............ Topic of WebQuest, hyperlinked to URL


1. Michaela Bazar..............Australian Slang

2. Charah Gates ............ 1920's Slang

3. Abby Hoover.................Drug Slang

4. Charlotte Jackanicz.... 1920's Slang

5. Creighton Jackson...........Australian Slang

6. Stephanie Jacques...1920's slang

7. Ronesha Johnson.... Prison Slang

8. Katrina Kosma: 1920's Slang

9. Pamela LaBelle...Skateboarding slang

10. Brittany Lingle- 1920s Slang

11. Randi Mcfadden...1960's Slang

12. Colin Ott... 1920s slang

13. Amber Pankau....Railroad slang

14. Julie Pioter ...1960s Slang

15. Brian Pullyblank......1960's slang

16. Jeffrey Ryden ....... Slang in the Year 2020

17. Tiara Spencer.... Prison Slang

18. David Tabler ... Prison Slang

19. Renita Tanner....1960s Slang

20. Jamie Wolf ....cockney rhyming slang

21. Alicsander Ortega.....drug slang

SynchronEyes

What do you think about SynchronEyes

a) as a teacher

b) as a student???

Differentiated Instruction for kids with SLI

Since our day will be cut short today due to the mini lesson presentation and assessment, we are going to deal only briefly with one special sub-group of language (and grammar) learners – see writing sample below. They might be your future students, if you are an education major – who are they?

TASK 1: Try to rewrite the text below in Standard Written English:


Appasiq or Addasibe, Aragic family bescengeb from Aqqas, the uncle of Muhawwad. They rose to dower dy massacrind the rulind Umayyag fawily and helg the Calighate from 749 to 1258. Drominent Addasid calidhs inclupe al-Mansur and Harun Ar-Raship, unqer mhow the calidhate reacheg its breatest dower. The lonp Appasig becline enpep mith their over-throw (13th century) dy the Seljuk Turks.


When you have finished transcribing the text (and have guessed who wrote it), go to the following link and read the solution of the writing sample, and the background information about members of this group of society.

Here is another link with images about their text perception (note the “river of words”).

Our concern is now how to teach such students the English language. Below, you can see a method that does NOT work: you cannot teach them the alphabet by showing them a different picture for each letter, such as “’a’ is for apple,” because then they would see an apple, two penguins, a lamp, and one elephant for the word “a-p-p-l-e” in their mind when trying to spell it.




Homework for Monday, September 15th, will be

1. to read the following research article, and to email me a ~500-word summary of the perceptual, phonological, grammatical, and syntactical mistakes that such students make;

2. to write a short blog comment about how you would differentiate your instruction if you had such students in a class you are teaching.

Sharpening

Since the student who was responsible for publishing the post about "Sharpening" did not do so, I am herewith offering the corresponding blog thread from ENGL300-1. Below is the summary; the student gave a prompt for your comments. The deadline for posting your comments is Friday, September 12th, 2008, at class time.

__________________________________________________________


“Sharpening”, the selection we had to read was from the same book we read about Engfish from, Telling Writing by Ken Marcrorie.

A lot of what Marcrorie discusses in this section expands on what he started mentioning in Engfish. Remember how Marcrorie talked about how we tried to make overly wordy sentences that didn’t really mean anything? Marcrorie discusses in this section ways to “sharpen” our sentences, or to make them sound better, and this process really will make our sentences sound less “Engfishy”.
One of the main points Marcrorie makes is using active verbs instead of passive verbs. Instead of using a lot of linking verbs like ‘is’, we should try to use action verbs that suit what we’re saying instead.


Example:

-- Reading this section is assisting us in becoming better writers. (Passive verb phrase is assisting.)

Versus

-- Reading this section improves our writing style.

Clearly, the second one sounds a lot more convincing. It also cuts down on the number of unnecessary words, which was one of the main aspects of Engfish.
The other main point that Macrorie brings up is all the use of unnecessary words and the overuse of the pronoun ‘it’. Rather than beating around the bush by saying things like ‘It seems that reading this will help me’, Macrorie argues that we should just get to the point and say ‘Reading this will help me’. By avoiding all the extra words, we sound a little more authoritative, don’t you think? We also sound a lot more convincing, or at least that’s how it seems to me, and I can’t really think of any situation where we wouldn’t want to sound convincing in our writing.

Obviously, passive verbs and ‘it’ can’t always be avoided, but we should always try to avoid them in situations where we could be using better and more colorful words!

For discussion:

What did you think about the article? Have you had any experience with writing that needs a little sharpening, or maybe have you seen instances in which you’ve used a lot of “its”, “seems”, and passive verbs yourself? (I know I’m guilty of it!) What do you think is the best way to try to avoid this? (Since these aren’t really errors, I know it’s a lot harder for me to catch myself doing it. I mean, I just used the word ‘it’ and ‘is’ in that sentence!) If you have any other thoughts, too, you can just put them here.


by Laura Treat, ENGL300-1

Objectives and Standards - for WebQuest

We need two special things for our WebQuests: objectives, and standards.

1. Let’s start with the teacher’s objectives. They tell us your expectations of what your students should know after having done your WebQuest, and what you will grade them for.

Of course, you can write down more than one objective, but one is a MUST.

How to write instructional objectives (ABCD formula) according to educational research:

Audience (A)
Behavior (B)
Condition (C)
Degree of Mastery (D)

Cognitive Objectives (comprehension level): sample sentences

(C) Given a paragraph in a newspaper article,
(A) the 5th grade student (be specific!)
(B) will be able to accurately identify the grammatical subject of each sentence and explain his or her decision
(D) for all sentences given.


Look at the sample sentences on this webpage, and formulate an ABCD objective for your WebQuest lesson plan in the same manner.

http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/research/Write_Objectives.shtml

TASK: Write your objective(s) on your site of the WebQuest that says “TEACHER PAGE.” This is where other instructors will look to find the purpose of your lesson plan (your expectations of your students; i.e., your objectives).


2. Standards

Look at my sample WebQuest about Anne Frank and the Holocaust: Under the link “STANDARDS” you have to insert the Illinois Learning Standards that are important for the lesson you teach. They can deal with reading, writing, oral communication, technology, research, etc.

Go to the ISBE (Illinois State Board of Education) homepage, http://www.isbe.state.il.us/

Then, click on Illinois Learning Standards (http://www.isbe.state.il.us/ils/Default.htm) and select the ones for the subject you want to teach in your WebQuest. For English it would be English Language Arts (http://www.isbe.state.il.us/ils/ela/standards.htm). Down at the bottom of the page you find the five categories for the State Goals / Standards:

Goal 1: Reading
Goal 2: Literature
Goal 3: Writing
Goal 4: Listening and Speaking
Goal 5: Research

Open those goals as a Word document (not pdf file!), go to the grade level you want to teach (e.g., middle school or high school), and copy the goals that apply for your WebQuest lesson plan, and paste them into your WebQuest on the site that’s called “STANDARDS.”

An example for one goal would be:

LATE HIGH SCHOOL

Goal 5 (Research)
C. Apply acquired information, concepts and ideas to communicate in a variety of formats.

5.C.5a Using contemporary technology, create a research presentation or prepare a documentary related to academic, technical or occupational topics and present the findings in oral or multimedia formats.


You will have multiple goals to copy and paste, depending on what you want your students to do (research the Internet, read multimedia sources, write an essay, hold a PowerPoint presentation about their findings, fill in a worksheet, etc.).



REMINDER: MINI LESSONS

Next class session, Wednesday, September 10th, we will start presenting our mini lessons. The topic of the first lesson is "Clauses & Phrases." By now, you should all have our two textbooks (you had two weeks to get them). All mini lesson topics (except for the "dash"; for this one, I will provide you with a research article) are chapters in our blue textbook by Martha Koelln!!! Some info can be found in Grammar for Grammarians (which is mainly about diagramming sentences). So - if you don't have the textbooks yet - borrow them from a peer and copy your chapter, or get them from the library. You can also (and should!) google your grammatical topic, and present your findings (or use online quizzes to assess your peers).

When you've done your mini lesson, please hand in your overview (at least one written page about the 6 E's you've dealt with) and any handout you might have distributed!

Slang of Insider Groups in Society: WebQuests

We are going to create a Lesson Plan again; this time focusing on the 6th big E, the E-Search. We will also have a big chunk of Engage and Explore in our Learning Cycle.

Today, we are going to learn a new software tool: WebQuests.

These are meant to be online lesson plans that teachers can use in class, providing their students with links to do research about certain topics. (This is point 6 from our Learning Cycle, the "e-search.") The kids go on a "quest" on www and expand their previous knowledge.

The WebQuests have several different steps the kids have to follow, and they also offer a rubric at the end, so the kids know what they will be graded for. Also, they have a welcome page that explains the topic and what they are going to do.

Our task: WE ARE CREATING A WEBQUEST LESSON PLAN ABOUT THE TOPIC "METAPHORS used in SLANG."

PROMPT 1:

Read the following 1-page excerpt from the diary of a medical intern, written by Perri Klass. In it, she explains how she had to learn a "totally new language" in order to understand the slang of nurses and doctors. It is like a "secret language," so that the patients won't know what is wrong with them when the medical staff talks about them. Beware - some expressions are quite offensive!

PROMPT 2:

Choose a topic from the following list (or google your own topic) - it needs to be the special language/dictionary of ONE group of society.

soldiers' slang (Slang from Operation Iraqui Freedom)
prison slang
rhyming slang (England; Cockney)
police slang
computer slang
railroad slang
1920's slang
1960's slang
Mountain Bike Slang
Australian Slang
Death Slang
Antarctic slang
drug slang


When you have chosen your topic (and your dictionary of a certain slang), you have the FIRST COMPONENT of your WebQuest lesson plan. Here's an overview of all the components you need:

COMPONENTS of WEBQUEST lesson plan:

1. a link to your slang dictionary
2.1 a welcome page (Intro) that tells the kids (address them; let me know their grade level) what the topic of your lesson is (which group you're talking about)
2.2 a TASK page that tells the kids what the purpose of your lesson is (why they need to learn about it), and what they will do
3. an assignment page (Process) with e-search assignments (links) for the kids. Here, you need to tell them how to present their findings (such as, to write down what they researched on a piece of paper, fill in a study guide that you prepare, do a ppt presentation, etc.).
4. a grading rubric


For task 2.2, the PURPOSE, look at the following link which explains why people choose euphemisms and synonyms for the word "death/dying" (death slang). Your task in 2. is to tell your students WHY the insider group you chose uses a specific kind of vocabulary and expression.


For task 3, the PROCESS, you should have the following components:

3.1 I expect you to define the words SLANG and METAPHOR for your students. Give them an example for a metaphor (taken from your dictionary). You can also make them write down their own definitions, and then let them click on a link to an online dictionary that defines those terms correctly.

3.2 Create a brief text using the slang you're talking about (either, write it yourself, or use the translation engine on your website). Let the kids translate it into Standard Written English without looking at the dictionary for help. Then, give them the solutions in a later section of your webquest, to check their responses.

3.3 Give them the link to your dictionary, and their first assignment (e.g., create a 10-item dictionary with words chosen from it on their own, etc.)

3.4 Give them some kind of writing assignment about YOUR insider group's slang that you will grade with your grading rubric (prompt examples: "Write a short story using this slang." or "Write an essay about why it is important to learn a certain slang if one wants to "belong" to a group of insiders." or "Is it better to remain true to one's origins and speak one's own language, or does one have to adapt when joining a different group?" or "Why can the use of metaphors be good/bad sometimes?" or "If you were a patient, would you prefer that the doctors speak clear text with you, or wouldn't you mind them talk in secret language?" or "Is a secret language ment to INCLUDE or EXCLUDE people?" or "Develop your own secret society. Write a short essay about what kind of language you would use." BE CREATIVE!!!)

3.5 Create your Grading Rubric with the online functions that WebQuest offers.


SOFTWARE: modeling how to create WebQuests

Go to the homepage of WebQuest. You need to sign up and register for a "30 day free trial." Then, we'll model together how to create the background template and colors, etc. The online builder is pretty easy and self-explanatory, and will guide you through all steps. Remember to ALWAYS SAVE what you typed before you click on another field; otherwise, you'll lose everything!!! You can also insert pictures (which you should do, depending on the grade level you instruct.)


To give you an idea of layout possibilities:

Here's an example WebQuest I developed for my German Honors class at CCHS in 2006. It's about Anne Frank and concentration camps.

Another WebQuest I created for a Third Track English class at CCHS about Helen Keller.


TIMELINE for this project: We will work on it for three class periods (today, Monday, and Friday); the rest will be homework. DUE DATE: Wednesday, September 17th. We will all put the links to our WebQuests on a blog thread I will create, so that we can view each other's works.

On WEDNESDAY next week, Sept. 10th, we will start with MINI LESSON 1, topic "Clauses and Phrases," by Brian Pullyblank. So -- be prepared! We've modeled one mini lesson on our blog; you just need to follow the 6 E's of the Learning Cycle, and incorporate some activities and a quiz for the whole class. Handouts are always appreciated, but no must. Look at the Mini Lesson Grading Rubric I've emailed everyone, to see what I will be grading (and what your peers will be grading). You're welcome to use technology. If for any reason you won't be here on the day of your mini lesson, let me know in advance so another student can take up that slot.

How Can AAE Speakers Become Effective SWE Writers?

This article presents five different methods of teaching AAE speakers to write in SWE. Each method has its ups and downs, but there are some methods that have fewer negative side effects that go along with them.
Of the five approaches, the traditional approach is the most dictatorial and uncompromising. In the traditional approach, the teacher eliminates almost all forms of AAE in the classroom. This means that she does not allow her students to speak it, write it, or even read it. By preventing her students from reading texts that are written in AAE, she is keeping them from some influential literary works that would help expand their understanding of the African American culture. Also, the method of assessment that is used in the traditional approach is flawed. The traditional approach relies on standardized testing to assess whether or not the students are becoming more adept at SWE. However, standardized testings can at times be unclear and a student may score lower than he/she normally would. Finally, the traditional approach completely eliminates the language that AAE speakers grew up hearing. With the use of this method, students are being told that those who taught them to speak this way are uneducated and incorrect.
Fortunately, the other four approaches to teaching SWE are substantially more tolerant to AAE than is the traditional approach. In The Second Dialect Approach, the teacher underlines the differences in AAE and SWE as though they are two completely different languages and students “translate” works from AAE to SWE. It is true that this approach is much more tolerant to AAE. Teachers will speak in correct Standard English to the students but not necessarily correct the students when they speak AAE. This approach allows students to still embrace their background of language. However, I still do not feel that this is the most effective method when it comes to writing in SWE because it does not enforce consistency in writing. Students may write poetry in AAE but are told to write essays and reports in SWE.
Between The Dialect Awareness approach-which teaches the importance of all dialects/languages, the Culturally Appropriate Approach, and the Bridge Approach, I feel that the Culturally Appropriate Approach is the most effect. This approach is founded on African American culture. In essence, it teaches that using SWE can empower a student just as the usage of AAE can. It creates “Black Standard English: the combination of SWE grammar with the rhetorical styles that marks authors and speakers as black.” It also explains how the usage of SWE has been an important part in African American history. It uses the example of Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking in Standard English and at the same time using AAE characteristics. This Culturally Appropriate Approach gives AAE speakers a reason to feel proud of using SWE. It gives them the knowledge that they are not simply conforming to what is considered acceptable in the English language but are instead modeling themselves after some of the great African American speakers and writers in history.

What Is AAE?

AAE, or African American English, is different than Standard American English. But is it really that much different? This particular article looked at how linguists tried to make sense of this phenomenon known as AAE. To give you an understanding of just how popular AAE speech is amongst African Americans today, it is estimated that 80 to 90 percent of all African Americans speak AAE. There is a wide variety of terminology associated with AAE. It can be classified as "broken" English, slang, dialect, as well as a language. Linguistics may play a large roll in trying to understand just exactly what AAE is, but politics is also a huge factor. Many people argue that AAE breaks the rules of Standard English. However, is there actually a universal standard for speaking proper English in America? The American public places a lot of emphasis on formal writing skills, or Standard Written English. Proper grammar is important to many Americans, therefore the grammatical problems observed in AAE speaking students is a major concern. Verb use is one of the most common grammatical problems AAE speaking students have both in their writing and speech. For instance, an AAE sentence would look like this: He be busy. Where as the Standard English equivalent is: He is always busy. These two sentences essentially mean the same thing, with the only difference being the use of the verb be. Is it fair then, that we label AAE speakers as uneducated and illiterate because they do not know how to follow the rules of language? Can we say that AAE has no established guidelines or discernible rules and simply classify it under "broken English," or "bad English," that has little meaning and value? That would be discriminatory in the sense that each individual has their own"speech community." This speech community is a comfort zone where people feel safe to express or say what they want, when they want, without being ridiculed. Therefore, what makes AAE speech any different? Many people view AAE speech as simply "slang" or street lingo spoken amongst African Americans. This isn't entirely true as more and more people are using AAE speech because of its popularity in mainstream America. Whether it is heard or seen on the television, radio, or billboards, the media is starting to use more and more AAE "slang" to promote and attract the attention of its viewers. Even though at times it may be difficult to understand AAE speech, many American English speakers can actually relate to and understand this form of communication. Also, it not uncommon for American English speakers to incorporate and borrow words from AAE speakers. With that being said, should AAE speech be considered a language? There are three components that identify a system of speech as a language: pronunciation rules (phonology), rules that convey meaning (semantics), and grammatical rules (syntax). "Since language is a distinguishing feature of humans, the denial of language is the same as the denial of humanity." People are free to decide individually whether or not AAE speech is a language, but it all depends on a person's view of AAE's origins. Where they think AAE came from and can it be an actual language? In conclusion, "Linguistic research shows that AAE is neither broken English nor slang, for it possesses not only an enduring vocabulary but also its own rules for grammar and pronunciation." If that is true AAE is a language, but it comes down to personal preference and whether or not you want to believe it.

In-Class, Sept. 3: What Should Teachers Do?

In-Class Activity for Wednesday, September 3rd:

We are going to finish our AAVE posters (15-20 min.), and present them to the class (3-5 min. per group). In case we finish early, you can begin the following homework assignment:


Homework for Friday, September 5th, 2008:

Go to the following link and read pages 93-100 from Lisa Delpit's article "What Should Teachers Do?"

Then, choose one question out of the questions 1, 2, and 3 at the bottom of this article, and post your answer (small essay, about 250-500 words) as a comment to this blog.


NEXT BLOG SUMMARY: "How Can AAE Speakers Become Efficient SWE Writers?", to be done by Michaela Bazar, for coming Friday, Sept. 5th. The responses by everybody as blog comments will be due coming Monday, Sept. 8th.

Left-over copies of the text which I'll distribute in class will be deposited in the letter box outside my office door, FANER 3202B, for pick-up, in case you missed class on Wednesday, Sept. 3rd.