30 April class

Most of our time today was spent listening to two of our peers' final project presentations. Because Bekir and Leping won't be able to join us during finals week, they presented. It was very nice of them to do that because I felt it helped give me some direction in my work. It reaffirmed that much of what I was doing was correct but it also gave me some ideas. They both did a fine job. In fact, knowing that I have to work hard to do well in this class made me think of how difficult it might be for a non-native English speaker. I have much admiration for our classmates from other countries.

23 April class

We spent some time discussing gestures and body language and how they affect communication. Even though they aren't language in a linguistic sense, they do communicate. Sometimes they can communicate very important pieces of information. For example, we talked about how in different cultures gestures can mean different things. In many Middle Eastern countries it is not wise to use the left hand because of its connection to bodily functions in the bathroom. Similarly, the index to thumb ok sign can mean something positive in the U.S. but negative in certain cultures abroad.

We also discussed aspects of the final project. It's difficult to believe the end of the semester is drawing to a close. Lots to do.

16 April class

Class today started out with a comparison/contrast of texts--one in Old English, one in Middle English and one in Modern English. I enjoyed the activity. It helped having some Biblical background knowledge (the texts dealt with the story of Noah) as did having a good working and speaking knowledge of German. I knew English was a Germanic language, and I had seen Old English and Middle English in high school and undergrad classes; but they both made much more sense to me in this class because my German is so much better now than it was back in high school or undergrad days.

Dr. Smidt also shared a final project with us. I found it helpful to see the finished product. It was also motivating to see it. I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the whole thing, but I'm feeling somewhat better now. Unfortunately, I have to find a new subject to interview. I tried interviewing a Hispanic waiter at a local restaurant, but his knowledge of English ended up being too limited to conduct the interview or to get a good sample of writing. I'm trying interviewee #2 tomorrow. Hopefully, that one will go more smoothly.

Chapter 13 Read & Retell

Chapter 13 dealt with historical linguistics. History interests me a great deal, but I don't think I would be very patient in studying linguistics historically via the process the chapter described with the Polynesian languages. The case study was interesting. I enjoyed seeing how they used history, archeology and anthropology to surmise how the Polynesian languages developed and how they are related to one another as a language family.

The chapter also briefly described the language families of the world. English and many western European languages descended from the Indo-European family. The family language trees proved helpful in visualizing the evolution of each family. The chapter spent most of the time on the Indo-European because of the assumption that most readers of this text have a strong English background. The other language families of the world received less attention. Some language families are quite small and don't belong to a larger family; Japanese is such an isolate.

The last part of the chapter dealt with language changes brought on by contact between different languages. For example, bilingualism or multilingualism--both fairly self explanatory terms--can become nativization, when a community adopts a new language in addition to its native language such as English in India. Pidgin, a simplified version of a majority or dominant group's language adopted by a minority or subordinate group, can evolve into creole--a former pidgin that has acquired native speakers.

The key to the whole chapter again is the fact that language is always evolving and changing.

Finegan 14 Read & Retell

History is a love of mine so reading about the history of English was fun, albeit a bit technical at times. The chapter fit well with the video we watched this week (good planning, Dr. Smidt). I had basic background knowledge of Old, Middle, King James and Modern English, but the video and chapter enhanced that.

English is basically a Germanic language, which also interests me a great deal because I know German quite well. Reading about the inflectional nature of Old English made much sense because German is still very inflectional today.

Reading and viewing information about Middle English took me back to my high school senior year Brit Lit class. We read and spent much time on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. In fact, we had to memorize the Prologue in its original Middle English. I remember hating doing that and really not understanding the words much. Now that I speak German much better, when I read or hear Middle English, it is really quite understandable, especially listening to it.

English has changed a great deal in its form, look and sound over the centuries. It has retained certain aspects/words from all its forms, but it continues to evolve. I wonder how technology, especially texting, will affect our modern English. Will Chinese, as the country becomes a greater power and influence in the world, affect English like English has affected so many other languages. Will we resist the influx of foreign words like the French have with English? It's important to know history. It helps us as teachers to know where we came from and where we could be headed.

April 9 class

Class this week was helpful. It really focused us on getting at our final projects. I needed that. The semester is really coming quickly to a close, and I needed that push to think about wrapping things up. The small group work we did was helpful, but it was also a bit laborious. No one seemed to want to talk or get going. I'm wondering how an asynchronous course works. I haven't taken one yet, but I'm not certain it would be as good as the synchronous meeting. I have enjoyed being exposed to this type of learning.

02 April class reflection

Class this week went by quickly. We spent some time discussing our past quiz. There seemed to be a lull in the class during this time. I'm not certain if people were afraid to ask questions or if there really were no questions. We also spent some time in small groups doing some exercises in Finegan related to this week's readings on information structure. That seemed to go pretty well. I felt we didn't get much time to talk about the video, which was an interesting culmination to many previous thoughts and ideas in the books and course. It really helped draw many thoughts together as we close in on the end of the semester.