The Decline and Fall of Esperanto: Lessons for Standards Committees

Robert Patterson and Stanley Huff discuss how Polish physician Ludovic Zamenhof introduced the Esperanto language. He wanted it to be a simple easy-to-learn language, his goal for the language was to erase communication barriers between ethnic groups "providing them with a politically neutral, culturally free standard language."(444) Interest in the language peaked in the late 1970's and since then has been fading since then. Esperanto never really took as a worldwide language, so instead English has become the closest language to be called the international language.

" Growing up in 19th century Poland, Ludovic Zamenhof

(1859–1917) faced a plethora of languages. His

own family spoke Polish and Yiddish, the official government

language was Russian, and his neighbors

were Lithuanians and German-speaking Poles."

Zamenhof had to go through the struggles of having different ethnic backgrounds, and the diversity of languages he had to go through as well. So having gone through that there is no doubt that he would try and create a language to make the world come together, and just have one language that would be recognized around the world. He went through many different test to see how old languages that have not been used for many years would fair against languages that have prospered for many years. He found out that it would be to difficult to revive those because they were just too complex. "In 1887, Zamenhof introduced Esperanto1,2; the name means "one who hopes"." (444) The language was very simple and easy to learn, verbs were never irregular, and the spelling was always phonetic. This is good because most languages are very hard to learn and comprehend, but with this language everything is just plain and simple. Since there are probably over 5,000 languages out there today in the world, it is good that at least one could be simple enough to make it the world language. Zamenhof just wanted a common tongue to bring peace to Europe and the world.

Esperanto began to get popular in Eastern Europe and china after the Second World War. These countries felt like there was a need for a common language, and in the United States it didn't take so well. As of late scholars have not been giving this language much interest, but there is talk about making Esperanto an official language of a new European Union, but nothing has been done yet to do so. So does the world need a language? If so when will it be introduced to the world, will it be a hard language to learn, and what will happen to all the other languages that have been in existence for so long? Will this language be introduced in our lifetime? Is Esperanto going to be a forgotten language overwhelmed by the crazy amount of languages already out there, or can it be evolved and changed to make the communication of the world simpler.

Grammar instructions: What Teachers Say

Brenda Arnett Petruzzella discusses how "there are sometimes differences between what colleges teach perspective teachers in education and what practicing teachers in schools actually do" (1) Petruzzella (while trying to teach the basic concepts of writing) realized that in her instruction of teaching grammar in writing , what seemed to make the most impact with students was individual discussion. This is good because in many cases, students learn better when given the hands on experience. Sometimes learning individually is better for students because there are no other students around and no distractions which gives the teacher the students undivided attention. This enables the student to be more aware of what is being discussed which is helpful in them learning the topic effectively but, in all actuality, its hard for teachers to meet individually with a class of 30 especially when you teach more than one class. . When it comes to grammar instructions, Petruzzella noted that teachers didn't see the purpose discussing the structure of grammar in college classes (how it is being taught). Some teachers feel that a set of prescriptive rules to be followed for a writer,[grammar] is not useful, but if you teach grammar as a description of what a writer does, and as a vocabulary to talk about writing, it's very useful.In fact,you can't teach writing without it. (3) In the article, it was brought up by a teacher that every English teacher that she knew felt that in order to teach writing, you have to teach some grammatical skills. Petruzzella also mentioned in her article that "Education colleges need to clarify that abandoning formal, traditional grammar instruction does not mean abandoning all attempts to teach the conventions of standard English". (5)
Petruzzella mentioned that teachers from urban schools have,
given up teaching all but the most basic skills, and there is still a fair
amount of frustration about students who
refuse to learn even those skills. The urban
teachers spoke often about the benefits of
using computers in writing classes with less able or more reluctant students. If teachers are giving up on the basic skills of grammar, how do they expect students not to?

Grammar without Grammar,by Kenneth Dixon

Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are solely taught to students in order to better writing skills. Grammar deals with agreement of words, phrases and mainly ensures that sentences are composed correctly. Punctuation ensures that sentences flow and transitions from word-to-word occur in an effective manner. Spelling ensures that words are articulated and written correctly. The above are all components to have effective writing skills according to writer Deborah Dean, the author of the article “Grammar without Grammar: Just Playing Around, Writing”. Deborah Dean is a teacher, who encounters a negative reaction from her pupils’ parents when she follows the school district’s curriculum. The lessons given to her are to teach the identification of adverbs and verbs, as well as diagramming subjects and direct objects. Where Dean goes wrong is when begins teaching verbals with comic strips to a ninth grade honors class. A student’s parents sends a letter stating that his or her child is not learning how to write by doing meaningless exercises that were being administered. From that point on the curriculum is inherently dismantled. Dean, now starting on clean slate, needed to find a way to improve her students writing skills. She basically went back to drawing board. Having difficulties locating various ways to connect her lessons and vocabulary in an effective method to teach the students in her class, Dean spent years strategizing. Little did she know a book would help her improve teaching skills. The new method she learned was incorporated into Dean’s lessons in class and her students began to write. Using similar items and examples used in the book, Dean wrote an example of a sentence and explained to the students to write something similar to the example. The writing thus began and the students writing continued to develop. By teaching and incorporating fun into her lessons, students started enjoying writing. Lessons seemingly became understandable and more students participating. According to the article students generally wrote about things the new or did. Interactions the students had on a daily basis was the topic of the writing. That made it easier to write about for the students. From there the author discusses her discoveries of a wide variety of writings, in example magazines, books, novels, etc. The various writings strengthened Dean’s ideas of writing methods to teach to the students. Writing was becoming more interactive with the children; association of real life concepts and interactions broadened the students’ ideas for writing. Some of the readings included Sports Illustrated, the children’s book Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Valiska Gregory’s Through the Mickle Woods. Good writing examples were used from these articles to aid in the pupil’s learning. The model sentences helped the students overtime in improving their writing. Although their writing was not always perfect, it was a start and a huge development from where the student’s skills began. The knowledge of grammar was finally in their heads from all the model sentences and examples that been given, whether they recognized it or not.

Conceptions of Grammar Teaching: A Case Study of Teachers’ Beliefs and Classroom Practices

This is a case study that focuses on two English teachers in Singapore. The person conducting the survey wants to find how beliefs are incorporated into the lessons that the teachers perform. It is said that teachers have set beliefs that somehow are reflected while teaching. The survey conductor cited many articles that backed up this idea of teachers showing their beliefs in the classroom. One of the articles cited said, “These beliefs are said to form a structured set of principles and are derived from a teacher's prior experiences, school practices, and a teacher's individual personality (Borg, 2003). Although there have been other studies, this particular study focuses on the primary level of schooling. So what is a belief? A belief is "An attitude consistently applied to an activity".

There are three basic assumptions about teachers’ beliefs according to Johnson: 1) Teachers' beliefs influence perception and judgment. 2) Teachers' beliefs play a role in how information on teaching is translated into classroom practices. 3) Understanding teachers' beliefs is essential to improving teaching practices and teacher education programs.

The surveyor asked the two teachers 2 questions regarding beliefs: 1) What are the two teachers' beliefs about the way grammar should be taught in primary school? 2)What are their actual classroom practices of teaching grammar?

It is also noted the number of years that each of the teachers has been teaching. One has taught for 24 years and the other for 10 years.

The data collected was based on observation, pre-study interviews, pre-lesson and post-lesson interviews, and a collection of random samples of students’ written work. Observations were made for two months, and the interviews allowed the surveyor to observe the beliefs of the teachers.

The findings of the students’ data were matched with convergent or divergent beliefs or practices. After studying the data, the surveyor made a chart to show the teachers’ stated beliefs. This chart had a grading scale of agrees, does not agree, not stated, and both approaches. Examples in the chart are: grammar involves teaching language structures, grammar is important and needs to be taught, and grammar is concerned with using the correct tenses. Both teachers agreed that teaching grammar was crucial for their students to use proper sentence and grammar structuring. The one teacher believed heavily on re-teaching is she saw that students had not successfully grasped the structure. Also, both teachers believed in grammar drills for their students.

There was also another table presented that showed the teachers’ common form of teaching. Both of the teachers represented some type of traditional approach. Also the lessons were mostly teacher-centered with explanations and instruction. The teachers used worksheets and different sentence examples to teach their students, and they provided their students feedback on all compositions.

The surveyor believes that teachers use their beliefs to determine how they will teach and what practices they will use. Whether the teacher implicate their beliefs in the classroom or not, they still have certain standards that they have to abide by. The teachers have time constraints, they are not supposed to incorporate religion or beliefs in the classroom, and each teacher has his/her own attitude when it comes to teaching.

In the conclusion, the surveyor found that teachers sometimes convey their beliefs to the students in complicated lessons. The surveyor also hopes that other teachers will reflect on how they use their own beliefs in the classroom.

Sharpening

In the article "Sharpening" by Ken Marcrorie, he talks about common weaknesses in writing, such as the excessive use of the verb is (and all forms of to be), of it, of adjectives, adverbs, and passive verbs. This can be detrimental to good writing because the use of these can add additional words to a piece that don't help make the point that is trying to be conveyed. Throughout the article, Marcrorie gives many examples of these instances. He speaks on how the verb is can have adverse effects on one's writing. This is because the verb itself doesn't say much, it works collaboratively with other words or proclaims something exists. Writing that is dominated by is suffer from too many nouns and adjectives, which the verb is connects. This leads to unnecessary words being included in the writing. A remedy for this problem is to use more verbs that communicate a specific action. Using the word is also drives the writer to excessively use the words it and there. The author also talks about verbs that can make a paper dull when excessively used. These words are make, go, get, have, move, and come. These words aren't good to continuously use because they don't have specific meaning. When revising a paper, any usage of these words should be checked to determine if there is a more particular and meaningful substitute for it. The author gives an example of this by giving alternative words that can be used in the place of making. Those words are constructing, building, gluing, joining, piling, digging, sticking, and stringing. Of course each word wouldn't be applicable to every situation, but they can be used as a guideline to begin reducing the use of vague verbs in favor of more vibrant, specific ones. The principle in sharpening is to get rid of the words that don't have precise meaning. The inclusion of words sometimes make the words around them unnecessary. An example of this is given by the author, Original: The patients, perhaps sensing my nervous anticipation, possibly evident in my faltering steps and nervous eye movements, said "hello" to me. Revision: Perhaps sensing my anticipation in my faltering footsteps and nervous eye movements, the patients said "hello" to me. This example shows how words can be omitted from writing and the point can be maintained. In good writing, it is important to not allow adverbs and adjectives smother the effect of another word. An example of this is: She was unusually hideous. In this sentence, the use of the word unusually lessens the force of the word hideous, therefore, the word can be omitted. The author also does a good job of letting his audience know that the rules he gives can't always be followed exactly. Many of the changes are debatable and each piece being sharpened should be done so according to the particular piece. The rules aren't given to be followed exactly, but to provide a foundation to become more adept at recognizing these issues and rectifying them while editing your own work.

~Justin Jones~

Dialect Boundaries

In the article,"Folk Linguistic Perceptions and the Mapping of Dialect Boundaries" by Erica J. Benson she talks about the mapping of dialect boundaries in the United States. Since the United States tradition has been based solely on production data that it's approach neglects a rich data source toward language varieties. There has been investigations in the state of Ohio about folk perceptions of boundaries and their relationship to production boundaries. Ohio is a diverse area and a linguistically complex region. There are many diffrent types of dialect mixtures that appear in Ohio. Benson then goes on and talks about diffrent boundries around the United States. Perceptual dialectology is a necessary component of traditional dialectology studies that map dialect boundaries of language variation studies. What did you guys think of the article?

Blog Summary 14: Collaboration: Writing Center Tutorials vs. Peer-Response Groups

In the article entitled Collaboration: Writing Center Tutorials vs. Peer-Response Groups, the author Muriel Harris describes the difference between writing centers and peer response groups. The author also makes it a point to say that there is a distinct difference between collaborative learning and collaborative writing. Collaborative writing is referred to a task that involves two or more writers. These writers work together on one specific project. Collaborative learning is different however. When the author and reader interact to work on the final project, collaborative learning occurs. The author goes through the work and tries to help the writer improve their writing. Next the article begins discussing a brief history about response groups and writing tutorials. The different types of writing groups can also be either formal or informal. The author states that the role of the tutor is to help develop a person's writing abilities rather than help them focus on the specific topic he or she is working on. It is important that students are able to learn how to proofread their own papers and build their own skills. Another thing would be to determine goals. Also peer review is based on a different time frame that writing center tutorials. Further into the article, the author describes the differences more in depth including specific methods. She also gives some precautionary warnings as to what shouldn't be done.