Language : Language And Learning

Why is this question ambiguous and why is it interesting to note that this question is ambiguous?

What is the meaning of language? How big the role of language in your life? Have you ever realize the impact of language in your life? In my opinion, language is not as simple as people seen in general. Usually the way people see language just as a tool for communicating with others. For me, behind the general usage of language, it also has a big role in our life because a language has the power to stand and show each person’s identity. Inside the Gloria Anzaldua’s essay “How To Tame A Wild Tongue” and Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” claim that language is an identity. Because they show that language which they commonly use to communicate since the day they were born, showing who are they really are. Language as identity is very arguing phrases, it can be approach from a different perspective. This thing is exactly what are both of these essays are trying to do by approaching differently and using a different tone. Their life and experience give an impact to the way they interpret that language is an identity, and it also seen in each of their essays.

Why is this question ambiguous and why is it interesting to note that this question is ambiguous?

Teaching relies on communication and in that respect, language is a key aspect of the learning process. Therefore, it is critical that a teacher is very aware of the language that is used and the hidden messages that also commonly underlie language. As indicated by Greenberg (2014), “emotion drives both children’s cognitive abilities and their language abilities.” So in this sense, because language is connected to social-emotional learning, it is critical that teachers are aware of this and treat their use of language in an appropriate manner.

Green and Dixon (1993) mentioned that, “Events are different in every classroom because teachers and students are different, establishing and creating their own rights and obligations, roles and relationships, and norms and expectations.”

The lack of exposure to non literal forms of language makes it difficult to engage in productive thinking. Having the capacity to understand figurative language increases our ability to communicate with each other. By increasing our word bank we expand our knowledge base and increase our thinking capacity. Below are a list of ten words with their meaning, definitions, examples and appropriate circumstances in which to use them.

Language arts is the term typically used by educators to describe the curriculum area that includes four modes of language: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Language arts teaching constitutes a particularly important area in teacher education, since listening, speaking, reading, and writing permeate the curriculum; they are essential to learning and to the demonstration of learning in every content area. Teachers are charged with guiding students toward proficiency in these four language modes, which can be compared and contrasted in several ways. Listening and speaking involve oral language and are often referred to as primary modes since they are acquired naturally in home and community environments before children come to

This essay analyses the role of the language in colonized land by English empire. More in specific, how the colonial and post-colonial poems dealing with this powerful tool which is ‘language’. I will take in consideration Derek Wolcott. Drawing thought two of his poems, I am going to point out the way he uses ‘language’,

Have you ever listened to someone from another country speak English? A lot of times, people speaking a second language will pronounce things a little differently than native speakers, or they will talk at a different rhythm. Languages have their own pace, places where you expect people to pause or speed up or articulate more clearly. We call this part of language an accent. People speaking a secondary language may have a foreign accent, while those speaking a native tongue have a local accent. Music is a lot like this. Musical rhythms tend to have natural accents, emphases on certain notes within a meter. Just like fitting in with a new culture requires learning their accent, accents are essential to understand musical conversation.

Educators need to understand what language is and how it can be developed, as it can impact the way they teach in a learning environment. An educator plays an important role of a child’s life, the child listens and copies what an educator or parent does, as they are a model of language for them (Fellowes & Oakley, p.48). Language is a method of communication between individuals, that can be verbal or written involving words, sentences and speech. Language is developing and growing every day all around the world, as you hear older generations complain about how younger people speak, which is a sign of language always changing (Leiden University, 2015). “We can’t stop language changing, language has a life of its own” Vera Regan (Professor

Effective questioning is essential for teachers to enable effective learning within the classroom (Dillon and Dillon 1998). It helps teachers gain an insight of what children are thinking also allowing them to analyse the quality of the children’s answers (Perrot 1996). In the medium term plan a range of questioning is used including closed and open ended questions. Open ended questions allow children to give a more cognitive answer (Redfield and Rousseau 1981) as they encourage thinking skills (Cockburn and Handscomb 2011) meaning teachers can gain a wider range of answers from the children. This allows them to gain a deeper understanding of children’s individual knowledge (De Boo 2004) as well as helping assess children’s progress from the question types (Tizard and Huges 1984). Linking open ended questions to the National Curriculum is an effective way to use questioning to assess children checking that they are meeting the guidelines and are able to progress (Hudson 2013). Closed questions on the other hand allow children to give simple answers that are either right or wrong (Barnes et al 1986; Dillon and Dillon 1998). It has been found that a lot of teachers use closed questions because of the simplicity of the answers children can give (Bloom 1956), but Barnes et at (1986) argues that they can cause more anxiety and loss of self confidence in children as they feel pressured to give the correct answer. In the medium term plan any closed questions are closely followed

* In the educational field, the teaching learning cycle is a model used in contemporary teaching in both school and adult educational settings. Rothery (1996 in Derewianka & Jones 2012, pg 43) who originally developed the model used this to aim at disadvantaged children for teaching literacy and writing in the KLA (Key learning areas) who were from socially disadvantaged areas. Over time the model has been phased across other areas of the English language such as listening, speaking, reading as well as writing. The key involvement of the teacher also known as ‘expert other’ in the teaching learning cycle is guiding the learner to understand key concepts in academic literacy through use of scaffolding strategies to transform students

Nigeria’s geographical position where she is surrounded by francophone neighbors such as Chad, Republic du Benin and Cameroon calls for a functional knowledge of French. With the knowledge of French, Nigeria and her Francophone neighbors would be able to work together locally and internationally. This however can only be achieved if there is communicative proficiency on the part of the citizens. Without this, Nigeria will be linguistically, politically, educationally and socially isolated from her francophone neighbors. This realization informed certain provisions guiding language study in Nigeria education system.

The problem of learning languages is very important in the contemporary world. Foreign languages are socially demanded especially at present time when the progress of science and technology gas led to an explosion of knowledge and has contributed to an overflow of information. The total knowledge of mankind is known to double every 7 years. Foreign languages are needed as the main and the most efficient means of information exchange of the people on our planet.

Learning a language is about not only grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation. It is also a process of achieving the ability to communicate with people from other cultures, and the best way to improve that is to learn about culture and traditions of other countries. The knowledge of the conventions, customs, beliefs, and systems of meaning of another country, is indisputably an integral part of foreign language learning, and some researchers have seen it as their goal to incorporate the teaching of culture into the foreign language curriculum.