A discussion of the sign and symbol-based language experiments conducted with great apes over the last forty years, including criticisms, findings, and implications. Addresses projects with gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, and bonobos.
6,395 words (approx. 25.6 pages), 15 sources, 2002, $ 148.95
Abstract This paper addresses a number of different language experiments that have been performed with all four species of great apes - gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, and bonobos, and the advantages, disadvantages, and relative success of each, including conducted experiments. The author discusses the physical limitations of the apes, the advantages of using sign language as opposed to keyboard and symbol-based language, and criticisms brought up by various skeptics. The paper also mentions other types of cognitive activities in which the apes have participated, including painting and learning a system of economic exchange.
From the paper:
"The Koko Project is currently the longest running and most successful of all the ape language projects. Patterson's goal was for Koko [the gorilla] to learn 200 signs ? she now knows over a thousand, and understands at least 2,000 words of spoken English. She asks questions, she lies, she tells stories, she uses the negative, she uses and understands abstract words like love, hate, and death, and she even tells jokes. One of the most famous incidents involves a conversation between Koko and one of her teachers regarding the color of her blanket. As she was getting ready to go to bed, the teacher asked Koko what color the blanket was. Koko responded "red," even though the blanket was white. The teacher admonished her and asked her again, refusing to believe that Koko would make such a simple mistake. Still, Koko responded "red," and repeated it several times. The teacher was perplexed. Then Koko pulled a tiny piece of red lint off the blanket, pointed to it, and signed "red," and started laughing her deep, breathy, gorilla laugh. Humor, then, is another quality we humans can no longer claim for ourselves alone."
Abstract The following paper examines the way in which Barbara Lust, a psycho-linguist dismisses the old notion that children learn language through copying and discusses her view that it is the brain of a child that prepares him for learning the intricacies of a language. The paper also addresses some other important functions including the ones performed by the frontal lobes.
From the Paper "Cerebral functions are not exactly the easiest of things to grasp and comprehend, as brain itself is an organ full of intricate complexities. Brain is literally the main control room of the entire body and therefore whatever a man does, learns or says is directly or indirectly a function of the brain. It is therefore interesting to understand what are some of the most important and complex responsibilities of the brain.
One of the primary jobs of brain is to prepare us to react to what happens in our environment on daily basis. In other words, our brain is supposed to regulate our responses to circumstances, this is what keeps us alert and awake by storing recent memory in the frontal lobes of the brain which are often referred to as the Gatekeeper."
Abstract This paper studies the Disney film "Pocahontas" from the standpoint of linguistics students. The dialect of each character is identified and classified, and put in perspective with the others. The native dialects and ethnicities of the actors providing the voices are taken into account as well. The paper illustrates Disney's ability to play into our preconceived ideas about how we should speak and how it relates to other aspects of our lives, including sexuality.
From the Paper " ?In sixteen hundred seven we sail the open sea, for glory, God, and gold and the Virginia Company.? So begin the opening lines of Disney's ?Pocahontas,? just to give a bit of background for the children in the audience who have not yet had American History. In the film ?Pocahontas,? Disney makes a very sincere effort to promote diversity and racial acceptance, and to dispel common stereotypes about Native Americans. At the same time, however, and perhaps unintentionally, they perpetuate other linguistic stereotypes, as I intend to show."
From the Paper "LANGUAGE ARTS IN MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
A wide variety of factors combine to cause difficulties for schools serving multicultural communities. Therefore, the range of competencies, both professional and personnel, required of personnel serving in such schools is also wide. Student attitudes in such schools often reflect conflicting values toward education, and educational personnel must be prepared to deal with these values, in order to preclude the development of barriers between the students and the schools (Grant, 1992). If students feel that they have little opportunity, regardless of education, to make significant achievements in society, they are not likely to place a high priority on academics. Educational personnel must also be prepared to deal with a variety of degrees of parental support for the educational process in schools ..."
An examination of the components and approaches of effective teaching and learning a language, focusing on learner error and types of correction. Includes grammar translation, reading, audiolingualism and more.
2,925 words (approx. 11.7 pages), 13 sources, 2000, $ 103.95
From the Paper "The treatment and reduction of learner error has long been considered to be the primary task of the language teacher. This was seen to be readily accomplished by the judicious provision of a form of negative feedback (error correction) and the systematic reinforcement of appropriate learner responses and other teacher-desired elements of learners? production. However, both classroom teachers and researchers alike have realized that what was once thought to be a rather simple and natural aspect of the learning process is indeed a complex affair that has, over the last several decades, undergone marked changes due not only to the evolvement of various methodologies and approaches used by teachers in providing language instruction, but also to the way these methodologies and approaches perceive the notion of error and its place in second language instruction. The purpose of this paper..."
From the Paper "This paper examines some of the most significant difficulties that French speakers encounter when they begin to learn English. While concentrating on syntactical and phonological problems, the study also explores some of the grammatical and articulative difficulties faced by French speakers as they begin their road to fluency in English. However, before proceeding to the particulars of learning English as a second language for Francophones, a few general notes are in order.
When a speaker of one language begins to learn to speak another language she or he encounters certain predictable problems. This is true regardless of the two languages at least in this one general respect: The aspects of the second language that are most different from the maternal language will be the most..."
Abstract The paper explores the mental aspects of language acquisition, storage, production and comprehension. It begins with a definition of "psycholinguistics" and a clarification of terms. The paper then outlines the history of this field of study, looking at some of the personalities that influenced its development. Chomsky's language acquisition theory is explained, other divergent theories are mentioned, and commonalities between the theories are discussed. The paper lists and explains the four main aspects of language acquisition and discusses the "critical period" in childhood for learning a language. The paper concludes by discussing the psycholinguistics? relationship to reading and to writing.
From the Paper "Psycholinguistics gives a comprehensive and viable understanding of human language development. The most famous psycholinguist theorist, Noam Chomsky, has argued convincingly that human children develop language abilities according to a predetermined universal deep structure or grammar. The psycholinguistic approach provides invaluable tools for teaching children to read, write, and speak."
Tags: mental, Chomsky, theory, commonality, critical, period
From the Paper "The history of the word "race" had much of an effect on the concept of race, according to anthropologists and linguists. This is true although as much confusion has existed about the concept as the actual knowledge about it. For example, one reputable atlas still in circulation has Finland colored yellow for Mongoloid simply because the Finns share a linguistic stock with Asiatic people who are either partly or wholly Mongoloid; the Finns are definitely not Mongoloid themselves. Even Sir Winston Churchill once called the British a race and too often the Jews have also been called a race when they are actually are a religion. However, linguistic affinity, common residence on an island and the possession of a common religion tend to facilitate the flow of genetic material between groups of people but not necessarily to a race-forming degree. Thus, Finns, Britons, and ... "
From the Paper " CODE ALTERNATION IN ENGLISH ACROSS CULTURES
As in most new fields of research, labels can be disconcerting and confusing, because they change as new theories see the light, even when such theories are neither new nor bearers of significant modifications. So it is with code alternation, variations of which can be found in code switching, code mixing, code-shifting, code-choice, code-swaying, situational switching, and language switching--all subjects to refinements such as intersentential, intrasentential, diatopic, and diastratal code-switching. "According to estimations, about half of the earth's population speaks at least two languages... The alternating use of more than one language is one of the most striking features of many interactions in bilingual communities" (Auer, 1984:1). Most code-switching research has thus been.."
Sociocultural & linguistic influences of SLL & effects on teaching & teacher's role, emphasizing communicative over grammatical approach. Research, feedback, models and techniques.
3,600 words (approx. 14.4 pages), 21 sources, 1994, $ 127.95
From the Paper " Introduction
Snow (1993) has noted that most of the people in the world are at least somewhat bilingual; many others are multilingual. In other words, most people have learned at least one language in addition to their native language. Lambert (1990) has introduced an important distinction in bilingualism, one that has implications for the field of second language learning.
Specifically, Lambert (1990) states that there are two kinds of bilingualism. The first is additive bilingualism in which an individual acquires proficiency in a second language with no loss in his or her first language; in other words, both languages are associated with prestige and respect much as are people in Quebec, Canada who speak both English and French.
The second kind of bilingualism is subtractive bilingualism.."
Abstract Kids decoder rings in cereal boxes, the puzzles in the comic pages of the daily newspapers and high-tech encryption all have something in common, they are all variations of cryptography. The paper shows how, ever since the early days of civilization, people have been trying to encode massages to keep secrets from falling into the hands of the wrong person. Today the science and math of cryptography go way beyond switching letters around according to a certain pattern, but if a person remembers that the basic idea is the same, cryptography can be a fascinating endeavor into math, science, and even into language itself. This paper reviews the history of cryptography and the many things encryption has been used for in the past. It then looks at how encryption is used in modern times and for what purposes. The paper explains cryptography from a mathematical point of view, following the development of encryption and cryptography mathematically. Finally, it looks at the future of this science.
From the Paper "One of the most important developments came in the form of the Wheel Cipher. The Wheel Cipher was created by Thomas Jefferson, possibly with the help of Dr. Robert Patterson, a mathematician at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1913, Captain Parket Hitt reinvented the Wheel Cipher in strip form. This lead to the creation M-138 -A, used in World War II. Just a few years later in 1916, Major Joseph O. Mauborgne ut Hitt's strip cipher back into the wheel form, strengthened the alphabet construction, and produced the device that would lead to the M-94 cipher device. These devices, along with encryption courtesy of the Navajo people, helped the allies defeat Germany, Japan, and Italy in World War II."
Abstract Discusses Ludwig Wittgenstein's idea of sensation. Linkage of the sensations (art, aesthetics, religion) as individual sensations linked by language. Idea that language is unexact means of describing the senses. Language games as semantics. The language of aesthetics. Wittgenstein's exercises. Wittgenstein's theories and changing concept of language games. Notion of human culture.
From the Paper "LANGUAGE GAMES
INTRODUCTION AND THESIS:
Wittgenstein separates the idea of a sensation with that of a word to describe it. How often, for example, have we heard someone say "I feel; your pain!" which, as Wittgenstein would be prompt to point out, is impossible. The sensations, art, aesthetics, and religion are individual sensations, with a communal linkage called "language". But, compared to one's sensations, language is the most inexact means of describing what one feels or senses.
People, as Wittgenstein theorizes, "cannot be said to learn of my sensations only from my behaviour, for I cannot be said to learn of them-I have them" (Wittgenstein, 1953, p. 89). On the other hand, this sort of "investigation" of sensations makes Wittgenstein ask whether "..."
Abstract Perhaps more than any other debate in education, the study of language brings up questions of power and identity. How teachers and classmates view the home language of students and their families plays a major role in teachers' expectations and respect for a student's culture, as well as how easily the student will be able to learn and meet long-term educational goals. The paper shows that solving the complex social and economic problems in the U.S. that limit the educational opportunities of African Americans, particularly males, is not an easy task. Still, many educators are introducing new practices targeted specifically to the unique needs of this group. The paper shows that many researchers agree that one of the first steps that must be taken in advancing the educational level of African-American students is to implement Ebonics into inner city curricula. This paper examines the role of Ebonics in cultural identity in an effort to determine whether or not Ebonics should be implemented in classrooms or curricula.
From the Paper "By implementing Ebonics into school curriculums, teachers are fine-tuning the learning process towards the unique needs of African American students, rather than drilling them on the proper use of grammar and dialect. For example, teachers could use mini-lessons according to the dialect learning needs that students demonstrate. If the students agree that Standard English is appropriate for classroom interaction and for writing, lessons like these would help students reach their language development goals."
Tags: Standard, English, Proficiency, SEP, AAVE, Kwanzaa, Maat
Abstract This paper explains that bilinguals are not inferior to monolinguals in any way; however, there still exist various stereotypes against bilinguals, which range from the claim by professions, such as speech therapists and medical doctors, that hearing two or more languages in childhood causes language disorder and language delay to the idea that bilinguals are slow learners and are losers in life. The paper reports that in order to fit themselves into school and society, some young bilinguals begin to learn English and, as soon as they have learned barely enough to get by, use their home languages less and less until they gradually lose it totally: This phenomenon is first language loss. The author stresses that first language loss is not a "necessary or inevitable outcome" when children acquire a second language.
Table of Content
Introduction
Bilingualism
Types of Bilingualism
Studies on Bilingualism
First Language Loss
Process of First Language Loss
Consequences of First Language Loss
Fostering a Positive Linguistic Environment
Conclusion
From the Paper "From these accounts, it is apparent that two major consequences of first language loss lie on family relationship and the crises of self-image and cultural identity. As far as family relationship is concerned, there is a lot of "shame, anger, frustration, and embarrassment attached to the loss of a first language". To the individuals, a negative self-image was common, resulting either from coming from non-English speaking families or being an outsider of their own ethnic group. At the same time, these people are usually haunted by the uncertainty of their own identity, because they are unable to identify themselves with either their home language culture or the dominant English culture. Besides, along the process of growing up into monolinguals in English, they were all neglected, isolated, and despised in one way or another. Life has been a constant struggle to them simply because they happen to have been born into non-English speaking families."
Abstract This essay looks at the debate about Ebonics. Ebonics is a language with its own rules, and not slang or inferior English. Acknowledging, recognizing and understanding Ebonics could help the teaching process and make it easier for students to learn Standard English.
