Tomorrow, I’ll be keynoting the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, so languages have been on my mind. Last night, at a gathering of the board of directors and several presenters for the CAPE Conference today, we got to talking about languages as well, since they are using their technology to provide for the learning of Japanese, Chinese, and other less common but emerging high school foreign languages.
But before I say something about languages, I found it interesting, last night, that as people were introducing themselves around the table, most of them mentioned the number of years they had been in education, and most of them had more years in than me — and I’m in my 31st year. Now what does it mean, that a group who is designing, implementing, and maintaining such a forward reaching and sometimes disruptive application of technology, are mostly in the final years of their career.
No, let me put it this way — professionals who are operating from decades of experience as educators and education leaders, all during what certainly must have been the most dramatic time of progressive change in human history. Now it’s starting to make sense.
Several times lately, in talking with experienced educators, names like James Herndon, John Holt, and A.S. Neill have come up. You youngsters, if you haven’t heard of them, look these writers up. You might find it interesting.
Now as for languages, we got to talking about how much we can learn about culture from learning about their language. The question was posed, does the culture make the language or does language make the culture? I don’t know, but it made me wonder about evolving languages, tipping points, and a rapidly changing world.
The word, blog, has only been listed in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary for a few years. It is a new word, and a new concept. Publish has been around for many years, it is somewhat different from blog. Publish is institutional. blogging is personal. We can blog now. We, as individuals, can publish to a global readership, and be responded to. This word, blog, has become a part of our vocabulary, part of our dictionaries. That’s a tipping point. What does it mean to a culture that can practice such democratic activities?
What do you think?
I am a Spanish and Latin teacher in the infancy of my career, let me say that as an introduction.
I think you miss the point as to how culture is shaped. It is not an appropriate question to ask whether languages make the culture or the culture makes the language. Certainly culture can shape a language, particularly the vernacular usages, but language as a whole is decided upon by those who are traditionally above the vernacular. Hence the slow trickle and pushback as vernacular reaches widespread adoption.
I grew up in South Florida, and my Spanish has a bit of a chameleon-like flavor to it, insofar as when I am with folks of Mexican descent, I can understand their vernacular and particular form of the language as well as I can adapt when around folks from Puerto Rico.
Some of the most rich experiences I have ever been involved in were those times when I’ve been a fly on the wall listening to folks from all over Central and South America talk to one another. The joking around of the different ways they say the same thing are an absolute hoot!
So, that ultimately leads us back to the question of language and culture. I say that question is invalid because it leaves out the external forces. My wife is from Peru, and from a fairly poor section of the capital city. Her limited English was formed by television more than school.
How about her Spanish? Her Spanish was more shaped by television and MSN Messenger than her formal schooling. So, has her language been shaped by her culture? Only if the definition of culture is modified to allow for the inclusion of technological influences being rapidly maladapted by young people.
I say maladapted because kids in Internet cafes don’t spend time on Wikipedia’s Spanish version, or checking out UC Berkley’s, MIT’s Opencourseware, or any other sites. They spend it on small multiverses, cheesy multiplayer games (nothing like the complexity of WoW, the machines are not capable of running it) or how to run Linux. They instant message, they sometimes email, they look at porn, they install rogue keyloggers, and so on and so forth.
I would say language is affected more by popular media outlets, such as television and music in particular, and we can only call that culture if we change the definition, because it is not a part of their culture, it is ours. It is our content and programming reaching their ears and eyes. So the new question has to be asked, how is our culture changing their language?
The fact that the “experienced” folks are the ones so involved with the process makes sense…
-demographically (empty nesters have more time)
-psychologically (we like to think we are “wiser” or at least more reflective)
-politically (it takes this many years for people to actually listen to us)
-spiritually (we like to think we are giving back)
The glorious thing is that we are now able to open the process to exactly those who would be excluded from the above advantages precisely because of the tools we now promote and hope all children will learn: tools of access, time, collaboration, voice, ownership, and even power through technology. Bravo to the “experienced ones” who did not limit the discussion to the old _____….well, you know who we are. Is not our process here exactly what we hope our students to join?
In parallel to the conference circuit is a far more cost-effective dialog open to all, and some seem to be finding it. We need to invite in those who may not have seen the invitations yet: parents, teachers, and students, and remember that the power brokers’ younger staff may be the keys to pulling them in, as well.
Looking forward to your keynote at Central States tomorrow!
Culture vs. Language … the never-ending debate for language teachers. I always tell students and teachers that you really can’t separate the two. Without language there isn’t culture and without culture there isn’t language. So, I would agree with Chris is saying that culture influences language (and vice versa.)
This is important in today’s world language classroom, because we don’t want teachers to teach the two separately (thereby avoiding making two separate entries in our student’s minds).
I always hate the “culture boxes” in text books where short and mostly random snippets of cultural significance are presented in English. Why bother? Why take it out of the language?
Chris Craft,
I really enjoyed reading your comment, you’re obviously a well educated educator. And I can see where you’re coming from, but…
>
cul·ture
–noun
the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture.
the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another.
(dictionary.com)
And why do you feel as though technology is being “maladapted” by young people?
Let’s assume for now that language skills are inherently tools for better communication. Do you think that by reading Wikipedia articles written in Spanish, kids will aquire better communication skills (in general) than by instant messaging, e-mailing or talking on their cell-phones?
Or is a learned language some sort of intellectual trophy to be put on an anti-social mantlepiece only to be used while reading encyclopedia articles or pondering semantical differences in dialect?
Thanks again for the stimulation.
-Beleza
Beleza,
I think you misunderstand why I believe that technology is being maladapted by young people in other countries.
A little background…I lived in Peru for quite a while and was able to totally immerse myself in the culture.
The use of technology by young people is almost entirely for the purpose of instant messanging.
Is there a difference in the messanging being done by kids in the US? Yes.
It’s one thing to talk about American millenials, but foreign-born third world Latino millenials are a different breed.
The argument which I would posit is that kids in Latin America are being influenced by OUR culture and are maladapting. You make a comment about learned languages being a trophy, but I am assuming we’re discussing what’s going on with kids in Latin America, not American kids. These kids are learning Spanish IM-speak at best, but no Enlglish, so we are mixing conversations.
I will happily continue this conversation when it’s not on David’s blog comments.
Chris
http://www.nextgenlanguage.com
There’s nothing more frustrating than having a decently sized blog post written, and then losing it due to forgetting to fill in the security code. I’ll try summarizing below decently enough to convey my thoughts.
I don’t think many on the internet know the consequences of their posts. Many still believe that the internet provides a decent level of anonymity, when this is dissolving more and more every day. Things that are posted on blogs and YouTube are going to catch up with people eventually, if they haven’t already started. The wise ones will keep this in mind, but I don’t know how many are wise.
The culture is changing. People are using the internet as both input and output, without fully appreciating that what they find on the internet is raw, and may not even be truthful. It’s strange — the closer one gets to raw information, the easier it is for it to be false. After all, how can one tell without proper vetting? Yet the culture is moving towards this raw input and output, with only education and “common sense” to keep people from making mistakes.
Also, I wanted to say something as a student who is working towards a teaching certificate, albeit very early in the process. You alluded to the decades of experience through a tumultuous time being harnessed to shape the use of technology going forward. Yet I can’t help but wonder, were younger voices brought into this discussion? I hold nothing against the experienced teacher, and I hope to make it there someday myself. But I know when I was in high school, I completely outstripped my teachers in terms of technical aptitude, and thus their methods seemed archaic. I am sure studies will be conducted on what you have discussed, but I am a strong believer in looking at both sides of the coin. Perhaps I’m missing something in your post, and if so, I apologize. but I would be upset at myself if I hadn’t at least noted the observation.