Language as a Seventh Sense - Essay Example

Human interaction: Role of the senses: It is a generally acknowledged fact that all human beings are blessed with six senses by the nature, ly sight, hear, smell, feel and taste. Besides, people refer to the sixth sense as spiritual. “Humans, as well as all the other animals have the six senses, necessary to carry on their style of life.” (Hamilton, 2010). Though (Hamilton, 2010) defines imagination in the same article as the seventh sense. These senses are vital for humans to understand the fundamental concepts of life and the world. We need to avail these senses in order to understand and interact with one another. Likewise, teachers make use of these senses to deliver knowledge to their students, who also gain it utilizing their senses. Of the six senses, watching and hearing are the two which play the most important role in developing the right kind of interaction between a teacher and a student. The students’ learning is aided by two factors. First is the teacher’s lecture that they take utilizing their hearing sense, though, it will be irrational to state that it is the only sense they need to fully comprehend the lecture. Surely, the students’ learning is also facilitated by the other senses like that of sight. But hearing is the most essential prerequisite of a verbal lecture. Secondly, students rely on books to guide them through the topic with the relevant text that they contain. And to avail this blessing, students make use of their sense of vision. Also, to ensure effective reading does not require the reader to make use of his listening, smelling, feeling or tasting sense, thereby, relies solely on the reader’s vision. But this does not prove to a teacher the text’s superiority to the verbal lecture, when it comes to teaching the students. However, what is common between the two methodologies is the language. Language-An effective way to interact: We use either written or spoken language to communicate with and convey messages to people. This essay draws a comparison between the features of spoken English and the written English and provides some methodologies that can be employed in an educational system to ensure good interaction among students and between the students and the teacher. (Ellis and Fotos, 1999) identified two types of interaction on p. 1 of their book namely, interpersonal interaction and intrapersonal interaction. They referred to the verbal communication among people as the interpersonal interaction, and mentioned that the intrapersonal interaction takes place when various modules of the mind interact to develop an understanding about the text one reads from a book. Language is the fundamental requirement of effective delivery of concept, be it through speech or text, and serves as a platform for the two parties to share. Different languages are spoken in different parts of the world. The language spoken in the area where an individual is born and lives stands as the first language for him / her. What cultural background or area the interacting parties come from matters a lot when they communicate. It is a matter of great concern for a teacher whether the students share the same ethnic background as his and this greatly influences the style of teaching. “A typical class may have international students from a wide range of language and educational backgrounds”.(Wilson, 2020). The interaction becomes quite simple where both the teacher and the student come from the same background, therefore overcoming linguistic barriers. But good interaction is not equally simple to achieve where the teacher tries to teach the students a language unknown to them. The selection of the style of teaching the teacher adopts and the sources he avails to teach the students a language they are not familiar with makes a lot of difference. It is the teacher’s responsibility to analyze the suitability of the methodologies he can adopt to the students’ psychology, and work out the most appropriate option to ensure effective learning on the part of his students. (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2010) defines writing as;" a persons style of writing with a pen on paper which can be recognized as their own". This definition gives the concept of writing in terms of recording messages in a medium such as paper or stone as recorded in the ancient architecture. Writing, thus, is something concrete and settled. While writing needs the assistance of manufactured tools like pens or printers, speech is made naturally in a universally recognized way. Chambers English dictionary as cited in (Cornbleet and Carter, 2001, p. 18) defines speaking as to" utter words." But on the same note, they argue that uttering simple words can not be termed as speaking. Thus, (Cornbleet and Carter, 2001, p.18) attempt to define speaking as "combining sounds in a recognized and semantic way, according to language specific principals, to form meaningful utterances". Spoken language is versatile: Spoken language is very versatile in nature. One language is spoken in many different ways. This speaks of the variation in the cultural backgrounds of its users. What to talk of geographical differences, even the people from the same culture living in the same place and sharing the same social and political environment have developed different approaches toward the pronunciation of words. Though, the phenomenon is influenced by the concept of multi-cultural society, in which people belonging to different ethnic backgrounds live together, thereby, lending a touch of their culture to the local language. This results in the modification of a language. Besides, there are several other factors that play their role in lending different shades to a language. Fashion is one of those factors. These days, people are inclined toward fashion. They would do all that would lend a touch of style to their personalities. People, especially the younger of them, tend to be unique. Therefore, they try to pronounce words in a way that would be dissimilar to the one in which those words are pronounced in the society in general. This is the approach which has replaced “how are you” with “howya” in the verbal communication of the young generation in the English society. Similarly, we come across several new words that are frequently being used in everyday language in place of the genuine old words. This, in part, has resulted from the flexibility which the verbal language offers to its users, to convey the meaning effectively, no matter how is it used. It so happens because of a unique characteristic feature of language which lends a touch of emotions to the statements. “That language communicates both fact and feeling is one of its great powers”.(University of Victoria, 1995). Change is natural to occur. Everything around us keeps changing. World today looks quite different from its older version. Likewise, language keeps on changing, with the rapidly changing and modifying cultural trends in the society. This is evident from the difference between the English literature of the Victorian era, or even older and that of the modern world. Language has changed significantly over the time. “There are features that, although we tend to perceive as permanent in the interaction, actually kept appearing and evolving through time.” (Poyatos, 2002, p. 68). In contrast to the old literature, literature in the modern world incorporates shorter sentences to deliver the same meaning. Language is also affected by the mood of the people in a certain time. In the dynamic environment of the modern world, where the people have to be really quick to cope with the complexities that it brings, the circumstances have enhanced people’s responsiveness, which has ultimately affected the language they use to respond. This is where the concept of Slang language originates. “Slang is casual spoken language which differs from dialectical speech and jargon as well as formal speech.” (Smith, 2010). There are other factors that have necessitated the use of Slang language. People in the modern world are more interconnected as compared to those of the previous ages. Mobiles and internet have played an important role in supporting the idea. With more to convey in less time at hand, people are convinced for looking at the Slang language as an alternative to the proper language they use otherwise. Written language is formal: On the contrary, written language does not allow the freedom of molding language according to the desires of the writer. Rather the writer is supposed to follow certain formalities while expressing his views in writing, or else, any attempt of lending an informal touch to the text would compliment the generally accepted rules and regulations that need to be taken care of while writing. There are certain factors that necessitate a code of conduct to be followed while writing. One key factor that strengthens this requirement is that in written language, the interaction takes place between the reader and the book or any other medium containing the text. Therefore, of the two parties involved, one is feeling-less and emotionless. Therefore, there are significant chances of the reader misunderstanding the approach of the writer, if the latter ever tried to use some informal language to convey his point. “The traditional grammar has focused on what is said ignoring to a large extent what is understood and this matter dominated language pedagogy for a long time.” (Mustafa, 2010, p. 42) However, the words the writer chooses to convey his meaning significantly influence the reader. Writers may be smart enough to use certain words that would facilitate them in conveying a biased view about a certain matter. This is where the idea of the Slanted language emerges. Writers, at times, make use of Slanted language to convince the reader to agree to his approach. The readers need to be careful of such attempts from the writers, and be smart enough to distinguish such texts from others, in order to adopt a rational approach toward the matter being discussed. How can a teacher help learners develop their interaction skills? Developing interaction skills in students when they are supposed to communicate in their mother language is quite simple for the teachers as compared to the case when the teacher wants to make the students learn and interact with one another in a language they are learning for the first time. And therefore, the process may take time. “improving speaking skills is a slow process because students attend class for few hours a week”. (Loykaew, 200-). Additionally, in such classes, the students are used to listening to their teacher and not speaking themselves. Besides, there are several other barriers that hinder the development of an environment that would help the learners develop good interacting skills. Some of them include the students’ shyness and their lack of confidence. A teacher needs to understand the potential factors coming in the way of the students’ learning, and take necessary actions against them. “Questioning is reported as one of the commonly used strategies, as the success of a class largely depends on questioning and feedback.” (Yu, 2010, p. 136). A teacher can make the students develop their interest in the language by encouraging them to narrate stories, or jokes to the whole class. (Richards and Rodgers, 2001) wrote about Gouin (1831 – 1896) on p. 8 of their book that he believed that the process of learning a language could be enhanced by using language to accomplish interrelated activities. In addition to that, students can be made to read books by incorporating the books most liked by children of similar age in the curriculum. The course should be designed in a way that would make use of movies and magazines, and daily life-activities to assist the students with their learning of the language. “Students should learn how to use a language in their daily communication in order to demonstrate their mastery of a language.” (Fang, 2010, p. 111). The more interesting the teacher makes his lecture, the more likely are the students to learn the language in lesser time. According to (Zhang, 2010, p. 82), the teacher should encourage students to participate actively in the class, in order to inculcate self-confidence in them. These days, different teachers’ training courses are being organized at national and international level in many countries. “When teachers are exposed to methods and asked to reflect on their principles and actively engage with their techniques, they can become clearer about why they do what they do”. (Freeman, 2000, p. 9). The teachers should frequently take the teachers’ training courses, in order to understand their weaknesses and upgrade their teaching skills. References: Anon, 2010. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Available at: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=91740&dict=CALD&topic=writing-and-typing. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Anon, 1995. “The UVic Writers Guide-Slanted Language”. The Department of English, University of Victoria. Available at: http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/LogSlantLang.html. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Anon, n.d. “How can we help students become effective in conversation skill?” Available at: http://worldbridges.info/joy/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/efl_503_literature. Pdf. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Cornbleet, S. & Carter, R., 2001. “The language of speech and writing”. London: Routledge. [Online]. Available at: http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=L1TQ6JhMQ2jtHLcBy3QHff2Q7Qn53yZTcWGvV8kvZP2NZhvD3LXp!-202419909!1408800315?docId=103347138. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Hamilton, D. L., 2010. “"The Human Imagination"-Our Seventh Sense!”. Available at: http://pages.prodigy.com/suna/imagine.htm. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Ellis, R and Fotos, S, 1999. “Learning a second language through interaction”. John Benjamins: USA. Available at: http://books.google.com/books?id=ku01oL286-MC&printsec=frontcover&dq=language+and+interaction&ei=ohC2S9OaBoXylQTk0JiTBA&cd=4#v=onepage&q=&f=false. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Fang, F., 2010. “A Discussion on Developing Students’ Communicative Competence in College English Teaching in China”. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, [Online] 1 (2), p. 111-116, March 2010. Available at: http://www.academypublisher.com/ojs/index.php/jltr/article/view/0102111116/1652. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Freeman, D. L., 2000. “Techniques and principles in language teaching”. Oxford University Press: China. Available at: http://books.google.com/books?id=iJ3Y_wkkwa8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=teaching+language&ei=oj22S8bgGI2GkASTypHkDw&cd=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Mustafa, M. S., 2010. “The Interpretation of Implicature: A Comparative Study between Implicature in Linguistics and Journalism”. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, [Online] 1 (1), p. 35-43, January 2010. Available at: http://www.academypublisher.com/ojs/index.php/jltr/article/view/01013543/1505. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Poyatos, F., 2002. “Nonverbal communication across disciplines: Culture, sensory interaction, speech, conversation”. John Benjamins: USA. Available at: http://books.google.com/books?id=5xQLYIkyRAIC&pg=PA61&dq=language+and+interaction&ei=ohC2S9OaBoXylQTk0JiTBA&cd=9#v=onepage&q=language%20and%20interaction&f=false. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Richards, J. C. and Rodgers, T. S., 2001. “Approaches and methods in language teaching-Second edition”. Cambridge University Press: USA. Available at: http://books.google.com/books?id=9mQ9l3K73BoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=teaching+language&ei=oj22S8bgGI2GkASTypHkDw&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Smith, S. E., 2010. “What is Slang?”. WiseGEEK. Available at: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-slang.htm. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Wilson, R., 2020. “Writing Myths: Applying Second Language Research to Classroom Teaching”. Journal of Second Language Writing. [Online] 19 (1), March 2010, Pages 59-60. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W5F-4Y8G1SJ-&_user=10&_coverDate=03/31/2010&_rdoc=7&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=doc- info(%23toc%236569%232010%23999809998%231720101%23FLA%23display%23Volume)&_cdi=6569&_sort=d&_docanchor=&_ct=7&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=2dd32240ea61184c7a559b8b00f17d31. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Yu, W., 2010. “An Analysis of College English Classroom Questioning”. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, [Online] 1 (2), p. 136-144, March 2010. Available at: http://www.academypublisher.com/ojs/index.php/jltr/article/view/0102136144/1657. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Zhang, Yan, 2010. “Cooperative Language Learning and Foreign Language Learning and Teaching”. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, [Online] 1 (1), p. 81-83, January 2010. Available at: http://www.academypublisher.com/ojs/index.php/jltr/article/viewFile/01018183/1512. [Accessed: 01 April 2010]. Read More