Transcript Why education needs linguistics, and vice versa
Why education needs linguistics, and linguistics needs education
Richard Hudson Budapest March 2012 1
Summary
• Language is central to education – So education needs to understand language – So education needs linguistics • Education influences language – So linguistics needs to understand this influence – So linguistics needs educational research – But linguistics also needs language education 2
Language is central to education
• As
instrument
of education – for telling – for discussing – for controlling • As
content
of education – education teaches the language of education – including its meanings and their relations 3
Questions for linguists: language as instrument • How do we use language for communicating?
– e.g.
This is a rectangle, isn't it?
• How do we use language for learning?
– e.g.
I wonder if this is a rectangle.
• How do we use language for controlling?
– e.g.
Would you mind sitting down, please?
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Questions for linguists: language as content • How is the language of education special?
– special sub-languages (e.g.
rectangle, evaluate
) – special languages (e.g.
Viereck
) – special medium: writing – special meanings: rectangles, equations, nouns • Almost all of education is language education – So linguistics is central to education.
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What linguistics can offer
• ideas – How does language work? – How can we study it?
• models – How is language organised?
• descriptions – What details do we find in language X?
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Some ideas
• Descriptivism – We can and should describe language as it is.
• Variation – Any language varies with time, place, etc.
• Form and function are different – word-class against syntactic function – sentence-type against pragmatic function 7
Some models
• Sounds and letters are different – e.g. not: 'the th sound' – but: the sound [θ] and the letters
Some more models
• Syntax and punctuation are different – e.g. not: A sentence is bounded by punctuation.
– but: A sentence is defined by syntax, and marked by punctuation.
• Lexemes and word-forms are different – e.g. not:
Cat
and
cats
are same/different word – but:
Cat
and
cats
are different word-forms but the same lexeme.
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A simple model of language
meaning sentence-structure word-structure pronunciation alphabetical writing GRAMMAR LEXICON 10
Descriptions
• Descriptive frameworks – e.g. the International Phonetic Alphabet • Books – Grammars – Dictionaries – Textbooks 11
So what?
• Linguistics is important for education – Every teacher should know some linguistics – Some teachers should know a lot of linguistics – Teachers should deepen their linguistics while teaching • But linguistics is also a research subject 12
The ideal education cycle
adult researcher school teacher know ledge know ledge university Year 1-13 know ledge research infant 13
But in reality …
• In the UK, most teachers know very little linguistics – Maybe because research stopped in 1900-50?
– Nothing in school – Nothing in university – Very little in teacher-training • Probably far less than in Hungary?
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Moreover, linguists don't care
• In the UK/USA, many linguists don't see education as a potential 'consumer' of research.
• "You're a human being, and your time as a human being should be socially useful. It doesn't mean that your choices about helping other people have to be within the context of your professional training as a linguist. Maybe that training just doesn't help you to be useful to other people. In fact, it doesn't." (Chomsky 1991) 15
So why does education matter?
• Why is education important to us linguists?
• Because we need to understand the impact of education on language.
– Does education have any impact?
• And we need students and researchers who have been well educated.
– Should linguistics be 'adults-only'?
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The impact of education on language?
• None – 'Explicit instruction has no effect' • Popular in L1 teaching – Education is generally ignored in language acquisition research • Negative – 'Prestige English is not a natural language' • Sobin 1999 17
Education does have an impact
• …, an advantaged student … learns about twice as many words as a disadvantaged student. … This translates into a wide range of vocabulary size by age five or six, at which time an English-speaking child will have learned about 2,500–5,000 words. An average student learns some 3,000 words per year (Wikipedia: Vocabulary) 18
Vocabulary growth
• Before school: 1,000 words per year • During school: 3,000 words per year • Why the difference?
– because education teaches vocabulary – and writing – and thinking skills – and grammar, etc.
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Subordinate clauses per 100 words
5 4 3 2 1 0 KS1 KS2 KS3 KS4 grade
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The paradox
• Linguists like to describe 'natural language' – but they use themselves as subjects – and they are highly educated – so their own language isn't typical or 'natural'.
• But maybe no language is 'natural' – because everyone thinks about their language – and manipulates it.
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Educating the next generation…
• … of linguists – and of citizens – who need linguistics.
• How?
– educate the teachers – challenge the children.
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The Linguistics Olympiad
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The UK Linguistics Olympiad
• Started 2010 • 2,000 competitors this year – Aged 12-18 – three levels: • Foundation, Intermediate, Advanced • Round 1 in schools – Residential round 2, selecting for IOL 24
Foundation level:Abma
Mwamni sileng. He drinks water. Nutsu mwatbo mwamni sileng. Nutsu mwegau. The child keeps drinking water. The child grows.
mwamni, sileng = drinks/drinking or water nutsu = the child mwatbo = keeps mwegau = grows 25
Advanced: Tangkhul
• Structure of problem: – 9 sentences in Tangkhul – 9 sentences in English that translate them.
– but in a different order!
• Challenge: – Work out which E sentences translate which T sentences – and which E words translate which T words!
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For instance
• Tangkhul: – (a) a masikserra.
– (b) āni masikngarokei – (c) āthum masikngarokngāilā • English: – (1) Do they want to pinch each other?
– (2) Do you(sg) see it?
– (3) Have you(pl) all come?
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International Linguistics Olympiad 28
So what again?
• So linguistics could play the same role in education as mathematics – in understanding language • the main tool of education – in developing analytical thinking skills • But linguistics doesn't even exist in most schools 29
Thank you
• This talk can be downloaded from www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/talks.htm
• For the UK Linguistics Olympiad: www.uklo.org
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