Ways of Knowing

1. Ways of Knowing Language

2. To what extent is knowledge implicit in language? Could it be said that ‘Saturday is in bed.’ does not convey meaning, even though it is syntactically correct, because of the prior knowledge that days of the week are not physical objects?

3. To what extent is knowledge implicit in language? What if “Saturday” was the name of a pet?

4. Prior knowledge • Cultural The notes were sour because the seam split.

5. Prior knowledge activation The procedure is quite simple. First you arrange items into different groups. Of course one group may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step; otherwise, you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run this may not seem important, but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. (1 0f 2)

6. Prior knowledge activation The manipulation of the appropriate mechanisms should be self-explanatory, and we need not dwell on it here. At first, the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future, but then, one can never tell. After the procedure is completed, one arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be used once more and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life. (2 of 2)

7. Prior knowledge activation What is this passage describing?

8. Prior knowledge activation If the title “Washing Clothes” would have been provided, would the passage have made more sense immediately?

9. Correct prior knowledge Rocky slowly got up from the mat, planning his escape. He hesitated a moment and thought. Things were not going well. What bothered him most was the being held, especially since the charge against him had been weak. He considered his present situation. The lock that held him was string by he thought he could break it. He knew, however, that his timing would have to be perfect. Rocky was aware that it was because of his early roughness that he had been penalized so severely – much too severely from his point of view. The situation was becoming frustrating; the pressure had been grinding on him for too long. He was being ridden unmercifully. Rocky was getting angry now. He felt he was ready to make his move. He knew that his success or failure would depend on what he did in the next few seconds.

10. Rocky is a prisoner Rocky slowly got up from the mat, planning his escape. He hesitated a moment and thought. Things were not going well. What bothered him most was the being held, especially since the charge against him had been weak. He considered his present situation. The lock that held him was string by he thought he could break it. He knew, however, that his timing would have to be perfect. Rocky was aware that it was because of his early roughness that he had been penalized so severely – much too severely from his point of view. The situation was becoming frustrating; the pressure had been grinding on him for too long. He was being ridden unmercifully. Rocky was getting angry now. He felt he was ready to make his move. He knew that his success or failure would depend on what he did in the next few seconds.

11. Rocky is a wrestler Rocky slowly got up from the mat, planning his escape. He hesitated a moment and thought. Things were not going well. What bothered him most was the being held, especially since the charge against him had been weak. He considered his present situation. The lock that held him was string by he thought he could break it. He knew, however, that his timing would have to be perfect. Rocky was aware that it was because of his early roughness that he had been penalized so severely – much too severely from his point of view. The situation was becoming frustrating; the pressure had been grinding on him for too long. He was being ridden unmercifully. Rocky was getting angry now. He felt he was ready to make his move. He knew that his success or failure would depend on what he did in the next few seconds.

12. rocky • How had Rocky been punished for his aggressiveness? • He had been demoted to the “B” team. • His opponent had been given points. • He lost his weekend privileges. • He had been arrested and imprisoned.

13. Sufficient prior knowledge “Today’s Cricket” The batsmen were merciless against the bowlers. The bowlers placed their men in clips and covers, but to no avail. The batsmen hit one four after another along with an occasional six. Not once did a ball look like it would hit their stumps or be caught.

14. Sufficient prior knowledge • How important is knowledge of the sport of cricket to the understanding of the previous passage? • What information do you need to know to better understand the passage?

15. Prior knowledge v. language skills • What is more important? • How do you know?

16. THE KINGDOM OF KAY OSS Once in the land of Serenity there ruled a king called Kay Oss. The King wanted to be liked by all his people. So one day thx bxnxvolxntdxspotdxcidxd that no onx in thx country would bxrxponsiblx for anything. Zll of thx workxrsrxstxd from thxirdzilylzbrs. “BlxssKzy Oss, “ thxyxxclzimxd. Now thx lzwmzkxrswxrxvxrywvsx. But zswvsxzsthxywxrx, thxydxcvdxdthzt thx bxst form of govxrnmxntwzsnonxztzll.

17. The pheeomnnalpweor of the hmuanmnid. • Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at CmabrigdeUinervtisy, it deosn'tmttaer in wahtoredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olnyiprmoetnttihng is that the frist and lsatltteer be at the rghitpclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitllraed it wouthitporbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the human mniddeos not raederveylteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. • Smiplyamzanig huh?

18. Language skills • Did you find that you needed only a minimum of visual cues from the printed text to understand it? • What prior knowledge did you call on to make sense of the selection? • To what extent did your knowledge of stories, in general, influence your understanding and reduce the uncertainty of the task?

19. Language skills • How often did you rely on your knowledge of: • Letter-sound associations (graphophonics)? • Spelling patters (orthography)? • Relationships of words to each other (syntax)? • Contextual meaning (semantics)? • Did you risk being “wrong” in your attempt to derive meaning? That is, did you use context clues to guess unfamiliar words or just skip them? • Did you maintain sufficient speed when reading the selection to overcome the limitations of visual processing and short-term memory?

20. Language skills In reading, the brain supplies more information than it receives from the eye about the text. If you made sense of all or most of the two paragraphs with relative ease and little frustration, it might be said that you are the type of person who reads to obtain meaning rather than to identify letters and words. According to researchers, “ The ability to put letters together to form words has very little to do with the actual process of fluent reading…even the ability to identify words loses its importance when one ‘reads for meaning’”

21. Active reading • Generating Questions and Monitoring Understanding • To experience monitoring for yourself, read the question first, followed by the short paragraph.

22. Active reading • Question: Why would a love of french fries ruin a marriage? • Paragraph: The hamburger chain owner was afraid his love for French fries would ruin his marriage. He was worried. He decided to go on a daily exercise program.

23. Active reading • Organizing Data into prior knowledge schemes • Story: “It’s very hard to live in a studio apartment in San Jose with a man who’s learning to play the violin.” That’s what she told police when she handed them the empty revolver. • What happened? • Why did it happen? • Why do you know you are right?

24. Conclusion questions To what extent is it possible to overcome ambiguity and vagueness in language?

25. Conclusion questions In what contexts might ambiguity either impede knowledge or contribute to it?

26. Conclusion questions Does the balance between precision and ambiguity alter from one discipline to another?

27. Conclusion questions Does language contain information or is it just a vehicle of knowledge?

28. Conclusion questions If people speak more than one language, is what they know different in each language? Does each language provide a different framework of reality?

29. Conclusion questions What is lost in translation from one language to another? Why?

30. www.ethnologue.com What, in your opinion, would explain the areas and countries with the greatest concentration of living languages?

31. www.ethnologue.com Identify those areas and countries on the map with the greatest risk of the death or disappearance of languages.

32. Disappearing languages • Speakers shifting to dominant languages, such as English, French, Spanish, Mandarin and Hind • Speakers’ own preference of shifting to other languages that they consider more ‘prestigious’ or ‘modern’ than their own languages • Socio-political factors, including language policy, language indoctrination through education, repression and pressure to use the official and national languages over local languages • Economic pressures and migratory trends • Epidemics and natural disasters

33. www.ethnologue.com Link your answer for the previous question to the reasons listed in the previous slide that explains the decline in human languages: Which of these factors would best explain the endangering in different regions of the world?

34. www.ethnologue.com Think about American attitudes and policies towards English…Do we force “language indoctrination through education?” Does our “language protectionism” (my term) benefit or hinder American competitiveness?