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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">===========================================<br>
L O W L A N D S - L - 17 January 2009 - Volume 01<span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><br>
From: <span class="ep8xu"><span><span style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">M.-L.
Lessing</span></span></span><span class="hccdpe"> </span><span class="ldacoc"><<a href="mailto:marless@gmx.de">marless@gmx.de</a>></span><br>
Subject: <span class="hccdpe">LL-L "Language programming" 2009.01.16
(08) [E]</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So calling computers "electronic brains" or
"thinking machines" is a wrong metaphor. And this metaphor, so widely
used today, has programmed our brains to think of a human brain in a wrong
way... oops, language can't program brains... :-)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Marlou</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><br>
----------<br>
<br>
From: <span class="ep8xu"><span><span style="color: rgb(91, 16, 148);">Mark Dreyer</span></span></span><span class="hccdpe"> </span><span class="ldacoc"><<a href="mailto:mrdreyer@lantic.net">mrdreyer@lantic.net</a>></span><br>
Subject: <span class="hccdpe">LL-L "Language programming" 2009.01.16
(08) [E]</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">Hi,
Sandy:</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">Subject:
LL-L "Language programming"</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">Right:
If complicated numeral terminology made for mathematical genius, then the
metric system is a retrograde step, & the Chaldeans should have made it to
Space, to say nothing of Imperial weights-&-measures Old England.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">We
didn't have TV yet, & I missed the series 'Connections' in my youth, but I
got the book of the series: Glorious!</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">The
author follows the evolution of mechanical calculators from the Jacard-loom to
the Eniac. On the basis of that preparation I can only agree with you.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(136, 136, 136);">Yrs,</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(136, 136, 136);">Mark</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><br>
----------<br>
<br>
From: <span class="ep8xu"><span><span style="color: rgb(91, 16, 148);">Sandy Fleming</span></span></span><span class="hccdpe"> </span><span class="ldacoc"><<a href="mailto:sandy@scotstext.org">sandy@scotstext.org</a>></span><br>
Subject: <span class="hccdpe">LL-L "Language programming" 2009.01.15
(05) [E]</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">> From:
Andrys Onsman <<a href="mailto:Andrys.Onsman@calt.monash.edu.au">Andrys.Onsman@calt.monash.edu.au</a>><br>
> Subject: LL-L "Language programming" 2009.01.15 (01) [E]<br>
><br>
> Wouldn't recognition be an aspect of a sense of number? And vice<br>
> versa?<br>
<br>
No. The human brain (though not necessarily the duck brain) can<br>
recognise objects but it has a specialised centre for recognising faces.<br>
<br>
I think that when you talk about numeracy, recognition and so on you<br>
have to be aware of some basic brain science because it's not always as<br>
your common sense might tell you (it's the same in for most areas of<br>
science - you can't rely on common sense).<br>
<br>
You need to know what sort of areas the brain has for what sort of<br>
skills, and this sort of research is often done with subjects who have<br>
experienced some brain damage or otherwise lack certain of the usual<br>
functions.<br>
<br>
For example, there are people who are "number dyslexic" (this doesn't<br>
seem to me like an appropriate description but it's the one I've heard<br>
used) and can't so much as compare two prices in a shop to see which is<br>
cheapest, but their ability to recognise faces is fine.<br>
<br>
On the other hand there are people who have had the face-recognition<br>
centre of the brain damaged but it doesn't affect their numeracy or<br>
their ability to recognise other shapes.<br>
<br>
All this suggest that recognition is not an aspect of numeracy and in<br>
fact concepts such as "recognition" and "numeracy" are our<br>
interpretation of manifestations of the way the brain works, and without<br>
brain science we can only go so far in our thinking about these things.<br>
<br>
I think that this sort of research can be very useful for linguists or<br>
even just language teachers and learners. In designing a BSL course a<br>
while ago, I was planning on teaching three kinds of space:<br>
<br>
o topographic (use of all three dimensions in front
of you)<br>
o cartographic (use of a flat vertical area as an
imaginary<br>
blackboard)<br>
o syntactic (use of an abstract space where placement
gives<br>
grammatical information).<br>
<br>
In brushing up on the literature, however, I discovered that as far as<br>
brain activity went, signing in syntactic space doesn't activate the<br>
visual processing areas of the brain, while signing in topographic space<br>
does.<br>
<br>
While I'm not sure where "cartographic space" lies in this scheme, I<br>
realised that perhaps it would be advisable to teach only topographic<br>
and syntactic space, and let cartographic space disappear into an aspect<br>
of topographic space.<br>
<br>
I then reasoned that since syntactic space involved less brain activity,<br>
learners would find it easier so I should teach it first. In actual<br>
practice I found that it's the other way round: the class found<br>
topographic space much easier to deal with. Maybe it just goes to show<br>
that the human brain is much more comfortable with processing large<br>
amounts of data in three dimensions than things that you'd think were<br>
simpler.<br>
<br>
But the clarity of knowing how the brain actually works with such things<br>
did enable me to focus on real distinctions and I knew exactly what I<br>
had to switch round in order to improve the course.<br>
<br>
By the way Mike, what did you mean by "surrogate space" and so on,
and<br>
what's the significance of these terms? I assume they just correspond to<br>
my topographic and syntactic space, but the terms were interesting.<br>
<span style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);"><br>
Sandy Fleming<br>
<a href="http://scotstext.org/" target="_blank">http://scotstext.org/</a></span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></p>