Defining issues in Ed Ling

[Bob Parks]

I have been pondering the question of what sort of model of language
is required for a truly educational dictionary. Dictionaries are a
source of explanations of meaning, pronunciation, usage, etc. that is
taken by the culture as authoritative.  But children deal with
different languages and sub-languages in the different spheres of
their lives (including pop culture).  And each sphere pulls in a
different direction at sometimes critical points.  The most critical
point of push and pull, of course, is whom should one
believe/trust/model in communicative interactions.  My question to
this list is, "what sort of information would be required in an
"educative" dictionary?"

Bob Parks
Director, Wordsmyth Collaboratory

>In England (and maybe more generally in the UK), the top problem
>from the educational point of view is how to improve writing, and
>especially the writing of boys in years 7-9. Linguistics is welcome
>in educational circles, but our contributions tend to be
>'technical', and especially to do with details of grammar. It would
>be lovely to have a well-developed theory of language and education
>- how language and education shape each other - but we haven't got
>one so the educationists muddle through without us. It would be
>particularly helpful to have empirically-supported theories of:
>a. how explicit instruction influences language skills
>b. progress in the language skills valued by schools (i.e. a
>'roadmap' of development through the school years).
>I've tried to work through some of these issues in an article which
>is due out next spring in the Journal of Linguistics. It's available
>at http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/ed&lgx.htm.
>         Dick Hudson
>
>At 01:54 15/12/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>>I think there is a need for concepts like communicative concepts to be (re)
>>examined and I like Leslie's proposed integrated model of sociolinguistic and
>>cognitive approaches to SLA. However, while these are challenges for the
>>field, it's unclear to me whether these are in the spirit of the "problems"
>>referred to in the quoted material from Spolsky in WPEL 18(2). The
>>investigation of theoretical problems such as these (comm competence etc.)
>>might help to hone and/or strengthen the discipline and perhaps then help to
>>solve real-world problems - problems like the gap between school
>>languages and
>>home languages and ways of improving grammatical accuracy in writing. For me,
>>the quote means that we should begin with a problem that exists in the world
>>and then apply the theoretical tools from fields like linguistics,
>>sociolinguistics, sociology, anthropology, SLA, etc. in an attempt to solve
>>the problem. In educational linguistics, the problems of greatest interest
>>exist in and around formal and informal education. As Hornberger (2001, p.19)
>>says, "The starting point is always the practice of education and
>>the focus is
>>squarely on (the role of) language (in) learning and teaching."
>>Thus, we begin
>>with an educational problem, one that concerns (the role of) language (in)
>>learning and teaching, and look to our theoretical lenses to help solve the
>>problem. My top problem would be the linguistic and cultural hurdles that
>>language minority students face in schools and/or the fostering of
>>multilingual education (policies) in schools. Related to this might be the
>>preservation of minority languages around the world.
>>
>>Perhaps, as Leslie suggests, we have levels of problems, both educational and
>>theoretical. Ideally, by working on the theoretical problems, we are
>>developing better tools to solve the practical problems and perhaps vice
>>versa.
>>
>>
>>Quoting Bernard Spolsky <spolsb at mail.biu.ac.il>:
>>
>>>  For me, I suspect, the "top problem" remains the gap between school
>>>  languages and home languages, and the lack of a theoretical model that can
>>>  form the basis for practical ways of overcoming the language barrier to
>>>  education facing so many pupils.
>>>  Bernard Spolsky   spolsb at mail.biu.ac.il
>>>
>>>  -----Original Message-----
>>  > From: owner-edling at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
>>>  [mailto:owner-edling at ccat.sas.upenn.edu] On Behalf Of Leslie K Harsch
>>>  Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 4:56 AM
>>>  To: edling at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
>>>  Subject: Defining issues in Ed Ling
>>>
>>>
>>>  In a recent issue of Working Papers in Ed Linguistics (18,2), the
>>>  editors mull over proposed definitions of our field:
>>>
>>>  >Spolsky's vision of educational linguistics was
>>>  >that it would be a field of (applied) linguistics, much like educational
>>>  psychology or educational
>>>  >sociology are fields of their disciplines proper, that "start[s] with a
>>>  specific problem and then looks
>>>  >to linguistics and other relevant disciplines for their
>>>contribution to its
>>>  solution" (1978: 2).
>>>  >
>>>  >
>>>  > Following from a recent discussion about definition, I'm drawing up a
>>>  > list of the top "problems" in our field.  When you consider
>>>  > educational linguistics overall, what problems, theoretical or
>>>  > practical, most need to be tackled right now and why?  Is there a
>>>  > pressing need for a basic concept (such as communicative competence)
>>>  > to be re-examined?  What connections urgently need to be made?
>>>  > The following is one example:  I suspect that educational linguistics
>>>  > could benefit from an integrated model of sociolinguistic and
>>>  > cognitive approaches to SLA, not only to refine theory but for the
>>>  > sake of solving specific teaching questions, such as what ways are
>>>  > available to improve the grammatical accuracy of second language
>>>  > students' writing?  One such attempt is proposed by Dwight Atkinson
>>>  > ["Toward a Sociocognitive Approach to Second Language Acquisition."
>>>  > The Modern Language Journal 86 (4): 525-545.]
>>>
>>>
>>>  Leslie
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  >
>>>  >
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>--
>
>
>Richard (= Dick) Hudson
>
>Phonetics and Linguistics, University College London,
>Gower Street, London WC1E  6BT.
>+44(0)20 7679 3152; fax +44(0)20 7383 4108;
>http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/home.htm


--

* Robert Parks - mailto:bobp at clarityconnect.com - Wordsmyth
Collaboratory - (607) 272-2190
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