Infants learn earlier than thought

Mon Feb 16 06:02:42 UTC 2009

Haven't we heard these ideas before - that poverty is correlated leads to impoverished language - and isn't this exactly what Labov proved was nonsense in the 60's and 70's? Even if we accept that children in more educated households develop more extensive lexicons, you cannot equate "lexicon" with "language"; nor can you claim that a larger lexicon means more complex thinking or language. Hemingway expressed a great deal of complexity with the word "good". Others use arcane language for simple ideas. This myth denigrates the syntactic and pragmatic complexity over which every healthy human brain has command. 

There is probably some interesting stuff going on here that the article is not bringing to light but what I find most perplexing is the direct quote from Kuhl in which she asserts that having an educated family leads to more complex dreams. How do you operationalize "dream complexity"? 

Re: Francis' query: Perhaps these ideas get media coverage because they are aligned with popular, yet incorrect, discourses about language and linguistics. I think Stephen Pinker offers a good example of how to counter such myths. His book, The Language Instinct, dismantles many linguistic myths, including the one alluded to in this article; it's also very entertaining. Maybe the lesson is that you need to be entertaining and good on a show like the Colbert Report (which he was on last week). However, he's not talking about language anymore since he's become interested in the human genome so there's a space to fill. 

David Cassels Johnson
Assitant Professor
Language and Literacy Education
Washington State University

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Infants learn earlier than thought (Francis Hult)
   2. Re: Infants learn earlier than thought (Harold Schiffman)
   3. Re: Infants learn earlier than thought (Nancy Hornberger)
   4. Book: No, they won't 'just sound like each other' (Francis Hult)
   5. Summer Institutes for Language Teachers 7/27-31/2009
      (Francis Hult)
   6. CFP: Language Learning in Computer Mediated Communities
      (LLCMC) Conference (Francis Hult)
   7. Summer Workshops in Arizona for LCTL Instruction (Francis Hult)
   8. 30th Ethnography in Education Research Forum
      (Center for Urban Ethnography)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2009 13:22:17 -0600
From: "Francis Hult" <francis.hult at utsa.edu>
Subject: Re: [Edling] Infants learn earlier than thought
To: <edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu>
Message-ID:
	<A9B2E1D7E2CAE34FB088BEFC63241A4B279546 at diamonddt.UTSARR.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

This sort of misinformation seems like a common thread in many articles about language learning in popular media.  Your comments make me wonder what our responsibility is as researchers and public intellectuals.  What role should we have in educating the public about what we know?  What is the best way to do that?  Could we even have a bigger impact on policy by engaging more with the general public through popular media?  FMH

--
Francis M. Hult, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
University of Texas at San Antonio

Web: http://faculty.coehd.utsa.edu/fhult/

________________________________

From: Nancy Hornberger [mailto:nancyh at gse.upenn.edu]
Sent: Fri 2/6/2009 10:54 AM
To: Francis Hult; edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu
Subject: Re: [Edling] Infants learn earlier than thought

Francis and all -- this turned out to be one of the scarier articles
I've read in recent times!  all sorts of unfounded assertions and leaps
from brain scans (that don't seem to tell us anything we didn't already
know) to recommendations to parents to read to their child (even in
utero), with unsubstantiated stereotypes about welfare, affluence, and
vocabulary development casually thrown into the mix.  Truly alarming to
think that this sort of stuff gets wide attention through the media.  Yikes!
Nhh

Francis Hult wrote on 5 Feb 2009:
> The Seattle Times
>
> 
>
> Infants learn earlier than thought
>
> 
>
> Until recently, humans could safely view their brains as fatty, spongy masses of electrifying wonder. Brains are, in a sense, a secret place no one else can tap into unless we let them; they are our memory banks and central control centers that dictate how we behave and reason and interact with others.
>
> 
>
> But in the past decade, neuroscientists across the world have started to peer into the young brain to determine exactly how we learn. Examining their findings, researchers say that learning starts at birth, and perhaps even earlier.
>
> 
>
> Full story:
>
> http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2008700779_brains03.html
>
> _______________________________________________
> Edling mailing list
> Edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu
> https://lists.sis.utsa.edu/mailman/listinfo/edling
> List Manager: Francis M. Hult
>  

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2009 17:01:56 -0500
From: Harold Schiffman <haroldfs at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Edling] Infants learn earlier than thought
To: Nancy Hornberger <nancyh at gse.upenn.edu>, Edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu
Message-ID:
	<f633526c0902061401l4fe883a1if21da5a89d582e02 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I'm surprised that you're so upset about this Nancy.  Patricia Kuhl is
a reputable scholar
and has been studying early childhood language acquisition for some
time. I knew her
from my time at U. of Washington.  Or are you upset about what the
newspaper report
deduces from her research?

Hal Schiffman

On Fri, Feb 6, 2009 at 11:54 AM, Nancy Hornberger <nancyh at gse.upenn.edu> wrote:
> Francis and all -- this turned out to be one of the scarier articles
> I've read in recent times!  all sorts of unfounded assertions and leaps
> from brain scans (that don't seem to tell us anything we didn't already
> know) to recommendations to parents to read to their child (even in
> utero), with unsubstantiated stereotypes about welfare, affluence, and
> vocabulary development casually thrown into the mix.  Truly alarming to
> think that this sort of stuff gets wide attention through the media.  Yikes!
> Nhh
>
> Francis Hult wrote on 5 Feb 2009:
>> The Seattle Times
>>
>>
>>
>> Infants learn earlier than thought
>>
>>
>>
>> Until recently, humans could safely view their brains as fatty, spongy masses of electrifying wonder. Brains are, in a sense, a secret place no one else can tap into unless we let them; they are our memory banks and central control centers that dictate how we behave and reason and interact with others.
>>
>>
>>
>> But in the past decade, neuroscientists across the world have started to peer into the young brain to determine exactly how we learn. Examining their findings, researchers say that learning starts at birth, and perhaps even earlier.
>>
>>
>>
>> Full story:
>>
>> http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2008700779_brains03.html
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Edling mailing list
>> Edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu
>> https://lists.sis.utsa.edu/mailman/listinfo/edling
>> List Manager: Francis M. Hult
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Edling mailing list
> Edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu
> https://lists.sis.utsa.edu/mailman/listinfo/edling
> List Manager: Francis M. Hult
>

-- 
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

-------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:38:43 -0500
From: Nancy Hornberger <nancyh at gse.upenn.edu>
Subject: Re: [Edling] Infants learn earlier than thought
To: Harold Schiffman <haroldfs at gmail.com>
Cc: Edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu
Message-ID: <498CBBF3.9040606 at gse.upenn.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Hal -- the latter primarily.  I am aware of the research, which troubles 
me for different reasons, but it's the reporting of it and the 
unsubstantiated leaps to direct implications for parents and schools 
that troubles me in this case.
Nancy

Harold Schiffman wrote:
> I'm surprised that you're so upset about this Nancy.  Patricia Kuhl is
> a reputable scholar
> and has been studying early childhood language acquisition for some
> time. I knew her
> from my time at U. of Washington.  Or are you upset about what the
> newspaper report
> deduces from her research?
>
> Hal Schiffman
>
> On Fri, Feb 6, 2009 at 11:54 AM, Nancy Hornberger <nancyh at gse.upenn.edu> wrote:
>   
>> Francis and all -- this turned out to be one of the scarier articles
>> I've read in recent times!  all sorts of unfounded assertions and leaps
>> from brain scans (that don't seem to tell us anything we didn't already
>> know) to recommendations to parents to read to their child (even in
>> utero), with unsubstantiated stereotypes about welfare, affluence, and
>> vocabulary development casually thrown into the mix.  Truly alarming to
>> think that this sort of stuff gets wide attention through the media.  Yikes!
>> Nhh
>>
>> Francis Hult wrote on 5 Feb 2009:
>>     
>>> The Seattle Times
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Infants learn earlier than thought
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Until recently, humans could safely view their brains as fatty, spongy masses of electrifying wonder. Brains are, in a sense, a secret place no one else can tap into unless we let them; they are our memory banks and central control centers that dictate how we behave and reason and interact with others.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> But in the past decade, neuroscientists across the world have started to peer into the young brain to determine exactly how we learn. Examining their findings, researchers say that learning starts at birth, and perhaps even earlier.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Full story:
>>>
>>> http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2008700779_brains03.html
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Edling mailing list
>>> Edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu
>>> https://lists.sis.utsa.edu/mailman/listinfo/edling
>>> List Manager: Francis M. Hult
>>>
>>>       
>> _______________________________________________
>> Edling mailing list
>> Edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu
>> https://lists.sis.utsa.edu/mailman/listinfo/edling
>> List Manager: Francis M. Hult
>>
>>     
>
>
>
>   

-- 
Nancy H. Hornberger, Ph.D.
Professor, University of Pennsylvania

http://www.gse.upenn.edu/~hornberg/
http://www.springer.com/education/language+education/book/978-0-387-32875-1
(Encyclopedia of Language and Education)
http://picasaweb.google.com/nancy.hornberger  

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 08:04:24 -0600
From: "Francis Hult" <francis.hult at utsa.edu>
Subject: [Edling] Book: No, they won't 'just sound like each other'
To: <edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu>
Message-ID:
	<A9B2E1D7E2CAE34FB088BEFC63241A4B279587 at diamonddt.UTSARR.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

<http://www.peterlang.net/index.cfm?vID=58476&vLang=E&vHR=1&vUR=2&vUUR=1> 

No, they won't 'just sound like each other'

NNS-NNS Negotiated Interaction and Attention to Phonological Form on Targeted L2 Pronunciation Tasks

Author: Laura Sicola

Series: 

Duisburger Arbeiten zur Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft
Duisburg Papers on Research in Language and Culture   Vol. 72

Year of Publication: 2009

Book synopsis

Can two non-native speakers (NNSs) work together to improve their L2 pronunciation? This book explores this question by extending task-based learning research into the field of L2 phonology/pronunciation. Three university-level L2 English pronunciation classes performed a two-way, interactive map task balancing communicative value and form essentialness in order to maximize the need to negotiate the target form. Analysis sought to identify processes by which NNSs drew each other's attention to the targeted phoneme through corrective feedback, modified production and other strategies. The influence of task design was also explored. Participants' ability to push each other toward more targetlike control - rather than appropriating each others' non-targetlike productions - provided evidence of steps in adult learners' L2 phonological development, and hold implications for the use of a task-based approach to teaching pronunciation in the L2 classroom.

Contents: Second language acquisition - L2 phonology - Pronunciation - Task-based language teaching/learning -Attention - Negotiation - Corrective feedback - Modification - Nonnative-nonnative interaction - Accent - Intelligibility - Cognitive processing - Output - Pushed output - Explicit/implicit negotiation.

The Author: Laura Sicola, Ph.D., received her doctorate in educational linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (USA). She has taught bilingual elementary school in Los Angeles, high school EFL in Nagoya (Japan), and university-level ESL at the University of Pennsylvania where she currently lectures on approaches and methods in TESOL.

http://www.peterlang.net/index.cfm?vID=58476&vLang=E&vHR=1&vUR=2&vUUR=1 <http://www.peterlang.net/index.cfm?vID=58476&vLang=E&vHR=1&vUR=2&vUUR=1> 

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:14:51 -0600
From: "Francis Hult" <francis.hult at utsa.edu>
Subject: [Edling] Summer Institutes for Language Teachers 7/27-31/2009
To: <edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu>
Message-ID:
	<A9B2E1D7E2CAE34FB088BEFC63241A4B2795BD at diamonddt.UTSARR.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

Via AAAL...

Language and Culture in Sync: Teaching the Pragmatics of a Second Language
July 27-31, 2009, CARLA/University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

A truly daunting challenge for second language learners is to adjust their language use so that it is appropriate for different socio-cultural contexts. How, for example, are learners supposed to address strangers, close friends, or people of higher social status in that culture? While acquiring discourse practices can take learners many years, research has shown that the process can be facilitated through explicit instruction. 

This institute provides practical insights for teachers on how to enhance the learning of pragmatics. Participants will have hands-on opportunities to develop activities and materials for the classroom.

This institute is designed for K-16 ESL and foreign language teachers, material developers, curriculum coordinators, teacher educators, administrators, and researchers.

Testimonials from past participants:
Becoming aware and excited about new aspects of teaching are an important part of our continual development as instructors. The professional quality of the workshop, the ideas and experiences of other participants will definitely result in benefits for my students.

Pragmatics positively encourages successful communication, and successful communication means getting what we want. Isn't that what teachers need to motivate and encourage students and to raise all student's achievements? We need this kind of training!

Presenters:
Noriko Ishihara, PhD, Hosei University, Japan
Andrew D. Cohen, PhD, University of Minnesota (guest speaker)

Readings include:

Ishihara, N., & Cohen, A. D. (in press). Teaching and learning pragmatics: Where language and culture meet. Pearson Education (latest manuscript to be shared with all participants)

More information about this institute is available on the 
CARLA website at: http://www.carla.umn.edu/institutes/2008/pragmatics.pdf <http://www.carla.umn.edu/institutes/2008/pragmatics.pdf>  

Information about registration: http://www.carla.umn.edu/institutes/register.html <http://www.carla.umn.edu/institutes/register.html> 

------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:17:48 -0600
From: "Francis Hult" <francis.hult at utsa.edu>
Subject: [Edling] CFP: Language Learning in Computer Mediated
	Communities	(LLCMC) Conference
To: <edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu>
Message-ID:
	<A9B2E1D7E2CAE34FB088BEFC63241A4B2795BF at diamonddt.UTSARR.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

Via AAAL...

LANGUAGE LEARNING IN COMPUTER MEDIATED COMMUNITIES (LLCMC) CONFERENCE
October 11-13, 2009, Honolulu, Hawaii http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/llcmc/

Once, computers were seen as thinking machines or electronic tutors. Now the
computer has become one of many devices that people use to form virtual
communities of all kinds. In the field of language education, computer
mediated communication (CMC) enables students to interact with one another
free of space and time constraints and to participate in communities of
learning with their counterparts in the target culture. The Language
Learning in Computer Mediated Communities (LLCMC) Conference explores the
use of computers as a medium of communication in language learning
communities.

Conference highlights
        * Keynote talk by Dr. Gilberte Furstenberg (Massachusetts
          Institute of Technology)
        * Special colloquium showcasing online cultural exchanges based at
          the University of Hawaii
        * Optional pre-conference event - CULTURA: Web-based Intercultural
          Exchanges (October 10-11)

We welcome your session proposal submissions in this exciting area.  Use our
convenient online submission form - deadline March 1, 2009.

http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/llcmc/call.html

*************************************************************************
  N           National Foreign Language Resource Center
   F          University of Hawai'i
    L         1859 East-West Road, #106
     R        Honolulu HI 96822
      C       voice: (808) 956-9424, fax: (808) 956-5983
              email: nflrc at hawaii.edu
VISIT OUR WEBSITE!   http://nflrc.hawaii.edu <http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/> 
*************************************************************************

------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:50:44 -0600
From: "Francis Hult" <francis.hult at utsa.edu>
Subject: [Edling] Summer Workshops in Arizona for LCTL Instruction
To: <edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu>
Message-ID:
	<A9B2E1D7E2CAE34FB088BEFC63241A4B2795E5 at diamonddt.UTSARR.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

Via ILR-INFO...

	CERCLL 2009 Summer Workshops on Culture, Language, & Literacy 

	This summer workshop series provides professional development opportunities for k-16 language teachers. June 2-5, 15-16, University of Arizona in Tucson. For workshop and registration details, and to apply online see www.cercll.arizona.edu 

	June 2 and 3: Exploring Universals in the Reading Process (Korean, Japanese, Chinese).

	Presenters: David Yaden, Yetta Goodman and Ken Goodman (University of Arizona)

	June 3: Teaching Portuguese to Spanish-Speaking Learners (L1, L2 and Heritage): A Structured/Enhanced Input Approach.

	Presenter: Ana Carvalho (University of Arizona)

	June 4: Developing Foreign Language Courses Using A Multiple Literacies Approach.

	Presenter: Heather Willis Allen (University of Miami)

	June 5: Technology and Language Instruction: Web 2.0, Social Networking, Interactive Audio and Video Explained!

	Presenters: Garry Forger, Wayne Brent, Justin Lebreck (University of Arizona)

	June 15 and 16: Web 2.0 ? Interactive Technologies in the World Language Classroom.

	Presenter: Karen Philabaum-Maginnis (Tucson Unified School District)

	Registration Fees per day:
	Before May 2: $50 regular/$25 student
	After May 2: $70 regular/$45 student
	Discounts available for attending multiple workshops, see website for details. 

	Register online at: www.cercll.arizona.edu <http://www.cercll.arizona.edu/> 
	Credit cards and checks accepted.
	Checks should be made out to CERCLL.
	Fax: (520) 626-3313

	Address:
	CERCLL, LTC
	The University of Arizona
	1077 N Highland Ave, Rm 337
	Tucson, AZ 85721-0073

------------------------------

Message: 8
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2009 14:27:59 -0500 (EST)
From: Center for Urban  Ethnography <cue at gse.upenn.edu>
Subject: [Edling] 30th Ethnography in Education Research Forum
To: Forum Volunteers <cue at gse.upenn.edu>
Message-ID:
	<1167910975.42998801233948479709.JavaMail.root at zm-mbx-modv.zimbra.upenn.edu>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

Penn?s Center for Urban Ethnography is pleased to announce:

30th Annual Ethnography in Education Research Forum:  Ethnography for Social Justice in Education.

February 27 & 28th 2009 at the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania

Friday Morning Keynote Address - Shirley Brice-Heath, Brown University
Friday Evening Plenary - Kris Guti?rrez, University of California at Los Angeles
Saturday Morning Plenary - Patricia Carini, Prospect Ctr. and Margaret Himley, Syracuse University 
Saturday Evening ? ?A Conversation About Ethnography and Education? with Shirley Brice-Heath, Kris Guti?rrez and Brian Street, King?s College.

Reinventing Anthropology "is for people for whom 'the way things are' is not reason enough for the way things are ? who ask of anthropology what they ask of  themselves ? responsiveness, critical awareness, ethical concern, human relevance, a clear connection between what is to be done and the interests of mankind" (Hymes 1969: 7).

On this 30th anniversary of the Ethnography in Education Research Forum, we reflect on Dell Hymes' vision of anthropology in the service of social justice.  In his prolific and powerful writings, and in his leadership of Penn's Graduate School of Education, Hymes proposed not only a vision but a set of ways of doing ethnography in education ? from ethnographic monitoring and the ethnography of communication to the ethnopoetics of oral narratives and the ethnography of language policy-- that have inspired and informed researchers for a generation and more.  In this year's Forum, we hope to explore the myriad uses educational ethnographers are making of these and other ways of working to change schooling and education for the better, in  the ongoing project of reinventing anthropology.

Free admission to Philadelphia School Employees and UPenn Students, Faculty and Staff.

For registration information: www.upenn.edu/cue/forum      

------------------------------

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End of Edling Digest, Vol 17, Issue 3
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