intuitive labels for verb conjugations

[Alina Israeli]

Yes, but we would like our student to eventually become as eloquent as you
are, despite the initial heavy reliance on the passive knowledge.

>Yes, the student may very well answer correctly that a given verb is either
>"-esh" or "-ish" verb, yet, when asked to conjugate it, s/he might produce
>"-esh", "-et", the whole paradigm beautifully and still come up with "oni
>-iat" in the end. I was arguing rather from the perspective of the end
>result of student learning, whether these classifications are of any help
>in the actual acquisition of the language.
>
>I would even question whether we are not in fact only needlessly burdening
>the student with additional--and possibly useless--information.  It is not
>at all certain that there are universally applicable methods or even
>concepts, or that these categories exist outside of (the largely) Western
>man's insistence on organizing the world into definite and controllable
>categories (postmodernist notions).  We know that these grammatical systems
>exist only because we are taught to think about Russian in these terms, but
>the beginning student does not have such categories in place.  At this day
>and age, are they necessary even? We are on the threshold of
>revolutionizing language learning entirely.  Most of us complain that
>American students are not very good at memorization.  Why continue to force
>them when we now have the technological means (Internet, satellite
>television and audiovisual materials) to expose students to large amounts
>of input of the actual language and culture. It is a fact that all people
>listen and read their native language every day vastly more than they
>speak.  It seems to me that this should be the premise for foreign language
>teaching also.
>
>Katya
>
>
>
>---
>Katya Hirvasaho * Rice University * Houston, Texas

**************************************************************
Alina Israeli
LFS, American University                phone:  (202) 885-2387
4400 Mass. Ave., NW                     fax:    (202) 885-1076
Washington, DC 20016

aisrael at american.edu