Getting to Know the Unknown Chomsky

          Getting to Know the Unknown Chomsky

Gogswell, D. (1996). Chomsky for beginners. New York, NY: Writers and Readers.

This valuable series of paperback documentary comic books for beginners is ideal for hectic people who would like to readily apprehend the historical and social significance of eminent and distinguished writers and philosophers without having to skim their masterpieces. Black and white illustrations made by Paul Gordon accompany the text enhancing its meaning.

Aptly summarized under catchy headings and subheadings such as Noam WHO? or Can you Believe What you See and Hear?, the book gives a fleeting glance back at Chomsky’s career which  began as a dropout, continued as a linguist and radically changed to his current occupation as an activist political gadfly.

In the introduction, Gogswell (1996) overtly takes an ideological stand by revealing the reason why a large number of people are not acquainted with this remarkable intellectual:

The reason you haven’t heard much about Noam Chomsky (Which by the way, is a demonstration in action of his thesis that the Media manipulates / distorts / withholds information to suit their owners) is because the gentlemen who own the Major Media don’t want you to know about Noam Chomsky (p.3).

After briefly describing Chomsky’s unconventional upbringing, Gogswell (1996) depicts the philosophers he believes might have influenced the linguist’s analytical thinking. “As with any important thinker, Chomsky’s system of ideas rests on the work of many fine thinkers who preceded him” (p.21). Plato, Descartes, Rousseau and Marx are only some of them.

The next chapter briefly describes what the field of linguistics covers, how it has evolved and what Chomsky’s contributions have been. The author contends that the linguist has profited from the characteristics of the science of physics, for example, “[i]t is important to seek explanations and not just descriptions and classifications” (p.53).

Can you Believe What you See and Hear is a comprehensive and thought-provoking account of the Media’s hidden intentions and abuse of power.  The author brings to light the dangers of democracy together with the wrongful use of Propaganda and advices people to use Chomsky’s filters in his so-called Propaganda Model to unveil any distorted news.

Closely connected to the second-to-last chapter, Chomsky on Politics delves deeply into his role as an activist exposing how subsidies, the National Defense, foreign policy and client states, among others really function. It ends by the critic’s blunt words “[y]ou are responsible for the predictable consequences of you actions” (p.139) encouraging people to counterattack.

Gogswell (1996) indulges himself with an interview with Chomsky on current political and world affair issues which is transcribed in the final section of the book. It seems evident that the author shares Chomsky’s ideas and ideals. Had he aimed at producing an objective biography, he should have been more cautious so as not to fall into bias by subtly expressing his opinion.

The layout (index, headings, subheading, font sizes and types, captions, text boxes) has been efficiently organized to better grasp the content; however, it is the illustrations, which are claimed to make understanding easier, that have an interfering effect on some pages. It would have been wiser to include fewer drawings so as not to deviate the readers’ attention.

Cultivated scholars might not appreciate the educational value of this documentary comic book; however, it is successful in its attempt to deploy Chomsky’s unheard arguments awakening intense curiosity. It behooves readers to further research and reflect upon such controversial and often veiled topics.

References

Gogswell, D. (1996). Chomsky for beginners. New York, NY: Writers and Readers.

When Students’ Set of Beliefs Are Overlooked

When Students’ Set of Beliefs Are Overlooked

I have been teaching adult students even before graduating. This year, and upon parents’ insistence, I agreed to form a small group of teenagers at home. I must admit that it had been ages since I last worked with students this age and only the thought of being in the classroom frightened me: no longer would I feel like fish in the water.

By May, my deepest fears had already proved to be well-founded: I knew nothing about adolescents, what they liked, how they learnt, what they talked about, etc. To make matters worse, the sources of wisdom of methodology gurus I had studied at the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) College were nothing but empty words.

Although I tried out numerous techniques, asked for advice and did research on their likes and dislikes, nothing seemed to awaken them from their apathy. Feeling defeated and discouraged, I decided not to take Harmer’s (2007) advice on designing engaging and pertinent material this time (p. 84). Instead, I obediently followed the course book and workbook activities only to discover that students were actively involved in doing them!

Puzzled as I was, I embarked on a fascinating quest to find out what had occurred when it dawned on me that I had failed to ask them, undermining their opinion. As Richards and Lockhart (1996) contend “while learning is the goal of teaching, it is not necessarily the mirror of teaching. Learners, too, bring to learning their own beliefs, goals, attitudes, and decisions, which in turn influence how they approach their learning” (p.52).

To my surprise, when surveyed about what they considered good teaching, students acknowledged they felt comfortable with more traditional and teacher-centred classroom techniques. As a consequence, I have begun to include tasks which meet these preferences. Of course, there is still much research to be done in order to strike a balance between the students’ and my beliefs aiming at a better outcome.

References

Harmer, J. (2009). The practice of English language teaching (4^th ed.). Essex, UK: Pearson Longman.

Richards, J. C., and Lockhart, C. (1996). Reflective teaching in second language classrooms. New York, NY:Cambridge University Press.

How to Overcome a Classroom Nightmare through Talking

How to Overcome a Classroom Nightmare through Talking

Harmer (2007) asserted that “a good primary classroom mixes play and learning in an atmosphere of cheerful and supportive harmony” (p.83). Most methodology writers tend to provide this kind of excellent and professional pieces of advice which sound fairly easy to achieve but hard to follow in real-life scenarios.

However, there I was, just like Mariel (2009), with my lesson minutely planned ready to enter the classroom. I opened the door gingerly and there they were: 12 energetic and boisterous children roaming the classroom. You might wonder whether I managed to do what I had intended to, well, the answer is: How could I with unruly children moving about the room?

Days went by without a more promising outcome until I discussed this growing problem with a colleague of mine who eventually became my mentor. She was an experienced and skilled primary school teacher who willingly began to share some of “her secrets” with me. For instance, she overtly agreed with Cheney (1989) on the fact that students’ behaviour could considerably improve by setting regular classroom routines (as cited in Hoffman Kaser, n.d.).

I gradually began to structure my lessons in such a way that students would know exactly what to expect. At the outset, we would begin singing the weather song followed by the story time and the circle time. Although I hesitated to follow this and other pieces of advice thinking children would be bored, I put them into practice with impressive results.

Little did I know that very first day that it was my behaviour that needed adjustment to bring about other changes in return. Mentoring dialogues (Sempowicz Hudson, 2011) with my peer teacher had proven successful to enhance classroom management practices and therefore, since then, I have continued to deploy and share this powerful technique.

References

Harmer, J. (2009). The practice of English language teaching (4^th ed.). Essex, UK: Pearson Longman.

Hoffman Kaser, C. (n.d.). Series on highly effective practices—Classroom routines. Retrieved October 2011, from http://education.odu.edu/esse/docs/classroomroutines.pdf

Mariel (2009). My first day at kindergarten. Retrieved September 2011, from http://marielv-myeapentries.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-first-teaching-experience-at.html

Sempowicz, T., Hudson P. (2011). Analysing mentoring dialogues for developing a preservice teacher’s classroom management practices. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 36. Retrieved October 2011, from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/

Belonging to a Discourse Community

Belonging to a Discourse Community

Whereas many attempts have been made to define what a discourse community is (Carrol, 1956; Bizzel,1987; James, 1980; Johns, 1988; Herzberg, 1986), Swales’(1990) invaluable set of criteria proves to be an effective tool that helps to “eliminate many of the marginal, blurred and controversial contenders” (p.22). The four articles selected will be analyzed against the six defining characteristics in order to discover whether the authors belong to a discourse community apart from being members of a speech community.

Their common public goal seems to be oriented towards teachers’ reflection upon their practices for further development.

The situated learning discourse community emphasizes the shared nature of reflection through three concepts: situated activity, reflection as a social endeavor, and reflection as a distributed process with distributed content (i.e., the situation, the group, and the artifacts utilized in reflection that permeate this discourse). Reflection is understood as a process that is embedded in everyday activities situated in school cultures that are social in nature, where interactions with others are an important medium in which reflection occurs.  (Hoffman-Kipp, Artiles & Lopez Torres, 2003, p. 3)

The fact that the four articles have been published in journals where membership is required brings another characteristic to light which is having participatory mechanisms of intercommunication where there are writers, editors and readers engaging in empirical and comprehensive studies. Furthermore, members of Community Colleges are encouraged to participate in discourse “by reading and implementing changes at their campuses [, which] is just as important as publishing in keeping the discourse community alive and well” (Kelly-Kleese, 2004, p.8).

Not only are their genres akin, but also field-specific terminology and acronyms are used; for example American Association for Higher Education (AAHE ), National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). According to Kleese (2004), Higher education has a discourse community that governs the university's spoken and written words” (p.2). Giroux (1983) defines language as “a social event that is defined, shaped, and constrained by the culture of the setting in which it is used” (as cited in Kleese, 2001, p.2).

Suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise may be indicated by their shared knowledge and relevance on the subject matter. Most of the authors cited in the articles, together with the topics discussed are likely to be recognized by any educator. As Wenzlaff and Wieseman (2004) contend, “[a] discourse community cannot exist in the absence of a collaborative culture” (p.9).  Cole (1999) also suggests that “culture itself mediates human actions in the sense that it is a system of shared meanings or social inheritances” (as cited in Hoffman-Kipp, Artiles & Torres, 2003, p.5).

Given the fact that the authors seem to meet the defining criteria proposed by Swales by sharing the common goal of critically analyzing the community they are immersed in (and providing clear recommendations), belonging to a network of professionals who share related concerns and publishing their research papers in education journals utilizing genres and vocabulary understood by the academic world they address to, it can be suggested that they do belong to a discourse community.

References

Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A. J., and Lopez Torres, L. (2003). Beyond reflection: teacher learning as praxis. Theory into Practice. Retrieved September 2011, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NQM/is_3_42/ai_108442653

Kelly-Kleese, C. (2001). Editor’s Choice: An Open Memo to Community College Faculty and Administrators. Community College Review. Retrieved September 2011, from

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_29/ai_77481463

Kelly-Kleese, C. (2004). UCLA community college review: community college scholarship and discourse. Community College Review. Retrieved September 2011, from

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_32/ai_n6361541

Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Wenzlaff, T. L., & Wieseman, K. C. (2004). Teachers Need Teachers To Grow. Teacher Education Quarterly. Retrieved September 2011, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3960/is_200404/ai_n9349405

Wise words

"The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium" (Norbet Platt, n.d.).