What do languages have in common?
Language is endlessly variable. Each of us can come up with an infinite number of sentences in our native language, and we’re able to do so from an early age— almost as soon as we start to communicate in sentences. How is this possible? In the early 1950s, Noam Chomsky proposed a theory that the key to this versatility was grammar. Cameron Morin details Chomsky’s theory of universal grammar. How do the scholars’ views nowadays?
Here’s an interesting video.
How do our brains process language?
The average 20-year-old knows between 27,000 and 52,000 different words. Spoken out loud, most of these words last less than a second. With every word, the brain has a quick decision to make: which of those thousands of options matches the signal? And about 98% of the time, the brain chooses the correct word. How is this possible? Gareth Gaskell digs into the complexities of speech comprehension.
Now, let’s watch this video!
Are you technically fit to parent?
The most rewarding point to be a parent is to mentoring, guiding your child. However, how do you parent, not govern in a digital way? Kids might be cyber-bullied. There is a huge digital gap existed between parents and kids. If we don’t bridge the gap, our kids will be alienated from us, and the technology gap will expand over time. Nowadays, kids are digital natives. They don’t think technology is a tool because they naturally grow in this environment. On the other hand, we are digital tourists who migrate. Therefore, how to govern, enable, and parent becomes critical issues. We have to adapt, change, and make struggles, but they will be worth it.
Michael Fey offers practical advice for parents to close the digital divide between them and their children to help ensure the whole family has a healthy interaction discovering and enjoying the latest technologies.
The world of education is very interested in ideas around diversity, equity, inclusion, and decolonizing the curriculum right now and International education is no exception.
If diversity means including other viewpoints and perspectives, and representation from groups other than the majority, then this surely includes linguistic diversity as well. If we are striving for educational equity, then we need to be considering equitable access to learning and assessment for our language learner students as a priority. If inclusion is a goal we are working towards, then surely we should be considering inclusive language practices. And surely there is no better route to decolonising the curricula of international schools than to set local and student languages in parity alongside the colonial language that is English.
Article 30 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children have ‘the right to enjoy their own culture, practice their own religion and use their own language’, yet many children are denied the right to use their own language, or are even punished for using their own language in their schools. This is often framed from a position of privilege; children in international schools are by and large from educated and well-off families and are considered ‘lucky’ to have the opportunity to go to school in English. When we frame something through this lens, we neglect to consider what children may be sacrificing for this opportunity, which for some (potentially many) is fluency and literacy in their own language.
True inclusion happens when children are given the support they need to understand and access learning. The most straightforward route to ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion for languages in our schools is to develop a multilingual approach to learning, where languages are used as resources to enhance learning opportunities for all students.
Since I just finished my psychology final paper, here’s something interesting!
As a teacher, I was often asked or interviewed about my teaching philosophy and why I want to become a teacher. I always think a teacher is a guide, a facilitator who helps students to explore through their learning journey. The partnership between a teacher and students is not replaceable because they are in the same boat. In my opinion, I agree more with Vygotsky’s perspective but not against Piaget. In addition, the reason I agree with Vygotsky more is I think that language is essential for cognitive development and cultural factors play critical roles in thinking development. Besides, I think cooperative learning is essential during cognitive development. Last, I don’t think that Piaget experimented with his own children is ethical. Instead, I think it was cruel.
Next, I wanna share two quotes I saw on the Internet earlier today.
“Don’t try so hard, the best things come when you least expect them to.”- Tagore
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to TRUST that dots will somehow connect in your future. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.”-Steve Jobs
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lvIV1QlK2E]