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Effectiveness of language in communication
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Struggle as I may, I cannot avoid James Berlin’s statement: “To teach writing is to argue for a version of reality” (234). If I’m going to be successful in any academic field, in any language, there are certain conventions that I must follow, but what I say and how I think is inexorably linked to the available resources of any particular convention. For my part, I just can’t escape the confines of the English language. I see this most poignantly when I try to teach a Chinese writer how to cite sources or when I attempt to read a text in translation. To teach writing is to argue for a version of reality, and the best way of knowing and communicating it. . . . All composition teachers are ineluctably operating in this realm, whether or not they consciously choose to do so. (Berlin, 234) The language in which we think, speak and write effects the meanings we are able to construct; it molds our versions of reality. One of the more famous instances of this dynamic at work can be observed in translating Sophocles’ Antigone. There is a word in the first and second lines of the Second Stasimon, popularly referred to as “The Ode to Man,” which brings this issue to the foreground. The word is deinoj [1] (deinos). It is conventionally translated as “wondrous.” Its meaning, however, is far more complex than “wondrous.” If any one word in the English language comes closest to approximating its meaning in the given context, the word is awesome. In Greek, its meaning runs the gamut of terrible, fearful, awful, danger, implying force or power for good or ill, mighty, wondrous, marvelous, strange, passed into that of able, clever, skilful [2]. It is utterly impossible to translate this Greek idea into English without somehow tempe... ... middle of paper ... ...uns on the French word differer, which means both "to differ" and "to defer." The result is differance, which is a misspelling of 'difference.' Since words are only signifiers and have no inherent meaning, there is a distance between the signifier and the signified. The meaning is deferred. And since words are identified by what they are not, their meaning is defined by difference. Hence, differance. When spoken in French, differance sounds no different than difference, a clever subtlety that, again, is lost in the translation. Derrida is no doubt aware that the two words sound the same, a fact which exhibits a weakness in spoken language” (http:65.107.211.207/theory/maslin/Difference_750.htm). Please note that the author didn’t define this term in his paper because the author has taken a decidedly anti-academic-jargon stance in so far as he can never actually stand.
According to Runciman, there are many plausible reasons that students and other people don’t enjoy writing. Evidence, assumptions, and language and tone are the basis for which Runciman makes his argument. Overall, this argument is effective because reliable and well known sources are used in a logical fashion. Also, the assumptions made about the audience are accurate and believable. Runciman used his assumptions wisely when writing his claim and in turn created a compelling, attention capturing argument. The article was written so that students and teachers at any level could understand and easily read it. This argument is interesting, captivating, relevant through its age, and can relate to students and teachers at almost every academic level.
In this article written by David Bartholomae, the author discusses problems basic writers make and about how they must use the discourse (communication style) of the academic community they are writing to, to be an effective writer. Bartholomae believes that “Inventing the University," is being able to assemble and mimic the universities language(5). Which means, if a student wants to be an efficient writer, he or she must be able to speak the language of his or her audience. Bartholomae writes that a common mistake of basic writers is that they don’t use an authoritative voice, and tend to switch into a more passive voice. This could be due to the fact that students have difficulty establishing their mindset or attitude for an audience
Authors Mayher, Lester and Pradl (1983) in their book titled, Learning to Write, Writing to Learn describe writing as a two goal endeavor. First, the only way one can learn to write is by writing. Second, “writing can be a means for learning.” The authors’ views of both goals of writing are not traditional views. Writing serves as an “engaging transaction through which the learner makes her own connections and builds her own meaning.” The addition of the writing standards for science from the Common Core standards mirrors the goals of Mayhner, Lester and Pradl (1983). Writing within the science curriculum allows students to make meaning and learning their own.
During my first semester at the University of Alabama I wrote several essay including a response essay, a rhetorical essay, and annotated bibliography and a research essay. Although these assignments each had different objectives, they were all written to work towards reaching the Student Learning Objectives for English 103 that were provided at the beginning of the semester. This semester I worked to further my skills regarding my ability to employ writing strategies appropriate to each assignment’s purpose, locate assignment-appropriate sources from multiple places, and ethically use source material in academic arguments.
In the Introduction to “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein provide templates designed to help structure academic writing that considers the opponent’s argument. However, some writers have complained such templates “make them all sound the same,” and turns them into “‘writing robots’” (Graff and Birkenstein 10). In turn, Graff and Birkenstein argue that the types of writing templates they offer do not stifle creativity, but actually foster more complex, intelligent writing. As the authors themselves put it, “creativity and originality lie not in the avoidance of established forms, but in the imaginative use of them” (11). Although some people believe otherwise, Graff and Birkenstein insist that a writer’s use of their templates is analogous to musicians’ use of the verse-chorus-verse pattern of songs. Using a pre-established form does not necessarily produce any less original content, as given by the thousands of original songs in the world. In sum, then, their view is that their templates are tools to help a student make more effective arguments.
Many times, high school students are assigned to write essays based on inspirational figures or literature read in class, often requiring the same rhetoric following fastidious rules of English and sprinkling decorative wording across pages. Obeying the formats demanded by teachers is easy enough, but it is not creatively challenging. Author of "What Should Colleges Teach?", Stanley Fish, claims it is to learn the proper ways of composition alone that allows students to flourish; however, I question if it is possible to follow these principles too closely. Can it be so that the curriculum being taught in high schools fail to allow students to realize the potential creativity that can be involved when writing? Instead students are possibly turned
While preparing for one of his college lectures, Dennis Baron, a professor and linguistics at the University of Illinois, began playing with the idea of how writing has changed the world we lived in and materials and tools we use in everyday life. This lecture slowly transitioned into “Should Everybody Write?” An article that has made many wonder if technology has made writing too easy for anyone to use or strengthens a writer's ability to learn and communicate their ideas. Baron uses rhetorical strategies in his article to portray to his audience his positive tone, the contrast and comparison of context and his logical purpose.
Downs, Doug. "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics." Writing About Writing: A College Reader. By Elizabeth A. Wardle. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 520-33, 581-594. Print.
Writing is so much easier when you don’t have a ridiculous amount of guidelines you have to follow. With literary freedom, we are able to express ourselves more than if we have to follow a specific set of rules for every thing we write. This is one downfall for high school English. We have to order our papers in a specific sequence while writing about a topic that is chosen for us. This English composition class changed all of that. We were able to write about anything that related to the given type of essay, which greatly improved our ability to fully immerse ourselves into every paper. This greatly affected my writing thoughts about writing; they changed from hating to write for school to actually enjoying it because I was able to find new things about my self while deepening my knowledge for writing.
As a sophomore in college and majoring in education, this article makes me understand why Herrington wants teachers to see, “the correspondence between the act of learning and the act of writing” (1). Students in today’s generation are in a far more advanced state than when I was in high school. A lot happened in two years, students now are taking tests where the questions are half multiple choice and half short essay questions. As a former student in high school, I never had a teacher who expanded my knowledge in a way that involved writing and with this in mind, neither did my English teacher. There never was that one teacher who took it to the next level for us students; somehow they always stayed in their comfort zones.
In my opinion some individuals, counting myself, is thought that writing is just expressing yourself either by typing or handwriting something to someone and expressing what the person is feeling. I have learned that writing is a thoughtful process, is more than writing what is in your mind. Is thinking beyond what we are reading, is to put my thoughts in order and that everything that I am writing is coherent and have a relationship. One of the challenges that I face every day is trying not to summarize everything in one single sentence or even in a paragraph.
It would be foolish to claim that I have never overanalysed and disregarded conveying ideas and theories properly, in the interest of impressing my reader. Nevertheless, this aspiration indicates there is more to academic writing than simply passing information.
The ability to write well is not a naturally acquired skill; it is usually learned or culturally transmitted as a set of practices in formal instructional settings or other environments. Writing skills must be practiced and learned through experience. Writing also involves composing, which implies the ability either to tell or retell pieces of information in the form of narratives or description, or to transform information into new texts, as in expository or argumentative writing. Perhaps it is best viewed as a continuum of activities that range from the more mechanical or formal aspects of “writing down” on the one end, to the more complex act of composing on the other end (Omaggio Hadley, 1993). It is undoubtedly the act of
Language. It is a sign of who we are and where we come from. As language defines us, so does it unite us, but it can also impose barriers that drive us apart. As our society aggressively pursues globalization, individuals who maintain cultural sensitivity and strive for effective communication despite language barriers will be an increasingly important commodity; individuals who can also pass the gift of adept communication to others will be invaluable. On the eve of my college graduation, the culmination of four years ' immersion in language and communication and the beginning of a lifetime of educating others in these disciplines, I feel increasingly the weight of
Taking a creative writing class was a good way for me to express my thoughts and feelings onto paper, as well as read my other classmates stories. Reading stories created by other people lead me into their mind brain to experience what type of writer they were, it was an overall exquisite class. I believe that every person has a way of expressing who they are through writing stories of their own, fiction is the best way to express your creative imagination. This class that I took for two years helped me become a better writer and helped me understand the types of writers we have.