Personal Reflection About Language

From learning about language this week I discovered one of the major changes to the human mind, culture and language was when spatial metaphors were developed (Gee & Hayes, 2011). This required the words to have both a physical and abstract or mental meaning. For example, the word ‘moved’ can be seen as a physical meaning when saying “I moved the book” (Gee & Hayes, 2011). This compared to a mental interpretation if expressing “that book moved me”.

Another important point from my learning about language this week comes from the reading Gee & Hayes 2011 in which they talk about the history of language and that 'all human languages share basic design properties ' (Chomsky 1957, 1986; Comrie 1981; Greenberg 1978, p.7). All have vowels, consonants, syllables, nouns, verbs,

However, after using the Writer’s Diet tool diagnostic, I was worried to learn that my first attempt had been labelled a “heart attack”. It pointed out errors such as “waste words” (Eg this, that, there), as well as my verb count being too high. Researching my errors through textbooks and sites such as Paper Rater (http://www.paperrater.com/) gave me a more in depth look at being able to readjust my writing techniques. Through these sites, I was able to realise the importance of drafting, reviewing and editing to produce a more academic style of writing.

I am aware that my writing abilities may not always be correct or suitable, and this is becoming quite obvious the more I research and point out my own flaws. Writers Diet provided me with a brief analysis of the areas that I should focus on to improve. However, after scoring fairly well on nearly all aspects assessed, my only major problem was with “waste words” and my verb count. Through this entire unit so far, including the research done to reflect on my personal writing abilities, I am able to identify areas to improve upon and discover strategies to do