9/3/08 Warm-up

-One pattern i saw among the Language Investigations (L.I.) was that no one L.I. was alike. Each of the L.I.'s that I read and the one I wrote were all quite different in the way each person interpreted the assignment and wrote of their family's personal sayings. Some had lists, some had stories, others couldn't think of any in particular.

-I feel that the pattern of differences between the L.I.'s reveals that languauge is a different experience for everyone, dependent on the context in which that languauge was taught. For example, no one had the same thing to write about as far as family context went. Each family had their own unique and separate words and phrases that would only make sense in the context of that family. It goes to show just how dependent language is on ones surroundings.

-In terms of language, what it means to be an "insider," is to understand what the majority of a group is talking about. An insider understands all the unique phrases and words and doesn't get lost in context. As far as teaching goes, this makes me wonder how well I can actually get a point across if I attempt to tell a story of lecture that I feel make sense but might not make sense within the context of another's life. It also makes me wonder how dependable group work is if a group is made up of diverse students. I also question students who need to learn another languauge or go to school speaking a different language.