Sunday, October 12, 2014

Caroline, Melody, AB, Steve & Marty Discussion questions for 10/16

1.     After reading “At Last: The Meaning in Grammar,” I couldn’t help but wonder what functional grammar looks like in practice (Schleppegrell, 2007). Schleppegrell lists many benefits in using functional grammar, but I would have gotten more from the article if it were modeled for me or described in a scenario. How do you feel about this article? Do you have a clear picture of what this means to us as urban educators?  

2.     “When we lose a language, says David Harrison of the Living Tongues Institute in Oregon, we lose centuries of human thinking about time, seasons, sea creatures, reindeer, edible flowers, mathematics, landscapes, myths, music, the unknown, and the everyday.” 

This quote really stood out to me, especially after writing our language autobiographies. Language is so powerful and the mere thought of a language going extinct is unimaginable to me. However, this only reinforces the hierarchical element of language. For instance, English is such a popular and dominant language around the world that it would never become extinct, which leads me to wonder what makes a language like, Ojibwe, susceptible to extinction?  

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