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Week 1: What is language?

o   ‘’Language is the dress of thought. ~Samuel Johnson’’

o   ‘’I personally believe we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain. ~Jane Wagner’’

o   ‘’If you can speak three languages you're trilingual. If you can speak two languages you're bilingual. If you can speak only one language you're an American. ~Author Unknown’’

I picked a couple of quotes that I like. I like them because for example the first quote has a deeper meaning then what it represents. Language can literally be a ‘look’. If someone swears a lot and uses undeveloped language it will represent them in such a different way then when someone tries to expand their vocabulary and talks in a neat manner. A person can get his or her message across simply by using a few powerful words. I find the second quote mostly funny but I believe there is honesty in there too. People tend to have the urge to complain. Even the most positive people. Sometimes complaining is a way to start a conversation: ‘terrible weather today isn’t it?.’ The third quote made me think a bit longer. I was wondering, why would you be an American? Then I realized that Americans rarely have to speak or learn a different language. Because why would they? English is the second language of so many countries and people assume that everyone knows how to talk in English. Which actually is a pity because this would mean that people with English as a first language hardly ever learn a second language.

 My definition of language is freedom. Language can get you everywhere. Language can be expressive, language can be beautiful, language can be frustrating and it can also be dangerous. There is no freedom of speech in some countries. You can affect someone with language by disappointing them or by exciting them. I notice this in my own speaking a lot of times. If you use the wrong words, it can make a sentence sound harsh. If you know little of someone’s culture, your words can be disrespectful while this is not your intention at all. But if you try to educate yourself and learn from your mistakes, you can use your words for many purposes. I have learned this myself and will keep learning. Although, we do not need to use only words. Language can also be physical. For example, if you try to talk to someone in a different country, a lot of gestures are well known. Such as making a gesture for eating.

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Week 1: Learning a language.

Learning a new language is a lot of work and requires time. The process can be so overwhelming that some people stop the learning process early on. But mastering another language can open up a lot of opportunities. You can communicate with more people, learn about other cultures and there are more job opportunities. The internet offers many tools. There are apps and sites where you can create a ‘dating profile’ but it is not for dating. You can find people that already know the language you want to learn. They can help you and in exchange you can maybe help them with a language. Even though there are many, many tools, a person learning a language should be very eagerness to learn. The person needs to keep working on improvement, such as intonation, vocabulary, synonyms, grammar rules etcetera. It would make the learning process easier and more fluid though if there is a possibility to insert the information learned into relevant situations. I strongly believe that a person should learn a language actively but also subconsciously. It would be great if the person learning the language, is living or visiting the specific country. This makes the learning process more fun and broad.

In my opinion, it is possible to learn a language. You acquire your mother language, but a second language requires a active learning attitude. When you already acquire a language, it is much easier to learn. You compare words and grammar to your own language. For example, it be easier to learn words and synonyms. My sister is currently busy with learning French, she lived in Brussels and goes to Paris often. She started her language process with books and assingments. She quickly started to find only French pals. They help each other with the learning of the language and also have a lot of fun which keeps her motivated.

Language learning refers to learning about a language, mainly its structure. It is mostly an intellectual task. Language acquisition means somehow absorbing a focus on language's sound system and structure, ideally without ever thinking explicitly about the language's actual system. A language can be learned by using different cognitive strategies to sort out information. Strategies include awareness, memory, focused attention, thought processes and stimulating cognitive activities. Education has the main and most important influence in developing language use from generation to generation. It pushes the basic linguistic society formed at home by supposedly increasing vocabulary, teaching modern language rules, and by providing opportunities to develop and apply learned language skills.

When you understand a language, the effectiveness is so great that human brain is able to accurately identify words and whole phrases from a noisy background. This power of analysis brings to minds the great similarity between the brain and powerful supercomputers. structure.

Sources:

 https://www.summerlanguageacademy.com/blog/language-learning

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-05293-9_3

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_is_language_acquired

http://general-psychology.weebly.com/how-do-we-acquire-and-develop-language.html

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Week 1: Creativity .

There are many opinions about this and I am not sure where I stand but I do believe that everything is possible if you put effort into it. In order for someone to express their creativity, they should practice what they like. A lot of people actually do not know what they like so they just do something. For example, during the quarantine people started to get really creative because there is nothing else to do. So people started roller skating, people started painting and a whole lot of people started building. New swing sets are being build and online shops are extremely busy. This makes me believe that everyone can definitely be creative but some people need a motivation. There are also a lot of people who are daily creative and are very capable of expressing their way of thinking and accomplishing tasks while others have more difficulty. I do think that some people are more expressive than others but everyone can learn to be more creative.

 Creativity is a thought process. You can learn different strategies, replicate copy the work of others or try to reflect someone’s work, but this does not mean that someone is creative since the thought process is not impacted. When creativity doesn’t flow naturally, someone can try to understand creativity through ideas. For example by looking at the internet, sites such as Tumblr and Pinterest are highly popular. Understanding is the first step but the creative process can only be changed through acquiring the information and how to apply it.

 Sources:

https://generalassemb.ly/blog/can-you-learn-creativity/

https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/can-learn-creative/

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If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.

Nelson Mandela

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Week 2: origin of language.

Language developed for communication, to facilitate learning the use of tools and weapons, to plan hunting and defense, to develop a "theory of mind" and the tools of thought, and to attract and keep a mate. The adaptations required took place over many millions of years. If one were to come up with only one, solid answer to the question where language originated from, it would have to be the need to communicate. We want to spread thoughts, ideas, and beliefs with the world. Some people want to communicate what they know onto others with such eagerness that they become teachers, lecturers or professors. 

However, only the truly passionate ones will study the usage of language and philosophy of teaching in order to be as sufficient as possible in front of a group of people. Everybody responds differently to certain language and words and it’s important to realize this before attempting to teach someone else. I do find it important myself to be clear and communicative. For pupils, a good base is very important. I would want my lessons to have a clear structure and build up of language. Starting with the basic grammar rules and simple vocabulary, building up to analyzing poems and thinking thoroughly when reading news articles.

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Week 2: Thought language.

I speak Dutch, English and Kurdish. I am raised with the Kurdish language which is a very uncommon language itself, especially the dialect we speak in. But my thoughts have been Dutch for as long as I can remember. I speak and think Dutch. At home, the switch is made smoothly but the older I have gotten, the more I mix the languages. I lose vocabulary in one and gain vocabulary in the other. The switching between these languages comes very naturally to me and I usually don’t even notice it happening. But sometimes I need a little bit more time to formulate a correct sentence, especially when I am nervous. I feel like all the grammar and words from all languages mix and I need a minute to think about the language that I am going to talk in. Whereas this never happens if I speak the same language for a couple of hours or days. My thinking goes faster than speaking, I know this for a fact because I already know the meaning and purpose of the thoughts or sentences. I can formulate entire sentences and stories in my head in a second but speaking often needs more time. I often stumble over my words when I speak too quickly.

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Week 2: Dreams.

Personally, I dream in both image and sounds. I usually dream only in Dutch or sometimes in English. My dreams are usually a processing of what has happened throughout the day or an image of what I think the next day will be like. I only dream about the following day when I am nervous for example for my traineeship. People who were born blind have no understanding of how to see in their waking lives, so they can't see in their dreams. But most blind people lose their sight later in life and can dream visually. Danish research, in 2014, found that as time passes, a blind person is less likely to dream in pictures.

Sources:

https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/evolution/language-evolve.htm

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-ouch-28853788

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Week 3: Dream language.

Evaluating my answer to the question asked in assignment 2.3, I’ve found that my personal answers line up with the information given in the text. I believe that our minds are bigger, smarter and more advanced than what we think of it. I do think this is something really difficult to research and try to understand because no one is the same and no minds think alike. All we can do is theorize on how our mind works by listening to other people and create accusations.

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Week 3:  What is Language Awareness?

Language awareness is important to me as a teacher because a teacher can have a great impact on pupils. When a teacher is aware and conscious with regards to the language he or she is teaching, they become more sufficient in expressing the information onto their pupils. This is why I need to use language carefully and precisely in my profession. Additionally, it helps me manage the problems that occur in the language-using process and makes me aware of the pitfalls my pupils could have and mistakes they could make when learning a second language. When I am more aware of language, my ability to reach higher levels of understanding and use of a language grow, which will improve my ability to explain the use of language to my pupils. My goal is to practice what you preach.

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Week 4: Language in theory.

The reading approach:

This approach is meant for the people who only use a second language to read, maybe for school. They do not need to speak the language or learn more about it. Reading skills are the main focus, then knowledge of the history of the languages country and the country itself. Vocabulary and the grammar needed for reading are taught, while there is minimal attention for pronunciation or speaking since this will probably not be needed. Exercises are all about learning new words and translating to test if the pupils understand the text.

 The direct approach:

In this approach the native language is hardly ever used. Lessons largely start with a conversation in the second language and exercises are mostly questions based on the conversation. Grammar is taught through practice and experience. Reading is largely done for fun.

 The immersive method:

With this method, the aim is to provide a fully immersive experience, meaning the course is taught in the second language and the focus is not on learning a language using subjects, but rather learning a language to understand the subjects.

 The communicative approach:

Lessons are mainly focussed on communication, both in speaking and in writing. Vocabulary is taught in context, to make the pupils understand the words better. Pupils are allowed to speak in their first language, second language or a combination of them.

 The audiolingual method:

This method is based on habits. New skills are taught by repeating and memorizing them so they become a habit. Skills are taught in the following order: listening, speaking, reading and writing. New words are only taught in perspective and many tools are used during the lessons. Pronunciation plays a big role in this method. The teacher is allowed to speak in the first language, but pupils should talk in their second language only.

 The grammar-translation approach:

This is the oldest approach and has been used in teaching Greek and Latin. Classes are taught in the pupil’s mother tongue, with little use of the second language. Grammar lessons are always provided and vocabulary is taught with the help of wordlists. Exercises are usually translating sentences from the pupil’s second language to their first language or the other way around, with little to no attention for pronunciation. Pupils are offered difficult reading texts.

  Sources:

http://moramodules.com/ALMMethods.htm

http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/ALMMethods.htm

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator/foreign-language-teaching-methodology/

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator/foreign-language-teaching-methodology/

http://www.englishclub.com/tefl-articles/historyenglish-language-teaching.htm

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Week 4: Personal Experience .

I was taught English in secondary school with the use of the grammar translation approach and the reading approach. I hardly remember any of the assignment except for some movies and books. My school used the materials provided by “Stepping Stones”, and I never found the assignments successful but this could be different for someone else. The book is very chaotic and it is mostly focused on remembering more than understanding. I do not relate my basics of English to secondary school. If I think back about learning Dutch, I only remember a few things. I remember being taught Kurdish at home and Dutch at kinder garden at school. I do not remember myself being aware of the language and thinking that I am something new. I probably did then but I cannot remember this now. What I do remember is that I was scared and shy a lot, I did not know how to express myself and was rather quiet instead of sticking up for myself. When learning Kurdish, everything went smoothly because it was the language that I heard day in and day out. But by the time that I grew older, I started wondering about the language. My and my sister talk about it a lot, the grammar in our language is to us inexplainable, the words sometimes are weird conjunctions and most of the time we understand everything but have no idea how to translate it. Most of the words I know are simply because of repetition. I hear many words in certain context and remember it. I never actually learned the language via a book but my mom did read many, many stories in Kurdish before my bed time early on. If I think about how I was learned French and German in school, it reminds me of English. The methods are very much alike. All languages were taught in the same manner, books similar to stepping stones. Very much the same assignments. The methods were not focused on improving and actual learning but more on test results and correct assignment answers.  

English is taught in a certain way for a long period. This period has never been updated or improved. Many students are still being taught languages with these methods. Pupils need new updated materials, created by people that understand how a language is learned. I think that the new generation of teacher can impact pupils and study books greatly. They can have a fresh image on how a language is learned and provide books or lessons with their knowledge.

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Week 5: Teaching Language.

My personal experiences with the grammar-translation approach were unsatisfactory. I think that my starting point was never good, I was taught grammar to prepare for a test or just because we had to know but I never fully understand the grammar rules. Even today I still struggle with grammar because of this. I do not know simple rules because the teaching method was outdated. I would like to focus on different approach of teaching English as a second language and use a combination of the communicative approach and the direct approach. These approaches are mostly focused on language usage, pronunciation and teaching through context. Education today is just preparing for a test, especially in secondary school. Pupils are not being pushed to be a better version of themselves. They have to work hard to know all the rules in a short period of time to get a good result. Ending up in them forgetting the vocabulary or grammar in a short time. I want to give my pupils the knowledge of why it is good to learn a second language and prepare them for what can come in life. What I like about these methods is that you learn them by context and experience, which can create a fun lesson. You won’t need the book that often and can teach with the help of games or more. Learning by trial and error helps the pupils remember the subject matter more easily and encourages them to work harder. and learning new vocabulary in context helps them form links to the knowledge they already have and the new information. They also learn that making mistakes is normal and essential for growth, instead of thinking they should be treated like their results. Since these approaches focus on communication, enunciation is an important aspect of the lessons. This can be tackled by talking in the language, a language is said to be learned better when you talk in the language, even if you are not that advanced yet.

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Personal research.

The effect of insensitive language on Instagram.

Group dynamics in real life.

Language and communication is a big aspect on the social media platform Instagram. There is a lot of controversy with regards to control. Many hateful comments slip through but there is also difficulty with expressing yourself. Since the social media platform is so big, there is a bigger area to reach. Most people do not think about this when they are posting something. Especially for celebrities and A-listers, the comments under a picture can be extreme. Many people respond to not only the picture but also comments that other people have made, often resulting in hateful or insensitive language. Some people say that everyone is too sensitive and can’t handle a joke or that women should accept jokes and not be so feminist.

A group may disagree within itself as to what is acceptable and what is not. Many seemingly inoffensive terms develop negative meanings over time and become dated or go out of style as awareness changes. A "within the group" rule often applies, which allows a member of a group to use terms freely that would be considered offensive if used by a non-member of the group.

What is considered acceptable shifts constantly as people become more aware of language and its power. The rapid changes of the last few decades have left many people puzzled and afraid of unintentionally insulting someone. At the same time, these changes have angered others, who criticize what they see as extremes of ‘political correctness’ in rules that alter language to the point of confusing, even destroying, its meaning. The neglect of traditional usages has also upset many people. It is true that some are more extreme attempts to avoid offending language. It is also true that heightened sensitivity in language is a statement of respect, implies accuracy of thought, and is a positive move toward correcting the unequal social status between one group and another.

What are examples of insensitive language on Instagram?

Sexism

Sexism is the most difficult subject to avoid, in part because of the agreement of using man or men and he or his to refer to people of either sex. Other, more disrespectful principles include giving descriptions of women in terms of age and appearance while describing men in terms of accomplishment.

Sexual Orientation

The term homosexual to describe a man or woman is increasingly replaced by the terms gay for men and lesbian for women. Homosexual as a noun is sometimes used only in reference to a male. Among homosexuals, certain terms (such as queer and dyke) that are usually considered offensive have been gaining currency in recent years. However, it is still prudent to avoid these terms in standard contexts.

Avoiding Depersonalization of Persons with Disabilities or Illnesses Terminology that emphasizes the person rather than the disability is generally preferred. Handicap is used to refer to the environmental barrier that affects the person. (Stairs handicap a person who uses a wheelchair.) While words such as crazy, demented, and insane are used in facetious or informal contexts, these terms are not used to describe people with clinical diagnoses of mental illness. The synonyms argued, differently abled, and special are preferred by some people, but are often ridiculed and are best avoided.

What is insensitive language?

Language isn’t correct or incorrect, it’s a range from violent to freedom. Language is not about being correct or avoiding offense. It’s about creating the opportunity for perspectives that have historically been silenced to shine. It’s about empowerment, and agency, and collective care. It’s about liberation.

The idea that avoiding “offending” people is the primary goal of sensitive language is inherently minimizing—it automatically calls up the idea that being offended is a result of being either overcritical or oversensitive, nothing more. It also squarely puts the burden of how language is experienced on the people who are hearing or reading it. It says that if you are offended by particular language, it’s your fault, not the speaker or author’s.

Focusing on offense does not allow for the possibility that a person could be negatively impacted by careless or hostile language. The worst thing they can experience is being offended. Everything about this line of reasoning is rude in nature. The solution for “being offended” is not for responsibility to be taken by the person who caused the offense, it’s for the listening or reader to simply stop being offended: “toughen up,” recognize that no offense was intended, “grow up.” Whenever someone is called out for using sexist language, the first line of defense is always “but it was just a joke”.

So if someone asks two women, “So, who’s the man in your relationship?” those words build on a century of oppressive language that has kept non-heterosexual people downgraded. The two women might react with anger, frustration, tears or silence. Are they offended? Sure, but that’s not the point. The point is they’ve been hurt, and their pain has deep roots.

Perhaps the person didn’t mean to hurt anyone. After all, many people who ask that question are trying to be insulting, but many others are genuinely curious and have no idea how gender roles play out in same-sex relationships.

With regards to insensitive language, I have had many experiences. I often feel offended myself, I am a very sensitive person and can be offended really easily. Not with regards to sexism but mostly with the way that a person talks to me. Their words or sentences may not be meant insensitive but to me it can sound harsh or direct. If someone answers my question in a harsh matter, I can wonder about this all day and try to figure out the reason for this. With this being said, I am also a person that regularly makes mistakes and usually accidently hurt someone with my remarks. If I make a joke that is not suitable or a question that is misplaces, I definitely get a offended reaction back. This is why I know that I think faster than that I speak. My mind has already made a remark and said it while afterwards I am shocked myself.

Why are these comments even made?

Given so many people loudly object to offensive language, why do people continue to speak this way?

There is a research a women undertook with her colleague: 

’’In a study I undertook with a colleague, we asked men to select a joke from a series of pairs that included a clearly sexist joke (such as, “What is the difference between a battery and a woman? A battery has a positive side”) and a joke that was not specifically offensive to women (such as, “Why don’t oysters give to charity? Because they’re shellfish”).

The male participants believe they were interacting over a computer with two other students, one male and one female. In reality, the students they were interacting with were computer-generated, and we altered the reactions these fake peers had to the sexist jokes to see if this influenced how many sexist jokes the participants would choose to send.

The male participants were not influenced by whether or not a woman objected to sexist jokes. They were, however, highly sensitive to how they thought another man would react to them, reducing their use of sexist jokes if they thought a man would be object.

What these results show is these jokes appear to have a “male bonding” function – that, primarily, men make such jokes typically to impress other men. Other research has suggested a similar function for homophobic slurs.

Most likely, making jokes about women or using homophobic slurs work to enhance (straight) male bonding because women and gay men represent the “other”; they are what social psychologists refer to as “out-groups” relative to a heterosexual male “in-group”.’’

Result:

These results surprised me very much actually. I did think that people are ‘followers’ and tend to follow up on someone’s opinion even when they think differently, but I did not think of insensitive language as a bonding tool. I usually think of insensitive language as a way of seeking attention. This research defines my opinion even more.

 The effect of insensitive language on Instagram.

 Photo-based activity on Instagram has been found as contributing to body image concerns. There are many studies that investigate the effect of number of likes accompanying Instagram images on women's own body dissatisfaction.

’’Participants in a recent studies were 220 female undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to view a set of the thin ideal or average images paired with a low or high number of likes presented in an Instagram frame. Results showed that exposure to thin-ideal images led to greater body and facial dissatisfaction than average images. While the number of likes had no effect on body dissatisfaction or appearance comparison, it had a positive effect on facial dissatisfaction. These effects were not moderated by Instagram’s involvement, but greater investment in Instagram’s likes was associated with more appearance comparison and facial dissatisfaction. The results demonstrate how the outstandingly social aspects of social media such as likes can affect someone’s body image.’’

Among young people, the rates of anxiety and depression have escalated rapidly over the past 25 years, increasing by 70 percent. Researchers have reason to believe social media has played a part in this increase. Heavy social media users have been found to report poor mental health. While all social networks appear to have a negative impact on users’ body image, body image issues are particularly frequent on Instagram, which is said to be used mainly by women and has a younger age demographic, 90 percent of Instagram users are under 35. Photos uploaded to Instagram present an unrealistic perfect image, as countless photos are thoroughly chosen and photoshopped to hide any flaws.

This is not only with regards to only likes or only women. Positive appearance comments on Instagram photos lead to greater body dissatisfaction. These comments can negatively impact body image and sleep, increases bullying, “FOMO” (fear of missing out), and leads to greater feelings of anxiety, depression, and loneliness. The positive effects of Instagram can be self-expression, self-identity, community building, and emotional support. Although many people love the app and see no harm. There is a very big hidden world. Celebrities or influencers are sharing their opinion more then ever. Many feel depressed, lonely or insecure. Their life is not as picture perfect as it seems to be. They feel left out (FOMO) when they cannot attend a party and many teenagers relate to this. Though there's nothing essentially dangerous about Instagram, the main scares are mean behavior among peers, inappropriate photos or videos that can hurt a teen's reputation or attract the wrong kind of attention, overuse, and of course, privacy.

I notice this behavior and actually relate to it myself. I, fortunately, do not receive rude or insensitive comments but I do feel miserable or lonely more often when I use Instagram.

Thankfully now Instagram users can control who can comment on their photos and videos. They can choose to: allow comments from everyone, people they follow and those people’s followers, just the people they follow, or their followers. Instagram users can also remove comments entirely from their posts. Instagram also has controls that help you manage the content you see and determine when comments are offensive or intended to bully or harass. There are filters that automatically remove offensive words and phrases and bullying comments.

Sources:

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Effect-of-Instagram-on-Self-Esteem-and-Life-Dion/5b94ce76bd38768e5d406faca4c16ae34ab5dd49

 https://www.hffmcsd.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=211&dataid=868&FileName=avoiding%20insensitive%20and%20offensive%20language1.pdf

 https://radicalcopyeditor.com/2016/10/24/part-5-put-political-correctness-back-where-it-belongs/

 https://theconversation.com/its-just-a-joke-the-subtle-effects-of-offensive-language-62440

 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326580674_The_effect_of_Instagram_likes_on_women's_social_comparison_and_body_dissatisfaction

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1740144518301360

 https://www.psychalive.org/worst-mental-health-instagram-facebook-youtube/

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[shaddxo]

Language Myths.

Myth 1.

Language is a progress that keeps changing and growing but a lot of people do not want this. They fight against it because their believe is different. They believe that by changing the meaning of words over time, fundamental aspects of a language will be lost. For example, via ‘slang’ language. It is highly important to keep a languages fundamental grounds and beliefs but there should not be fear. Language is supposed to grow and certain changes are made for the better. There will hardly be any big changes that changes the entire languages. There should only be changes that end up being beneficial.

 Myth 2

Some people believe some languages to be mediocre to others for many reasons. It is said that some languages are not good enough, because they don’t fulfil a wide range of functions and are seen as incapable of doing so. Additionally, many languages have a very different structure from English but this does not mean that the language does not have his own logic. No language should be seen as a ‘lower’ language. Some languages are more broad and suited for academics or research but the most important factor for language is communication.

Myth 3

 The media has been widely criticized as linguistic criminals and of paying insufficient attention to language details. Such as grammar usage, vocabulary, and intonation. However the opposite is true. The media are linguistic mirrors. They reflect current usage of the language and extend its range. Language changes all the time making this unavoidable. The English, language, like any other language, maintains its own forms and keeps itself organized. We do not have to fear that the language is being ruined, since the changes only happen due to people using new forms. Change does not equal ruin.

 Myth 5

If you know how an English word is pronounced and what the meaning is, you should be able to write it down without much trouble. Sadly that isn’t the case with many English words, meaning the writing system may be at fault. The reason why many people struggle with certain English words is simply because many words have hidden features such as vowel indicating by using a single or double consonant or silent letters indicating the relations between words and word units.

 I do not think that the English spelling is catastrophic, but it is much harder than it needs to be. Many letters have multiple ways of pronunciation and some words have silent letters which have no specific meaning and are therefore unusable. Even though this is the case, this system is needed since there are many different accents and dialects.

 Myth 8

 Many people complain about the language being in decline and claim this is due to the younger generations, because ‘millennials’ are to blame in the misuse of the language. But actually, the modern world requires a much higher level of useful knowledge than in the past. Moreover, there is no proof that the old teaching tactics were better than the new ones. Actually, slow learners and dyslexic children used to be discriminated when these tactics were used, whereas nowadays children get much more time, tools and help.

 Myth 10

 Grammar: rules which the speakers of the language follow when they speak. This means a language needs rules to have grammar. Without rules there is no grammar and without grammar there is no language. Every language has rules. Many people think that they know what grammar is and base their opinion upon that. 

Most people only focus on certain aspects of grammar, for example the structure of sentences, if they cannot explain this or understand it people will usually say that there is no or little grammar. A language without grammar is impossible because there aren’t any rules. Sentences can be made freely and this would create a mess.

 Myth 11

 Many people find certain languages more beautiful than others, almost everyone is even convinced that this is a factual matter. However, it definitely isn’t. It is more of a belief. Beauty can be someone’s opinion, it is not a fact or research making it impossible to conclude that one language is uglier or prettier than another. When people think of the languages Italian, Spanish and French,  people make the association with nice food, summer, adventures and pretty views. The sound is better for some people. This differs.

What makes a language ugly? German, Dutch and Danish are countries associated with news and myths, such as these countries always have bad weather. A reason many people think German sounds aggressive and ugly, is because of the history connected to the language. Many people associate the German language with Adolf Hitler, for example and find it aggressive. Conclusion is that the myth is something personal. A language isn’t per se pretty or ugly, it is somebody’s opinion. No language is more beautiful than another, and it’s up to someone’s opinion to decide what they think for themselves.

 Myth 13

 There are people that seem to think that black children are verbally deprived, especially when compared to white children. The provided ‘facts’ are usually based on racism or conditioned settings and therefore can’t be used as proof.  Personally, I believe this to be a difficult matter. There are many black children that live a life just like anyone else, they should not be judged based on their skin color because many black children have had the same education, life or environment as white children. But I cannot deny that in some countries this is in fact true. 

There are many states in America where black people are very mistreated and are giving low opportunities. The way to get out of that lifestyle is very hard and the evolution takes many, many years. They are not provided with the right support and tools. They have to work and study hard but still get low job opportunities because of their color. People should not be judged on their color and kids especially deserve more chances.

Myth 14 

 Double negatives are said to be illogical, because two negatives should cancel each other out, just like in maths. However, language formation does not necessarily follow the rules of logic and unlike in math’s, words have meaning. Each and every word has a different meaning, and to erase the negatives in a sentence would change the original meaning or message. Using two negatives allows us to position ourselves between two extremes, without saying precisely where. Giving us endless possibilities of the usage of negatives. The definition can variate.  

 Myth 15

Television does, in fact, impact our speech but I do not believe that it makes us all sound the same. People use words and sentences that they hear often such as from a show or the news. There are so many reasons why our language is constantly changing and evolving, there is no ‘fault’ or specific reason. I find psychical contact more important and believe that you can learn the most from your environment.

 Myth 18

Many believe that some languages sound faster than others. I actually thought so too. I have learned a lot from the language myths book and the presentation about this myth. For years I believed that the French and Chinese language is spoken at a much faster rate. However, it turns out that this is actually just an impression based on our awareness of sounds. Research shows that there is actually no distinct difference i the speed of languages. A language usually sounds faster because you do not understand it or because of the stress in words. The speed can also vary if the person speaking the language is a high speed talker himself. There is no strong evidence to indicate that some languages are spoken faster than others yet.

[shaddxo]

Universal Grammar argues that humans are born with an innate ability to learn languages and that the mechanisms that identify and interpret grammar are hardwired into the brain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_grammar