Language Use and Language Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Language Use and Language Learning - Essay Example Furthermore other variables such as the environment, time and situation at the time of this study may not be constant through the ages. This report analyzes a study conducted to learn about teacher-student interaction. the lecture is given to students of grade 3 who are learning English as their second language. The teacher is a Pakistani national teaching in the Grammar School whose first language is Urdu. Data were analysed using grounded theory methodology following a step by step process. The teacher and student interaction was recorded and transcribed to be processed further. First a set of descriptive categories which were representative of classroom dynamics and interaction were identified. Initiation-Response-Evaluation, Forms of Feedbacks and Types of elicitation were identified. This helped in identifying the features and patterns of interaction in the class room. Mehan (1979) studied classroom dynamics and analysed the language used during classroom both by the teacher and the student. The interaction between the two sides was analysed as function role it played during a lesson. He discovered that teachers initiate an elicitation, the students respond, and then there is an evaluative interaction. These interactions were labelled Initiate-Response-Evaluate (IRE). In our classroom, the findings are similar.... And this independence is vital for learning. Response rate of the students is on the slower side, but this response latency can be a cause of stage fear and fear of public speaking in some students. In the transcript two concepts of learner repair can be seen from the responding side. First there is 'correction' from the teacher asking the student to repeat the text in the correct way. Then there is 'peer-repair' in which another student responds to the first student. This again re-emphasizes the openness being observed in the classroom as even students are encouraged to answer the queries. Evaluation took place after an initiation of the question had been responded by the student. The evaluation was usually accompanied by a question so that the teacher could properly understand the student's level of comprehension and in cases, to aid in further comprehension. Forms of Feedback Some of the forms of feedback that have been identified as being used by the teacher in this study are from-related comment, explicit correction and clarification. Form-related comment refers to positive or negative response (not correction) to previous statement. The use of a positive word 'good' is an example of this. Explicit correction refers to any linguistic correction of a previous utterance. The correction of 'he-stant' to 'hesitant' is an example of this. Clarification is a request from the student to the teacher or vice-versa to explain or clarify something. The example of clarification is students asking the meaning of certain words. Types of Elicitation Mehan (1979) identified four types of elicitations in the instructional phase of the lessons analysed. These elicitations help us know the teacher's

Ideas Critique on Ian Watt's The Rise of the Novel Assignment

Ideas Critique on Ian Watt's The Rise of the Novel - Assignment Example Firstly, Watt investigates the characteristics of the novel and the realism; he argues that realism tries to show several sides of human experience related to the external world. Watt explains Descartes point of view of the realism by defining the truth as an individual matter, which makes novel reflect individualism and innovation compared to previous literary works. Secondly, according to Watt there are no traditional plots in novels; Richardson and Defoe were the first writers to ignore a plot based on mythology or history for example, which at that time was different from authors with traditional plots such as Shakespeare or Milton. Furthermore, he describes the importance of the description in the narrative; in order to make the novel realistic as possible; the author needs to be capable of accomplishing a concrete demonstration of characterization, present a cohesive background and to be attentive to the individualization of the characters. Thirdly, he explains that before the realism, names were used in a non- particular way, and the novel establishes names as common names that can also indicate information about a character. He also argues about the role of the time, space, and place to individualize each character; how they create a cohesive structure to a plot, also the correlation between representation and reality. Finally, Watt explains the semantic role of the narrative, how the prose style gives a completely authenticity to the realistic novel. This piece of writing by Watt is quite illuminating in the sense that it records the development of novel as a separate entity from earlier prose that did not center on individualism. Rather they provided an objective view of the situation. The presentation and ideas of Watt offer a deep understanding of how the novel emerged and how the attitudes and society were changing to give birth to a new literary form- the novel. However, the ideas presented by Watt are just an initial study of how the novel develo ped since Watt does not include certain aspects of the development of novel or rather he misjudges the chronology of events. In my opinion, the presentation developed by Watt takes into account a myriad of changes occurring in the society. Watt takes into account the changing attitude of the people which was more attuned to realism and changed from a God centric view to a human centric view. Along with this, Watt also discusses how the printing press and changing London society supported the rise of novels. What makes Watt’s work authentic is the fact that Watt backs up his claims by repeatedly consulting with three different authors- Richardson, Fielding and Defoe. He not just refers to their writings but also the evaluation of their writings. He focuses more on Richardson, given that Richardson was among the pioneers of the novels and it was his novel that later inspired other novels developed not just during that time but also quite later on. According to Watt, a literary piece of writing cannot exist without taking into account the cultural and intellectual factors that shape the society when a particular piece is produced. The novel in this case, falls into the same dimensions. The rise of novel occurred when the society in England was changing towards realism, that is, it was becoming more individualistic. Gone were the days when the characters in the piece were presented for the benefit of the audience. For instance, in plays the character obscured into the unknown when they were not present on the stage or in a particular scene (Watt, 442). However, in a novel, the readers become