Blog 7

Topic: Teaching the history of the English Language

What others have said about the topic:

~ The English Language has been subjected to tremendous change throughout the 20th century.
~ The tradition has been practiced in many adaptations around the world.
~ Back in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries the focus was mainly on grammatical rules, syntactic structures, along with memorizing vocabulary and translation of literary texts.
~The Grammar Translation Method is still one of the most popular and favorite models of language today.
~ It helps the students understand the importance of learning the English Language.

Research Question: How does teaching the history of English Language affect students?

Blog 6: Focus for the Research Project

I chose Sample Literacy Narrative 2.
The focus of the introduction: The author not seeing herself as a writer.

Features  1. can write well enough to earn A's on papers
               2. development in literacy was a process of bouncing off different cultural stories to become a writer
               3. started relationship with writing by reading (beginning of becoming a writer)
               4. family visited he library weekly (persistent with study)
               5. sisters, parents and friends had indirect and direct influence on her reading (influences helped with reading
               6. gained valuable experience through her sisters (positive/negative experience? or both?)
               7. believes imagined stories are just as valid as written ones (connection to literacy)
               8. enjoyed playtime with sisters but did not think of herself as a writer
               9. didn't believe she could record he own stories (have to do with low self-esteem?)
             10. believed if she claimed that she was a good writer, she would take what belonged to her older sister
             11. saw writing as a tool for academic work (writing is necessary)
             12. interested in Role play Gaming but it prevented her from recognizing it as a legitimate form of writing
             13. says she had no talent at writing
             14. sister encouraged her and begin to see herself as an author
           
Ending Question: Why did it take so long for the author to see herself as a writer?

Shaggy Dog stories class ranking prediction

The first story involved a play on words. It had some humor to it and the 

punchline was at the end. Enough information was provided to explain the

new version of the quote. While reading this, I envisioned in my mind 

the string trying to get the beer. Prediction for class rank: #2

The second story was not humorous to me at all. It was a joke and involved

a play on words. It seems like not many people would understand the 

punchline especially if they do not already know the original quote. I could

not connect to the quote.          Prediction for class rank: #3

The next story's punchline was kind of corny but the wording was clever. I

didn't find it funny but liked the wording of the quote. There was a play on

words and enough data was provided to explain the new version of the quote.

                                                Prediction for class rank: #4

The last story put visual images in my mind. I could relate to the punchline at

the end and enjoyed the play on words and the humor.

                                                Prediction for class rank: #1

The patterns I noticed were the play on words, the punchline at the end, and 

enough information being provided to explain the new version of the quote.

The theory of all of the stories is that the quote at the end gives meaning to 

the story.  

All of the stories have clever punchlines and readers will have different reactions

to each of them. What one finds funny, another one will not. The play on words

was done well for each of them.

Analysis of 9/11 Interview

I chose to analyze Rachel and Valerie's interview.
They chose a paragraph format and the focus was 9/11. The beginning of the
paragraph was about what was stated in class about oral history.

The interview was conversational: both students asked and answered questions.
A narrative frame was used as a guide for reporting data.

Hypothesis: If the interview includes both the interviewer and subject answering/asking
questions, the subject will feel more comfortable and only have to state personal
answers and not facts.

Valerie said "She was very sympathetic and never interrupted me...". Here she was
making an observation. The after thought was "After the interview we were just
talking off the record about 9/11 and how sad we feel for the people who lost their
lives and the families who have to deal with their loss...".

The hypothesis was tested by these two students and it's proven true. The interview
was short and simple.

*Update*

Hypothesis: The evaluative afterthoughts were most useful.

Tested Hypothesis: Proven to be true because the afterthoughts expressed concern
for others and they show the reader(s) more background information as to how the
interview went.

Blog 3: Oral History. Interviewer(Kelsee) and Subject(Tshandi)

I conducted an interview with Tshandi on 9/11.
I asked her several different questions and she had a good variety of answers.
She said that she was ten years old when 9/11 took olace and attended Cicely Tyson school. The school had made an announcement on the intercom stating the event that took place and her mom quickly picked her up. It wasn't important to her until she found out that one of her family members was involved. She stated that she was shocked by this.

Her family was definitely affected by it and they began consoling one another after finding out about what had taken place in NYC. Tshandi's mom was afraid of letting her out of her sights.

I had given some background information as well as ask questions.
I was 11 or 12 when the event happened. None of my family was involved so it didn't really bother me. I guess especially because I was pretty young I didn't truly understand what was going on. I honestly only remember just being happy that school had let out early because of the event.

Tshandi does well at communicating and expressing her ideas.

Blog 2: Analysis and How it Works

Analysis is the observation of the elements of a whole and their association with each other to create a whole. It works by critically observing something and asking what it does and why it is what it is.

I would use analysis to study Elementary Education by interpreting the purpose of the subject. I'd look up the meaning of Elementary Education and all of the components and ideas that are related to it.

Blog 1: Research in English and Writing Studies

It seems to me that anyone interested in English and Writing Studies would research about the aspects of these subjects. Some main topics would probably be how they could properly write a paper and effectively capture a readers' interest.
I am interested in research about Elementary Education.  I have worked with children for at least 10 years and had always wanted to be a teacher. One of the main things I am interested in researching is how children are able to use pictures in a book to understand the text. Watching a child interpret what they see amazes me especially because the children interpret things so differently. What interests me is knowing what children like to learn about as well.