Return-Path: <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id h6LImD710115; Mon, 21 Jul 2003 14:48:14 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 14:48:14 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <06B3ACF3.5FAE5F61.0A349A3F@aol.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: AWilder106@aol.com To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:2449] Re: Syntax X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 X-Mailer: Atlas Mailer 2.0 Status: O Content-Length: 1857 Lines: 19 Allan I can only reply to some of this, so i will do my best. I would guess meaning comes from the forebrain, if by "meaning" you mean self-consciousness. That's my working hypothesis, anyway. Why? it seems to hve evolved along with language. I am not one for metaphysics. To my knowledge Chomsky has no interest in adult literacy, and I am working to understand features in the evolution of language that have application in the classroom. Until recently Chomsky seems to have had no interest outside of grammmar and linguistics. I know a lot of people who are illiterate in other people's academic sepcialites. Often our statments outside our own areas of expertise are indeed suspect. Linguists usually study language, not the evolution of language. Often the type of person does indeed shape the argument that is made. Ex: Carol Gilligan noticed that women were not included in Kohlberg's samples on which he based the theory if the stages of moral development. People study academic problems that interest them, I think that is almost a truism. Kohlberg came out of Nazi Germany. I would guess that often gesture, facial expression, and speech prosody fill in where obvious syntax is lacking, as I said before. Allan, if you become any more "troubled" in print I will think you are pulling my leg. How's that for meaning? As to what you tell your students, you might also tell them that writing and discussion can clarify their thinking. Ideas are formulated in language. Dictionary definitions can be extremely useful when a writer is looking for a precise defintion or wants to study a derivation. One of the glories of English is in its semantics, where whole worlds of history and cultural contact are embedded within words. I guess your last phrase is a critique of what I am saying, but it is to deep for me. Andrea
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