ERIC ED473960: Valuing Language Study: Inquiry into Language for Elementary and Middle Schools.

300 Pages·2003·3.1 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 473 960
CS 511 879
AUTHOR
Goodman, Yetta M.
Valuing Language Study: Inquiry into Language for
TITLE
Elementary
and Middle Schools.
INSTITUTION
National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana,
IL.
ISBN
ISBN-0-8141-5626-6
PUB DATE
2003-00-00
NOTE
299p:
AVAILABLE FROM
National Council of Teachers of English, 1111
W. Kenyon Road,
Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock no. 56266-1659: $26.95
members;
$35.95 nonmembers). Tel: [phone] (Toll Free);
Web site:
http://www.ncte.org.
PUB TYPE
Books (010) -- Guides - Classroom
- Teacher (052)
EDRS PRICE
EDRS Price MF01/PC12 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Classroom Techniques; Elementary Education; *Language
Arts;
*Language Role; *Language Usage; Middle Schools;
Student
Needs; Thematic Approach
IDENTIFIERS
Curriculum Implementation
ABSTRACT
Every day in so many ways, children are surrounded
by
language: from the language of home and family, to the
never-ending
bombardment of environmental print, to the clash between
school admonitions
to use "standard" English and their
peer groups' specialized and invented
speech. According to the author of this book, students
love to think and talk
about language as much as teachers do. The book offers teachers
a rich
language studies curriculum they can adapt to the needs of
their elementary
and middle school students, providing opportunities
to talk, write, read, and
think about language in ways that increase their self
confidence in their
ability to use language flexibly and appropriately. The book
contends that
through critical-moment teaching, strategy lessons, and
a rich array of theme
cycles on language and linguistics, language and literature,
and language as
power, teachers and students can explore the roles that language plays in
society, document both personal and social issues of
language use, and
discover that language study can be both enlightening and
exciting. It finds
that, in the process, students come to value their
own intuitive knowledge
about language, as well as the potential of language to influence
their lives
and the lives of others. (Contains approximately 300
references.)
(NKA)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
AIL
I
GO
.A.11
OD
11
U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC)
This document has been reproduced as
received from the person or organization
originating it
Minor changes have been made to
improve reproduction quality
Points of view or opinions stated in this
document do not necessarily represent
official OERI position or policy
-4
PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND
DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS
BEEN GRANTED BY
M
.
s
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
elk
I
P
BESTCOPYAVAILABLE
Jacqueline Bryant, Kermit Campbell, Xin Liu
EDITORIAL BOARD:
Gale, Sarah Hudelson, Gerald R. Og lan, Helen Poole, Jackie
Swensson, Gail Wood, Zarina M. Hock, chair,
ex officio, Kent
Williamson, ex officio, Peter Feely,
ex officio
Valuing Language Study
Inquiry into Language for Elementary
and Middle Schools
YETTA M. GOODMAN
University of Arizona
National Council of Teachers of English
1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096
Excerpt from The Geranium on the Window Sill Just Died, but Teacher You
Went Right On reprinted by permission of Albert Cullum.
From Ego-Tripping and Other Poems for Young People, © 1973 by Nikki
Giovanni. Reprinted with permission of Lawrence Hill Books.
Excerpt from "Pencils" in SMOKE AND STEEL by Carl Sandburg, copyright
1920 by Harcourt, Inc. and renewed 1948 by Carl Sandburg, reprinted by
permission of the publisher.
Staff Editor: Bonny Graham
Interior Design: Jenny Jensen Greenleaf
Cover Design: Pat Mayer
Cover and Interior Photographs: Joel Brown
NCTE Stock Number: 56266-3050
©2003 by the National Council of Teachers of English.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or trans-
mitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including pho-
tocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
from the copyright holder. Printed in the United States of America.
It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a
forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teach-
ing of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular
point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the
Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in announcements
of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Goodman, Yetta M., 1931
Valuing language study : inquiry into language for elementary and
middle schools / Yetta M. Goodman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8141-5626-6 (pbk.)
1. Language arts (Elementary). 2. Language arts (Middle school) I.
National Council of Teachers of English. II. Title
LB1576 .G7195 2003
372.6dc21
2002151992
To my daughters, Debi, Karen, and Wendy, who continue to show
children
me how to value language and language development. As
they intrigued and inspired me with their love of talk and books and
their language inventions. As adolescents they introduced me to the
flexible ranges of urban dialects and registers as they communicated
with friends, teachers, and other adults in their lives. Their reading
and written expressions revealed their personalities and understand-
ings. As adults they continue to reveal the concept of lifelong lan-
add new languages
guage learning as I interact with them, as they
and new ways of using language, and as they develop as authors. As
professionals they continue to heighten my understanding of the
importance of trusting and respecting learners of all ages. As moth-
of language informants.
ers they have provided a second generation
So I also dedicate this to Eli, Reuben, Aaron, Shoshana, Joshua,
Noah, and Rachel.
CONTENTS
iX
PREFACE
Xiii
INTRODUCTION
I Language Study in Elementary and Middle Schools
1 A Rationale for Language Study
3
Historical Overview of Language Study Curricula
6
Principles for a Language Study Curriculum
8
19
Linguistic Knowledge Informs Language Study
25
Teaching/Learning Experiences
28
Language Study Curriculum
29
2 Organizing for Language Study
29
Perceiving, Ideating, and Presenting
35
Raising Language to a Conscious Level
40
Becoming a Language Scientist: Inquiry Study
43
Kidwatching: Record Keeping and Evaluation
II Language Study Experiences
49
3 Critical-Moment Teaching
49
Legitimizing Critical-Moment Teaching
52
Spontaneous Language Interactions
57
Human and Physical Resource Use
63
Conferences
69
Exploration of Miscues
75
Building Language Traditions
79
Documenting Critical-Moment Teaching
82
4 Strategy Lessons
83
Planning for Strategy Lessons
85
Understanding Language Use
92
Using Oral Language
100
Listening
vii
7
Contents
Using Written Language
105
Language Inventions and Language Conventions
113
HI Theme Cycles for a Language Study Curriculum
Introduction to Part III
131
Getting Ideas for Theme Cycles
131
Planning and Reporting
137
5 Focus on Language and Linguistics
143
Language Use
143
Language Processes
157
Language Variation
161
Language History and Development
170
Language Form
174
6 Focus on Language and Literature
180
Publishing
180
Format and Font Variation
187
Genre Variation
197
A Study of Schooling
211
7 Focus on Language as Power
218
Power and Control
220
Students' Right to Their Own Language
228
Censorship
240
Demystifying Language
242
249
REFERENCES
269
INDEX
283
AUTHOR
PREFACE
about language
have been researching, teaching, and writing
I
study pro-
and literacy all of my professional life. Language
the role of lan-
vides me with many opportunities to consider
the human condition and to support the rights
guage in relation to
language and think-
of students and their teachers to use their own
they know and
ing to understand the worldto express what
others say
believe freely and to be able to make sense of what
and write.
study in elemen-
I have been writing this book on language
classrooms for more than a decade. I
tary and middle school
study that sup-
have read work by others regarding language
language
ported my continual rethinking and aided in organizing
reflect on what I
study possibilities. I have used this work to
school. As a
think is valuable about language study for kids in
knew that kids
former teacher of both children and adolescents, I
affected their daily
could get excited about language issues that
lives. My interest in language study for students built on my own
discussions with
teaching and was extended through dynamic
about the
colleagues, including teachers who hold similar beliefs
and ex-
importance of language study experiences that energize
The teachers in my
cite elementary and middle school students.
of them
classes responded enthusiastically to these ideas. Most
language inquiry
hadn't considered the possibilities of a whole
their own and
curriculum focused on studying language through
their students' questions and concerns.
ideas for pos-
A number of years ago I began to write these
colleagues and
sible publication and shared my writing with
interactions have
graduate students. Their responses and our
continuously re-
enriched the ideas in this book and helped me
book without find-
vise and adapt my writing. I never revisit this
Preface
ing something
new to add or remembering something more that
I want to share.
I continue to wonder why K-12 curricula do
not focus more
on language as an object of studylanguage and linguistic study.
As an educational community, colleagues, students, and teachers
love to think and talk about language. We wonder about lan-
guage use and its power, we contemplate how people use lan-
guage to control others, and we marvel at how children
manipulate language and reveal their
own knowledge of its sys-
tem and use. We observe with awe children's inventions
as they
explore speaking, listening, reading, and writing for their
own
purposes. At the same time, we are concerned about the myths
expressed in the popular press and by self-styled language
pur-
ists. Parents and the general public often
use folk linguistic no-
tions to make voting and policy decisions about language issues
and schooling. Considering this interest in language
use in school
and society, it is curious that
we aren't doing more to teach about
languageto bring our excitement,
our interests, and concerns
to our students. We need to find innovative ways to generate the
excitement of learning about language and linguistics
among
children and adolescents. This book is
my attempt to help raise
the consciousness of teachers and the language
arts profession as
a whole to consider the importance of treating language
as a
matter for serious inquiry by young people.
Therefore, I invite the readers of this book
to explore the
power of teaching and learning about language, to share
your
ideas with me, and also to
present your ideas to the world. We all
have language stories within
us that help us and others learn
lessons about the power of language. Emily Dickinson declares
her passion in a poem: "This is
my letter to the world." This
book is my attempt to expand that simple but powerful
state-
ment to teachers and students, encouraging them to find mul-
tiple ways to send their letters
to the world. As a reader of this
book, you also can support
my continuous adventure into the
study of language by e-mailing
or writing me to make sugges-
tions and ask tough questions that will help
me reconsider the
directions in which I'm traveling. Please e-mail ygoodman@
u.arizona.edu; write University of Arizona, College of Education,
0
xl