Group items tagged

Descriptions of dialects for different areas of the United States, their origins, and some pronunciation and slang guides, usually referring to doughnuts, oddly enough.

Originally got this from ERIC http://rave.ohiolink.edu/databases/record/eric/EJ803509

This article discusses the origin and use of profanity during prime time television with respect to children and programs more commonly viewed by children. It also exposes the idea that violence and aggressive behavior can influence the actions and thinking of children in today's society. Lastly, it discusses an analysis of prime time viewing and the profanity and violence portrayed in commonly viewed shows.

In this article Aitchison discusses the origins of slang and the use of "ugly language" by today's youth and school children. It talks about the use of slang to distinguish different subcultures and social groups. It also delves into the subject of words changing meaning and different uses for relatively simple terms. And finally, it discusses how some older individuals attempt to connect with today's youth and adapt to their forms of literacy through using slang and popular words.

College men report that they want women to drink less. I suggest that, if this article is of interest to you, you seek out the original study from Loyola Marymount University.

Over the last seven years, Jessie Little Doe Fermino, a member of the Mashpee tribe on Cape Cod, has been on a single-minded mission to revive the language of her ancestors, Wampanoag, the one that greeted the Pilgrims when they landed at Plymouth Rock and that gave the state of Massachusetts its name. But when she applied to the National Endowment of the Humanities for a grant to create a Wampanoag dictionary, she was turned down. The apparent reasons: the Wampanoag language has not been used in about 100 years, the known descendants of the original speakers number only 2,500 and Ms. Fermino is trying to make a spoken language out of a language that until recently existed only in documents, many of them from the 17th century.

A film on OhioLINK. Communication is at the core of the human experience, even though effective communication takes a lifetime to learn. This program explores how we develop the arts of speech and physical expression to make ourselves understood and to understand others. Visiting a group of 25 three-year-olds, the film observes them learning as many as ten new words a day-some already grasping the first 1,500 components of the 20,000-word vocabulary collected in the average life span. The "nonverbal leakage" or body language that supplements verbal skills is also explored, demonstrating that children with verbal disadvantages can compensate through other techniques. Original BBCW broadcast title: Read My Lips. Part of the BBC series Child of Our Time 2004. (60 minutes)

A film on OhioLINK. Could be helpful for those students studying Biblical literacy. In late-medieval England, English quietly ousted French in law and government but the move to make it God's language meant bloodshed. This enhanced DVD looks at the battle for a Bible in English, a struggle with huge impact on the language itself. Dramatic readings from successive English Bibles show the language's evolution. Location footage and original manuscripts illustrate key figures and events, such as John Wycliffe, the Lollards, and the first English Bible; William Langland's Piers Plowman; Henry V's official correspondence; the role of the Chancery or English civil service; William Caxton's printing press; William Tyndale's translation; and the King James Bible. Can be viewed using a DVD player or computer DVD-ROM drive. (50 minutes, color) Part of the "Adventures of English" series.

One possibility for those interested in sports to consider is the concept of physical literacy, here called "movement literacy," the idea that just as our minds learn to function at higher levels and acquire new skills, our bodies must do the same. However, between phyical education budgets being cut and increasing importance placed on technology, our understanding of movement literacy is decreasing. This article focuses on students in Kenya, where the most original innovative learning takes place during unstructed playtime. Includes a PDF and several photographs.

A film on OhioLINK. This program uncovers what happens in our minds when we learn, remember, and imagine. It reveals how neurons and synapses lay down knowledge in the brain; ways to improve our ability to acquire knowledge, including increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids; how to manipulate memory to recall information more easily; the powerful influence of subliminal messages; and what actually happens during a "eureka moment" and how to have more of them. Stories of a midwife cramming for exams and a firefighter who used intuition to save lives are featured. Original BBCW broadcast title: Get Smart. (60 minutes, color)

First in a series of occasional short takes on unusual courses in local schools.