Language Awareness 2

Origin of Language
Explain where language comes from, including possible consequences for L2 teaching (what does this mean for your teaching?)

A dialogue is when two or more people participate in a conversation. A monologue only has one speaker.

I’ve always been told that when little children learn how to talk it comes from them trying to mimic the sounds their parents are making. So as a parent you should regularly talk to your child, have conversations with them so that they can learn from it. The desire to talk might come from people wanting to express themselves, to get to know others. But to properly learn how to speak a language it is important to talk to others who speak it as well. 
As a future English teacher, it is important to allow the students to regularly talk to others in their target language. That will eventually make it easier for them to express their thoughts and feelings in their target language, whether it’s verbally or by writing it down.
You have to try to monologue as little as possible, if you do all the talking it means that barely any work is left to the students. 


Thought Language

Do you think language? If so, what language? L1 (your mother tongue) or L2 (for instance English?)

The language I think in, in which I speak in my head, depends on my surroundings and on the situation I’m in. Now, while working on these assignments, I have been non-stop thinking in English. At work or when I’m just doing my thing, I usually think in Dutch. When I’m with my family or other Croatian people, I think in Croatian. In class, while playing video games or reading English stories, I think in English. 
The reason for that might be that if I think in the language I’m surrounded with, it will be easier to talk in that language. I won’t suddenly have to make a switch in my head, because I’m already speaking/thinking in the required language for that moment. 

 

What goes faster: thinking or speaking? Why? Discuss

Thinking goes faster. You don’t have the pressure of speaking properly/ correctly all the time and you don’t have to worry about how you want to get your thoughts across. The pressure you feel while talking to someone can come from wanting to do the best you possibly can. You want to make as few mistakes as possible, you don’t want to accidentally offend the person or say the wrong thing. You might need to take the time to think of the right words to say. Most people don’t have to worry about those things when they are just thinking.

 

Dreams

Do you dream language? What/how do you dream?

I usually dream in English because my dreams are set in America or fantasy worlds I’ve created in my head. I don’t mind discussing my dreams with friends, but I don’t like posting it on such a public space. When I say that I dream in a certain language, I am talking about remembering dreams where dream-me is having conversations in certain languages.
When I was younger I read a lot of stories in Dutch, but I found some Dutch expressions so ridiculous that I just couldn’t take it seriously. So, I decided that every time right as I was falling asleep, I would try to think or start dreaming in English. Eventually it started happening on its own. But in dreams where I am myself I either dream in Croatian or Dutch depending on who I’m hanging out with in my dream.

 

(how) do blind/deaf people dream?

I haven’t thought about this in a long time. Most websites told the same thing, their dreams are based on how they experience life. A deaf person’s dreams are mostly based on visuals.  A person who has become blind later in life will have more visual dreams than someone who has been blind most of their life. And like this, a person who has been deaf for most of their life might have fewer to no sounds present in their dreams, but they might communicate by sign language. 
Dreams usually take advantage of using all your senses, someone who doesn’t possess all those senses obviously dreams differently. If someone misses one of the senses, their dreams are mostly based around their other senses.

 

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