I think the important thing to get out of this chapter is the idea that behind every aspect of mediums of communication there is the idea of human thought trying to come across. It doesn't necessarily mean to be a lesson about dealing with illiterate persons but really about how valid our judgements are in general regarding human beings given the fact that our mediums are complex and often impossible to communicate the thought that lies within our tiny little brains.
Purcell-Gates is guiding us to look past the medium and try to go further than simply meeting each other halfway. The ability to understand others is deep within us all and all it takes is effort to express thought regardless of the medium or even the existence of a medium. We see man communicate with animals all the time yet there is no understood language between all species. Language is just a devised plan to make communication easier but the only other necessity is the will to communicate, the will to look at every human being as a creature of worth and intelligence.
Ch. 12 Response
ReplyDeleteI agree that we should take into account in our reading that it is the thought that shapes the word. Thought is fragmented by language for speaker of every dialect, but the myths about the inadequacy or inferiority of non-standard dialects assert that the thought of AAV speakers itself is inferior, not just the language. The internalization of this myth for African Americans is the most upsetting as seen at the journalism conference where intelligent individuals were reluctant to speak for fear of being labeled cognitively inferior.
I also thought it was interesting that Wynne focused on the negative effects language biases has on “mainstream” students. Wynne asserts that by perpetuating the notion that SE is superior that we are constructing a skewed reality even for the majority; “we keep white children trapped in myopic visions of world realities” (208). She also claims that white students will suffer in their cognitive development because prejudice fosters an “intolerance of ambiguity” or difference (209). This intolerance of difference prohibits the white individuals from hearing the thoughts of others and if they cannot even hear the thought how will they ever understand the other’s difference and likeness to themselves. Wynne states as Neil does that “language is the closest way humans know of getting inside another person’s head,” and without the will to listen we will never be able to understand one another.
I don't know if we can comment on our own posts but they link up quite well... Oh well...
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 12 we see a very convincing and what i believe to be an honest way of looking at the effects of language biases on the "superior" speakers, but, Joan Wynne says something here that points out the true problem with all of this. Lack of thought. She shows this with her own rhetorical speech wherein she forgets that it is our own humanity that causes these problems with the line "Except for those with telepathic gifts, language is the closest way humans know of getting inside another persons head." To me this shows that Wynne herself, despite her seemingly preachy speech, is guilty of exactly what she is ridiculing. I don't think Wynne means to do this but it comes from a lack of reflection. Does she not think that we can get into each other's heads with vision? Does music not count? I think in fact it could be argued that other, more abstract forms of communication could be considered just as valuable as language because of their ability to be conflicting and remaining away from arbitrary description that language often times gets too caught up in.