Lessons week April 13-20

On this week we saw deeper the different stages of the literature through time, also we learn how to be a critical reader and thinker, also we learn on how to read an image like a text, and we practised the critical reading with a couple of lines from "The Catcher in the Rye". Finally we learn about glogster and a little about plagiarism.

Lessons week April 3-5

On this week we learn the origins of literature (which leads to the early greeks in the 5th century B.C.) and to of their basic studies which are

A. Ontology: Is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality.

B. Epistemology: Is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and limitations of knowledge.

Also we saw what literature is and some definitions of it, for example:

"Writings in prose or verse; especially: writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas for permanent or universal interest."

Lessons week March 26-30

On this week we learned about the stereotypes which are basically cultural misunderstandings that lead to an attitude to a culture that could be an insulting attitude to that culture (for example in Chile we make rodeos, while for an Hindu is offensive). Also we hade to make another mindmap like this one:

Lesson week March 19-23

It basically consisted in doing a debate between two groups previously chosen, to discuss the affirmations:
"Humans are born with an ability to create language" vs. "Language is a learnt construct like the rules governing a sport". The debates were balanced between the groups that defend that humans are born with an ability to create language and the ones that defend that language is a learnt construct like the rules governing a sport.

Lesson March 16th 2012

- The power of language (CC p. 35)

The story of the Tower of Babel

"And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." (Genesis 11:5-6)

1. What does the image, and the story, suggest about the benefits of everyone speaking the same language? What are the drawbacks?

2. What does the story suggest about the social functions of language?

Reflect om these other mythological stories on the origins of language:

Mesoamerica:

The Aztecs told the story of CoxCox (a man) and Xochiquetzal (a woman) survived the horrors of the earth by floating on a bark. Then, after they had their first children on land, they found out these were unable to speak. Such feature changed when a dove landed upon their heads, granting each one with a different language.

Brasil:

The Ticuna people form the Upper Amazon tell the story that everyone was  one united in a single tribe, all speaking the same language, until two hummingbird eggs were eaten (the legend doesn't say whom). After this event, the tribe split into different groups and dispersed across the globe.

Africa:

The Bantu people from East Africa tell the story of a severe famine that struck the first people of the world (who spoke the same language at the beginning). This drove everyone to madness, causing them to wander in all sorts of directions, mumbling strange words not know by men before. 

Animal vs Human communication

- How does animal communication differ from human language?

Look at what happened in Colombia last year. What does this tell you about animal communication and internal mental processes?

Lesson March 13th 2012

Today is reviewed the properties of language, also added another one that is that language is intentional (used with a porpouse in mind). Then we answer these questions:

1. Why is it said that people in East Africa developed more than the rest?

2. What happened to the earlier languages on Earth?

3. According to Dr Johanna Nichols, what were the first utterances made by Humans?

based on this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OuUAPVFFCRQ.

Also we saw that

-Humans managed to develop certain organs that enabled them to produce speech.

-Prehistoric times, humankind was in contact with nature. As time passed, these early human groups started developing, having more members, and social needs began to arise.

-There is a key moment in history that marked the difference between humans and animals. This is when humans learnt how to walk on two feet. Our bodies changed and we developed what we call the "pharynx".

-In Prehistoric times, the first sounds produced by humans were those that came from nature, since humans' needs back then were immediate and basic.

and answer these questions:

1. What is the biblical story of "the Tower of Babel"?

2. What does historical evidence tell us of this biblical event?

3. What's the relationship between genes and language?

4. Why do languages constantly change?

based on this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=irGk5PItLgk

and had to make this:

Lesson March 9th 2012

The definition of language: is a system of  vocal signs through which humans communicate. It is a system because it consists of patterns (rules) for putting together elements such as sounds to make words, and words to make sentences that when violated results in loss of meaning. Some of the properties of language are that is open-minded, creative and inherent to humans (is an specific hability pf the human race). Also to learn how it's developed in humans we had to answer these questions:

1. Which is the 'trick' (process) that enables us to communicate something to others?

2. Do animals talk? If not, What do they do to communicate?

3. What do we express when we talk?

4. WHat did Dr Deb Roy try to achieve in his house?

5. Which are the earliest stages in language for a child?

6. What external and internal factors made the data recollected in the experiment into something they could use?

7. How did the parent's speech change from their son's first word until he could utter more complex structures?

8. What does Dr Deb Roy compare the "blossoming" of a speech form?

based on this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=75XxjJYuV7I