My story

Hello friends so I’m going to tell you a story that happened to me just over the Christmas holidays my husband and I went down to Mexico and we decided to go scuba diving and snorkeling In the popular cenotes my husband’s a scuba diver so he did that and I snorkeled in both locations that we went to so the first location we went to was called dose oils which means two eyes because if you were to see it from up above it looks like two eyes which is pretty cool and it’s snorkeling and Diving all throughout these underwater caves which was absolutely incredible and it was so beautiful and I’ve never experienced anything like it and then he went to the second location and it’s sort of reminded me of like Florida mangroves and it was a much smaller place and the smaller operation and before we got there our guide said we’re going to go into the water and we’re going to loop around a little horseshoe Loop and we’re going to see a crocodile or Panchito sitting on a rock it’s always sitting on this rock so we’re going to swim mirror it but far enough away we can just look at it from a distance and so I’m the only one snorkeling and she’s diving our guide is diving with my husband and then two other people who are very experienced divers I think they were just friends of her that wanted to come along so she asks if this is okay and I say of course and because it was quite shallow I was actually going to be snorkeling right above them and was going to be able to see them the whole time and so all sounds good so we get ready we get in the water the scuba divers go down and I am up and so I’m looking down seeing some really big fish in the water and getting to see the beautiful scenery with all the big trees that are kind of Dipping into the water and it was really awesome so I’m looking down I see them and then I look up and stick my head out of the water and I see a crocodile in the water about 30 ft in front of me and I look back down and I see that the guy also notices that the crocodile is in the water and so she looks at my husband and tells him underneath the water however they communicate to stay down and she was going to go up and be with me and so she’s telling him stay down here and then I see her and she’s going to come up and be with me so she calmly comes up out of the water and she tells me in a very calm voice to just go over to the side and hold on to one of the main girls and we’re just going to give the crocodile some space to swim by and so of course I’m a little panicked but I am keeping my calm I’m not splashing around I’m doing what I’m told and I hold on to the tree and sure enough the crocodile is just getting closer and closer and just swimming and then are my guide again just says we’re going to give it space we’re going to let it go bye and she pulls up her little ear thing from her scuba diving tank and she didn’t tell me after what that was for but so the crocodile swims by and is probably about a foot and a half away from me as it swims by and it was a very interesting experience for that to happen and the crocodile swims by and we watch it go by and my guide looks at me and asked me if I’m okay and I say yes I’m okay and she says okay we now have to swim back to the entrance and I knew that I’d have to swim back by the crocodile because it went towards the entrance and so I was a little scared but my guy said she was going to be looking out the whole time and I trusted her so she goes back down we turn around and we start swimming again and I kept looking up and looking down and looking up and looking down and my heart was beating pretty fast at this point and then sure enough we turn a corner and this time when we see the crocodile it is on the floor of the peninsula place we were diving and snorkeling and I could see my guide and she was telling the divers to again stick to the side and she looked up and told me to stick to the side and we all swam buy the crocodile and as soon as we were in front of it it twisted around and swam back the other way from where it came probably to go back to its Rock and then finally we all got back to the entrance where we entered and we were all buzzing it was very exhilarating definitely scary at the time it was happening but in a way that made me feel alive and full of energy we all raved about what a fascinating experience this was even our guide and her friends were ecstatic thanks for listening to my story

How does the text deviate from the conventions of written English?

• Spelling and grammar appeared to be correct throughout the text, the only time spelling deviated was when the recorder misheard what I said (it spelled the word correctly for the word it must have heard).
• Capitalization is not always present or correct, this would also tie into punctuation as there was really only the “beginning” of a sentence with the first spoken words.
• Punctuation is non-existent, it is one long run-on sentence that lacks any structure other than my oral words being put into textual words. 
• Dialogue is not indicated.

What is “wrong” in the text? What is “right”?

• As mentioned above the capitalization, punctuation, and dialogue is incorrect. The spelling and grammar appear to be correct. 
• I use a few Spanish words, the text incorrectly writes “dose oils” instead of dos oyos, however, it correctly writes panchito and cenotes. 
• There are incorrect words such as; the smaller operation, swim mirror it, he went to the second location at it’s sort of reminded, the guy also, but my guy, let it go bye, ear thing, main girls should have alternatively been; a smaller operation, swim near it, we went to the second location and it sort of reminded, the guide also, but my guide, let it go by, air thing, mangroves respectively. 
• Dipping, Diving, Loop, Rock, In, and Panchito, are capitalized and shouldn’t be, however, Mexico, Florida, and Christmas are capitalized which is correct. I is correctly capitalized throughout the text/story. It is obviously missing all of the capitalizations that should be present at the beginning of new sentences, but as previously mentioned there is no sentence structure throughout the entire text.

What are the most common “mistakes” in the text and why do you consider them “mistakes”?

• There are some mistakes with the word that is present in the text and this may be due to my pronunciation or annunciation of the words. For example, guy and guide. I would consider these a mistake because most of the wrong words, or words that I did not say aloud but the recorder thought it heard, do not make sense in the story. For example swim mirror it, and main girls.
• Again, the capitalization of words is interesting and it seems as though there is no rhyme or reason for their placement. I wonder if there may have been pauses or emphasis in me speaking those particular words and this is why they are capitalized, although this would not explain why there are no periods. 
• Punctuation in this story may have added even the slightest indication that things were exciting, tense, and exhilarating by throwing in a “!” or a suspenseful “…”.

What if you had “scripted” the story? What difference might that have made?

• Although it would have likely looked the same structurally based on the affordances of the speech-to-text program I used, it would have been more polished with word choices for descriptions and adding more detail to paint a better picture for my reader. For example, I would have explained what a cenote is, maybe explained in more detail how big this one was and why the crocodile had to be so close to me as it swam by, 
• I used certain words that looking back, I am not sure I knew what I meant at the time, I think I was a little nervous knowing everything I said was being translated into text. For example, Florida mangroves and peninsula place. 
• I likely wouldn’t have said and, then, and so as much as I did throughout the story.
• I would have tried to express verbally what I was doing physically, not in the literal sense of “now I am moving my head up and down to indicate in and out of water”, but in a written story sense of setting the stage, using words to convey emotional impact and context of the story.

In what ways does oral storytelling differ from written storytelling? 

Oral expression, or storytelling, can exist without writing, however, writing, or written storytelling, is never without orality (Ong, 2002, p.8). Oral storytelling is a dynamic performative art, it relies on body language and a range of human faculties such as gestures, tone, volume, pace, and facial expressions (Callahan, 2006). Things like intonation and emotional content are aspects of oral storytelling that writing can not record, writing records language but not actual speech (Gnanadesikan, 2008, p.9).

As Mark Twain (1897) states:

“The pause is an exceedingly important feature in any kind of story, and a frequently recurring feature, too. It is a dainty thing, and delicate, and also uncertain and treacherous; for it must be exactly the right length — no more and no less — or it fails of its purpose and makes trouble. If the pause is too short the impressive point is passed, and the audience have had time to divine that a surprise is intended — and then you can’t surprise them, of course” (p.9).

Written words are residue, invented to store information (Gnanadesikan, 2008, p.2; Ong, 2002). Writing has organized and enhanced orality into a scientific art through visible markings, making meaningful connections to science and history, creating disjunctions between past and present (Haas, 2013, p.11; Ong, 2002, p.9). Writing is therefore a process of translating time into space (2), written stories are static works of art, like an artifact that is a fixed creation (Gnanadesikan, 2008, p.3, Berve, 2021).

As Haas (2013) discusses:

“For Ong, writing transforms human consciousness by moving language from an aural realm, where it unfolds across time, to a visual realm, where it takes on a primarily spatial quality” (p.9). 

As such, written storytelling can be examined, analyzed, and dissected through this visual realm, written words can be pointed to and discussed compared to fleeting spoken words (Gnanadesikan, 2008, p.4). Written storytelling is a more deliberate practice than speaking, carefully crafted to convey messages more precisely, adding to the sense that writing is worth more than speech (Gnanadesikan, 2008, p.5). It is a polished artifact compared to a spontaneous performance of oral storytelling (Berve, 2021). An author is conscious of the potential audiences, they can edit draft after draft to obtain a desired effect (Callahan, 2006). 

Last thoughts

What would society look like without writing?

As we have read, writing is fundamentally rooted in control:

“As human societies became more complex, those attempting to control them found that their memories were overtaxed. What they needed was an external storage device. What they came up with is writing” (Gnanadesikan, 2008, p.3).

That the societies that have been created, based on this control, have happened in the advent of state administration and bureaucracy, in trade and commerce, and in religion. I wonder if society has just been conditioned to believe that writing is a necessity. That evolution has made our brains less capable to store information because as time went on we required our brains to store less and less information. Just think about the advent of cellphones, storing numbers I used to have memorized, having information at my fingertips so my brain inadvertently knows it does not have to retain information, and plugging every destination into google maps.

In a world with no writing, we may pay more attention to knowledge keepers in philosophy and science, and celebrate Indigenous ways of knowing over western practices of data and graphs. An interesting sentiment from Ong (2002);

“Nevertheless, without writing, human consciousness cannot achieve its fuller potentials, cannot produce other beautiful and powerful creations” (p.14).

Indigenous peoples have spent thousands of years passing down stories, traditions, agricultural practices, values, beliefs, and language through oral storytelling. The First Peoples Principles of Learning were written recently, but have been practiced for centuries. Indigenous peoples have been stewards of the land for time immemorial. If someone would like to argue that the fuller potential is overpopulation, climate change, deforestation, and mass extinction at alarming rates then I welcome the discussion. These creations are powerful, yes, but not so much beautiful.  

References

Berve, C. (March 28, 2021). What Are the Differences between Riveting Oral and Written Storytelling. Ignited Ink Writing. https://www.ignitedinkwriting.com/

Callahan, S. (August 21, 2006). Storytelling versus story-writing. Anecdote. https://www.anecdote.com/

Gnanadesikan, A.E. (2011). The first IT revolution. In The writing revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet (pp. 1-12). John Wiley & Sons.

Haas, C. (2013). The technology question. In Writing technology: Studies on the materiality of literacy (pp. 3-23). Routledge.

Ong, W.J. (2002). Chapter 1: The orality of language. In Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word (pp. 5-16). Routledge. (Original work published 1982).

Twain, M., Ingold, E., Clemens, O., Ernest Ingold Collection of Mark Twain (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library)., American Wit and Humor Collection (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library). Franklin J. Meine Collection., Harper & Brothers. (1897). How to tell a story, and other essays. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers.

Striking Statements

[16:53] Dr. Boroditsky mentions “…very egocentric of me to make the dimension of time chase me around every time I happen to turn my body…”

I think this ecogentricity with language, in general, is something that I think of often, connected to ideologies of perspective. This idea that everyone sees the world in the same way that I do, and not until we acknowledge that this is far from true do we begin to open our minds (and sometimes our hearts) in ways that allow us to accept and celebrate diversities. I am also humbled when I travel to places that do not cater to my English-speaking requisites, I flourish in these uncomfortable encounters and am reminded how egotistical English speakers can be. To see time through this same lens is an interesting topic of conversation.

[21:33] Dr. Boroditsky mentions “…once you have learned a language like this with grammatical gender, do you actually end up thinking of the sun and the moon as more male-like or female-like depending on what gender they are in your language… if you speak a language with grammatical gender this is an incredibly pervasive feature…”

Taking this conversation of gendered languages in a different direction, I want to highlight how gendered language can affect perceptions. There’s an omnipresence of gendered language deeply engrained in society that can affect behaviour and lead to biases (subtle or not). When male is always the default used in language (ie. mankind), although intended to be gender-neutral, a subtle gender conditioning takes hold. Man is the norm and woman is deviant. So, would the underlying language structures be the same in gendered languages?  

[26:05] Dr. Boroditsky mentions “…language allows us to construe and construct events…”

I am instantly drawn to the game of telephone, where you sit around in a circle and the first person leans over to whisper something in another’s ear and that message is passed all the way around the circle until it reaches the end and everyone laughs at how the message has changed and morphed into something completely unrecognizable. The retelling of a message through language can change in this simple game, it can be completely transformed and reconstructed through intentional or unintentional language choices, a revelation that reminds me to dig a little deeper, especially when engaging with social media. 

[39:40] Dr. Boroditsky mentions “…this cultural system of number words that are developed and refined over many generations and that we now take completely for granted because we learned it so long ago when we were kids we don’t remember learning it and yet it gave us entry into this whole word of number and math…”

This may have been the part of her presentation I was most in awe over. Mathematics has been portrayed as this universal language, something everyone uses and to some degree understands as it pervades how things just “are”. I was surprised to find that this is not the case, that there are cultures that do not use such mathematical terms or even necessarily need it in their everyday lives. As a teacher, it is critical we teach mathematical concepts (even at their most simple foundation) so that students will be successful in society. This makes me think that teaching math is vital because of the society that has been built around us to require it, therefore, the societies that do not need this entry into a mathematical world rely on other ways to communicate mathematical concepts (amounts, building, time). So, maybe next time a student says they don’t know why they need math (or math is stupid) I can ask them to move to those places.

[44:32] Dr. Boroditsky mentions “…cultures also reduce cognitive entropy, we are able to think about the world and conceptualize the world in many ways but we don’t usually do all of those different ways… thinking about linguistic diversity as this aspiration to think about how you could think about things differently, what are all the different things your mind can do…”

I love discussing and dissecting societal constructs, and this idea of cognitive entropy reminds me of social constructions. We can acknowledge that social constructs exist, that some are beneficial and others are not, but yet I find that as humans, the majority of people are happy to do things as they have been done because of a belief that it is the best way since it has “always been done that way”. Now, is this in fact the case or are we just lazy, and as many creatures, taking the path of least resistance is easiest (and most enjoyable)? Critical thinking is a competency at the forefront of my teaching practice, yet it is easier said than done. I encourage discovery, exploration, and dialogue over teacher-dominated projection of facts for students to passively receive knowledge. The idea of thinking about thinking is metacognition, and whether it is explicit or not, I think a lot of teachers attempt to improve this in their students.  

[57:45] Dr. Boroditsky mentions “…language continues changing and evolving and that’s its nature, it’s a living thing that we create, so whether it’s through technology or through being exposed to new experiences that’s just something that is always going to happen…”

Language, how it evolves, how it circulates, and sadly, how it disappears is fascinating. When I think about my role as a special education teacher, this evokes some controversy as the term special has evolved and along with it, has negative connotations and stigma. I found it intriguing (and a little hypocritical) that a MET course would teach that special should not be used when their own organization continues to offer degrees in Special Education. Similarly, I think there are many other terms that have evolved over history because of negative associations and how words, unfortunately, morphed into insults and derogatory phrases. But alas, let’s not just focus on the negative. The idea that it is a living thing, capable of reproduction, growth, and change, is an incredible thing. It is dynamic, fluid, and adaptable.   

Connections

Boroditsky (2017) highlights that language is never static, whether it changes through technology or is exposed to new experiences. Berkowitz (n.d) reflects on how technological change leads to a linguistic change in his episode on The Word Guy. It’s interesting to think about how often the original meaning of a word is a metaphor for the new (ie. cloud), or how words have become verbs (ie. Google). Based on these examples, advancements in technology have changed or evolved the meanings of words, therefore, changing language and text. Boroditsky’s latter point on exposure to new experiences can be highlighted through Innis (1951), who states that “sudden extensions of communications are reflected in cultural disturbances” (p. 32). The age of social media is at the forefront of this particular point, and how could it not be? The dawning of the world wide web was one thing to connect people on a global scale, what it has evolved into is another. With the rise of various platforms for instant communication abilities and various ways to share, post, like, chat, snap, upload, and comment (to name a few), the extensions of communication are vast. This dialogue on social media can also connect to another note from Boroditsky (2011), “A hallmark feature of human intelligence is its adaptability, the ability to invent and rearrange conceptions of the world to suit changing goals and environments” (p.65). 

“Language shapes even the most fundamental dimensions of human experience: space, time, causality, and relationships to others” (Boroditsky, 2011, p.64). I am again drawn to the idea of metacognition, thinking about thinking and how we can do things differently. Snyder (1996) claimed, “the space created by each writing technology permits certain kinds of thinking and discourages others” (p. 5). All of these notions of thinking and doing and thinking about what we are doing. It is this communication piece of doing and changing what we are doing; the reciprocal influences between communication needs, invention, and evolving practices. 

References

Boroditsky, L. (2011). How language shapes thought. Scientific American, 304(2), 62-65.

Innis, H. (1951). The bias of communication. University of Toronto Press. 

SAR School for Advanced Research. (2017, June 7). Lera Boroditsky, how the languages we speak shape the way we think [Video]. YouTube.

Snyder, I. (1996). Hypertext: The electronic labyrinth. Melbourne University Press.

Hello everyone!

My name is Jamie Husereau and, in no particular order, I am a wife, dog mom, sister, teacher, student, and friend among other things. I am originally from a small, rural town east of Edmonton, Alberta called Ardrossan (Go Bisons!), where most of my family still lives. I now live on a First Nations reserve with my husband and my little sister who has recently joined us in this beautiful remote community. I am an elementary special education teacher and support students with diverse abilities, I was previously a high school teacher who taught all subjects. My husband is an environmental scientist and we love all things outdoors. We enjoy hiking, camping, biking, kayaking, canoeing, sledding, snowshoeing, split boarding, hunting, fishing, boating, and just all-around being outside. We even winter camp in a tent on frozen lakes!

My bag

For this task, I chose my daily “work” bag, which I carry to and from work. I actually just got this bag for Christmas so there were seemingly fewer random/junk items floating around at the bottom than usual. I would say that most of the items are, for lack of a better term, nice-itties, whereas only a few are crucial to complete my daily tasks. As you can see in the picture, with me I carry; a wallet, coffee mug, water bottle, dog collar, snacks, tea, nail file, pens, chapstick, roll-on essential oils, a bullet, gum, cough drops, hand lotion, floss, hair elastic, lighter, a book, charger, headphones, notebook, planner, laptop, and cellphone (not pictured as it was in my hand taking the photo).

Text Technologies

Let’s begin with the digital technologies; my laptop and cellphone. Both of these are digital devices or tools that I use in my personal and professional life to generate, process, share and store digital texts. I require my laptop for finding, creating, sharing, and storing teacher resources as well as communicating with colleagues and other paraprofessionals. My particular role involves a lot of funding processes and dialogue with outside services, applying for assessments, and gathering information and consent forms. All of this would be possible without my digital technologies, however, the efficiency would look different via courier and phone.  

I engage with a variety of hard-copy books including a planner, novel, and notebook all of which have been digitally generated. Within a couple of these books will be printed texts to organize my thoughts, my learning, and my schedules. My wallet contains my driver’s license and other digital identification, all of which are linked to larger systems of data storage and tracking. I will have old receipts that have been created on computers and printed, again displaying digital data systems. My cards have numbers stamped into the plastic pieces that are raised and can be felt with one’s fingers. If we are to question where each of these products comes from as indicated by the textual branding or logos we can see a variety of international products. They include; Saje (Canada), Ruffwear (USA), Nivea (Germany), Halls (UK), Monat (USA), Nature’s Bakery (USA), Ricola (Switzerland), David’s Tea (Canada), Manna (USA), Bic (France), Wrigley’s (USA), novel (USA), Skull Candy (USA), Apple (USA), and Amazon (USA). Based on these findings, a bag sleuth would likely conclude that I was from North America.  

The literary traces that can be dissected and discussed range from print to digital communications. From the obvious technologies of cellphones and laptops to hearing others’ read their texts that I may listen to through my headphones and the physical texts found on receipts and in notebooks. My contents may indicate that I engage with language and communication in a variety of ways. I read and write physical texts through printing and printed books, and I participate in global economies with the products I purchase and carry with me, as part of a digital information and transaction system containing various text technologies to operate. I engage with digital language, visual language, and oral language through print and digital technologies. I communicate with myself in notebooks and communicate with others through textual emails on my computer and literal “texts” on my phone. I can participate in social media and social applications on my phone, creating digital texts about my life, my experiences, and my work. 

Archeologically thinking, interestingly enough, I think this bag may have looked fairly similar 15 years ago as at that time I had a cellphone and a laptop, albeit a flip phone that could not communicate or provide the affordances of such phones today, but alas a mobile phone. 25 years ago, however, it would have looked very different. Likely no digital text technologies like laptops or cellphones for myself. There are few remnants in my bag that truly display or compare with the image I have of myself. Or better put, items that are personalized enough to reveal more personal traits or characteristics that make me unique, make me me, or make a close friend know whose bag it is without looking at the ID or phone. If one were to open the teacher planner or notebook, they may find how I print in different colours to indicate specific tasks, the colours and highlighters may also communicate a bit about my personality and my elementary vibes of teaching. The digital text and contents on my computer and phone will further reveal that I am likely a teacher (with the resources) and that I am a MET student. The digital texts would also reveal that I enjoy working out (routines and plans), that I love the outdoors (textual history archives), and my tastes in music (song titles in my downloaded history).

My favourite piece in this bag is a dog collar that I thought I lost last fall and found on a recent walk home. The text indicates the brand Ruffwear and the logo is a dog. This not only reveals that I have a dog but also a bit about my philosophy as a consumer of ethically produced products (as much as I can be). I think this is the one item in my bag that reveals more of my personal side compared to my professional side. 

Thank you for joining me on this task to see what was in my bag!

– Jamie : )