Ideas in Print
Hello. My name is Stephen Walsh
I chose this picture because it represents a few different ideas about text and technology. I think most people will recognize that this is some sort of text. It looks intentional and ordered somehow. As literate people we know that it must have meaning to someone. So for text to be acknowledged, it must first be recognized as text. When I was 24 I moved to Korea to teach English. I saw text like this everywhere. It was unintelligible to me. So I learned to read it. Korean is written using a phonetic alphabet called Hangul that is very easy to learn. In a few days I was able to read everything I saw. I would walk down the street sounding out everything. But I could not understand Korean and so it was still unintelligible. I think this represents the different levels of understanding text. I could translate the text into the sounds that the people around me were using for communication, but I could not understand it myself. Lastly, this picture is not just modern Korean text. It has older Chinese characters that Koreans call Hanja. As far as I can tell the script should be read from top to bottom whereas Korean today is usually read from left to right. This highlights the cultural and historical significance of text. The explicit meaning of the words is only one layer of the meaning. The way they are written, the why and the how, all convey information as well.
I took this course because I am interested in the changing nature of reading, writing, and other ways we convey information. I am old enough to remember writing assignments out by hand, meeting at the library to get group work done, putting papers into mailboxes after receiving a time-stamp. Now I work collaboratively on the same document at the same time with my group through Google docs, access libraries around the word, and upload it using Blackboard, all on our smartphones while we take the bus. It is an exciting evolution that I would like to understand more fully.
I look forward to working with you all.
Stephen
Well said, Stephen! I look forward to the discussions ahead!
Tina
Hi Stephen! Nice to meet you!
Welcome Stephen!
I think it is an interesting phenomena that we work really hard to decode symbols when we know they have some meaning. Even if you don’t understand the text you look for flow and similarities to try to puzzle your way to comprehension.
I love pictorial text and it has also been interesting to see how such a language evolves over time. After the simplification of written Chinese, I have a hard time reading the text now. Although there are benefits to its simplification, I feel that written Chinese has lost some of its beauty. I remember being in awe when I glanced upon Chinese calligraphy and realizing how closely it becomes an art form. I took a couple of Chinese calligraphy classes back in the days when I wasn’t a mom and absolutely loved it. But at the same time, it is so impressive how different ways of writing a language can make such a big difference in helping individuals learn how to speak the language. Nice to meet you and looking forward to working with you.
Hi Stephen,
I work with many ELL students, and I am always in awe of their tenacity and ability to make sense of the English language. I learn far more from my students than they learn from me I think! They transition from one language to another, interpreting various texts with ease. I look forward to working with you in 540!
~Sandra
Hi Stephen,
Really interesting. I used to live in Korea and have been fascinated by Hangul and how phonetic the writing system is.
I look forward to working with you in this course.
-Bryan
I really like your description of how you decided to learn Korean, and soon you were able to read everything on the street! It sounds like the ah-ha moments that our students experience as they develop their literacy skills. Your story shows the potential for learning text when working with adult second language learners!