Mark Fawdry's Assignments - ETEC 540

[03:45] Dr. Boroditsky mentions evidential information and how different languages require different kinds of evidence. I think this is important because different language speakers will pay attention to different parts of an event than I would. The way in which I come to learn information may not be as important to someone who spoke a different language and witnessed the same event. 

[11:04] Dr. Boroditsky shares that “time” is the most frequent noun in English. She goes on to say that this is a common pattern in European languages. Time is ordered left to right in English, but in other languages it is ordered differently (an example being cardinal directions). In my experience, I perceive time as being to the right for the future, and the left for the past. I connect this perception of time to the way that I read words and typically order things (left to right). 

[20:26] Dr. Boroditsky speaks to gender assignments of different nouns in German, French and Spanish. She wonders if speakers of these languages would associate the objects as more feminine or masculine based on their grammatical gender assignments. As someone who went through French Immersion school growing up, I remember the cognitive dissonance of learning how to read in both English and French at the same time. Memorizing which gender to pair with certain nouns lead to associations being made with the assigned gender. 

[30:38] Dr. Boroditsky then mentions the distinctions between intentional actions and accidents. I appreciate how in certain languages, if an event occurs due to an accident it is not seen as important. Since the subject did not intend for the action to happen, remembering who/what caused the accident is unimportant. I truly wish this was a natural part of the English language as well.

[51:58] Dr. Boroditsky talks about universals in all languages. She discusses how all human languages have to be learnable by humans and must have the ability to be passed on to the next generation. This is important because it demonstrates how there are some aspects of each language that are shared experiences for all human beings. Preservation of all languages should be prioritized, and these universal truths make this possible. 

[57:04] Dr. Boroditsky is asked about texting destroying our language, she answers by saying that language continues to change and evolve. This new way of communicating may sound foreign to long-time speakers of the language, but the language is adapting rather than being destroyed. As the youth change our culture, the way our language is spoken and interpreted changes with it.

References

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

Task 1: What’s in your bag?

My name is Mark Fawdry and I live in beautiful Nanaimo, British Columbia. I am an educator currently teaching grade 7, but have taught a variety of subjects to most grade levels. I have been teaching for ten years, and truly love the work that I do. Beyond work, my wonderful family (including a somewhat rambunctious dog) is where I happily spend my time.

The bag I have picked for this exercise is used on a daily basis to transport items that I consider essential to my life. Funnily enough, I had recently cleared out my bag so it does not have as many items as I would typically store in there. Currently my bag contains a phone charger, lanyard, wallet for bills/cards, wallet for change, Aquaphor, a ginger chew, flash drive and a pen. Normally there would be unneeded receipts or papers that needed filed as well, these typically pile up during the busy school year.

I am someone who likes to feel prepared, the items currently in my bag act as a reassurance that I have what I need for most situations. I have toned down these necessary items in recent years. I used to include items like bandaids, granola bars and cleaning wipes. 

The current items in my bag should be considered “texts” as each item gives a clear picture of who I am, together these items tell a story. My phone charger demonstrates my reliance on technology, as well as my fear of becoming disconnected by running out of battery. The lanyard symbolizes my need for routine, work keys get placed on these as I spend a significant portion of my time working in a school building. The wallets act as a text by showing the financial responsibility I adhere to, with the two different wallets showing my preference for staying organized. The aquaphor and ginger chew relate to reactionary methods for taking care of my body. The flash drive and pen act as a text that shows someone living in both a digital world and a physical one. All together, these items act as “text technologies” that demonstrate my engagement with language with a variety of tools. These items show that I am someone who appreciates routine, preparedness and connectedness with others and my own body.

The items in my bag show my literacies as being varied and adaptable to my daily life. Communication is done both digitally and by analog, depending on what is required. These items show digital literacy as being at the forefront, although financial, health, print and cultural literacies are on display here as well. The image I have of myself matches the contents of this bag, I am very aware that I am an anxious person. It is rare for others to see the contents of my bag, as I feel somewhat embarrassed by them. Others tend to comment on how calm and steady I appear to be, though I feel the contents of this bag tell the story of someone who is not naturally this way and uses these items to feel more confident. The contents of the bag have diminished over the years, this is likely because my daily life has become more stable and I am less mobile in my work situation than I was 20 years ago. My commute to work is incredibly short, meaning less reliance on items in a bag. If an archeologist were to find this bag and its items several years from now, they’d note the variety in the technologies included. They’d likely wonder about our dynamic living situations, and the uncomfortable nature our bodies were regularly in.