Language of Classrooms

I feel as though the writing and reading that I was asked to do throughout primary and secondary school was pretty standard. When I say standard, I mean in a way that it seems like I read all the supposed classics. I always read the books that were necessary to building a literacy foundation, which was according other people’s decisions. In school we were always expected to have certain reading done in a certain amount of time, and be able to write critically of what we have read. It was implied by the teacher’s that I had that each assignment was necessary to building skills on top of one another to achieve a certain level of literary acuity. As Rose writes about his difficulties with language it seems as though his troubles come from outside of school, because the expectations from school life and home life seem to differ greatly. Bridging the gap between those two can be hard.

The expectations that teachers have of students can be complicated. I remember in high-school there was a reading program that was implemented that was called SSR. This was known as Silent Student Reading, and for fifteen minutes a day there would be a time where everyone in the school was required to sit and read a book of their choice. This was easily faked. Students including myself at times would just sit there and stare at the pages, or students would end up putting their heads down sleepily. This was only made possible because we were not asked to do anything with what we were reading, just to have a book during the time we needed it, if only to avoid a detention. They expected us to do something, at times we faked performing the task, and school went on. The teacher’s expectations had been met by the students under false pretenses.

On almost all occasions in school we were asked to communicate with language academically. For me, this can cause certain problems. Day after day of critically thinking about language and literature can become tedious, as I can’t recall any moments in secondary school where we were asked to creatively come up with a new concept or idea on how to use language. It seems that the importance of creativity slowly fades in the process of transition from primary to secondary school. It comes down to speaking analytically about a piece of literature and language to meet the teacher’s expectations. The creative process is definitely not lost for good, it only is made out to take a back seat to critically and analytical thinking processes. It would have been nice to have a little more variety within my secondary schooling.

I can’t undermine the foundation I have built upon from the time that I was introduced to thinking analytically about language, such as the preparation and development of strong ideas. This foundation has helped me achieve certain goals that I had set out for myself in the college setting, and I understand that it is an important part of the literacy structure. The way that my teachers in the past taught was not always effective, but that can be attributed to a variety of different things, whether it is a problem caused by the student, teacher, or both. I believe that they might have put a large emphasis on critical analysis, because they were all very concerned with preparing their students for college, and in many ways they succeeded.

Language of Groups

I find that the language that I use daily varies drastically depending on what type of situation I am in. Whether I am at home or at school I find that the language I use differs from the expressions I use, to even my tone of voice. At home I take on a less formal vernacular. My sentences are short, and they are completed by small phrases and can mostly be made up of slang terms that only my friends and I have come to know the meanings of. While I am at school I use a much more structured way of speaking, especially if I am speaking with a professor or someone I may not know very well. This is apparent when I speak with any of my classmates, in regards to certain topics of discussion. That is one thing that I also have noticed, is the topic that I am speaking on dictates not only how I use language, but also how I structure my ideas.

This type of language use also translates to writing as well. In particular notes, emails, even texts, which I send to my friends, I find my self using poor punctuation, and little to no correct grammar. This makes for getting my message across easier, and without the hassle of consciously thinking about exactly how I would say something. I am able to do this with friends, because I know the level of understanding that they have of the language that is prevalent among my group of peers. When I consider writing an email to a professor though, I try to make it as formal as possible, with all grammatical errors in check. I even go to certain lengths to add more professional sounding words, as I try to be as courteous and clear as possible with my requests or directions.

As far as examples go, my friends and I when we find something to be good or excellent, we would go as far as saying something to the effect of, “That’s dopamine, well, that’s dope I mean.” I don’t know how it started; all I know is that it is said frequently. There are also times when my friends and I are up in the mountains snowboarding or skiing, and it’s not rare to hear someone say, “This freshy fresh sicky sick gnar gnar pow pow is buttery soft.” This implies the fact that the snow is very good on the day that we are snowboarding, even though most of the times we use those terms half-joking around. I do think it would be interesting to see how a professor would react if I wrote an email one day only using terms that my friends and I have come to know, it probably wouldn’t get me very far, but the reaction may be priceless.

Memory Vignette

I once gave a speech that was in front of my entire school, a modest sized school. I said multiple times, "Squeeze the juicy goodness out of each and every day," a motivational speech for the beginning of a year with high expectations. These words resonated throughout the auditorium, and I found that certain reactions of the crowd members seemed to be relatively uplifting, but for some futile. From gasps to curious smiles to all out disinterest, the range of reactions to my words seemed quizzical at best. I explained with imaginative language the goals and expectations of the year to come. with the end of my speech I loudly claimed, "Squeeze the juicy goodness," as I squeezed a peach tightly in my hand, exploding its juicy goodness all over the stage.
After my speech, for the first few weeks of school I noticed a particular upbeat spirit among my classmates, but more particularly within student council. The attendance of student council had peaked, and more people were willing to offer their ideas. For a while I had seen that these improvements were demonstrated by the accomplishments that we had made. It didn't last forever, as people began to get in the rhythm of the year, and slowly our numbers slipped and we found ourselves in cruise control for the better part of the month ahead. In the beginning though, I noticed that most of the faculty and administrative personnel wrote my speech off as something that wasn't serious, if only for a few laughs and entertainment. They didn't realize that I was serious in my words, but that didn't matter, because it had a beneficial effect on my class mates, and it gave us a great start to a challenging year.

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