How I Changed My Mind about Language (Extra Credit) (ELL 101)

How I Changed My Mind about Language

      At the beginning of my first semester in college, upon knowing very little about Language, I had many assumptions about what language really was. I primarily believed that language was ‘just’ how we speak, read and write. I did not know how it was produced, structured, functions and even how it works with our brains. My main assumption of language was that it never originated from any source, I had always believed that the language we speak, read and write was something we as humans grow into. At some extent my assumption was true, but I was unaware of ‘The origins of language’. In this essay I will use the text, “The Study of Language” edited by George Yule that identifies an important aspect of the origin of language and how I understand it differently today. Another source of information I will use is a video I looked at in class called; “The birth of a word”, which is a homemade video made by a MIT researcher Deb Roy in which he experimented to understand how a child/infant learns and understands language. And finally, after researching about the general meaning of language and what it is, I will identify to my knowledge what changes I now have compared to the similar assumptions I previously had.   

      There are many sources that identify the origins of Language. Prior to the start of the semester I always had the assumption that language is just something we gather through time, the society we are born into and what was taught to us from birth. Although my assumptions to some extent are true, the origins of language have many technical sources that identifies where language first came from. In the text, “The Study of Language” it introduces us to many of these sources. One of the most interesting sources of language introduced to us in the text is the “The natural sound source”, Yule says, “A quite different view of the beginnings of language is based on the concept of natural sounds” (Yule 2). According to Yule’s philosophy of where the beginnings of language originated, one major source he identifies is that the primitive words used today could have been imitations of natural sounds early men and women heard. Some English words that originated from the concept of the natural sound source are; splash, bang, boom, rattle, buzz, hiss, screech, Yule identifies that this view has been called the “bow-wow theory” of language origin. Words that sound similar to the noises they make are examples of onomatopoeia. It is also said that in many words in different languages are onomatopoeic. It still fascinates me to fully believe that natural sounds actually have an impact on the words they are known as today. I’ve always thought that many of these onomatopoeic words may have been words that are had been made up by pass generations. Now that I know that there are many words that are actually formed by the natural sound they make, I today sometimes listen to the sounds in everyday life that words may have been generated from. So far I haven’t gotten any words, but I am hoping to discover a few in the near future.

      Another assumption I’ve always had was my understanding of how children and infants in particular acquire language. I’ve also assumed that all the words infants know at an early age was something taught to them. I didn’t know that the surroundings and things they frequently heard affect the birth of a word in their small vocabulary. After watching MIT researcher Deb Roy homemade video, in which he experimented using video cameras and microphones with his infant son, I then understood how the birth of words are slowly added to a child’s vocabulary. In the video Roy identifies his son referred to the word ‘water’, as “gaga” when he was a few months old. Roy for many weeks and months slowly saw the process of his child’s pronunciation and understanding of the word water got clearer. Roy discovered six months after his son was identifying the word water as gaga, he slowly adopted the adult form of pronunciation, water.

       I have researched the definition of Language and found many definitions that also changed my assumptions I previously had. I had always look at language as the instrument all humans are born with, not knowing there was a scientific study to the production, structure and functions for the languages all humans speak. Prior to my first semester in college, being in a Language class, “Introduction to Language”, I frequently heard the word ‘linguistic’, yet I never understood the general meaning of it. I did further research on Language and it states that the word linguistic is the scientific study of language (Wikipedia). After getting the general definition of linguistic, it slowly occurred to me that linguistics being the scientific study of language is the reason behind all the work that I did in class. The scientific study of language refers to the production, structure, and functions of language.

             Finally, I can conclude by saying, I understand that language is something more than just my incorrect assumptions I previously had. There are many aspects and elements that make language what it is. I understand it is ‘not’ just something we are born into, but it involves many technical terms and aspects that make it a special human characteristic. I am fortunate to say, I am lucky to be able to read, write and speak English fluently that enables me a good and clear understanding of the world around me.  

Reflection (ENG 101 Final)

Final

     Throughout the semester the theme of our class cluster has been, “What is the Language of Human Rights”? In each of the three classes, we referred into many different topics generating many different answers to the question, “What are Human Rights”? And what role does language play in the interpretation of Human Rights? In this blog I will concentrate on how Language contributes to how Human Rights are interpreted. I will use as an example, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. theory of “Non-Violence” that illustrates how influential a role language plays in the interpretation of Human Rights. I will use the text “A testament of Hope” edited by James M. Washington that identifies further one aspect of King’s non-violent theory.  I will also connect King’s theory and work to my other classes that refer to the contribution of language in Human Rights in different views. I will use and connect King’s Non-violence method which was an essential movement that used language to help African Americans in times of social and economic struggles, to my ‘Law and Human Rights’ class where I learned about a document called Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UDHR is a document that identifies each individual’s rights and privileges around the world. I will also connect King’s theory to my ‘Introduction to Language’ class that identifies one important aspect of King’s movement, Speech Power. King’s speech power help implemented his message across to his many African Americans in search of justice and equality.   

       Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an African American Civil Rights leader that stood up and fought for social and economic equality for African American people during their times of social injustices. King used the “Non-violent” method which he adopted from Mahatma Gandhi as the alternative for African American struggles. There were many elements to King’s non-violent movement, one of King’s most important beliefs and idea was his definition of the “Christian faith”. King says, “This belief that God is on the side of truth and justice comes down to us from the long tradition of our Christian faith” (Washington 9). This is a very important element to King’s non-violent movement because it highlighted that he believed God was on the side of justice, it worked as motivation for King to never lose faith. King’s Christian faith can be connected to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in many ways. In article one of the UDHR, it states, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood” (UDHR 1). All King was fighting for was the freedom and equality all men and women are born with.  In my ‘Law and Human Rights’ class we focused on how language affects these rights and privileges. In King’s case, he fought using the nonviolent method against people who were overpowering and affecting negatively the rights and privileges of African Americans.

       King’s speech power during his campaigns when he addressed many African Americans illustrated the influence of Language and its power on Human Rights. During one of King most powerful and influential speeches the power of his voice echoed through the crowd, it became so powerful that even today the words of King still lives on. During the speech King said the words, “How Long, Not Long!” King frequently and continuously for several seconds repeated the statement. It had awakened the crowd and also the nation at the time and to this day is being used as an iconic period of history. King’s speech power can connect to the many aspects of Language that was learned in ‘Introduction to Language’. A connection that we can draw from Intro to Language and King’s speech power is his voice, in class we learned that there are many human characteristics that influence how language and speech are interpreted. King during the “How long, Not long” speech used his voice to echo the message he wanted at the time, very similar to how we speak using our voice every day.

    There are many answers to how language affects and connects to Human Rights. One important definition of this view is that language in general can affirm or deny human rights. In King’s case he used language to affirm the rights everyone was born with, while he fought the oppressors who used language to deny many African Americans their rights. It is very effective the way language can contribute to the interpretation of Human Rights. There are though boundaries and limits to how far language can contribute in the interpretation of, an example being the struggles African Americans endured were an example of how negatively it worked. The positive side to this case was King’s involvement and positive use of language.           

Language of Human Rights (LIB 110 Project)

        

Bio

     My name is Rajiv Singh. I was born on November 16th, 1992, in Queens New York. I am originally from Trinidad and Tobago. I lived in Trinidad for fourteen years, then moved back to New York where I started my high-school education. I attended Kindergarden, Primary, and Secondary schools in Trinidad, prior to attending High School in the United States. I graduated from John Bowne High School in 2011, and is currently attending LaGuardia Community College.

    My connection to Language is very complex. The language I speak is English, but with my native background being 'partly' Trinidadian, the English language is referred to as "Broken English". The style, grammar and tone are all different to the English language I now speak living in the U.S. I do today enjoy learning English of this type, something that I appreciate greatly, it allows me to communicate with society. I would like to learn other languages as well, apart from the 'voiced' languages, I would like to learn 'sign language', I believe it would be a personal benefit that in the future I learn this skill. Communicate comes in many different ways, so I would say there is no limit to learning language, it is everywhere.

    I personally believe language connects to everything we do in life. In Human Rights, language play a vital role in determining what occurs. The connection we can connect from language and Human Rights, comes in the form of speech and body language. Both of these human characteristics determine both positive and negative circumstances in our world today. Human Rights are the 'rights' we humans are all born with. Daily and throughout history human rights are frequently being changed and challenged, this occurs  because of the influence of language.

The Language Story

       Human Rights are very important rights and privileges every individual around the world are born with. Although the theory is that all Human beings are born with their Human Rights, the reality is very unfortunate, not everyone has access to their rights and privileges. It is one of the most violated crimes around the world, and affects many people. One major way Human Rights are violated comes from the involvement of language. Language comes in many forms; the two most influential languages are our speech and body language. At the age of eleven I personally believe that I was a victim of a Human Rights violation by the used of verbal insult.

     I was eleven years old, attending San Fernando Boys RC Primary School in Trinidad and Tobago. I cannot recall the exact date in which the incident took place, but to this day I remember exactly what happened. Attending a RC (Roman Catholic) school was a very special privilege I was fortunate to have, although I am a Hindu, learning and exploring another religion is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. I truly enjoyed my time attending the school, met amazing teachers and friends that guided me through seven years of primary level schooling. At the age of eleven, being a standard five student, I was scheduled to graduate in a couple of months. Every Friday all students and teachers attended the church next to our school, an hour before our lunch break. We used to walk across the street, everyone holding hands, and following our teacher. The pray service at the church was an hour; it consisted of a couple of bible readings and wonderful songs. But in one particular day, I recall something terribly happened, after our regular Friday pray service, walking back to school to have our lunch, my teacher started crying at his desk, no-one knew what had happened. A few students including myself approached his desk and tried to sympathize with him. Mr. Ian was a very good teacher, and father figure in our classroom, he was a very quiet yet powerfully spoken man. It all came as a shock to see someone like him breaking down in tears. One of my friends asked him, "What's wrong Sir?” he didn't respond, he put his head down and continued crying. No-one started to eat; we were all worried and lost for thought. A few minutes later, Mr. Ian approached me and my friend Josh, where we were sitting having our lunch, and yelled out in front of the class, "You people are sick, why do you damn Muslims have these nasty minds for?". The class froze in shock, no-one said a word, I was just as surprise as them, eyes turned towards me and my friend Josh. Mr. Ian walked out the class room, and didn't come back. I sat there in silence with thoughts following through my head, kept saying to myself, "I'm not even a Muslim, why did Mr. Ian say that Muslims have nasty minds?” A few students ran towards the Principle office where they reported what had happened. Our classes were cancelled, and the entire class was dismissed early. We all contacted our parents to pick us up. Upon arriving home after my Grandfather had picked me up from school, sitting in the car, he asked, "What happened in school today, why did you finish early?". I didn't know what to say, so I lied and said Mr. Ian felt ill and left early. My grandfather knew that wasn't the truth, and was later contacted by the school where someone explained to him what had happened. My parents were scheduled to have a meeting with the principle the next day.  

      A few days after the incident, normality was restored in school, but Mr. Ian was still the absent figure in the classroom, nothing felt right. Although it seemed to the naked eye that I would've been angry or upset, the entire situation didn't really bothered me, I actually missed Mr. Ian, he was a great teacher who I learned a lot from. One night my grandfather who personally knew Mr. Ian received a phone call from him pleading his story and reasons for his sudden outburst on his two students. Mr. Ian explained to my grandfather over the phone that on the day of the incident, it had marked two years since he lost his daughter, who was living in the United Stated and had suffered severe injuries in the September 11th terrorist attack on the Trade Center, she died a few days later Mr. Ian explained his emotions got the best of him and was deeply sorry. He invited my Grandparents, and also my friend Josh's parents to attend have a gathering at his house. Both my grandparents and Josh's parents agreed to attend the gathering.
      Mr. Ian welcomed everyone openly, but there was massive tension within his home. Josh's parents had not heard Mr. Ian’s side of the story and were eagerly waiting what he had to say about his actions. Mr. Ian told the story in front of us. Mr. Ian stated, "By no means have I hated anyone or their religion, it just happened so quickly that a rush of blood to my head led to this unfair outburst on your children, who I deeply love". He broke down crying, the emotions were overwhelming, he kept repeating, "Please forgive me!” The tension from the room disappeared with a new view on the incident. Almost a surreal atmosphere filled the room, a moment of anger transformed into love and understanding. Both parents now understood the reasons why Mr. Ian said the things he did and had forgiven his actions. Things soon returned to normal, Mr. Ian's case was withdrawn from the court appeal and he came back to teach regularly, this happened thankfully because of our parents who now understood the entire story.
       This is a very significant moment in my life I still recall today, thankfully now while recalling the incident I can clearly highlight that what was said to me at the age of 11 by my former teacher Mr. Ian was a form of racial and religious stereotyping. Although it is stated in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impact information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers" (UDHR 19). I personally think it a violation against humanity, but having heard and understood the entire story I can reason with Mr. Ian's actions. What Mr. Ian said was something that could have and would've been protected in the court of law. I personally understood his case and situation, but again this is just my opinion, and will vary with another individual's view of the incident. In this case the role of Language is the most influential aspect of a violated against Humanity, and could be today still make a case of a violation of someone's Human Rights.
         There are many reasons why people do not enjoy their Human Rights; it varies around the world with different cases and reasons. More often than not, many individuals around the world do not know what 'their' Human Rights are; I was a victim of this. Prior to my first semester in LaGuardia Community College, I was an individual with little knowledge about my 'own' Human Rights'. I did not know the many privileges and freedoms that protected me and my identity. Today I can proudly say with the knowledge I acquired in my first semester of College, I know now my basic rights and privileges that I can enjoy without reasons to be fearful of someone violating them.