1. With language, I think that we use our working memory a lot because we have to process what others are saying and them formulate what we are going to say. We also must store all of the words we know in our memory to retrieve them later. General knowledge also goes into communicating with others, such as with common ground. Finally, creativity is a large part of writing.
2. I am still a little confused on how the demonstration "collaborating to establish common ground" is an example of common ground. To me, common ground is the knowledge that someone has that makes them able to communicate about something. To me, this seems like a different idea all together. I guess if both people are being presented with the knowledge at the time, then they would still be able to communicate.
3. One way I could use this information in the future is if I work in a middle school as a counselor. If that school offers foreign languages, I can encourage students to take them in middle schools rather than waiting. They may be more successful if they take them when they are younger. The other information regarding language would probably be more beneficial when working with younger children.
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I totally agree with you that students should be encouraged to learn a foreign language at an earlier age. I wish our middle school would offer a foreign language starting in sixth grade and throughout the rest of their middle school up to high school. I took three years of Spanish, but never used it again after that, and I don't remember hardly anything. If I had been introduced earlier than high school, I may have retained more information, or may have been more inspired to at least continue using it.
ReplyDeleteCarlie,
ReplyDeleteI think that you make a very interesting point about common knowledge. The book is very vague when it comes to the practical application of this concept. I believe that common knowledge amongst many different people is hard because of how everyone perceives stimuli differently.
I would argue for teachers that common ground is not as easily accomplished as the book makes it seem.
Yes, if both parties are presented with the same material there would be able to communicate but what if one side has a detailed experience about the subject matter that the other side hasn't? I think the communication would be very slow in this kind of situation.
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