Language in Use 243
This unit is concerned with the way in which language is used to give cohesion
and continuity to the life of large social institutions. It focuses on
that language which has most to do with the way a school or college achieves
its own identity, and perpetuates it through particular uses of language.
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[1] This session draws upon a class's collective experience of different
schools. Ask them to think about the schools they have attended and to recall
the names used for activities, places, people and rules. The class need to have
the resulting list in front of them. Ask them to pick out
(a) names which refer to different things in other schools
(b) things which carry different names in other schools
Then focus a discussion upon the three classes of names which are likely to
show particular variation:
(a) those which are used for school routine
(b) those concerned with relationships between staff and pupils
(c) those which occur in the exercise of discipline.
[2] This session and the next focus upon the school in which the pupils at present find themselves. Ask them to build up a complete pattern of such local usages for the school. This work is best done in small groups. The remainder of the session should be given to preparing an inquiry, designed to find out whether the class's usage is shared by other members of the school.
[3] The class need to have both their own version of the facts and the
results of their enquiry in front of them. The session explores the various
discrepancies which emerge. Points to expect include:
(a) failure to realise that the same words and phrases mean different things
for different age groups
(b) difficulty in grasping the nature of relationships
(i) within the staff
(ii) between staff and age groups other than their own
(c) a willingness to accept that 'everyone knows what that means' because the
word, like 'pupil', 'teacher', 'work', occurs in everyday language.