Language in Use 245-246
Like K1, this unit is concerned with the part language plays in giving identity
to an institution such as a school. In this unit, however, the focus is
upon the traditions and practices which never need to be made fully explicit,
because they are acquired simply by being a member of the school community and
thereby using the habitual ways of speaking to be found in it.
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[1] This session requires short stories from the class in which they represent how a newcomer would feel in the school. Circulate the stories and through discussion build up a picture of what elements in the life of the school serve to give it an identity as a community and how these are referred to by those familiar with them. In particular, focus upon those aspects of school life like patterns of punishment and ceremonial occasions which persist from generation to generation of pupils and teachers. In a new school, the focus should be upon the difficulties and ambiguities which are likely to arise just because there has not been time for an accepted pattern of usage to have become established.
[2] This session needs the same kind of field work by the class as in
session [2] of K1. They have to discover what other age groups understand by
the features of the school which they have outlined in [I], and if possible,
what the staff understand by them. The discussion should focus upon three major
topics:
(a) the degree to which their own view of the life of the school is coloured
by their age, ability, and total attitude to 'being
at school'
(b) the degree to which the non-explicitness of the school 'traditions' makes
it very difficult to decide just what members of the
school do understand by them
(c) the wide range of words and phrases, particularly metaphors, which both
pupils and staff will use in trying to put into words
something which is intended to function by not being put into words.
[3] This session is concerned with the way in which individuals and
groups can become alienated from the school through their failure to grasp the
meaning of the traditions and practices which give it identity for the majority.
A second set of short stories provide the best point of departure. This time
they should deal with an incident in which a pupil gets into serious trouble
because he fails to understand oblique references to what the school requires
of him. An alternative is to draw upon the class's own experience in open discussion.
The session needs to consider points such as:
(a) the degree to which the language habits of a school reveal its values
(b) the accord or otherwise between what language is used to express values
in school and what is used in the community outside
to which pupils belong.