Fascinating subject. I actually enjoy the way sub-groups create their own sub-languages. I get a kick out of working out what people are talking about from context. If I don’t understand but it still has the smell of something I might be interested in I’ll look it up or if necessary ask. It may be an academic thing, you stay in academia either through not having the gumption to leave or because you positively enjoy research and being expected to pick up new things.
At the opposite extreme, trying to communicate with autistic children has made me aware of how difficult even ordinary language can be to pick up. One strategy I’ve been taught to use is to draw little pictures to help get things across. But what to draw. It can be obvious with very concrete things. For drink you might draw a cup with some juice in it. But what to draw for a more abstract concept like tomorrow? My first thought when this came up was to try a picture of the sun rising and setting but for that to work the children would either have to understand the whole Copernican thing or be used to watch the sun come up every morning and set every night. To get the idea across I’d have to use some thing much more specific that they would recognise even if other people wouldn’t. For example if it were Monday I could draw someone swimming because every Tuesday they go swimming with the school.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2006-05-21 09:03 am (UTC)At the opposite extreme, trying to communicate with autistic children has made me aware of how difficult even ordinary language can be to pick up. One strategy I’ve been taught to use is to draw little pictures to help get things across. But what to draw. It can be obvious with very concrete things. For drink you might draw a cup with some juice in it. But what to draw for a more abstract concept like tomorrow? My first thought when this came up was to try a picture of the sun rising and setting but for that to work the children would either have to understand the whole Copernican thing or be used to watch the sun come up every morning and set every night. To get the idea across I’d have to use some thing much more specific that they would recognise even if other people wouldn’t. For example if it were Monday I could draw someone swimming because every Tuesday they go swimming with the school.