If you'd like to explore any of the neologisms we discussed at the beginning of session three, this article on the Oxford Dictionaries Online blog provides a brief overview and some handy links to online dictionary definitions. Elsewhere on the web, the term celanthropy is discussed on the Economist website, and the Washington Post encourages its readers to coin creatively in its annual neologism competition.
If "a game of cat and mouse" sparked an interest in everything cat-related, the ODO entry for cat is worth looking at. Interestingly enough (or not, perhaps) etymological details are provided below definitions and related phrases. Do you think this kind of information is useful for students? The archives of the ELT Journal contain two articles from the 1980s on the value of etymology to the language learner - click here for "Etymological information : can it help our students?" and here for "Using Etymology in the Classroom". For an online dictionary of etymology, click here.
Do you think that etymological information is useful for language learners? Please don't be shy: post your thoughts as a comment below (underneath the ones written by 2011's MA TESOL students).
Etymological information, to my view, is very useful to increase vocabulary range. Since etymology is the study of the origin of words, we can make use of it as clues to guess the meaning of new words we come across. Most of the words in the study of etymology are, to my understanding, from Latain, and this gives rise to the study of affix which is part of the syntic area. The sample word we studied on Thursday session is " appendix" which is defined as the supplementary given at the back of the book. When we come across the word" appendicitis" in the medical discourse, we can gerneralize based on our receptive knowledge in etymology that this might be an inflamed bowel which is the rear part of the intestine. Thus, you need immediate operation!!!!!
ReplyDeleteKriangkrai (-_-)
Hmmm...I think I'd heard of appendicitis before I'd encountered an appendix at the back of a book.
ReplyDeleteI've just a report on a football match, in which Steven Gerard and Jamie Carragher are referred to as "talismans" (not "talismen" as I'd expect) by native-speaker Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish. What does that suggest about Dalglish's knowledge of etymology?
It is hard to say about his knowledge of etymology. As a native speaker he has stored vocabularies recurring in his daily life and the word "talisman" may be a word in his memorization storage. Thus he simultaneously use the word "talismans" without changing the form of "man" into "men" in forming plural. This is nothing about the knowledge of ethymology. If he didn't come across this word in his daily life before, he might overgeneralize by changing "man" into "men" and this is because of the syntactic rules he may have studied earlier.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I was being unfair on Kenny Dalglish. I was probably expecting him to use "talismen" because he was talking about two men! In the same interview, he claimed to be unable to think of a wider range of adjectives than he had previously used about Luis Suarez. (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/oct/29/west-bromwich-albion-liverpool-premier-league1?INTCMP=SRCH)
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the etymology of TALISMAN, "man" has no connection to "adult male human", and Dalglish is quite right to form the plural by adding -s (note also that the adjective is TALISMANIC, not TALISMANLY, which for some reason makes me smile). Personally, I'm fascinated by HOW a native-speaker knows this and to what extent the correct choice of "talismans" over "talismen" is instinctive. And as a language teacher, I want to know how my students might go about developing such "instincts".
Do you think there is value in *teaching* etymology of words as they are encountered by students? Should dictionaries for language learners contain etymological information, and would this be helpful to all learners?
I think teaching etymology can yield value to some extent, not for insightfullness into all vocabulary meanings at all. As you said there is no connection of TALISMAN "MAN" to "adult male human" becuase it is a word by its own. In this instance the knowlege of etymology is by no means unuseful. Changing "man" into "men" is a kind of fallacy. As a student, to my view, the instincts of using various words depend on how often I use them and how I appropriate it in the context. In terms of the instincts, as a foreign language learner, I find that my first memorization in perceiving definitions of new words will last long. If I mislead the meanings of new words at the first time I find , it will be my fossilization. Including etymological information in dictionaries could be helpful at some degree, we can make use of this kind of knowledge to cross check or to help make inference the meaning of new words at least.
ReplyDeleteHello every one,
ReplyDeleteAs an English teacher since 2004, I had taught English for people who were beginner levels.Thus,the curriculum and syllabus in my English Language Teaching was a little bit simple.I was quite hard with the lessons in teaching etymology and its rules(for example: plural nouns and irregular plural nouns as well).Personally,I have never known these before.Therefore, I find it is so surprised and very interested in studying of English as a Lingua Franca, etymology,neologisms and dictionaries.
Throught out my experience,in my view,I think it is necessary and useful to teach etymology of words for students who are in advanced levels, in addition, in dictionaries for language learners should contain etymological information.This, I think, can remind learners think over using and understanding some words not only accoding to the rules but they can also use in others ways instinctively.
Can you think of any particular times when you've spoken to students about where a word comes from? I often find myself answering questions about words like CENTRE (why is it -re in British English and -er in American?) by explaining that the word came from French and this is reflected in its spelling, whereas Americans are arguably more progressive and have simply changed the spelling for the sake of simplicity.
ReplyDeleteA lot of my work now revolves around English for Academic Purposes, where students are perhaps more likely to encounter Greek and Latin words and see strange loanwords and irregular plurals. The spelling game we played in class last Thursday is a demonstration of what we consider to be regular patterns in English spelling. When students first encounter a combination of letters like "psy" or "mn" it can be quite alarming (is this English? It doesn't look like English!) so I'll often point out where these words come from. I think that if I was learning English, I'd feel reassured that there was a reason behind irregularities; the alternative might be to fear unpredictable and unknowable irregular forms lurking around every corner. Can you think of any English words that have intimidated you just by their appearance?!?
I find some words intimidating me. They are vitae, paradigm, pseudo, phyche, genuin, to name a few. There are many I have come across but I cannot recall now.
ReplyDeleteWhen I have taught my students some new words for example: COLOUR( -our in British English and - or in American) or FAVOURITE as well.
ReplyDeleteAlso,once I taught them some scientific words that refered to some names of animal diseases or some kinds of trees/fruits'names(Because my students study about Agriculture and Forestry).Most of them are original from Latin words. These words are usually long and difficult to pronounce and learn by heart, with combination of letters are strange such as "psy" or "mn" and so on.I find they are so intimidating that I and my students always ignored when encountered these words in the lessons. I did not save these ones,so at present, I cannot remember what they are exactly.
I prefer cattish to catish. Maybe it is based on my background knowledge of forming the present participle that the verb with only one sysllable comprising one vowel, one consonant and one end consonant, thus before adding "ing" we should double the one end consonant of that verb like "running".
ReplyDeleteYes, I prefer "cattish" too. How can we get it added to the Oxford English Dictionary?
ReplyDeleteIncidentally...on my way to work this morning, I was listening to The Game Podcast, in which various Times journalists discuss football issues. While talking about Liverpool beating West Brom, Tony Evans, who I believe is Football Editor for the Times, referred to Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher as "talismen". Very interesting...well, for me at least...
ReplyDeleteSometimes it is quite confused why even the native speakers use the words "talismans" and "talismen" interchangeably. I don't know for sure whether it is the intention of Tony Evans which has a deeper meaning anyway.
ReplyDelete