I gave them a chapter from Jonathan Franzen’s new book that I hoped would not only give them access to new words but also stimulate their thinking. I would try and create a broader contextual framework for students to construct meaning and more importantly to get them into the habit of teaching themselves and ‘owning’ the word. (14 year olds) I thought instead of using the monologic exchange of dictionaries to ‘expand’ their vocabulary. So last week I tried an experiment with a year 10 class. “In any given historical moment of verbal-ideological life, each generation at social level has its own language moreover, every agehas as a matter of fact its own language, its own vocabulary, its own particular accentual system that, in their turn, vary depending on social level, academic institution…and other stratifying factors.” Bakhtin (1981d, p.290) Add to that the fact that words are in an increasingly rapid state of flux depending on their temporal and spatial parameters and also the limitless contingency of the internet of you really have to look at the validity of dictionaries today in the English classroom. Instances like this really made me reflect on how difficult it must be for students to construct meaning with a limited vocabulary, who are not exposed themselves to an expansive vocabulary or who have come from another country. (For some reason negativity is equated with dampness.) The nearest approximation I could find for the word ‘moist’ was pathetic. I have actually spent whole lunchtimes in my classroom being ‘taught’ by my students alternative meanings to words such as ‘soggy’ and ‘moist.’ This particular process proved very confusing for me and required multiple explanations of the word in different contexts. It was subsequently explained to me as meaning ‘severe’ or ‘harsh.’Įvery time I hear students use language in this way I always make a point of asking them to teach me their meaning of the word and the right context in which to use it. I was captivated by the possible alternative meaning of ‘peak’ and asked them to explain it to me. (p.87)Īnother example of this is when I heard one of my students utter the phrase “uhhhh, that’s peak!!” Although I understood the word ‘peak’ in terms of its dictionary definition I had no clue what the hell she was talking about and thus had a lessened understanding of my students. We usually take them from other utterances, and mainly from utterances that are kindred to ours in genre, that is, in theme, composition, or style. When we select words in the process of constructing an utterance, we by no means always take them from the system of language in their neutral, dictionary form. If they do not have the frames of reference with which to comprehend them, then what use are they? The determining factor is the context around which the word or utterance is created which is why I have such a problem with giving students dictionary definitions of words. Words are imbued with meaning depending on the speaker, the tone used or the prior relationship between the speakers. Where then does the ‘meaning’ of this word lie? All this got me thinking about how the notion of a monologic definition of a word is fast becoming obselete and that at a time when student literacy is reportedly worse than ever we surely need a better framework for students to access meaning than the dictionary.įor Bakhtin, the ‘word’ is not where the locus of meaning resides. For Cartman and many kids today the word ‘gay’ has a negative connotation, for many (idiots) the word represents a moral transgression yet for many others it is a proud badge of identity. In a Bakhtinian sense of course these pupils were not engaging in an act of sedition so much as responding to a socio-cultural signifier in the form of the word ‘gay’ which has been radically transformed since Wordsworth employed the word. Earlier this year I was teaching ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ by William Wordsworth and when I came to the line “A poet could not but be gay,” I put the book down, looked at the class and waited for the inevitable giggling to ensue.
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