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Projections and Expansions

Writing in English (WE)

for Double Majors (For Those Out There, 2015, Wolfgang in Der Wiesche)

Bremerhaven is one of Germany’s largest ports, and so it is one of the doors for the immigrants to

Germany that Ms. Kweon Minjeong and Ms. Jo Eunbee write about. A few months ago, Wolfgang in der

Wiesche placed this installation in Bremerhaven harbor—as you can see, the inside of it looks different

from the outside, facing the immigrants arriving: with one face, there are pennants warning of danger and map-markings, and with the other there is a Promethean figure firing Poseidon’s trident into the sea. We

want to do something similar—we’re going to INTRODUCE our work to the incoming reader. That’s our

next task, and to do it, we’ll use a “meta-paragraph”...a kind of MAP.

7th Week Extension Two: Meta-Theme and Meta-New a) The Meta-Paragraph b) Theme/Rheme and Given/New c) Extension TWO: Problems of Variation and Alternation d) My Homework, Your Homework e) References 1. The Meta-Paragraph You remember that our homework last week was simply to pluralize the title. So-jeong in our Breakfast

Class has a great but simple idea—she wants to present two texts by religious leaders, one Catholic and

one Buddhist, side by side.

Here’s what she does:

Mother Teresa's Metaphorical Poem and Dalai Lama’s (?)Tropological Phrase about Life

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You remember the STUD rule! (What does it stand for?) You also remember that we say:

“This stop is 옥수. Change here for the Orange Line, Line Number Three!”

You remember why. Every grammar is a theory of experience, and in the English theory of experience, a

“line” is a kind of thing. But a number is not a thing, but rather the name of a unique abstract concept.

Now, of course, neither a mother nor a lama is really a thing. Both mothers and lamas are people, not

things. But you know that “Mommy” and “Daddy” are NAMES and that “President” and “Premier” are

TITLES. Which is more like a THING, a name, or a title? Remember:

The Lama The one-l lama, He's a priest. The two-l llama, He's a beast. And I will bet A silk pajama There isn't any Three-l lllama. Nash, O. (1985) Ogden Nash's Zoo. New York: Stewart, Tabori, and Chang

So—which is correct? Why?

a) The Mother Teresa’s Metaphorical Poem and the Dalai Lama’s Tropological Phrase

b) The Mother Teresa’s Metaphorical Poem and Dalai Lama’s Troplogical Phrase

c) Mother Teresa’s Metaphorical Poem and the Dalai Lama’s Tropological Phrase

d) Mother Teresa’s Metaphorical Poem and Dalai Lama’s Tropological Phrase

Whichever you choose, notice that the title is plural! Notice, though, that the embedded minor clause

“about life” is embedded after “phrase”. This creates a slight problem, because it clearly suggests that

the Dalai Lama’s phrase is about life, but Mother Teresa’s is not.

We could do this:

“Mother Teresa’s Metaphorical Poem about Life and the Dalai Lama’s Tropological Phrase about Life” But that seems...redundant. A better solution might be this:

“Two Texts about Life: Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama” (Notice that this is really TWO titles, on TWO different levels of generality. Which is more general? Which is more specific? How do we separate them with punctuation? Why?) Suppose we wanted to write this as a sentence. It might look something like this:

In the following two texts about life, Mother Teresa uses a metaphorical poem, and the Dalai Lama employs.... in order to.... Below, I will analyze each one in turn. On the face of it, the two texts seem to (agree/contradict each other?). On closer analysis, however, they appear to (contradict each

other/agree?)”

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We’ll call this a MAP paragraph. It’s a kind of meta-paragraph—a paragraph about paragraphs, about the

paragraphs to come. It will help So-jeong organize her material into a simple outline: 1. Meta-Paragraph (Elaboration of the Title, Introduction of the Article) 2. Analysis Two texts 2.1 Mother Teresa 2.2 The Dalai Lama 3. Comparison/Contrast Now, if So-jeong decides to use this outline, she may have to change her intro a little. Because she

introduced Mother Teresa and the term “metaphorical poem” in the meta-paragraph, her intro is a little

redundant. In fact, it’s redundant even WITHOUT the meta-paragraph.

In a poem written by Mother Teresa and cited in the book 'Spanish Reading' written by H.-J. Jeong and published in 2012 in Korea, Mother Teresa tells us what life is, using metaphorical expressions so that we can realize what life is and how to live it.

(Try deleting the embedded clause “written by Mother Teresa” and changing “metaphorical” to

“figurative”.) Now her intro is NOT redundant. But let’s look at Mother Teresa’s poem and the Dalai Lama’s phrase and

see if we can figure out whether a comparison or a contrast is coming up.

"¿Qué es la vida?

"La vida es oportunidad, aprovéchala.

La vida es belleza, admírala.

La vida es un sueño, hazlo realidad.

La vida es un reto, enfréntalo.

La vida es un deber, cúmplelo.

La vida es un juego, disfrútalo.

La vida es una promesa, realízala.

La vida es tristeza, supérala.

La vida es una canción, cántala.

La vida es una lucha, lídiala.

La vida es una tragedia, encárala.

La vida es una aventura, desafíala.

La vida es suerte, apuéstala.

La vida es demasiado preciosa, no la destruyas. La vida es vida, lucha por ella." -Madre Teresa (1910~1997) (2012: 82) (English)

“What is life?

"Life is opportunity; use it. Life is beautiful; admire it. Life is a dream; realize it. Life is a challenge; face it. Life is a duty; accomplish it.

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Life is a game; enjoy it. Life is a promise; keep it. Life is sadness; overcome it. Life is a song; sing it. Life is a struggle; confront it. Life is a tragedy; face it. Life is an adventure; challenge it. Life is luck; bet on it. Life is very precious; don't destroy it. Life is life; struggle for her (!)."-Mother Teresa (1910~1997) (2012: 82)

(Notice the use of the FEMININE pronoun here! So-jeong might want to explain this!)

Let’s look at a similar example from Brunch class. Here’s Elena:

Some Ideas about Gender Inequality

Perfect! Here’s the first idea.

In 1982 the Russian doctor (?) of philosophical studies Voronina researched a studies (??) about gender inequality developed by Joan Scott, an American historian with (???) contributions to gender history. Voronina explored the feminist concept of gender inequality by analyzing the political and social issues that can be understood through studying in the psychological and sexual difference (??), in order to discuss the theme of domination of male over female, which is a central problem in gender theory.

Notice:

(?) “doctor” or “Dr.” (??) One or many?

(???) When we use “with” we suggest ACCOMPANIMENT

(that is, companionship, association). But that doesn’t mean AGENCY. You could use “by” of course (Russian

has a special case for this, the “instrumental case”). But

you might have to reorder things a little. Compare: a) In 1982 the Russian doctor of philosophical studies Voronina researched studies about gender inequality with contributions to gender history developed by Joan Scott, an American historian. b) In 1982 the Russian doctor of philosophical studies Voronina researched studies about gender inequality developed by Joan Scott, an American historian who had made contributions to gender history. Which one emphasizes the agency of Voronina? Which one emphasizes the agency of Joan Scott?

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Elena has written an excellent intro to her first text. She’s even elaborated it, like this:

Voronina claims that gender inequality is a peculiarity of society, according to which men and women have constant differences, unequal rights and unshared values. For instance, according to the Joan Scott, there are opposite psychological models for men and women. Typical men`s behavior is described as activity, aggression, determination, desire for competition, AND rationality. But women are associated with dependency on men, conformism, high level of emotionalism and less desire for reaching goals. The problem of dominating one gender by another becomes an essential issue in gender theory because the active construction of the distinctions demands a social power.

And this is almost perfect. But Elena’s ambitious. Here’s what she has in mind for the NEXT step:

“Gender stereotypes in the sphere of employment produces discrimination and a (?) professional

segregation on the basis of a gender. The gender inequality (?) in the sphere of employment has rather serious consequences, both for society, and for women. Some of them: 1) decrease in a standard of living of women; 2) decrease in investments into the human capital (?); 3) decrease in the social status of

women; 4) decrease in reproductive function of women (?).”

Kravchenko, L. A. (2008). The Gender Inequality in the Sphere of Employment (In Russian). (PUBLISHER?) Vladivostok. Notice: discrimination the discrimination which women face professional segregation the professional segregation of women gender inequality the gender inequality of Russia today human capital the human capital required by industry (What’s the rule? When do we use “the” and when do we NOT use “the”...and why?)

Elena has PLENTY to do right here. For example, she might relate this to what Voronina just said about

“stable roles”. How stable are sexual roles if women’s status in the economy can decrease like this?

Let’s go back to Elena’s intro for a moment. WHAT is she introducing? Voronina or Kravchenko? Her

FIRST passage or her SECOND...?

In 1982 the Russian SCHOLAR Voronina researched SOME studies about gender inequality developed by Joan Scott, an American historian wHO HAD MADE contributions to gender history. Voronina explored the feminist concept of gender inequality by analyzing the political and social issues that can be understood through studying in psychological and sexual differenceS, in order to discuss the theme of domination of male over female, which is a central problem in gender theory.

You can see that Elena hasn’t introduced her SECOND text, or her essay as a whole. For that, she’ll need a MAP. And the map will have to have some kind of EXTENSION.

“In this essay, I discuss the views of two Russian authors, Voronina and Kravchenko, separated by more

than twenty five years’ time. Firstly, Voronina writes about gender inequality in the early 1980s, using the

ideas of the American scholar Joan Scott. Secondly, Kravchenko discusses .....”

(Who is easier to write about, Voronina or Kravchenko? Why?)

Consider the following homework from Breakfast and Brunch. Let’s play a game. I will give you a subtitle,

and you will expand the subtitle into a MAP paragraph.

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Ms. Kweon Minjeong (Breakfast): “Warning against Two Kinds of Racism in Germany: From Auschwitz to

Roberto Hilbert”

Ms. Kim Hyeonji (Breakfast): “A Few Key Sentences from the Book ‘A Fool’s Life’ Describing Akutagawa

Ryunosuke’s Emotional Stages: Does Help Always Come Too Late to Prevent Self-Destructive Behavior

in Artists?”

Mr. Choe Hi-ung (Breakfast): “The Illusions of Don Quixote: Sociological Satire or Psychological Irony?”

Ms. Choe Yeyeong (Brunch): “The (?) Days of the Outsiders: Two Absurd Days in an Absurd Life in

Camus’ Famous Novel of Absurdity”

Ms. Kim Su-a (Brunch): “A Short Extract Concerning the Reunification of Germany: The Events Leading

to the Fall of the Berlin Wall”)

Mr. Lee Donghyeong (Brunch): “Happiness (?) and Some Ways of Achieving them (??): Simple as Giving

Candy to a Baby” Mr. Kim Taedong (Brunch): “Some Pictures and Other Data About the Transition in Relationships in

Northeast Asia: No Permanent Friends or Foes”

Ms. Yu Jiweon (Brunch): “Memories Work When They Meet Each Other and a Passage about Special

Education” (???)

Ms. Sohn Jihye (Brunch): “Japanese Traditional Houses and their Good Points: Resilience and

Collectivism”

Mr. Yi Jinyeong (Brunch): “A Man Who Refuses to Work and Other Peoples’ Treatment of Him: Why

Daisuke Doesn’t Want a Job” 2. Theme/Rheme and Given/New

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So-jeong’s analysis is a real analysis. She doesn’t just re-tell the poem—she organizes it into three

themes: orientation to the future, the pleasure of the present, and reflection upon suffering. She even includes a kind of conclusion at the end. Look:

In this poem, Mother Teresa says what life is in fifteen metaphorical expressions. These expressions can be divided into three categories. That is future-oriented life, joyful life, and bitter life. First, life is proleptic. For example, life is opportunity, dream, challenge, game, promise, adventure and luck. That is to say, she says we should live life for the future. Second, life is pleasure. For instance, life is beautiful, song and precious. Namely, she says we should enjoy the life we were given. Third, life is not always joy. For example, life is duty, sadness, struggle and tragedy. To wit, she says we should overcome them. Nevertheless, life is life. Mother Teresa says that we have to live life to the full.

This paragraph has real STRUCTURE. It goes from a THEME to a NEW. That is, it goes from a kind of

“theme”, a starting point, a place where we set the scene for what is to follow and orient what we are

going to say, to kind of “new”, a culmination point, a place where we sum up what have said and reflect

on it. You remember how we said that writing is sometimes FRACTAL in structure—that is, the same

kinds of structures appear at various points in language: the

syllable (CVC), the word (“re-

work-ed”), the clause, etc. I

think we can say that this

“Theme-Rheme” and “Given-

New” structure also appears in

various places.

Consider So-jeong’s first clause complex:

“Life is opportunity; use it.”

We can see that “Life is opportunity” is the topic, the starting point, the theme. “Use it” is the comment,

the culmination, the new proposal. But we can see EXACTLY the same structure at the level of the clause:

“Life is opportunity.” THEME NEW

“Use it.” THEME NEW One way to make sure that your paragraphs are coherent is to make sure that all of the themes in the paragraph refer in some way to the meta-theme at the beginning of the paragraph. Like this:

In this poem, Mother Teresa says what life is in fifteen metaphorical expressions. These expressions can be divided into three categories: future-oriented life, joyful life, and bitter life. First, life

is proleptic. For example, life is opportunity, dream, challenge, game, promise, adventure and luck. That is to say, she says we should live life for the future. Second, life is pleasure. For instance, life is beautiful, song and precious. Namely, she says we should enjoy the life we were given. Third, life is not always joy. For example, life is duty, sadness, struggle and tragedy. To wit, she says we should

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overcome them. Nevertheless, life is life. Mother Teresa says that we have to live life to the full.

Mother Teresa’s paragraph is a kind of LIST. But what the Dalai Lama has to say is actually quite

different.

“Lo que más que me sorprende del hombre occidental es que pierden la salud para ganar dinero,

después pierden el dinero para recuperar la salud. Y por pensar ansiosamente en el futuro no disfrutan el

presente, por lo que no viven ni el presente ni el futuro. Y viven como si no tuviesen que morir nunca, y mueren como si nunca hubleran vivido.” -Dalai Lama (1935~) (2012: 94) “What surprised me most about humanity is man (?), because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in (?) the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

Remember that So-jeong began by saying this was TROPOLOGICAL—that is, a kind of theme.

GRAPHIC—that is, Is it a LIST or a CHAIN? Does it AGREE with Mother Teresa, or is it AGAINST what

she says? (Consider what the Dalai Lama has to say about future oriented life. What about pleasure? And sorrow?)

Let’s go back to Elena. We saw that she was very ambitious. But Elena wants STILL MORE. Here’s what

she has:

Существование в обществе гендерных стереотипов приводит к процессу приписывания индивидам

характеристик на основании их групповой принадлежности. Появление гендерных стереотипов и их

устойчивость можно объяснить тем, что они отражают реальные различия между полами. Они возникают

в результате различной социализации мальчиков и девочек, обучения их различным социальным ролям

по причине исторического разделения труда между полами, связанного с традиционным

доминированием мужчины.

Existence in the society of gender stereotypes leads to attributing process to individuals of characteristics on the basis of their group accessory (MEMBERSHIP? AFFILIATION?). Emergence of gender stereotypes (?) and their stability can be explained to that they reflect real distinctions between genders. They appears (??) after variABLE socialization of boys and girls, training them in their different social roles because of the historical division of labor between genders, related to the traditional domination of the man (???).

(?) Notice ___ of ____. Should it be “a” or “the” or nothing? Why?

(??) One or many?

(???) Correct! “The X of the Y”. But is Y one or many?

But Elena is STILL not satisfied. She’s VERY ambitious. So....

“Influence of gender stereotypification on society has certain consequences. First, gender stereotypes are

socially divided (?) conceptions. The person trying to correspond to stereotypes, wishing to be socially accepted, tries to position itself in socially acceptable manner. The people who aren't corresponding to an established order of things, usually, are condemned. Socially condemned, for example, can be the choice

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of inappropriate professions. Thus, gender stereotypes are the powerful key factor (??) of social control.

The opposite mechanism — interpretation of motives of behavior and results of activity of the person on

the basis of his gender accessory (???). Belonging to group (in this case, men or women) is enough to explain motives of behavior. Secondly, gender stereotypes can have negative impact on vital claims and achievements of men and women. Thirdly, in the sphere of employment gender stereotypes promotes (??) reproduction of already settled gender asymmetries, (PUNCTUATION) they are a basis for a gender

segregation of professions.” 2008: 57).

(?) Compare: a) socially divisive conceptions b) socially divided conceptions c) conceptually divided societies In which cases do the CONCEPTIONS do the dividing? In which case does the SOCIETY do the dividing? (??) One or many? (???) Accessory?

Now, can Elena really use all of this? She can—if she wants. But she has to do a lot of summarizing.

Here’s one way to do it.

1. She takes the FIRST sentence of each paragraph—the Meta-theme. (underlined)

2. She puts them all together, like this:

“Gender stereotypes in the sphere of employment produces discrimination and professional segregation

on the basis of a gender. Existence in the society of gender stereotypes leads to attributing process to individuals of characteristics on the basis of their group membership. Influence of gender

stereotypification on society has certain consequences.” 3. Obeying the five word rule, she paraphrases, like this:

“According to both Voronina and Kravchenko, ....”

And you can see that this elaboration will give her an excellent end to her MAP paragraph! 3. Extension TWO: Problems of Variation and Alternation

So far, we’ve studied three types of elaboration, and three types of extension. We can keep track of them

by creating a “system network”, like this one:

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Last week we studied a little bit about the ADDITION (“firstly...”) and of course that’s what you are going

to be doing next week when you put together your MAP paragraph—you are going to be LISTING the

texts you will discuss in your essay.

But let’s look at something new as well. Let’s study the “variation” function: the function of saying

“except”, “besides”, “instead”, “rather than”...in other words, “not A, but B”

Ms. Kweon Minjeong (Breakfast): “Warning against Two Kinds of Racism in Germany: From Auschwitz to

Roberto Hilbert”

“People sometimes imagine that except for the Nazi period, Germany....” “Germany has not done away with racism. Instead, ...”

“Rather than...., Germany....”

Ms. Kim Hyeonji (Breakfast): “A Few Key Sentences from the Book ‘A Fool’s Life’ Describing Akutagawa

Ryunosuke’s Emotional Stages: Does Help Always Come Too Late to Prevent Self-Destructive Behavior

in Artists?” Note the difference between “besides” and “except”. Which is EXCLUSIVE (that is, variation)? Which is

INCLUSIVE (that is, alternation)?

“Besides suicide, great artists suffer from many forms of self-destructive behavior.” “Except for musicians, artists have a higher suicide rate than most people.”

“Besides Japan, South Korea also has...” “Except for suicide, the artist sometimes feels that....”

Mr. Choe Hi-ung (Breakfast): “The Illusions of Don Quixote: Sociological Satire or Psychological Irony?”

“While some critics believe that Don Quixote is a social satire, others claim...”

expansionEXPANSION-TYPE

elaborationELABORATION-TYPE

exposition

"In other words..."

exemplification

"for example..."

clarification

"in fact..."

extensionEXTENSION-TYPE

addition

"firstly...."

variation

"not A but B"

alternation

"Either A or B", "Both A and B"

enhancement

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“Rather than a social satire, we can read Don Quixote as...”

“Instead of laughing at the Don, we ....” Ms. Choe Yeyeong (Brunch): “The (?) Days of the Outsiders: Two Absurd Days in an Absurd Life in

Camus’ Famous Novel of Absurdity”

“Instead of mourning his mother, the narrator...”

“Rather than....”

“Besides the flat affect of the narrator, Camus emphasizes...” “Except for his boss, the narrator...”

Ms. Kim Su-a (Brunch): “A Short Extract Concerning the Reunification of Germany: The Events Leading

to the Fall of the Berlin Wall”)

“Instead of dying down after the Chancellor of the DDR resigned, the protests....”

“Rather than....”

“Besides the protests....”

Mr. Lee Donghyeon (Brunch): “Happiness (?) and Some Ways of Achieving them (??): Simple as Giving

Candy to a Baby”

“Instead of trying to find the best way to happiness...

“Except for that candy I ate as a child, nothing I eat or drink...”

“Besides...”

Mr. Kim Taedong (Brunch): “Some Pictures and Other Data about the Transition in Relationships in

Northeast Asia: No Permanent Friends or Foes”

“Besides inviting Park Geunhye to Beijing, the Chinese government....”

“Instead of asking North Korea to attend, ....”

“Rather than....”

Ms. Yu Jiweon (Brunch): “Memories Work When They Meet Each Other and a Passage about Special

Education” (???)

“Instead of treating special education students as defective, we need to...”

“Rather than burdening the memory with more and more details, combining associations seems to....”

Ms. Sohn Jihye (Brunch): “Japanese Traditional Houses and their Good Points: Resilience and

Collectivism” “Besides being easy to reconstruct, traditional Japanese houses...”

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“Instead of dividing the family into separate rooms, the traditional Japanese house...”

Mr. Yi Jinyeong (Brunch): “A Man Who Refuses to Work and Other Peoples’ Treatment of Him: Why

Daisuke Doesn’t Want a Job”

“While many people cannot find a job, Daisuke...” 4. My Homework, Your Homework Our task for next week is to draw up a map. There are two ways to do it. One is “Top Down”, by

expanding your title. The other is “Bottom Up”, by:

a) looking at the two passages you are going to summarize b) taking the first sentence (the meta-Theme) of each c) Writing a paragraph.

Here’s an example from MY work.

Some Examples of the Later Vygotsky’s

Critical Discussions of Associativism: How to Abolish Development

Notice how I really have two titles here. One is the title of my passages, and the other is a kind of elaboration of that title. I can do the same thing for my map paragraph. Like this:

“In the following essay, I will present some

examples of Vygotsky’s criticisms of the

associative theory of learning and development. First, I will show how he ironically compares the associative relationship between a word and a meaning to the relationship between a man and a hat. Secondly, I will demonstrate how this

way of simplifying word meaning actually abolishes development instead of explaining it. For these two reasons, Vygotsky rejected the associative theory of William James and developed a much better one of

his own.”

The alternative is to go through the work I’ve already done and take the meta-Themes, like this:

In this passage written just before his death, the mature Vygotsky offers a critical view of the associative theory of learning developed by William James, comparing associationism to the relationship between a man and his hat.

“Ассоциативная теория представляет дело чрезвычайно прямолинейно и ясно: связь между словом и его

значением есть простая ассоциативная связь между двумя членами. Ребенок видит предмет, например

часы, слышит комплекс звуков «ч-а-с-ы», между тем и другим у него устанавливается известная связь,

достаточная для того, чтобы, услышав слово «часы», ребенок вспомнил предмет, который связан с этими

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звуками. По образному выражению одного из учеников Г. Эббингауза, слово так же напоминает по

ассоциативной связи свое значение, как пальто напоминает его владельца. Мы видим шляпу, мы знаем,

что эта шляпа такого-то, и эта шляпа напоминает нам человека.” (“The associative theory presents the

matter in a way that is exceptionally straightforward and direct: the connection between a word and its value is a simple associative link between two parts. The child sees an object, for example a clock, and

hears a complex of sounds “«ч-а-с-ы» [that is, “,часы” the Russian word for clock, spelt out—DJK], and

between the one and the other a certain link is established that suffices for the child on hearing the word

“часы” (viz. “clock”—DJK) to remember the object that is linked with these sounds. In the picturesque

expression of one of the students of H. Ebbinghaus, the word reminds us through this associative link of its value in much the same way as an overcoat reminds us of its owner. We see that hat, and we know

that the hat belongs to somebody, and this had reminds us of that person.” 1984: 319).

Vygotsky says that the associative theory is simple: a sound is just linked to a meaning. For a child, this

means that the name is linked to the thing; for example, the sound “jacket” is linked to an item of clothing.

Even for an adult, the link is just an association, exactly like the association between a jacket and friend. For instance, we might see the jacket and think of the friend, or we might see the friend and think of the

jacket. In other words, there isn’t any need to create a general, abstract concept of “clock” or “jacket”: the

association is as direct as the association between a person’s face and his name.

In the very next paragraph, Vygotsky argues that this view reduces the development of speech to the learning of words. He writes:

С этой точки зрения, следовательно, снимаются все проблемы. Во-первых, само по себе отношение

между значением слова и словом рисуется как некоторое в высшей степени элементарное и простое. Во-

вторых, исключается всякая возможность дальнейшего развития детской речи: если образовалась

ассоциативная зависимость, то она дальше может уточняться, обогащаться, на месте одной зависимости

могут быть, но сама ассоциативная связь развитию в собственном смысле слова не подлежит, если под

развитием понимать процесс, при котором на следующей ступени возникает нечто новое, чего прежде

не было. С этой точки зрения, развитие детской речи сводится исключительно к развитию словаря, т. е. к

количественному увеличению, обогащению и уточнению ассоциативных связей, но развитие в

собственном смысле этого слова отрицается вовсе. (“From this point of view, therefore, all the problems

are removed. Firstly, by itself the relationship between the value of the word and the word is sketched as something that is to a high degree elementary and simple. Secondly, any possibility of the subsequent development of child speech is excluded: if associative dependencies are formed they then can be refined, enriched, and in place of one dependency we may place twenty, but development cannot lie in the associative link in the strict sense of the word, if by development we understand the process by which the subsequent stage emerges something new, which previously did not exist. From this point of view, the development of child speech is reduced exclusively to the development of vocabulary, i.e. a quantitative increase, the enrichment and refinement of associative links, but development in the strict sense of the word is completely ruled out.” 1984: 319-320).

According to Vygotsky, this theory offers three solutions, but they are all false. First of all, the relationship between a meaning and a word is presented simplistically: one meaning, and one word. Moreover, child

speech does not develop but rather remains more or less the same: a “dependency” between a word and

a meaning. In this way, the complicated process of developing grammar and saying things one has never heard can be reduced to the simple process of repeating vocabulary.

Now I put all of the meta-Themes together into a single paragraph, like this:

In this passage written just before his death, the mature Vygotsky offers a critical view of the associative theory of learning developed by William James, comparing associationism to the relationship between a man and his hat. Vygotsky says that the associative theory is simple: a sound is just linked to a meaning.

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In the very next paragraph, Vygotsky argues that this view reduces the development of speech to the learning of words. According to Vygotsky, this theory offers three solutions, but they are all false.

Now, all I have to do is to take this meta-Paragraph of meta-Themes and ELABORATE, paraphrasing it, while obeying the five-word rule. Like this:

Vygotsky did not approve of James’ theory of associativism. As we shall see below, he claimed that the

theory reduces the relationship between meaning and word to the relationship between a man and an article of clothing. Associativism, according to Vygotsky, oversimplifies: it presents the word as nothing but a sound linked to a meaning, ignoring the underlying act of thinking. Without generalization and abstraction, there is no difference between learning vocabulary and developing grammar. The three solutions that James provided to the great problems of describing language, describing development and explaining creativity are all too easy to be true.

Now it’s YOUR turn!

5. References

Halliday, M.A.K. with Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. (2014). Halliday’s Introduction to Functional Grammar.

(Fourth Edition) London: Routledge. pp. 429-460, 556-592.

Wolfgang in der Wiesche, tinfoil (2014).