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Dear Sarah,

Thank you so much for your response!

I am attaching an article of mine that, I think, addresses the questions you have asked.

By the way, your semantic excavation of the verb "allow" reminded me of the sentence "teaching is to let the learners learn".

I wish you all the sky,

Mohsen

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From: Sarah Fletcher <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: BERA Practitioner-Researcher <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: What are living standards of judgement?
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 16:19:55 +0000
>Dear Mohsen (and Everyone on the list)
>
>I'm grateful for your questions since they stimulate my reflection about the how and why of words
>
>Question: How can language educators allow learners to find language as a way of being and not
>just as a means for communication?
>
>Reflection: I am interested by your choice of word 'allow' - please could you explain this a little?
>Do language teachers give or ethically have the right to give permission for language to be a way
>of being? I think 'communication' is a rich concept because it doesn't mean (to me) a choice of
>terms as a tool - it is a whole body-mind expression. In this sense, it carries with it the ontology
>and epistemology not only of the person communicating but of all the individuals who have used
>the term before. Bodies like the 'Academie Francaise' try to impose a structure on language and
>restrict words they see as undesirable. The fact remains they have a very limited influence and
>argot (street-wise slang) communicates and, some say, nurtures socio-cultural communication.
>
>Question: How can language educators allow learners to reflectively language their immediate
>consciousness and experience the creativity of their thought?
>
>I would use 'enable' rather than 'allow' here. Do you agree? So much depends on whether we are
>talking about language as (just) words. Language is communicated (I don't mean not just spoken)
>through all of our senses, through colour and texture. Have you seen the latest issue of Scientific
>American? There's a section on how the senses work. There is a fascinating article on phantom
>sensations where the mind 'fills in' sensations about what it thinks it should be interacting with -
>for example tinnitus is the brain creating sound because there should be a signal from the ear. I
>suggest that this is language though it's not in words but it's certainly a form of communication.
>
>So - to answer your question as best I can ... I believe language educators can assist learners to
>language reflectively by modelling and crucially by understanding, by being able to communicate
>their understanding (by example as well as by spoken utterance) that reflection can be beneficial.
>Your question resonates with Rieko Iwahama's when she asks How can we help teachers to reflect?
>Do take a look at her wonderful PowerPoint from BERA 2005 on http://www.TeacherResearch.net
>
>I love your question because it is timely for me to reflect on my response. Thank you! Yesterday,
>I was with a group of students (in a school) who were presenting their research to teaching staff. It
>seemed to me that the kernel of their presetation was communication that educators are learners
>and (to use Robyn Pound's marvellous concept of 'alongsidedness') teachers and students should
>be 'alongside' as learners. Language is organic. Its beauty resides in it capacity to embody more
>than word value. It shimmers with meaning! Educators can be alongside in creative momentum
>with other learners, playing with language, experimenting with it, seeking out new expressions,
>combining it with other forms of communication that invlove so much more than spoken words.
>
>My answer to your quetion? By holding back and creating space for reflection, by pausing and not
>just delivering a predetermined message or a ritualised phraseology, by listening and valuing and
>co-enquiring with excitement and a sense of wonder (just lik small children 'play' with language? )
>
>Question: How can language and languaging help the learners explore oneself and shape their
>lives?
>
>When it is understood as much more than just symbols and where the symmetry of the symbols is
>valued too. When it is used empathetically to draw out and share meaning (and not as a weapon).
>
>Thank you SO much for the opportunity to respond to all your stimulating and exciting questons,
>
>Sarah