Is this proper English homework?

[optimist66]

My DS1 who is in Year 3 completed his "English" home work, last night. Sorry, it's not called "English" - it's called "Literacy". He is at a state school.

His home work was about the use of "onomatopoeia" words. These are the use of words whose sound suggests the sense of what is happening. DS1 had to design an advertisement for a cereal.

Am I wrong in thinking that this is a weak and namby pamby way of discussing use of sounds. Where is the greating traditional way of discussing the rules of Grammar - complemented by an indepth building of Vcabulary and Comprehension skills.

He is on the top table, and a level 3b

Am I expecting too much, as I always see homework of weak substance given to him?

Ooh, snap, how interesting! I take it your DH is French and you're English - are you living here or in France? I shall have to do similar tests when I have babies as DH is Russian and I'm English.

Maybe you're attuned to English babies and that's why you find French so grating? Dunno.

Yup. We live in sort of France so baby has been exposed to French. I probably am more attuned to English babies. I've known more of them for a start but the cries are noticeably different! I've never been annoyed by an anglophone cry but French babies make me want to distance myself from them, rather than pick them up and cuddle them!

Tis interesting now I think about it. I wonder whether there's any funding in it for research...

I have experience of two schools systems: the Swedish, which I was educated in and which still educates younger members of my extended family, and the English, which I passed through briefly to collect some O-levels and which now educates my dcs (and has educated my students). My own feeling is that the Swedish system was better at teaching foreign languages (both speaking and analysing) but that English pupils are often better at expressing themselves in their own language (though less confident in their spelling). Obviously in an ideal world you would combine the two.

What I have noticed in the latest batch of English university students is the overambitious use of very flowery language: seems like literacy pushed too far. But otherwise would agree with LRD: the real problem is that they are not willing to think. Do I blame the teachers though? I don't know- by the time you get to 19, I think you could take some responsibility yourself.

Ah Cory, I think the use of such flowery language is actively encouraged in schools here.

I was recently speaking to a sixth form group about my writing and they were shocked to discover that I generallly seek to minimise adverbs and adjectives wherever I can.
I explained that in my genre, it's much better to keep things sharp.

Interesting though, that I never apply this to my posts.

Cory I agree with you that non-English students are more minimalist in their use of language and sometimes English students are OTT! But then that's the emphasis on writing using 'wow' words coming through...

Cory, of course I'm not blaming teachers! Apart from anything else, teachers have to teach the curriculum.

I've noticed the flowery language too - often mis-applied. Mind you, a couple of friends and I were discussing the American SAT tests, where you're required to learn a huge number of posh words for the 'vocabulary' section, and that might be more annoying!

Snap - I think there is research into babies crying at different pitches but I can't remember where I read that now! It's fascinating you can actually hear it though, must be really interesting.

(Sorry, not trying to talk about your baby like a science study ... I'm sure s/he is gorgeous and charming too! )

PS - word, it's funny you say that - mine had never heard the 'never use adverbs' rule that used to be quite commonplace (if a bit stuffy) for 'good prose style'.

I think in general it's good style never to use two words where one will do. Each word has to "earn its keep" in the phrase, or out it goes!

It's not born yet. It will be gorgeous

There is research, it's only been published in the last year, maybe 2? Anyway, it compared French and German babies and found that they did have different accents even when very tiny (I think under a week old) which makes me wonder whether the cry will change as exposure to L2 increases.

But of course cry will change anyway as baby learns to communicate different things through crying.

Oh and I'm the one who planned to (not) use the baby as a science study first, so I don't mind people viewing it that way at all

I'll try to remember to look you up on here when DH and I finally get around to procreating - I really want to know what you make of the bilingual issues.

MIF - good rule, will pass that one on to my students. I know someone who tells her students it's much harder to persuade in a few, short, familiar words than lots of long, jargon-y ones. Actually, that strikes me as another good justification for making posters, too ...

Oh dear, I never even noticed the bilingual quality of my babies' crying as I stumbled bleary-eyed around the bedroom at 4 o'clock in the morning; an opportunity missed! Too late now, dd is starting her GCSEs. And is fully bilingual, but doesn't, for some reason, strike me as irritatingly foreign. You get hardened to these things I suppose.

It's odd - hearing spoken French isn't foreign or irritating to me at all but the minute I started listening to the different qualities of cry there is actually a discernible difference! Maybe it's different when it's your own baby and you're just focusing on the fact it's crying and you need to do something. Or maybe intonation patterns in Swedish and English are similar enough for it not to be noticeable?

Give it a month or so and I'll report back if I'm not too sleep deprived

That is a very good homework assignment.

Your OP is littered with grammatical errors. Perhaps you could sit alongside DS and do the homework with him. Could only help.

Hi there,

Have you ever looked into Bloom's Toxonomy? It describes how 'remembering' and 'understanding' information are much lower thinking skills than 'applying' and 'creating' with the information.

These higher thinking skills are thought (by those who research teaching and learning and most pedagogy studies) to be much more efficient in learning.

So basically 'remembering' vocabulary is not nearly as good a learning activity as creating something new (your child's cereal packet) is a much more valuable learning activity. Comprehension is also a lower thinking skill - this is why it is done less in schools.

Good on your kids primary school teacher. They've given your kids a task that's fun, motivating your child to use what he has learnt and uses higher thinking skills.

Link for Bloom;s taxonomy below if you want to have a look

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BloomsCognitiveDomain.svg

Also, stop demeaning 'literacy'. Its a much better name for what they are doing.