Blog #4

I have been able to see the advancement of technology in the classrooms across UAA, as well as in the practicum at Service High. I think it is a great idea that has been incorporated into the classrooms across the ASD. I feel that within my classroom, it has been unique in being able to see that the teacher is able to show video clips at the touch of a button, as well as see other teachers implement the touch screen ability for presentations. I feel technology is a great thing that has been brought into the classroom, further bringing engagement into the classroom for active participation. It is easy to see that technology is the way of the where we are headed in the future and it not only interests students, but makes them understand this concept as well. I know at my practicum the teacher had the students put together a song and some pictures for a slide presentation, having them use the technology and asking questions for designing their productions.

Language variation is very unique within autism students. I see varied cultures and backgrounds of an Australian, Native, Asian, Korean, and other students (social variation). Some of the students have a difficult talking, however sometimes they are hard to understand under their impairment of shyness and indirect engagement/involvement. It is a definite speech community dealing with shared linguistic norms and ideologies when they talk, sometimes in just fragments about different areas of discourse. I know if there were more students, I would be able to see code switching presented, however was able to see one of the students reading something in another language, but I didn’t think to ask her what the article was about. This makes me think she speaks one language with her family, and English with the rest of who she interacts with. I would speak more about social interaction and how it impacts the way we speak, however I believe all of us have experienced words, phrases, sayings which friends and other people have said, even in exotic places from strangers because we thought it was interesting, (coining, language contact) etc. I see that some of use the social variation with whoever we are around, and for the students today, standard English is the best way for them to learn and succeed in today’s society. I see that my teacher sometimes stresses when unsure about what he will be doing incorporating technology with the computer and smart board, but it is something we must all deal with. Dealing more with language variation, I see that the students conform more to the teacher when asking questions and presenting themselves, than with fellow students. Maybe there is something called “speech code?” (Only kidding).

Blog #3

I have noticed questions within the classroom such as, "What are we doing today?" I have also heard questions concerning topics and what they have to do with the subjective matter at hand. There is one student, let's call him Kyle, who always interrupts and doesn't know when to be quiet. He directs what the teacher has going on to how it relates to himself, having no relevance. This would also include overlapping, when he thinks it should be his turn to talk naturally, but is not. Other times, he makes great observances! This is a definite sign of communicative competence. Kyle takes things from his life he associates with, to connect them with classroom material. His comments seem to be that of discourse analysis, or from linguistics standpoint, pragmatics.

I do notice that the more quiet students work together, and the louder students work together. The quiet students that work together and I ask question to will generally give me shorter "minimal responses" to complete the sentence. There are the clicks, but overall it is difficult to distinguish between social and academic status with the autistic group of students. There are gestures and pauses when the students talk, along with more so gestures used when the teacher wants someone to respond directly. There is only one girl in the class, so even the gender status doesn't give me a good idea. But in a "regular" classroom, I would probably see the girls and boys being in groups. This class is just a different bunch!

There is also another student who is special ed I saw the other day. He speaks unclearly, but yet is able to understand what people say and tell him to do. I notice sometimes when the students have a problem, they will voice out before raising their hand to be called on, let alone know they are doing something wrong. Everyone is going to have different responses to everything we come in contact with, because of the sense of identity. Like the book was stating, we present ourselves through language in a certain way, just as others judge us on the way we communicate with the language we use.