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Growth Through English: Set in the Perspective of the Seventies
Book by Dixon, John L.
158 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
About the author
John Dixon
274 books12 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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January 20, 2021
This was one of many books I read years ago as part of graduate-level studies in Linguistics and Criticism.
According to my memory and my notes (mostly my notes!), Dixon begins by defining different aspects of language. There's the formal, including both the skills involved in our use of language and the cultural heritage, present for example in "great literature" and helpful in modeling our usage. There's also the operational aspect, including "language as personal growth."
In the many years since my exposure to this book—years that included, for example, the authoring of a memoir—I've found that this latter aspect is pretty significant. Often when I use language to express thoughts, especially in writing, I am very deliberately trying to order my experience, i.e., to understand it more clearly. Dixon says the language of literature is not primarily communicative, that an author or a poet could be attempting to discover his own attitude rather than just making a statement. I think there's general agreement on that.
But, aside from literature, is language not primarily communicative? Dixon also makes the case that the ongoing interplay in conversation, beginning with early childhood experiences, is the process by which each of us learns how language works, how it can be used most effectively, and how it serves as "a raid on the inarticulate," so that life can make sense. It is both a coming to terms with experience and communication. I want to say that's less true in the case of something like technical writing (my day-job). But on reflection, even then I try to anticipate a reader's possible questions and objections, and prior experience affects my ability to do so.
The latter part of the book deals with classroom activities, the importance of sharing people's writings, which must be based on their individual experiences, and the dynamic that can exist in a group providing mutual feedback. I have never taught, but this sounds like what can occur in a critique group, in which writers serve as beta-readers for one another's drafts—an activity that can be extremely helpful.
There's truth in this short book, and while parts of it may be dated, the main points are still worth noting.
According to my memory and my notes (mostly my notes!), Dixon begins by defining different aspects of language. There's the formal, including both the skills involved in our use of language and the cultural heritage, present for example in "great literature" and helpful in modeling our usage. There's also the operational aspect, including "language as personal growth."
In the many years since my exposure to this book—years that included, for example, the authoring of a memoir—I've found that this latter aspect is pretty significant. Often when I use language to express thoughts, especially in writing, I am very deliberately trying to order my experience, i.e., to understand it more clearly. Dixon says the language of literature is not primarily communicative, that an author or a poet could be attempting to discover his own attitude rather than just making a statement. I think there's general agreement on that.
But, aside from literature, is language not primarily communicative? Dixon also makes the case that the ongoing interplay in conversation, beginning with early childhood experiences, is the process by which each of us learns how language works, how it can be used most effectively, and how it serves as "a raid on the inarticulate," so that life can make sense. It is both a coming to terms with experience and communication. I want to say that's less true in the case of something like technical writing (my day-job). But on reflection, even then I try to anticipate a reader's possible questions and objections, and prior experience affects my ability to do so.
The latter part of the book deals with classroom activities, the importance of sharing people's writings, which must be based on their individual experiences, and the dynamic that can exist in a group providing mutual feedback. I have never taught, but this sounds like what can occur in a critique group, in which writers serve as beta-readers for one another's drafts—an activity that can be extremely helpful.
There's truth in this short book, and while parts of it may be dated, the main points are still worth noting.
Displaying 1 of 1 review