Kyle > Recent Status Updates

Learning about the history of words, not the familiar story of how they went from scratches on stone to inked papers and flashing pixels on a screen, but the other side of the word-coining coin: sounds. The big surprise is that each utterance has no value, not any that naturally occurs in any case (with the briefly described onomatopoeia being the exception). One culture merely agrees to use a system for their words.

It seems odd, yet also entirely fitting, for such a famous philologist as de Saussure to have so little interest in publishing his thoughts on the impressive array of languages he knew. Friendly followers such as Charles Bally, Albert Sechehaye and Jonathan Culler have a hand in editing the transcripts of his lectures, but as that narrator guy says in Fight Club, end up being as oral text's "copy of a copy".

Among academics there is a sad but unavoidable reality: publish or perish. This diabolical necessity to stay current in the eyes of peers and university administrators has made for numerous living skeletons still in print. de Saussure on the other hand is refreshingly alive in the minds of the students who attended his cours and unearthed a 20th century Socrates, the loquacious founder of modern linguistics.

Good examples of how both sides of the other half live in such close proximity to the Chechen rebels. The Russian soldiers, on the one hand, seem frustrated with continual conflict, and one of them at least has the chatty sense of getting to know his enemy; the officers, on the other hand, are bored with life on the frontline, and seek refinement through cards, alcohol or pretty women. Seems to be a common leitmotif.

Good examples of how both sides of the other half live in such close proximity to the Chechen rebels. The Russian soldiers, on the one hand, seem frustrated with continual conflict, and one of them at least has the chatty sense of getting to know his enemy; the officers, on the other hand, are bored with life on the frontline, and seek refinement through cards, alcohol or pretty women. Seems to be a common leitmotif.

Getting caught up with the rest of Vygotsky's career, or at least what it meant for two Anglo-American scholars in the late 1970's, is truly a construction of good ideas. Very much like Ecotopia, the editors end on an optimistic note that understanding the different senses of "natural" for the cognitive development theory hammered out between Marxist researchers could help to heal the already hurting planet.

A new skill set is needed for teachers who believe children come to school by their 6th year and must learn the mechanics of writing. How true that "written signs frequently are simply gestures that have been fixed" (p. 107) and already familiar to preschool children. It would be a happy day to see the end of cursive writing lessons where the shape or slant of the loops takes priority over narrating written language.

It is perhaps no coincidence that I am learning about the seriousness of play as it relates to psychological development, when I am now at the other end of my schooling (compared to the preschool to school-aged children written about). In our struggles to get a research proposal written, I and many others are entering the imaginary space where we are already researchers, standing a head taller than we did as masters.

Nice to see Tolstoy's still got the narrative knack so late in his career (despite numerous essays promoting his anti-literature ethics). He starts off with an almost scientific observation of a resilient Tartar-thistle before taking the reader back to a hotspot for Russian imperial claims along the Caucasus Mountains. The hero Murat meets with his comrades, and shows another slice of life among "him" and his people.

An examination of widely held views of development and learning demonstrates that at least three of the most popular are lacking an understanding of how children come to school with the learning mind. The Zone of Proximal Development is introduced and then backed up by American research - too bad the 20th century was so ideologically messed up that it took nearly 50 years for his theory to influence western teaching.

Very intrigued by the possibilities open to stage research as ethnotheatre, especially as I want to explore performative spaces known as virtual worlds for drama. Whether or not the funding and advisory committee will come together is another story, but Saldaña's engaging introduction opens the door, or more appropriately, sets the stage. Really liked his example of bad ethnotheatre with Foucault's cameo: Enchanté!

Just where I am, right now, with my research funding proposal, I have a few problems with methodology (and theoretical framework). Taking inspiration from Vygotsky, I should state that what has already been done, in his case stimulus-response testing, only goes so far to explain the product. When examining the process, forget all the predetermined outcomes and be impressed with participant's outside-the-box thinking.

He starts off by mentioning a principle of Pavlov (that did not involve his hungry dog) dealing with unconditioned and conditioned responses, connected like a telephone network. What Vygotsky proposes with the higher psychological functions compares tools (hardware) and signs (software), becoming a natural fit for the smartphones of today: as the child develops, the gestures become secondary to the mastering of apps.

He starts off by mentioning a principle of Pavlov (that did not involve his hungry dog) dealing with unconditioned and conditioned responses, connected like a telephone network. What Vygotsky proposes with the higher psychological functions compares tools (hardware) and signs (software), becoming a natural fit for the smartphones of today: as the child develops, the gestures become secondary to the mastering of apps.

He starts off by mentioning a principle of Pavlov (that did not involve his hungry dog) dealing with unconditioned and conditioned responses, connected like a telephone network. What Vygotsky proposes with the higher psychological functions compares tools (hardware) and signs (software), becoming a natural fit for the smartphones of today: as the child develops, the gestures become secondary to the mastering of apps.

With a firm understanding of how the mind works at young ages, Vygotsky invites the readers into his laboratory in order to glimpse at how memory forms. In some cases, particularly with young children, talking equals recalling, and is a point raised in another study I am reading about pre-literate people. Even some of the dialogue with participants printed here seems authentic, even if it perhaps is an amalgamation.

A brief chapter on the behaviour behind performance of a task, with very pertinent discussion on the function of time, how children can break down the task into sections, while other animals can only just make instinctual grasps. Another feature of Vygotsky's research that I admire is his optimistic curiosity, whether he knew beforehand or not the outcome of his study, he seems pleased as a child to make discoveries.

Off to a great start, where Vygotsky contests the development of child psychology by means of botanical and zoological studies. Instead he proposes to study children as human beings, how novel, who develop skills and language at the same time. He sets himself apart from contemporary constructivist Piaget by observing everyday action rather than setting up tests designed to demonstrate what actions kids can't perform.

The brief outline of Vygotsky's career and research practices in the introduction prove what I believed since first meeting him in my educational psychology course, years ago: this guy knew plenty of interesting things, and wasn't shy about developing his theories with less conventional research methods. He got his start teaching theatre in Gomel, Belarus, and I am excited to become Vygotsky for my literacy ed class.

For so much dialogue over the controversial book operating system, its demise is effectively covered in one paragraph. Very fitting for Libris and Tweed, who both conspired to rob readers of subtly and nuance, that they don't speak another word. Thursday, in her defense of the Well and all its imperfections, remains astute and thoughtfully just. Plus she helps create Nursery Crimes series while helping those in need.

Quick thinking on Thursday's part, and a well timed shot suddenly ringing out was followed by a longish pause before the main event: the 923rd Annual BookWorld Awards. Of course, Thursday and her secret ally Mimi the spurned maidservant, hatch their plot while literary heavyweights claim their Bookie statuettes. Funny to think how worked up some characters get over winners, and nobody seems to care about UltraWord..

Great couple of chapters, where all the puns, loose-ends and misspelled red herrings fall into place. The bad guy proves to be a shape shifting Machiavel who helped design the mp3 version of books, UltraWord. While seeming to be the next logical step for books, it really become a tool for conservative jerks to make more money. My respect for Fforde's anti-consumerist stance is ironically why I keep buying his novels!

Great couple of chapters, where all the puns, loose-ends and misspelled red herrings fall into place. The bad guy proves to be a shape shifting Machiavel who helped design the mp3 version of books, UltraWord. While seeming to be the next logical step for books, it really become a tool for conservative jerks to make more money. My respect for Fforde's anti-consumerist stance is ironically why I keep buying his novels!

According to Thursday Next herself, she defeats three of the Hades siblings, and I already know how it plays out for the older brother and younger sister. Wonder which brother will show up in Dark Reading Matter, if he even shows up at all. Things finally seem to be turning around for the failing fiction Caversham Heights with a more imaginative cast being brought in as a last-ditch effort to exist.

Once again, just as clues to the mystery start lining up, things get hazy again. At least Miss Havisham bows out doing what she loved; it would be interesting to find out how her part in Great Expectations would have ended prior to the accident. Thursday gets her history rewritten, too, as she mourns for her departed mentor. The page could not turn fast enough as UltraWord and Aornis raise the mental stakes.

Back to the Crimean war, and much more familiar ground, despite Aornis' effort to delete Thursday's memories. Randolph (not Andrew, whoops) get a lot more rounded out in his brief exchange with Thursday. Then returning to BookWorld business, first with the Jurisfiction meeting, and read an extra chapter on the Council of Genres' chamber. Love the glimpse of other languages' Great Libraries and the Last Original Idea.

Back to the Crimean war, and much more familiar ground, despite Aornis' effort to delete Thursday's memories. Randolph (not Andrew, whoops) get a lot more rounded out in his brief exchange with Thursday. Then returning to BookWorld business, first with the Jurisfiction meeting, and read an extra chapter on the Council of Genres' chamber. Love the glimpse of other languages' Great Libraries and the Last Original Idea.

One moment the plot is building, next thing it is spinning out in unpredictable ways. Even though I have read through this before, and should know what's happening with Caversham Hieghts, the newly named generics Lola and Andrew in addition to a Jane Eyre trial, I found myself struggling to keep track of all the threads. Perhaps it is the sense of disequilibrium that makes for fun on the first read.

After lots of wonderful exposition on the BookWorld, the plot gets going with mysterious deaths and a who-can-you-trust vibe among Jurisfiction agents. Hardly anything compared to the pent-up sentiments in the Enid Blyton story Shadow the Sheepdog, and now I know a bit more about what the U A of W Cat (Fforde) was hinting at in his description of her idyllic scribbles thanks to Woman Who Died a Lot.

When did Fforde have time to read so many books? Assumed it was during his "varied career" in the film industry, but as a focus puller, he had to be at constant attention both when the camera was rolling and between cut and the next shot. His childhood, during off-time? Was he once an English teacher? Perhaps he had that special obsessive quality to follow up on stories from 20,000 Leagues to nursery rhymes.