Junot Diaz on Language "Incomprehension"Here is a link to the video clip of celebrated contemporary fiction writer, Junot Diaz, talking about language incomprehension and the nature of his multi-lingual novel, The Brief, Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao. The clip I showed, where Diaz talks about how much we accept that we don't fully understand most things as we walk around in the world, and how much we hate when we face that "incomprehension" in our books, starts at around 7:30. I recommend maybe starting around 6:50 this time around, though, to hear what the interviewer asks to prompt Diaz's comments (the link should start you there)....
In the comments: respond! What do you think of Diaz's idea that we often don't know perfectly what everything means all the time? How does a second language speaker experience this differently? How might his ideas be useful to students in a class? How are they useful to you asa teacher who deals everyday with trying to understand what students are saying in their writing and speaking? This is the written interview I showed on the slide: Tortured artist: Junot Díaz talks language, writing--April 4, 2013 I mentioned as well his personal about his struggles with writing, something you could have students read and discuss along with some of his fiction: "Becoming a Writer" (2009). It's really good! *note: there are TWO pages
3 Comments
Alyson Driscoll
4/10/2017 11:09:43 am
I could not agree more with Diaz's statement that we don't know perfectly what everything within a language means. For example, we say certain words every day that we would likely have a difficult time defining, such as "like". Yet it is just something developed through consistent use of a language.
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Matt Potts
4/17/2017 09:44:14 am
Language incomprehension is a very interesting idea. What is normal to us may not be so to our students. They may begin to wonder and speculate at what they aren't "getting" when in actuality it is throw away stuff anyway. It also encourages reading and learning and I think that is what he is stressing through all of his writings. Perhaps we should teach students new ways. For example his use of footnotes breaks up his books. He is using them to make his writing more fun, which is essential to what you want to do
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Estefani Domingues
4/25/2017 06:35:03 am
I actually enjoyed Diaz's point on the incomprehensibility of language. I agree that there are a lot of things that may go understood in a language, but yet fluent English speakers seem to get it and carry on. While ELL struggle with what someone just said, native speakers can automatically pick out what MIGHT be trying to be said. I see how this can cause anxiety for those ELL. Being an ELL, you're trying to juggle two things: remembering how to say something (or trying to see if you even know the word) and trying to use it in the correct context. I see this on a daily basis with my parents. Both are ELL who have learned English over the years, but both still struggle with using the correct words or the correct phrasing. They constantly ask me how to use a word or to explain why a certain word was used in a context they are not used to. Sometimes they can get frustrated trying to remember how to use a word especially if its something simple, but due to their worried thoughts about using it correctly, forget what it meant. I can see Diaz's idea being helpful in the classroom. The classroom is full of different students who learn at different paces. While incomprehension is something that is experienced daily for these students, giving them something they are not 100% sure of will have them looking for the answer among each other. As Diaz said when it pertained to reading, you "learn to read with someone else". Learning to get past the incomprehension together will help students to understand its ok to turn to someone to find an answer.
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Dr.Hannah Rule | [email protected] | Humanities Office Building 203 | University of South Carolina |