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From:
Charles Butler Date: Sat Jan 5, 2002 9:37 pm Subject: Re: "Metalinguistics"...what is it? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In Brasil, a professor from England spent a long time on meta-linguistics and metalanguage. Meta-language is how we learn a second language. We find a larger way than a single language to connect to the world. Metalanguage is the process of saying "arbol" and "tree" describe the same concept, a" thing in my back yard with limbs and leaves which is larger than a bush." When we talk about "language" we use "metalanguage". For a person using English, there are several ways to communicate the same language, speech, hearing, and writing. With sign language, there is signing, reading sign, and with Sign Writing, reading as well. The oral/aural component is missing, but the writing is a common "metalanguage." Through using the common concept of "writing" to teach a signed language, a Deaf child can learn that a language can appear not only on their hands and bodies and be read from that but also with marks on paper that match up to that movement of their hands. In the same way, they can make the leap between "these marks on paper mean these movements" to "these marks on paper mean this spoken language" even if I can't hear it. Sign Writing has been doing metalanguage studies since its creation, any time a Deaf child writes down a hearing concept into a signed concept on paper. Hope that helps. Charles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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