It strikes me also that studying language behaviors is a great opportunity
to examine how language is seen both as a learned behavior as well as an
innate ability (and a myriad of views in-between). The debate between
Skinner and Chomsky is a good place to start. For a biology teacher, this
may be great material to examine the fine line between biology and
cognition.

John

On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 9:56 AM, Craig Hancock <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>    I have used Tannen in composition classes and students find her
> "relevant" and accessible. If you google her, you can find short
> articles on male/female uses of language and criticisms of our
> "argument culture." I would also suggest Lakoff and Johnson, certainly
> "Metaphors We Live By" as ways to talk about the relationship between
> the way we use language and how we conceive the world and how that
> affects our social interaction. In terms of how we see argument, this
> overlaps with Tannen.
>   I don't think you can go wrong with Grice's maxims, probably available
> from a number of sources.
>   They may find it interesting that many linguists see language as "a
> complex adaptive system", using metaphors out of biology. Much of that
> is happening at the scholarly level. Geoff Thompson has an
> "Introduction to Functional Grammar" that is intended to be accessible,
> as is David Lee's book on cognitive Linguistics. It seems to me that
> prototype theory links cognition to language. I'm not sure what to
> suggest for reading. Is it covered in contemporary psychology texts?
>    I'm not sure if any of that is what they are looking for.
>
> Craig>
>
>
> My first impression is that they are doing discourse analysis of a sort.
> > Perhaps they would benefit from a referral to the literature on speech
> > acts?
> > Or perhaps a general reference to the work of discourse analysts like
> > Deborah Tannen would be helpful?
> >
> > I'll consider this more. I think providing direct help to school teachers
> > is
> > something this group should take as an important component of its
> mission!
> >
> > John Alexander
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 8:44 AM, Dick Veit <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> >> I received the following request from a high school teacher. Can anyone
> >> supply information she and her class would find useful?
> >>
> >> Hello, Professor Veit.
> >>
> >> I am teaching a unit on behavior in an IB Biology course. My students
> >> want
> >> to analyze and categorize topics of human conversation. Such as:
> >> discussion
> >> of subjective or objective ideas, discussion of others, relating stories
> >> to
> >> one's own experiences, etc.
> >>
> >> We are having difficulty finding literature sources. I am wondering if
> >> you
> >> know of any literature sources on this topic.
> >>
> >> Thanks for your time and consideration. Any help you could give would be
> >> greatly appreciated.
> >>
> >> Stacey Skinner, Biology Teacher
> >> St. Paul Central High School
> >> [log in to unmask]
> >>
> >> Dick
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> >> leave the list"
> >>
> >> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
> >>
> >
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> > at:
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> >
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface
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> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>

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