At 14:52 12.12.1996 CST, Bob Yates wrote:
 
>I have some problems with metaphors we use to describe language.  The
>language as tool metaphor has some problems.  It does not suggest the creative
>nature of language.
 
 
The problem is  what do we understand by the 'creative nature of language'.
Perhaps we should distinguish between the creative tool and the creative use
of the tool.
 
The creative nature of the tool:
Unlike a hammer which is existent before it is put to use, a word (for
example) has to be made before it is used, or rather it is being made while
being used. The making is a creative act - less so with words (although we
often invent words on the spur of the moment) than with higher units
(sentence parts, sentences, and so on).
 
The creative use of the tool:
While crayons are not creative in themselves, they are used in creative
acts. In the same way language (creative or not in itself) is used creatively.
 
The tool metapher then need not be ditched for want of creativity.
 
(What metaphor would be more helpful for the daily  work of training
teachers to USE language in the classroom instead of talking about it in
their mother tongue? - Any suggestions?)
 
Burkhard
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Burkhard Leuschner   Paedagogische Hochschule Schwaebisch Gmuend   Germany
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