tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513616792028141844.post1299095443845364246..comments2023-04-14T06:11:34.177-04:00Comments on Connecting 2 the World: A new way of listening?V Yonkershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11910904367068063554noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513616792028141844.post-39043638768765018672008-08-25T07:21:00.000-04:002008-08-25T07:21:00.000-04:00Kia ora Virginia!"Students lack imagination". I pu...Kia ora Virginia!<BR/><BR/>"Students lack imagination". I put it down to the toys that are manufactured today and have been for the last 20 years or so. They leave almost nothing to the imagination.<BR/><BR/>Part of development as a child comes with the development of the imagination - that a chain of cotton reels strung together with twine could be a train of carriages or a snake, a caravan of covered wagons or a necklace.<BR/><BR/>Dolls are now manufactured, male and female, with explicit detail - everywhere, and that sip and wee and cry and speak. There are even those that reply to the spoken voice.<BR/><BR/>For students to 'visualise' they must first learn how. Spatial development takes shape in children at different ages but it can be accelerated with opportunity to practise. I don't think there is enough practise at the younger ages and this limits ability to visualise and understand concepts, whether they be material or imaginary.<BR/><BR/>Ka kite<BR/>from Middle-earthBlogger In Middle-earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513616792028141844.post-77019465967401470872008-08-24T07:03:00.000-04:002008-08-24T07:03:00.000-04:00Alex, I wonder if the Japanese culture is also cha...Alex, I wonder if the Japanese culture is also changing to become more polychronic (it is all a matter of degree). It would be interesting to know if there were differences in perceptions between the generations in terms of cell phone etiquette.<BR/><BR/>Ken,I have found my students lack imagination and the ability to visualize. I blame part of that on the push to "teach" at a younger and younger age. Children in the US are no longer given time to "play" which helps develop those skills.V Yonkershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11910904367068063554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513616792028141844.post-87463213313366393402008-08-23T19:48:00.000-04:002008-08-23T19:48:00.000-04:00Kia ora Virginia!I think you are on track. There h...Kia ora Virginia!<BR/><BR/>I think you are on track. There has been something happening to the way young people 'take things in'. And it's not just confined to listening skills.<BR/><BR/>In one of my earlier posts on <A HREF="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2008/06/strategies-for-improving-literacy.html" REL="nofollow">Strategies for Improving Literacy</A> I mentioned the work of <A HREF="http://edlinked.soe.waikato.ac.nz/staff/index.php?user=davidw" REL="nofollow">David Whitehead</A>. He believes there is a decrease in use of visual ideas and images in student every day life, and that simply asking students to imagine (as a thinking/learning tool) may not be as successful as it was in the past. There is a growing need for the use of visual images as learning tools to stimulate student imagination.<BR/><BR/>If this is so, we may be barking up the wrong tree when using metaphors in instructional speech. Such metaphors that used to work will no longer, for the listener is not sufficiently developed in the necessary skills to understand, so they're bored and switch off.<BR/><BR/>Ka kite<BR/>from Middle-earthBlogger In Middle-earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513616792028141844.post-33971523205954128362008-08-23T07:13:00.000-04:002008-08-23T07:13:00.000-04:00Interesting and stimulating ideas, never thought t...Interesting and stimulating ideas, never thought that listening could be something that changes. If English speakers are becoming polychronic, my Japanese students are in real trouble!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com