ANTHROPOLOGY 281--The Rabble With PhDs--FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE

ANTH 281.1001
Dr J Ferguson
University of Nevada, Reno
Spring 2018
27 F 18


  When incapable of straight communication in the real world, academicians will invent a language with pseudo-scientific terminology in an effort to rationalize the complex nature of understanding one another. They will search high and low, in Native American cultures, sit in igloos and attempt to decipher what the Eskimos are saying, or perhaps take a trip to Siberia and be entertained by the myriad of tongues and dialects spoken there. One comes away from all of this with one question, what purpose does all of this serve?

     As a former literary agent for the Writers Guild of America, West, I read several hundred screenplays, graded them and sent them back to the writers offering either rejection or representation. The rejects were due primarily to, as Strother Martin, playing the role of Captain in Cool Hand Luke (1967), so adroitly put it,

   "What we've got here..is, failure to communicate."

   Most of that failure came from bad grammar, lazy and sloppy screenwriting, and using cheap pidgin and Spanglish type languages. All of the above are what's being touted as something special in linguistic anthropology. It may be fine for the aerospace and health industries, but is unacceptable in a field where communication IS the art form. To what degree are there an unlimited number of jobs in aerospace that some degree of multilingualism is necessary. On the contrary, succinct and precise understanding in a superior language would be far more desirable than the rabble with PhDs all talking in their native tongues.

(The 250-400 word limit of this submission has been reached).

ANTHROPOLOGY 281--Immersion Film Analysis--CHATEAUROUX ET SAVOIR FAIRE

ANTH 281.1001
Dr J Ferguson
University of Nevada, Reno
Spring 2018
JCL

"Speaking in Tongues"--A Documentary--

    Criticism for any program (or film) of this type may or may not be based just on societal fears and prejudices. Considering the number of states with official language as English, it is not surprising that there would be some sort of backlash to programs, such as immersion, that would draw a negative reaction.

    In class following the film, I suggested there may not be a real economic value in a bilingual program. In no way did I insinuate a prejudiced attitude; nor did I , or am I, afraid of any such program. As a child growing up in the US Air Force, my family was stationed in Chateauroux, France where I was immersed in an early education bilingual class in 1956, long before these "pilot" programs existed in the United States. I am very familiar with the benefits of the program.

    My concern in class, which drew a great deal of negative reaction from fellow classmates, was the overall usefulness of a second language where the economy just does not have the jobs to accommodate those who succeed in the immersion program. My fellow classmates are all young, have not had the opportunity to explore many of the experiences in life I was fortunate enough to have, like living in a foreign country and immersed in a bilingual class.

    Currently, at the University of Nevada, I am fortunate enough to be enrolled in a second language class, again, French. I wouldn't trade it for the world. No prejudice or economic factor could influence how excited I am to be given another chance at learning a second language.

   If any criticism is to be directed, it would be at those who draw incorrect inferences from genuine concerns.

On the Little League team, Chateauroux, France 1956

ANTHROPOLOGY 281--"Speaking in Tongues"--A Documentary--IMMERSION SAVOIR FAIRE

ANTH 281.1001
Dr J Ferguson
University of Nevada, Reno
Spring 2018
JCL

    Criticism for any film of this type may or may not be based just on societal fears and prejudices. Considering the number of states with official language as English, it is not surprising that there would be some sort of backlash to programs, such as immersion, that would draw a negative reaction.

    In class following the film, I suggested there may not be a real economic value in a bilingual program. In no way did I insinuate a prejudiced attitude; nor did I , or am I, afraid of any such program. As a child growing up in the US Air Force, my family was stationed in Chateauroux, France where I was immersed in an early education bilingual class in 1956, long before these "pilot" programs existed in the United States. I am very familiar with the benefits of the program.

    My concern in class, which drew a great deal of negative reaction from fellow classmates, was the overall usefulness of a second language where the economy just does not have the jobs to accommodate those who succeed in the immersion program. My fellow classmates are all young, have not had the opportunity to explore many of the experiences in life I was fortunate enough to have, like living in a foreign country and immersed in a bi-lingual class.

    Currently, at the University of Nevada, I am fortunate enough to be enrolled in a second language class, again, French. I wouldn't trade it for the world. No prejudice or economic factor could influence how excited I am to be given another chance at learning a second language.

   If any criticism is to be directed, it would be at those who draw incorrect inferences from genuine concerns.

 

On the Little League team in France, 1956

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