February 27 : Shirley Brice Heath

Re(generative) Language Learning: Sight and sound

6:15 pm

CERAS Building 100B

Stanford University School of Education

Theories and descriptions of language learning rarely consider visual development and its possible relationships with language production. In fact. visual discernment, memory, and reproduction almost never enter into our ideas about academic learning. However, recent neuroscience research in visual perception provides findings relevant to the future of successful learning environments for creative problem-solving learners who fall outside the usual kinds of academic accountability. Along with a brief summary of this research, this talk points to some particularly promising environments and what the nature of their language uses suggests for researchers keenly aware of equity and social justice issues and the role of fluency with particular kinds of language.