[from Joel Judd 950828.0900 CST]
Well, I was going to respond to Rick (950825.1130). Assuming he's just
in the Social Skills classroom and not floating face down amidst the
kelp off of Catalina:
I think another important distinction is between rules as perceptions
and rules as unperceived constraints...
What follows is pretty much why I thought of a "natural" and "manmade"
distinction--the point being we can't do much about the natural ones.
Because of that, or rather because they're there from the birth, most of
us (with the exception of the Orvilles and the Wilburs, etc.) learn to
live around them.
What struck me by the time I got to the end is how much this describes
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT. The last two paragraphs would apply perfectly to
language. The only caveat I would throw in would be that whereas
gravity doesn't vary from one country to another (though there are those
who believe parts of CA don't count), the "rules" of language do. Other
than that, sentences such as the following could easily be reworded:
the kid just learns that part of what you do to [communicate] in this
house is to [learn to say 'please' and 'thank you']...
or
In order to learn to control a [linguistic] rule as a perception, you have
to be taught the rule explicitly ['My brother and *I*,' 'To *whom* am I
speaking?']
or
Explicitly teaching the [linguistic] rules will not necessarily help a
person control [communicative goals] any better
(in fact, they may make them worse by ostracizing someone from her
"group")
ยทยทยท
TO: CSG-L INTERNET Any user on the Internet, not at DESE Proj. Box
FROM: JUDDJ DESEINST Joel Judd - DESE - Division of Instruction
DATE: August 28, 1995
SUBJECT: It's a Small World, After All....
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
David G., Mary P., Bill P. (various):
I didn't perceive the Jewish mother query as critical. In fact, I love
all colors of people--white, red, brown, yellow. Actually, some of my best
friends are Jewish. My accountants are Jewish. Steven Spielberg, David
Geffin....oh, I'm sorry, I'm channeling the Michael Jackson interview.
Never mind.
Joel
the rule