There is so much about language that I find interesting. It
will be hard to pick a topic for my research. I am hoping to narrow it down to
something that will help me professionally, perhaps something related to my
professional fields of interest. This would probably mean something in regards
to ESL. Examples of possible topics include what aspects of language do
learners find most difficult? Why are certain languages considered harder to
learn than others? Something that could be very interesting in regards to
developing ESL curriculum would be to look into what ways people find most effective
for learning language. Since I believe native speakers are always learning
their native language, I think even people who speak one language would be able
to give some ideas on what were the most effective learning experiences in
their past.
If I stray away from a strictly professional intent, there
are many other topics surrounding language that I find interesting. One thing
that is very intriguing is the idea of “awkward”. How, when we are speaking
with someone, do we come to the conclusion that they are socially awkward? What
aspects of their spoken and nonverbal communication get this idea to us, and
what grounds (valid or invalid) are we making this judgment on? What qualifies
something as an awkward? Why do we feel that way?
I’ve also thought of writing something like a “book of unspoken
things” talking all about topics that people never state directly, but are all
aware of. How and why we are able to allude to ideas without stating them. Another
idea is how people who know each other well speak more ambiguously to each other,
because there is a lot of presumed knowledge between them. For example,
explaining an idea to my sister would be much easier than explaining an idea to
a stranger. There is a lot of information that my sister and I are mutually aware of that I
would not need to cover. This is a dynamic which affects how we feel about
hanging out with friends versus hanging out with an acquaintance. There is something
mentally taxing about being with new people, with whom you need to cover so
much background information in order to have a decent conversation.
These are my ideas. There are so many things I could do! I
will have to start thinking about some of the things I have always wanted to
ask people. (perhaps “awkwardness” has prevented me from doing so already?)
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