<div>Very interesting post, Louise; thanks!</div>
<div>Just a quick comment -- your ideas about LLF remind me of the principles of universal design, which seems to be creeping into more and more discussions, philosophies, applications...</div>
<div> </div>
<div>This has been one of my favorite discussions ever on the listserv -- lots of voices chiming in! Keep the ideas coming, please.</div>
<div>I'm hoping to add a more substantive post before the discussion 'closes' -- </div>
<div> </div>
<div>holly <br><br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 1:20 PM, Louise Wiener <<a href="mailto:lwiener@llfinc.org">lwiener@llfinc.org</a>> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">Hello All,<br><br>I have been following the language development / critical thinking<br>discussion with interest. Learning and Leadership in Families, the<br>
non-profit I lead in Washington, DC, uses visual literacy - i.e. learning<br>through looking - to encourage both language development and critical<br>thinking. We teach critical thinking through exercises that gather<br>
information through careful observation and encourage critical thinking by<br>comparing and contrasting what the adult already knows with the information<br>gathered from visual clues.<br><br>LLF teaches how to use visual vocabulary (line, shape, color, texture, etc)<br>
to explore familiar environments and/or to decode unfamiliar environments.<br>This can be done with dress / costume, with buildings or with other objects<br>that encourage discussion about cultures and their similarities and<br>
differences. The process of building on what people already know and<br>underpinning their knowledge with a structure that encourages critical<br>thinking and deductive reasoning results in language development.<br><br>What is most interesting in an ELL context is that the visual vocabulary<br>
provides a structure that cuts across cultures, but different cultures<br>interpret different visual elements differently. For example, the meaning<br>of different kinds of lines is universal. The meaning of different colors<br>
and patterns varies from culture to culture - but is present as an<br>identifier across cultures. Makes for interesting conversations. Louise<br>Wiener<br>--<br>Louise W. Wiener, Executive Director<br>Learning and Leadership in Families<br>
<br>Holly (Dilatush)<br><br><a href="mailto:holly@dilatush.com">holly@dilatush.com</a><br>(434) 960.7177 cell phone<br>(434) 295.9716 home phone<br>[OK to call 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. EST / GMT -5 time]<br><br>"Live with intention. Share inside~out smiles, inspire hope, seek awe and nurture in nature." (original by Holly)<br>
<br><a href="http://www.tales-around-the-world.blogspot.com">www.tales-around-the-world.blogspot.com</a><br><a href="http://www.abavirtual-learningcenter.org">www.abavirtual-learningcenter.org</a> <br><a href="http://www.blogblossoms.edublogs.org">www.blogblossoms.edublogs.org</a><br>
*Twitter ID = smilin7 </blockquote></div>