navels

SMAGOR who-is-at aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu
Fri, 01 Dec 1995 07:03:52 -0600 (CST)

I have a graduate student from Brazil who teaches EFL--she wrote
something for a course paper that I find fascinating, and though
I'd share:

In Neiton Machado's words, "to contextualize" a certain matter
was to try to link that matter to each student's navel--a
rather unusual, even prosaic, definition, I admit. I cannot
think of finding it in one of those traditional books on
Education. However, it illustrates his point perfectly.
I have never forgotten it since the day I heard it, and I
have always tried to keep the image in mind while teaching
a class since then.

she also speaks highly of a book by Gertrude Moskowitz called
Caring and Sharing in the Foreign Language Class (1978,
Newbury House).

Peter Smagorinsky smagor who-is-at aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu