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| For my telecommunications project for EDTC 618, I decided to set up a listserv that will provide an informal forum in which people can discuss the "strange and incomprehensible" usage of speech in their own and other languages. Originally, I conceived of the list as discussing American and British idioms; however, upon further reflection, I came to the conclusion that a listserv called "Idiom-L" concerned only with Americanisms and Britishisms would be chauvinistic indeed. Therefore, I decided to expand the list to encompass idioms used in languages around the world and their similarities and dissimilarities. I have named this new listserv "Lingo-L." | ||||||||||||||
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After an extensive search of Lizst (a list of listservs), Usenet groups,
and the Worldwide Web (WWW), I discovered no universal list concerned solely
with a comparative analysis of idioms from a number of different languages.
For example, I have been a member of Romaine Liu's warm and supportive
English-L mailing list since its inception; however, this list mainly serves
people who want to learn English as a second language. I also discovered
a delightfully funny listserv (Wordplay-L) that I joined to check for content.
I found that the members of this list primarily discuss American and British
idioms. There are a few sites on the WWW that contain a page here and there
on idioms, but few of them are very extensive and even fewer are updated
on a regular basis.
There are also a number of specialized mailing lists dealing with certain languages (such as Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, German, and a new one on Rumanian) on the Internet. However, the main language used in these mailing lists is not English, and I generally was unable to follow the topics of discussion because of the language used for discussion. Several excellent web sites that contain huge databases of words and word phrases in every language imaginable are also present on the WWW. However, I found that these are either unwieldy to use because of their size or they do not provide the personal touch that a mailing list affords. Every language is rife with interesting idioms, many of which cause a lot of trouble for non-native speakers of that language. Therefore, I think that a listserv dedicated to a cross-cultural discussion of idioms and background information about these unique parts of speech will be useful and interesting, not only to non-native speakers of English but also to people around the world who want to share the unique way that they speak. Furthermore, I believe that the listserv format is ideally suited to self-motivated learners and to the zeitgeist of our times. This belief is shared by at least one noted journalist (Bennahum, 1998), who says that, "because it's so ubiquitous, list publishing is powerful: reaching one person is as easy as reaching a million. Since most lists are free, the barrier to receiving them is very low. All you need is an email account." |
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The target audience I primarily want to reach
will consist of people who want to learn about the idioms in their own
language and in the languages of other cultures. So many times, people
unconsciously use idiomatic expressions in their daily lives, never giving
a thought as to their origins and actual meanings. Furthermore, in their
rush to learn the grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary of a new language,
students often receive only a cursory treatment of the idiomatic ways that
one can say something in that language.
Therefore, the main goal of the "Lingo-L" listserv will be to reach people who want to come to a greater understanding of the sometimes peculiar, often hilarious way that people express themselves in their own cultures and how these idioms compare with those used for the same concept in another culture. In this way, perhaps the members of the list will come to find that people from around the world are not so different after all and that universal truths can often be found in the expressions of their own and other cultures. |
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I hope that the participants in the "Lingo-L"
listserv will come from many countries around the world so that they will
bring a wide variety of interests and viewpoints to the list. It is not
necessary that the participants be experts in the study of linguistics
or in their own language. Indeed, as the list owner, I will actively discourage
esoteric, jargonistic discussions of word origins or idiomatic expressions.
It will be necessary, however, for all of the members of the list to be
able to write in English, the de facto language of the Internet. In addition,
anyone who joins the list should have a basic grasp of common listserv
protocols as well as the generally accepted modes of "netiquette."
People who are into flaming and spamming, and making racial slurs and overtly sexual remarks, will not be tolerated by the list owner; this type of behavior will result in a warning E-mail message and immediate removal from the list. Frankly, I do not perceive that this will be a problem as I predict that the subject matter of the list will not attract this type of person. However, I plan to be prepared for this contingency in any case. Finally, the desire to contribute in a lively manner and the possession of a fairly open mind will be a definite plus for anyone who wants to join. |
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| Everyone who requests to be placed on the "Lingo-L" listserv will be asked to complete a brief needs assessment survey about their individual demographic, geographic, and situational characteristics. This survey is not designed to be overly personal or invasive; rather, I merely want to learn some background information about the people who ask to be added to the list. This information will help me introduce new members to the list, prepare specific materials for distribution to everyone, and manage the list in a more efficient manner. When I send the needs survey to each new member, I will accompany it with a personal welcome message. | ||||||||||||||
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| To set up the "Lingo-L" listserv, it was first
necessary for me to obtain a working knowledge of the process involved
in creating and managing a listserv. This enabled me, as the moderator
and a potential "instructor" on the list, to expedite the learning process
for the future members of the list. To accomplish this, I attended a two-hour
training session taught by Chris Barnes at the Computer Information Service
center on the Texas A&M University campus (Barnes, 1998, Feb. 4). I
also read two online publications about the "care and feeding" of a mailing
list (Listserv,
1997, Aug. 18, rev. 2; Computer Information Services, 1998).
After receiving confirmation from the CIS Listserv Manager that "Lingo-L" was indeed a newly born mailing list, I proceeded to advertise for new members. I did this by word-of-mouth communication with my friends and classmates using several modes: face-to-face, E-mail messages, and EWGIE chats. I also sent several announcements to the English-L mailing list as well as to the webmasters of a number of ESL web sites. Gradually, people began to sign up. I have Doris Shih to thank for the largest group of new members, as she announced my mailing list through her telecommunications project as well. When I received each new request to join, I confirmed the request via the "Reply" function and then I immediately sent out a personal welcome message and the initial needs assessment survey. The welcome message explains the intent of the "Lingo-L" mailing list and provides new members with an overview of the basic guidelines and ground rules for the "Lingo-L" mailing list. Besides demographic information, the survey also seeks to find out the level of the new members' comfort with the Internet, E-mail, and listserv protocols. This will enable me to provide new members who need further directions and explanations with additional help. By means of a series of posts that I have contributed (and will continue to contribute), I have been attempting to model the type of discussion that I hope will evolve on the "Lingo-L" mailing list. I have also encouraged the members of the list to talk in general about their countries, their customs, their languages, their personal lives, their families -- in short, any topic that will generate interest and the possibility of the inadvertent use of idioms, which can then be exploited for discussion of their meaning, history, content, and so on. When the companion web site is "completed" (according to Siegel [1997], this is a conundrum, for a good web site is never complete and should constantly be evolving and offering up new content), and posted to the WWW, I will send an announcement about it to the "Lingo-L" mailing list as well as to the English-L mailing list and to several web sites related to ESL information. Eventually, I hope to register it with a number of Internet search engines, but I will not do this until I feel that the web pages exhibit a more polished look, what Siegel (1997) refers to as "third generation web design." |
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A listserv format was chosen for the basic delivery mode of my telecommunications
project. The asynchronous nature of a listserv is very convenient for delivering
messages to a large group of people scattered around the world. Furthermore,
the format of a listserv will give the members of the list time to post
their own messages, reactions, and queries. Finally, because mailing lists
promote writing skills, native and non-native English speakers will have
many opportunities to practice
sentence construction and model proper language usage.
In addition, the "Lingo-L" listserv will be augmented by a companion web site that I will design and plan to maintain for an indefinite period of time. I plan to make monthly (and possibly weekly) updates to this web site, which will incorporate a host of other resources about language, linguistics, and idioms from cultures around the world that can be found on the World Wide Web. The site will also include definitions of commonly used linguistic terms related to idioms, the various survey forms (i.e., needs assessment, formative evaluation, and summative evaluation), background information about the genesis of the "Lingo-L" listserv, and a short biography of the author. Finally, private E-mail messages containing the needs assessment survey have been and will be used to obtain initial survey data. At later dates in the life of the listserv, the formative and summative evaluations will be sent via private E-mail messages, with the formative evaluation being sent about 2-3 months after the inception of the listserv and the summative evaluation being sent about 6 months after the listserv has been functioning smoothly with a generous rate of messages being sumitted. Private E-mail messages will also be used to conduct extended "off-topic" discussions and to help members who need additional information about listserv protocols. If "discipline" problems occur (e.g., flaming, spamming, and racial or sexual slurs), I will send an E-mail message to the offending party that I intend to remove him or her from the mailing list immediately, and I will follow through with this action right away. |
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| As the list owner, I will handle on a one-to-one
basis any difficulties that new members to the list may have with listserv
protocols. This will be accomplished by answering their questions through
E-mail messages off the list and by directing participants to other sources
of information about listservs found on the WWW. In addition, the companion
web site will contain a page of instructions on how to subscribe/unsubscribe,
post messages, and otherwise navigate a mailing list.
In terms of the actual content of the Lingo-L mailing list, the instruction will depend to a great extent (once the list generates enough members and interest) on what individual members post in the way of messages. To spur interest and responses to the list, however, I will take the lead in posting idioms for discussion, asking questions about idioms in other languages, and trying to stimulate active discussion about other cultures, customs, and languages. A wide variety of resources on the origins and meanings of word phrases and idioms will be consulted, particularly if and when disputes arise. The companion web site will be designed in such a way that all pages can be accessed easily from each other. One link will lead to definitions of the terms commonly used (and confused) in discussing idiomatic expressions. Another link will provide visitors to the site with information about listservs. Still other links will contain information about the project; the survey forms sent to the participants; an archive of the weekly idioms and the list digests; a biography of the author; and other links of interest to language learners and users. More material will be added to the web site at later dates on an ongoing basis, depending on the needs and desires expressed by members in their needs surveys and formative and summative evaluations. |
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| Barnes, C.
(1998, Feb. 4). Owning and managing a listserv. Two-hour class
taught at Computer Information Services, Texas A&M University, College
Station.
Bennahum, D.S. (1998). The hot new medium is . . . Email. Wired 6(4), 104-126. Computer Information Services. (1998). Listserv at Texas A&M University. Online [Worldwide Web]. Available: http://listserv.tamu.edu/ Liu, R. (1998, March 2). English-L: The online community for ESL learners. Online {Worldwide Web]. Available: http://www.nease.net/~romaine/ Listserv. (1997, Aug. 18, rev. 2). Manuals and documentation. Online [Worldwide Web]. Available: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/owner/owner.html Siegel, D. (1997). Creating killer web sites (2nd ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Hayden Books. University of South Australia. WordPlay-L list. Messages to WordPlay-L@Levels.UniSA.Edu.Au; subscription requests to MAILSERV@Levels.UniSA.Edu.Au |
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Eva M. Maddox (nicknamed "Googie" as a child)
was born in Mallersdorf, Germany, on March 22, 1947. She has traveled a
lot, including visits to Okinawa, Mexico, the Bahamas, Costa
Rica, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Switzerland,
Italy, Greece, Israel, Egypt, and most of the 50 states.
Undergraduate work in liberal arts at the University of Texas in Austin and Texas A&M University (TAMU) led to a 8-year career in editing at the University of Chicago, including positions in the Graduate School of Business, Office of Public Information, and University of Chicago Press. She later worked as a scientific/technical editor at the Ocean Drilling Program for almost 10 years and a resource materials specialist for the Texas Engineering Extension Service, both at TAMU. Since 1994, Ms. Maddox has been working on a master’s degree in teaching English as a second language and educational technology. She will graduate with high honors in May 1998. |
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| © 1998 E.V.A. Co.
Designed and maintained by Editing & Visual Arts Co. |
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