Word of the Year 2024

This year’s word of the year for Lebanon should be "resilience" in my view. People stayed put while huge explosions went off a few buildings away. The airport did not close but rather kept going while travelers watched the loud fireworks in the distance. Villagers returned to their land as soon as the war calmed down, rather than fleeing the country. Yet my annual blog entry on the “Word of the Year” is not meant to be about Lebanon or the Middle East, but rather words ranked by prominent English language dictionaries as worthy of the label, whether due to their statistical significance in frequency of lookups, due to the importance of their meaning in the year’s context, or through an interesting linguistic change or feature.

The Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year is the word “manifest”, which is now being used in a positive sense rather than always carrying negative connotations as in “the illness became manifest” or “their madness manifested itself”. Rather, the dictionary refers to  “a host of manifesting influencers [that] popped up on social media, giving tips on how to manifest money, career success, or more generally, abundance”. This new sense of the word that was added to the dictionary in 2023 is defined as “to use methods such as visualization and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen”.

The Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year is “brain rot”: “Supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as a result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration.” The dictionary authors justify the choice by referring to its increase in usage by 230% in one year though it was first spotted in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden: “While England endeavours to cure the potato rot, will not any endeavour to cure the brain-rot – which prevails so much more widely and fatally?” Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages, has noted that the language is reflecting society’s concern with people’s virtual lives as part of online culture, along with its distractions and dangers.

While “brain rot” was shortlisted by the Collins Dictionary, their word of the year is the adjective “brat”, as in “a brat summer”: characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude. As for Webster’s favourite word this year, it is “polarization”, defined as “division into two sharply distinct opposites; especially, a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes.” The grounds for their choice are its frequency in the media, especially with regard to US politics, including the elections and tensions over immigration.

Back to “resilience”, it actually scored even higher than “manifest” did for total searches on Cambridge Dictionary’s website: "It’s a powerful word, reflecting the strength and adaptability needed in challenging times," Cambridge said. 

In these difficult times globally, I wish my readers more resilience and a new year with less brain rot, less polarization, and calmer, more peaceful manifestation.

Resilience in Education

 

During Covid times, with the pandemic impacting education, I blogged about the need for teaching resilience after UNESCO had recognised the importance of resilience as a component of learning, resilience being the ability to succeed despite serious threats or to endure difficulty and recover after stress. At the time, I commented that resilience may be added to UNESCO’s four pillars of learning as one of the 21st Century Skills. Back then, the students were the main concern, academically as well as in terms of social and emotional wellbeing. Internal and external factors have been identified as contributors to student resilience. The internal factors include emotional competence, social competence, and future orientation. The external factors, on the other hand, refer to positive environmental support structures including the home, school, peers, and community. When educators help students “cultivate an approach to life that views obstacles as a critical part of success, we help them develop resilience,” writes Marilyn Price-Mitchell, a highly regarded psychologist. Among the methods of encouraging resilience among students, researchers cite encouraging reflection, modeling learning from mistakes, writing and talking about setbacks and human resilience, and establishing supportive relations with students. Research has recently focused not only on resilience in obvious adversity but also on how students and teachers overcome everyday challenges to learn and succeed.

Lately it has become clear that the resilience of teachers, institutions, and entire communities is just as important as student resilience. According to Elena Aguilar, a prominent teacher trainer, resilient teachers are ones who reflect, set limits to maintain their energy, and set clear priorities. Research is ongoing on the importance of cultivating teacher resilience in both pre-service and practicing teachers. Additionally some studies have been conducted on teaching in war zones; for example, community resilience and education access in Afghanistan, the resilience of teachers in Syria, and the resilience of Ukranian education. Other studies have focused on refugees, such as Syrian refugees in Lebanon. With Lebanon facing one war after another, however, there should be more studies on the resilience of students and teachers based in the country, not just refugees. At the institutional level, the private schools seem to be faring better than their public counterparts in the current situation. For example, the Catholic schools of Lebanon have recently made their resilience public as announced by the Catholic News Agency, stressing – from their point of view -the need to spread faith and hope as a religious duty (“Catholic Schools Stand Resilient Amid War”). A resilience program was already in place in Lebanese public schools, involving refugees and vulnerable Lebanese: The Education Cannot Wait Multi-Year Resilience Program, initiated jointly by Lebanese Authorities and external NGOs. Now that more of the population is vulnerable, new resilience measures may need to be set on a broader scale.

Professional Networking for Undergraduates

Mentioning LinkedIn to my first-year undergraduate students often elicits blank looks, as if they have not heard of the site. While highly active on social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram, few are active on LinkedIn. Encouraging university students to start a presence on a professional networking site such as LinkedIn early in their higher education is important. The content of a LinkedIn profile, for example, reflects what the average employer or recruiter seeks in a potential job applicant. In that sense, the site is very educational. For those serious about job hunting or successful future careers, LinkedIn should not be left till after graduation. The site demonstrates what is important beyond academic qualifications and work experience: skills of different types – professional, technical, and interpersonal; volunteering; memberships and interest in companies, groups, publications, and schools; and causes, such as education and the environment. LinkedIn also allows users to endorse each other on skills as well as to solicit recommendations from those who can attest to their work. After learning how to manage their profile settings, users may also receive job ad notifications and apply for jobs through the site, indicating preferences for in-person, online, or blended jobs, and full-time versus part-time work.

By allowing students to network with others, including their teachers, LinkedIn can be a solid launch pad for students’ job hunting. On the other hand, it may be wise for people early in their careers not to limit their networking efforts to LinkedIn. There are online alternatives, including niche focused ones; it may be advisable for certain categories of students, particularly highly specialized ones, to consider simultaneous professional presence on at least one other such site. Here is a brief list:

·       AngelList, for startups

·       Behance, for creative people such as artists and designers to show their work

·       GitHub, for developers

·       Glassdoor, where workers may leave anonymous reviews about their companies, helping others gain a better picture of what they could be in for

·       Goodwall, for young job seekers to showcase their skills and find internships, jobs, volunteer opportunities and courses

·       Indeed, which is less social than LinkedIn and connects employers with applicants by video

·       Jobcase, for jobseekers in technology

·       Meetup, which allows people to find and join groups of interest based on location. It encourages in-person meetings while also allowing for online ones.

·       Network After Work, for after-office events in various cities

·       ResearchGate, for academics and researchers to connect and engage in scientific conversation

Ultimately, it is useful for students to be dexterous in establishing and enhancing their online presence, whether for job searching or career networking. However, apparently, some networking sites such as Shapr blend the social aspect so much with the professional that they may even be mistaken for dating apps. User beware!

Noam Chomsky on Artificial Intelligence

Noam Chomsky was one of the pioneers of computational linguistics in the 1950s. According to the IEEE Computer Society History Committee, he was the “father of formal languages”. While not a programmer or computer scientist himself, he contributed to the advancement of computer science, positing that the language faculty consists of a computational device that generates syntactic structures.

Chomsky’s early research at MIT was funded by the US military as it revolved around providing commands to computers using natural language. Being anti-militarist, especially anti-Vietnam war, he thought of resigning from MIT but, having been promoted, he stayed on while making it clear that he was against US foreign policy in many parts of the world. Chris Knight, a professor at University College London, summarizes this: “Had he resigned in disgust in the mid-1960s, when he was thinking of doing so, he might never have gained the platform he needed to signal his dissidence across the world. There are times when all of us have to make compromises, some more costly than others.” Knight authored the book, published in 2018, entitled Decoding Chomsky: Science and Revolutionary Politics.

More recently, Chomsky has commented on the language models used in artificial intelligence, referring to their applications as “sophisticated, high-tech plagiarism” and “a threatening, dangerous development” (See this 2023 interview: “Noam Chomsky on Artificial Intelligence” ). The better it gets, the worse it gets, Chomsky comments in this other interview, referring to how plagiarism affects educational policies (“Noam Chomsky on Artificial Intelligence, Language and Cognition”). For example, some teachers have gone back to requiring handwritten essays; others have had to re-devise essay projects to ensure individual student effort. The plagiarism involved is, in his opinion, an impediment. Instead of students thinking for themselves on a topic, AI can do the thinking for them, which in Chomsky’s view defeats the purpose of a proper education. In fact, he refers to ChatGPT as "a toy used to mislead people", and "a game you can play with".

Finally, in an interview published in Common Dreams in May 2023, Chomsky fears that AI cannot be controlled: “I can easily sympathize with efforts to try to control the threats posed by advanced technology, including this case. I am, however, skeptical about the possibility of doing so. I suspect that the genie is out of the bottle. Malicious actors–institutional or individual–can probably find ways to evade safeguards. Such suspicions are of course no reason not to try, and to exercise vigilance.”

Celebrating Noam Chomsky: A Prodigy in Linguistics and Anti-Imperialism

News of Noam Chomsky’s recent ill health has caused quite a stir lately. Writing a short blog post about the father of modern linguistics will not do justice to this retired Professor, rightly referred to by Jacobin magazine as an “intellectual and moral giant”. While other academics distanced themselves from politics, he insisted on the role of intellectuals in the public sphere, as in, for instance, his 1967 essay on “The Responsibility of Intellectuals” - a reflective essay initially given as a Harvard speech - that was so impactful it maintained attention for decades. In fact, he was interviewed about it as recently as 2021. He is noted as one of the most cited writers in history. In 1992, MIT News reported that "Professor Chomsky is in illustrious company. The top ten cited sources during the period were: Marx, Lenin, Shakespeare, Aristotle, the Bible, Plato, Freud, Chomsky, Hegel and Cicero."

Chomsky was interested in Semitic linguistics at a very young age. He studied both Hebrew and Arabic early on and taught Hebrew to fund his university studies. Being multi-lingual, he was especially interested in general linguistics. His contributions include the idea of “Universal Grammar”, positing that though languages may appear different on the surface, deep down, their structures are similar, as well as the idea that the capacity for language is mostly innate rather than learnt, challenging the behaviourist theories prevalent at the time. My linguistics professors in Cambridge admired him and even wrote books about him though they did not all agree with his theories on psycholinguistics or the biology of language. John Lyons published his book Chomsky in 1970, and Peter Matthews authored numerous publications referring to Chomsky, including Grammatical Theory in the United States: From Bloomfield to Chomsky published in 1993 and Generative Grammar and Linguistic Competence, published in 1979, to name only a few.

After Chomsky’s work in linguistics impacted the philosophy of language and contributed to cognitive science, his writings on politics also generated a huge following. Though he no longer writes or speaks, he is profoundly disturbed by the injustice he perceives around him. Following last year’s stroke, which numbed the right side of his body and affected his speech, Chomsky has been watching the news of Gaza and raising his left arm in “lament and anger”, as reported by his wife recently. The false rumours about his death this week were distressing, especially since he himself had warned about misinformation, being a longstanding critic of news media. The irony!

To be continued.

What is Scholasticide?

The term scholasticide has recently gained currency in the media though it is not new. Apparently, it was coined in 2009 by Oxford Professor Karma Nabulsi, a Palestinian affairs scholar, in reaction to events in Gaza back then. The term has been used widely once again since January of this year on online platforms such as The Conversation (“The War in Gaza is Wiping out Palestine’s Education and Knowledge Systems”), The Star (“How Israel’s Scholasticide Denies Palestinians their Past, Present, and Future”), and McGill Daily (“Scholasticide in Gaza”). More than one Turkish news source has used it (“‘Scholasticide’: How Israel is Systematically Destroying Palestinian Education in Gaza”), and a university student from Toronto, Magdalee Brunache, writing about the current situation in Haiti, borrowed the term in “A “Scholasticide” has been Happening in Haiti”.

There have been international calls against the phenomenon as in Scholars for Palestine UK and Scholars Against the War in Palestine: “International Call to Action Against Scholasticide”. The UN has expressed concern over it as seen on the website of the Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner: “UN Experts Deeply Concerned over ‘Scholasticide’ in Gaza”. Most recently, Al Jazeera published an open letter about it by Palestinian academics and administrators: “Open Letter by Gaza Academics and University Administrators to the World”.

Wikipedia has no entry for scholasticide though it mentions it under the entry “Attacks on Schools during the Israeli Invasion of Gaza” . Contrarily, one would expect to see such a term on the list of Words of the Year for 2024, if not as a winner, at least as a runner up. Interestingly though, as the BBC’s Bitesize section rightly comments, dictionaries don’t write themselves. Lexicographers identify the new words for the dictionaries after reflecting on popular terms and using software for statistics and analysis. They then select the words of the year based on their perceptions. For example, Oxford identifies a word of the year if it is “…judged to reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of that particular year and to have lasting potential as a word of cultural significance.” Strangely, the term has not entered any known dictionary yet - not Webster, Oxford, or Cambridge - not even Urban Dictionary. Will lexicographers ever recognize scholasticide? Only time will tell.

Blogging in 2024: Alive and Kicking

 

When micro-blogging, typified by Twitter, went viral, for many of us that sounded like a death knell for traditional blogging. The spread of social media, podcasts and video platforms added to the impression that ordinary blogging was no longer viable in the face of these highly accessible newer digital formats. However, bolstered by AI and search engine optimization, long-form blogging has adapted, and it is still alive and kicking, feeding people’s growing hunger for detailed information and analysis.

Blogging is still going strong for several reasons. Firstly, well-established bloggers and thought leaders attract readers due to their credibility in a world awash with misinformation. Rather than copying from AI, the better bloggers use it to brainstorm for ideas and headlines. Niche bloggers are highly relevant to readers seeking specialized information, including details. Businesses use blogs to attract potential clients as high quality long-form text tends to rank high on search engines, driving traffic to websites. This helps businesses build their brand identity, establishing them as authorities in their fields and promoting thought leadership. Additionally, AI helps with personalization of content as machine learning algorithms can track reader preferences and needs, tailoring experiences and providing relevant content recommendations. Traditional blog posts also outsmart social media posts and videos in their longevity as they do not easily disappear in the feed.

Blogging is changing to adapt to the contemporary online landscape. For example, modern blogs integrate multi-media, such as images and videos; blogs have also become mobile-friendly, appearing in relevant formats; they can be integrated with social media as many bloggers share their posts on social media platforms to drive readers to their blogs; and blogs can be used interactively for community building facilitated by comments and forums that help maintain reader engagement. User generated content as in guest posts is also empowering readers and enhancing engagement, and blogging partnerships and collaborations are still popular.

The future of blogging seems promising, especially in terms of more interactive storytelling. Virtual and augmented reality could be integrated into blogs for better visualization as in travel, product reviews, and architecture. Also, voice search and voice enabled platforms may become more widespread, prompting existing bloggers to adapt their content strategies. For some bloggers, monetization and revenue generation are strong motivators while traditional advertising revenue is being replaced by sponsored content focusing on specific brands. Bloggers with a large following are being encouraged to promote brands as a marketing strategy, demonstrating their experience with the brands.

While some bloggers (and other writers) may wish to use AI to generate their content, creativity and authenticity will remain of paramount importance for those wishing to sustain connections with their audience. With the higher speed of 5G technology, the tentacles of long-form text and multimedia rich blogs will reach wider audiences faster, keeping the blogosphere alive for the foreseeable future.

Famous Sayings on Education

The American musician Riley King has been quoted as saying, “The beautiful thing about education is that no one can take it away from you.” This reminds me of a Palestinian school teacher who once recounted to our class the story of how he and others left Palestine in 1948. Those with property but without education were left with nothing and ended up desperate wherever they fled while those like him carried their education, securing jobs that earned them a decent living. The moral of the story was that property can be taken away, and money can run out, but education stays with you. A related saying by Malcolm X is, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”

In terms of promoting critical thinking, George Carlin, a comedian, author, and social critic, has urged, “Don’t just teach your children to read, teach them to question what they read. Teach them to question everything!” Especially with “groupthink” permeating societies like cancer in some parts of the world, individual questioning is of paramount importance. In a similar vein, Eric Jensen, a speaker and writer on student poverty and brain-based learning has pointed out, “Strong teachers don’t teach content: Google has content. Strong teaching connects learning in ways that inspire kids to learn more and strive for greatness.” The practical side of learning, as in learning from mistakes, must not be overlooked. In this regard, the writer Richard Bach has described mistakes as “unexpected learning experiences.”

As for proverbs on teaching, these two well-known ones stand out:

• The old English proverb meaning you can provide opportunities for learning, but you cannot force it: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”
• The old Chinese proverb implying that teaching skills is more important than imparting content: “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

There have been humorous sayings (and stories) about teachers as well, of course. Here are just a few:

•  The actress Lily Tomlin once said, “I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.” It’s hard to disagree.
• Heidi McDonald, writer and editor of comic books, recounted, “A policeman pulled me over and asked me for my papers.  I gladly gave him all of my students’ essays to grade and drove off.” She is also known for this observation: “Sunday is a teacher’s day of rest: the rest of the laundry, the rest of the housework, and grade the rest of the papers.”

No doubt, teachers themselves can learn while teaching, as Phil Collins rightly points out in his song “Son of Man”: “In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.”

Soft Skills and Multi-Literacies in Demand

Studying the emerging trends in higher education, the salient ones include the rise of blended and hybrid models, along with better integration of learning management systems; greater emphasis on diversity and inclusion, as in student mental health, including accommodations and personalized learning; a shift towards competency-based learning, focusing on skill mastery rather than old-fashioned classroom learning; more simulations; learning from anywhere; more formative assessment replacing high stakes testing; and greater emphasis on life-long learning and upskilling. With the fast rate of technological advancement, along with the disruption it is causing in most jobs, upskilling and life-long learning are playing a more central role in higher education; they are no longer marginal matters, and universities are paying more attention to continuing education. The offerings beyond the regular degree programs are expanding; many are designed to develop the knowledge and skills needed by individuals and firms to remain competitive in a rapidly changing economy. Alumni are being invited back to their institutions to upgrade their qualifications. A teacher, for example, may take courses on emerging applications of artificial intelligence in education. Short, specialized courses are likely to multiply, as are certificate programs. Micro-learning will become more popular with busy professionals, including possibilities for micro-credentials that certify the learning outcomes of short courses or training.

While digital and technical skills will be in greater demand, so will soft skills. Critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and adaptability will become part and parcel of curricula across the disciplines. Educational programs will seek to develop well-rounded individuals ready with the interpersonal skills required for success in the fast-evolving job market. High school transcripts are being re-defined in preparation for higher education and a rapidly changing world. The International School of Geneva has been particularly creative with its “Learner Passport”. Its website states that its new transcripts give a better idea to universities on applicants’ strengths as traditional transcripts, personal statements, and recommendations do not recognize “creativity, thinking across subjects, developing responsibility and citizenship that has been a core part of every child’s education ….” It emphasizes that universities need a broader picture that portrays the breadth and depth of a high-quality education. Its learner passport provides credit for both curricular and extra-curricular activities, reflecting global competence. Working with UNESCO, this school identified seven global competencies including “knowledge, skills, and attitudes” empowering global citizens to contribute to a better world: life-long learning; self-agency; interactively using diverse tools and resources; interacting with others; interacting with the world; multi-literateness; and trans-disciplinarity. Among those competencies, the definition of multi-literacies is striking. Students take note: reading, writing, and numeracy are not enough. Here is the complete list of literacies as indicated by the school:

·       Reading

·       Writing

·       Numeracy

·       Digital literacy

·       Data literacy

·       Technological literacy

·       Coding

·       Media literacy

·       Financial literacy

·       Cultural literacy

    ·       Health literacy

 The future of quality higher education appears to be one of blended learning, capitalizing on the physical presence of institutions while imparting engaging, personalized online learning, possibly enhanced by AI. In parallel, and with a fast-changing labour market, short courses and micro-credentials will proliferate, along with continuing education courses for an ageing population. Soft skills and multi-literacies will be in demand.

Student Voice in Writing

My first-year composition students recently wrote essays  on their former experiences with “voice” in writing. Most of them, except a very small minority of scientifically oriented ones, value voice in writing and wish to express their voices themselves. One of them admitted that she had never thought of the concept of “voice” before joining my class; another asserted that though he is not passionate about writing, when he does write, he likes his writing to be an authentic reflection of his personality. He sees writing as a chance to express himself whatever the subject, including science. Most of the students cherished the few opportunities in high school when they were given a chance to express their personal opinions on literature or movies they were exposed to then. Many did not realize the importance of having a unique voice in writing till they reached university; they now see a strong voice as aiding in the establishment of firm bonds with readers. One student likened voice in writing to a stamp that makes one’s work unique and recognizable, emphasizing that a clear strong voice is important for standing out and expressing ideas without being a follower. Another referred to his voice as a power he possesses that he would like to develop further.

Some of my pupils complained that at school they were not taught to express themselves in writing, but rather to use an objective tone, stating facts and statistics along with others’ opinions to prove a point; one of them went as far as blaming it on the style of teaching in Lebanon. While they appreciated being taught to write in a scientific way, they would have preferred to write more freely, with more thought, as they put it. One student explained how writing helped him come out of his shell after having been shy; it helped change him from an introvert into a more expressive person while another said that he enjoyed expressing his voice even when texting. One girl said she kept a journal at home as her academic writing did not give her enough room to express her personality. A Palestinian refugee seemed happy that writing was helping him to proudly express his identity after having felt dehumanized, like an object. Many admitted that keeping their voice out of their writing was difficult, but they were sensitive to the audience, for example avoiding “hostility”, and trying not to sound sarcastic in disagreement, depending on the context. A pre-medical student regrets that her specialization does not require much voice in writing. Overall, most of my students believe that voice in writing is a powerful tool that should be developed, and that writing does not always have to be serious; it may even be a form of escape. All this, except for perhaps one pupil who believes that “an empty can is the loudest.” I wonder what my readers here think!