A Matter of Pedagogy ( was Re: [B-Greek] AUTOS)

Pastor Thomas C. Black tcblack at wireless111.com
Mon Oct 27 19:39:47 EST 2003


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carl W. Conrad" <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu>
To: "Biblical Greek" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2003 6:14 PM
Subject: A Matter of Pedagogy ( was Re: [B-Greek] AUTOS)


<snip>
> [Mark]
>
> I couldn't agree more with these remarks. I think many of us could
make a
> long list of things that we learned in oversimplified form without
> adequate warning, and had to figure out piece by piece as we went
on.

Personally i'd love to see that list.

<snip>

> Obviously, only so much can be presented at once to beginning
students
> without overwhelming them. Oversimplification, however, buys
superficial
> "understanding" at the cost of residual confusion.
<snip>

As one who is on the bottom rung of the learning Greek ladder I'll
agree with this heartily.  Having originally learned the eight case
system, and now having to work with only 5 (Different texts), I've had
a taste of the frustration.  Pedagogical techniques in nearly every
discipline require rampant oversimplification in order to help build a
foundation (OK I realize that's open to debate...).
However, I don't mind the oversimplification as long as I'm told that
what I'm being taught is actually more complex.
Right now my current Greek professor is trying to do that on certain
items.  Typically first year students are taught that (hO = the).  Of
course that's not always the case, so he's encouraged us to read some
second year grammars just to get a grip that where Mounce might use a
few paragraphs at most to explain a concept, a second year grammar
will use 20 pages or more.

In summary, professors if you're reading this - tell your students
repeatedly and plainly that initially they're just getting a gloss.
I'm glad my professors have.
 Pastor Thomas C. Black
Moweaqua, IL.

 - Truth is still truth, even if you don't believe it.





More information about the B-Greek mailing list