My boyfriend was in Hong Kong over j-term and he took this picture. This directly shows the literacy of what we as American English speakers interpret verses different cultures. We see "Hooker" to mean something else besides someones name or business name. Also, the slogan "nobody does it better" accompanied with an image of a little girl suggests something rather appauling to our culture.
Such an interesting commentary on vocabulary, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI think this is really important in content area instruction; while different interpretations of a word aren't always risque, like the photo you posted, they are often central to understanding.
Here's my art connection: You've talked about the idea of "negative space" as an essential awareness when creating a piece of art or trying to interpret it. Yet a person who is talking (or writing or reading) about negative space in a classroom might mean something completely different--a place where the energy is depleted, a place to avoid.
Can you think of other words that mean different things in different contexts?
Art is full of these double-or-triple meaning words. When we say the principals of art, students may think about people who are in charge of art like their principal at school, the value of a color could mean its worth, or monumental as a monument not something that is extremely large.
ReplyDeleteTo differentiate between the words, students must first see what context you are using it in or they might get extremely confused.
I was also thinking about how the same action in different cultures can sometimes mean something totally different. I can't think of specifics but isn't giving a thumbs up in a different culture mean something very negative...? Does anyone else know of some?