Visiting professor probes ‘why’ of grammarby Heather WoolwinePublic Relations Rick McGarry, Ph.D.,visiting linguistics professor from Appalachian State University in North Carolina, teaches MUSC students, faculty and staff from other parts of the world how to speak better English. And you would think this task would be simple by explaining grammar rules, teaching vocabulary, and working with students on pronunciation and accent reduction. It is, until they ask a simple question—why? “The age-old answer in English language teaching is ‘because that’s the way we do it,’” McGarry said. “But I wanted to be able to understand and explain the English language better than that and so I find myself here at MUSC, on sabbatical from App. State, researching and writing a book on the grammar of why.” Some may immediately wonder why McGarry would choose a medical university as a place for his research. McGarry’s book contemplates more than grammar function and history; it’s also focusing on the neuroscience behind word choice and language in the brain. “I, like many people that come from other countries and are learning English, want to understand why we say we’re on the bus when we’re plainly in the bus,” he said. “It’s grasping those complicated connections among language, emotion and memory and how they influence word and grammar choices.” In addition to fueling his work, McGarry enjoys teaching his conversational English class because of the opportunity to help others on campus. “There are many individuals that find themselves at MUSC because of their professional lives or because someone in their family is here. My goal is to help them become more successful and I can continue to do a better job of that the more I come to understand why we do the things we do in the English language,” he said. McGarry’s class teaches students to negotiate their work in America, how to give better presentations, and how to speak effectively with colleagues. “The class is about helping internationals negotiate our language and culture so that they feel welcome and a part of the community as opposed to feeling isolated,” he said. Indeed, learning the English language is directly tied to understanding American culture. According to McGarry, Americans understand each other not just through words, but also through culture specific body language, tone, and expressions. If you don’t have any experience with American culture, it’s easy to see how it may be difficult to understand the cultural meaning of the saying “what’s up?” An international may take the phrase much more literally than an American and answer, rather confused, “Um, the clouds in the sky?” Proud that there is “no sentence diagramming in this class,” McGarry enjoys his class and hopes to expand his expertise in others areas, like maybe helping physicians learn to translate medical jargon into easier understood language for patients and families. McGarry’s class is free and offered through the Office of International Programs on Thursdays. For more information, contact McGarry at mcgarry@musc.edu or the International
Programs office at 792-2623.
Friday, March 18, 2005
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