Monday, 19 October 2015

Methodology and theories


Methodology

 

What I need to collect is a range of data that shows the caregiver's natural speech to the child and their response to the child's language, both grammatical mistakes and correct use. An example from my sample data that I found interesting was the language and response from the carer.  That is how I came to my conclusion of focusing on the carers' language rather than the child's. Even though the context was them reading a book and spotting the animals, the child copied her telling him what animal it is. Her commenting on him in the future this could lead to him using the word correctly. And so similar data like that, although focusing more on the carer, would lead to really interesting language to talk about. I will get her to do tasks that will able her to interact with the child, like playing, counting and reading through books.

The process that I used to make the sample data and future data comparable, reliable and ethical is making sure that it was as natural as it could be. The only issue with it was that she knew that she was being recorded, which could have influenced her language. However, in my actual data, I will manage this by letting her know to be as natural as she can. The observer’s paradox is an issue in recording someone who knows that they are being recorded. How I plan on overcoming this is perhaps recording more then only using a certain amount of it. An example would be recording for 10 minutes and only using the second half or the middle 5 minutes which could be when her speech is as natural as it can be. I think I will need to keep in mind the reliability of it as well and so make sure that if I record 10 minutes on one and use the last 5 minutes then I will need to do that on all other recordings.

I will collect more recordings, and so transcripts, than I will need in case there is not much data there that would be useful for my investigation. I want to use 3 or 4 recordings and so will collect 5 or 6 so I will have extras. I think that the data will be more reliable as well if I collect more than I need; if I do the same quantifications on each transcript then it will most likely end up more similar than if I didn’t do that.

When I recorded my sample data I made sure that the carer knew that she, and her child, could back out at any time if she was unsure about it. I will let her know this when recording more data. I will also make sure that she knows the only people who will see the data is me, my teacher, peers and exam markers. So, in the end I should end up with data that is reliable, ethical and that shows how the care giver’s interactions and language affects the child’s language.



Theories:

Jean Piaget- Cognitive development:

He said that he was interested in the reasons that children gave for their wrong answers to the questions that required logical thinking. Piaget said that the incorrect answers exposed important differences between the thinking of adults and children. He stated that children are born with a basic mental structure, which had been genetically inherited and evolved. And that all consequent learning and knowledge from them is based on it. He believed that a person’s childhood plays a vital and active role in their future development; this idea is commonly known as a “developmental stage theory”. This theory talks about the nature of knowledge and how we slowly acquire, construct, and use it.

He said that our cognitive development was a progressive restructuring of mental processes that has resulted from biological maturation and our environmental experience, and so from the people around us. He stated that “children will construct an understanding of the world around them, experience discrepancies between what they already know and what they discover in their environment, and then adjust their ideas accordingly.” He also claimed that cognitive development is the centre of all human development and so our language is reliant on knowledge and understanding that is acquired through cognitive development.

Examples:

Piaget conducted an experiment that evaluated the cognitive capabilities of children of different ages through the use of a scale and varying weights. The task that the children had to do was balance a scale by hooking weights on the ends of it. To successfully complete it, the children had to use formal operational that would show the distance of the weights from the centre and the heaviness of the weights both affected the balance. A heavier weight had to be placed closer to the centre of the scale, and a lighter weight has to be placed farther from the centre, so that the two weights balance each other. While 3 to 5 year olds couldn’t comprehend the concept of balancing, children by the age of 7 could balance the scale by placing the same weights on both ends, but they failed to realize the importance of the location. By age 10, children could think about location but failed to use logic and instead used trial-and-error. By age 13 and 14, some children more clearly understood the relationship between weight and distance and could successfully implement their hypothesis.

 

Lev Vyotski- Zone of Proximal development:

Vygotski saw that interaction between peers as an effective way of developing skills and strategies. He suggested that teachers use cooperative learning exercises where less competent children develop with help from more skilful and competent peers - within the zone of proximal development. This is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what they can do with help. It’s a concept that wasn’t fully developed.

He stated that when a student is in the zone of proximal development when completing a particular task, if the appropriate assistance is provided, it will give the student enough of a "boost" to complete the task.

The Zone of Proximal Development has become also been linked to the term scaffolding. When the student, after the benefit of scaffolding, masters the task, the scaffolding can then be removed and the student will then be able to complete the task again on their own.

 

Bibliography:




1 comment:

  1. Good considerations in the methodology - also let her know that it will be anonymous and make sure you anonymise the transcripts using alternate names or codes. Put your thinking about that under 'ethicality'. Also good research. Remember to use standard and non-standard rather than prescriptive terms like correct and mistake.

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