Language Change

Language Change Articles


I found these articles from the Guardian which I thought were really interesting about Language Change.
In the first article the writer talks about how English Language is evolving quickly recently because of social media and instant messaging. John Sutherland, a professor of English, discovered that the majority of parents today are confused as to what their children are saying to their peers when using "text speak" terms. He explores terms like ICYMI ( which means: in case you missed it) and modern terms like "fleek" and "bae". They surveyed 2,000 people to see if they knew what these terms meant, and the results were very low.

From the study they came to the conclusion that that there is a "seismic gap" between younger and older generations when talking about modern use of informal language. They found that the case of this was from the limitation barrier created by old mobile phones which was when the acronyms "M8" and "GR8" were created. However, the article mentioned that these terms are now "extinct" from language use as it is considered an old use of language. He then went on to explain how emojis are becoming the new form of language.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/may/01/icymi-english-language-is-changing-faster-than-ever-says-expert

The second article is called: 8 pronunciation errors that made the English language what it is today. In he article, the writer starts of by explaining that he heard a story from someone about a professor who pronounced 'awry' wrong. He said that she  had pronounced like that her whole life and never realised until that point that she ad been saying it wrong. He then went on to explain that there are many word that we pronounce incorrectly but have used the incorrect version for so long that we don't know any better.

One example he gave was that some words start with letter that when pronounced sounds like it would have been on the preceding word. He explained that many words began with the letter 'n' but now don't because of the elimination from the word, for example: 'adder' was 'nadder' and 'apron' was 'napron'. He mantions that linguists call this 'rebracketing'.

He also explains about when sounds disappear, swap around and when sound intrude.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/11/pronunciation-errors-english-language

 

CLA Research

CLA Research task:


1. The stages of child language acquisition in order:
Cooing, Babbling, Holophrastic, Two word, Telegraphic and Post-Telegraphic.


2. Theorists and theories:
Chomsky- Nativist,
Piaget- Cognitive,
Skinner- Behaviourist,
Bruner- Interactional,
Lenneberg- Critical Period


3. A child refers to apples, oranges and grapefruit as 'ball'. What process is at work and what might be the reasons for this?
The process is overextension, the reason why this happens is because they are the same shape, children assume they are the same.


4. A child refers to her boots as 'shoes' but will not use this term to describe any other shoes, apart from her own. What process is at work and what might be the reason for this?
The process is under extension and the reason for it is because that they look the same or maybe that they learnt it through modelling. So, if her parents/ carer calls them shoes she will then call them shoes. It could also be that they can't relate it to any other word that they know.


5. A child says 'I falled over' or 'I runned away'. What process is at work and what might be the reason for this?
The process is called overgeneralisation and is because the child has learnt 'run' and 'fall', and so recognises adding 'ed' on verbs but uses it in a non-standard way.


6. A child says 'Daddy go work' as his father leaves for work. At what stage of development might we suggest the child is and which clause elements has the child used and which are missing?
The stage of development that the child is at is the Telegraphic stage. The clause elements that the child used the verb 'to go'. However, they've left out 'is' and 'to' which would change it to 'Daddy is going to work.'


7. A child says 'Me like ice cream'. In what way is she using some elements of grammar correctly and in what ways is she making errors?
The child is using language correctly by getting the words in the correct order and even using the pronoun 'me' and recognising what it means. However, she is making some errors like using 'me' instead of the personal pronoun 'I'.


8. A child says 'timney' instead of 'chimney'. What process is at work and what might be the reason for this?
The process that is at work is substitution. The reason for this is because it's easier to pronounce for the child.


9. A child says 'ca' instead of 'cat'. What process is at work and what might be the reason for this?
The process that is at work is deletion. This is because again it's easier to pronounce for the child.


10. A child says 'nana' instead of 'banana'. What process is at work and what might be the reason for this?
The process at work is deletion of an unstressed syllable. This would make it easier for the child to say.


11. Hallidays functions:
Instrumental- When the child uses language to express their needs.
Regulatory- Where language is used to tell others what to do.
Interactional- Where language is used to make contact with others and for relationships.
Personal- The use of language to express feelings, opinions and individual identity. 
Heuristic- When language is used to gain knowledge about the environment.
Imaginative- When language is used to tell stories and jokes, and to create an imaginary environment.
Representational- The use of language to convey facts and information.


12.What are 'wugs'? Who researched them? What did she discover?
'Wugs' are imaginary creatures created for the 'Wug Test' made up by psychologist Jean Berko Gleason. It was a test made to test children and see their ability to apply linguistic rules. She found that children younger than 4 years old couldn't apply the rules, but children aged 4 and 5 could apply the plural 'wugs' without ever hearing the word before hand. It proved to her that language isn't memorised.


13.Out of the average child's first 50 words, the most common word class will probably be what? Why might this be?
The most common word class are nouns, most likely concrete nouns. This is because nouns are the most common item that are around the child.


14. In what ways might turn-taking be established between a carer and a child?
It would be established by the parent asking them questions in a conversation so the child then would answer.


15. List the ways in which a parent or carer can make their use of language easier for a child to understand. What might this type of language be termed?
Using a simplified vocabulary, for example saying 'monkey' instead of 'Orangutan.


16. Who was Genie and what might she prove?
Genie was a 'feral' child found by social workers. She was 13 and limited to about 20 words. She's often used to prove Bruner's Interactional theory and Lenneberg's Critical Learning Period.


17. Who was Jim and what did he prove?
Jim was a boy who was born to deaf parents and was made to sit in front of a TV in the hope that he would pick up language. His language was damaged and is used to prove the Interactional Theory.


18. Apart from the main theorists mentioned above, which other researchers could you refer to when talking about child language?
Another researcher used when talking about child language is David Crystal.


19. What do the initials L.A.D stand for?
L.A.D stands for Language Acquisition Device.


20. At the telegraphic stage, children often combine content words in the correct sequence (syntax) but miss out certain grammatical words. Give two word classes (and an example of each) that children often omit.
Children often leave out determiners, for example: the, and auxiliary verbs, for example am running.