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.
Friday, 22 January 2016
Thursday, 5 November 2015
Evie Mini Investigation
How far does Evie's Grandma's Language support Skinner's
Theory?
Introduction:
Skinner's Theory suggests this: that children acquire
language based on “behaviourist reinforcement” by linking meanings to words.
For example if a child says the word “Dog” and their mother smiles or behaves
positively then they will continue to link that word to the same meaning. I
expect to find evidence that supports this like if her Grandma praises her or
tells her "no" if she's done something wrong.
The data that I have collected are two transcript and are
from the same people, which makes it
reliable. The only difference is that they are talking about a different topic
and she's 5 months apart in age. This could influence it's reliability but I
will consider this in my evaluation. Also, the data was from 2004, which is
over a decade ago but I don't think that it would affect the analysis at all.
Analysis:
From looking at the two transcripts I can see that there are
a lot of positive behaviour reinforcement in the texts. The table below shows
the amount of positive and negative reinforcements.
|
Behaviour
Reinforcements:
|
Amount:
|
Does Evie
respond?
|
|
Transcript 1
|
|
|
|
Positive
|
11
|
11
|
|
Negative
|
1
|
1
|
|
Transcript 2
|
|
|
|
Positive
|
4
|
4
|
|
Negative
|
0
|
0
|
In the Table above Transcript 1 is the 'All the things'
transcript and Transcript 2 is the 'Castle' transcript.
In the transcripts, Evie doesn’t really reply to her
grandma's positive reinforcement however she didn't question it, so I counted
that in my quantifications as her responding because she didn’t seem confused
as to why her grandma was praising her.
I also counted her grandma repeating what Evie said as positive
reinforcement as she was reinforcing what Evie was saying as correct.
I find it interesting that Evie's grandma didn't use much
negative behaviour reinforcement.
In fact the only negative reinforcement that she used on Evie was telling her:
"go on then you find the bath (.) no not that
bath the house bath (4) oh yeah that’s it (.) who wants to go in the bath do
you think?"
However, this was only a
miscommunication and not really something that Evie did wrong. Something else
that I found interesting was how the Grandma recovered the negative
reinforcement. This is evidence that supports Skinner's theory about behaviour
reinforcement.
She also quickly changed from sort-of telling her
off to asking her a question that's linked to get her to talk. I think that
this is also evidence of child-led discourse which could also support Skinner's hypothesis that children's language
is influenced by the environment around them.
However, there is no way
that I could know whether it worked or not. This is because I have no other
data from later on in Evie's life that would show whether her Grandma's
language has affected her's.
Conclusion:
So, in conclusion, I think that my chosen theory supports my
data to an extent. The reason that I found what I found is because I had two transcripts
with the same people and so reliable data. I also think that I found it
limiting because I only had two instead of more
which could have helped me to either prove or disprove more clearly than
I did. In the future, I think I need more reliable data and so more data which
would improve my analysis and final conclusion.
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:
Wednesday, 14 October 2015
Transcript Analyses
Transcript of a 2 years 8 month old
E= Ellie B=
Bailey (the child) L= Lauren (Bailey’s
mum) *“Udge”= Smudge (Bailey’s pet
dog)
B: Ye (.) be geen one (.) I be this wu-wun
E: Okay (.) I’ll be the green
L: Now you’ve got to read it by saying all the pictures
E: Okay (.) now what’s that one?
B: Chick (.) Ken (2) da dog
L: What’s that one?
B: I on’t know (.) dog
E: (laughs) dog
B: Tame as *Udge
L: Yeah (.) same as *Smudge
L&E: (Laughs) (2)
E: And (.) what’s that one?
B: Jraff
E: Giraffe
B: That’s (3) a (2) uh (.) ‘orses
E: Horses
B: Er rat’s (that’s) duck
E: Duck
B: ‘ook all ese
E: Yeah look at all of that
B: Duck
E: Another duck (.) what’s the next one (6)
B: I on’t (.) know
L: Ga (.) go (1)
L: Sealion
B: Sea line (5) rock
L: Pardon?
B: Rock (2)
L: Leopard
B: Lepa (.) urd rock
L: A rock?
L&E: (laughs)
L: It’s a rhino
B: Ri (.) yo (5) pig
E: Good (.) a pig
B: Uh dog
L: Baby sheep
B: Bay (.) Bee sheep
L: It’s called a lamb
B: Yeah (inaudible for 3 seconds) uh (.) tow
L: Yep (5)
B: Uh (.) dis?
L: Deer
B: Deer (2) uh
L: Raccoon
B: Wak (.) oon (4) a raddit (.) polar bear
L: Not a polar bear (.) a pa
B: Panda
E: |Panda|
L: |Good| boy
Analyse:
The child's language shows a of multiple non-standard language examples. My first example of non-standard English that I find interesting is "raddit"- he replaces the 'b's' with 'd's' which is odd. It's almost like he didn't know how to say it or add all the letters together to make the word. I find this interesting because he can pronounce the letter in other words like the 'b' in polar bear and in the word 'be'. However these last two examples use the 'b' at the start of the word.
Another example would be this:
"L: Sealion
B: Sea line"He can't pronounce the sound that the "io" makes. I find this unexpected as he can pronounce the "or" in horses.
Through out the transcript there's grammatically correct words and sentences and incorrect. I think that it could either be because he's never been correct or that he has learned it from the people around him, which could support Skinner's idea of the environment being where we learn our language from.
Another example from the text that I find interesting is the language and response of the carer. For example, at the end when 'L' says: "Good boy". That compliment will tell him that what he just said is correct. Although the context is them reading a book and spotting the animals, he's copied her telling him what animal it is. So, in the future this could lead to him using the word correctly. I'm considering doing about that the carer for my coursework.
Sunday, 11 October 2015
Phonics:
There are two different types of phonic systems: Synthetic
Phonics and Analytic Phonics. Synthetic Phonics is the older approach and
easier to explain. It is when the children are presented to 44 phonemes
(letter’s sounds), they then will be able to recognise the letters at the start
middle and end of the word. Once these are known they are taught to blend the
letters into one word.
Analytic Phonics is more concentrated on the children’s
experience of books. The way that it is taught is by looking at texts that
children are familiar with then look at the initial letter then work to break
down the rest of the word. Phonemes associated with particular graphemes are not
pronounced alone. The children identify the common phoneme in a set of words in
which each word contains the phoneme under study.
There are many advantages for synthetic phonics like: how
fast paced it is means that it’s unlikely that the children will get bored and
so will be able to read simple books about 11/12 weeks after starting to learn
it. Another advantage is that they way that children are taught is by tracing
and copy letters as they are learnt and they write correctly spelled words and
phrases, will enable them to be more likely remembered. One more advantage is
that children learn sounds that are represented by two letters at the same time
as those written with one. So, they’re less likely to get confused when they see
that individual letters sound different in different words. An example would be
that they understand from an early age that an ‘e’ sounds different in ‘let’
than in ‘green’. They’ll also be able to read words like ‘mushroom’ with the
same amount of ease as ‘cat’.
However there are some critics who say that even though
phonics speeds up how fast a child can read words, it doesn’t help their
understanding of what the words mean.
Monday, 5 October 2015
Evie Questions
To what extent is this an example of child-led discourse? What
is characteristic of the two participants' language?
I think that the video, to an extent, is a great example of
child-led discourse. An example is when Evie’s grandma keeps the conversation
along.
“G two cats (2) how many things have we
got now in the picture?
E (inaudible)
G how many? count them”
There’s over 16 of these strategies that show Evie’s grandma
moving the conversation along. It is used to keep Evie talking instead of
letting her just be quiet. These are important because it is a great example of
child-led discourse. It’s also important because it shows that it triggers Evie
to talk which could lead to her talking more and so getting a grasp on correct
language. This is another example of the video showing that it is child-led
discourse: her grandma trying to get her to understand language. She adds words
to make a sentence that Evie will understand, although it might not be
grammatically correct. The below section of the transcript shows this:
“E (2) cat
G cat
E in the picture
G we want cat in the picture okay”
By repeating what Evie is basically saying, but in a
sentence, she’s showing Evie what to say in the future. This could lead to Evie
learning language quicker than she might have on her own.
I think what’s characteristic of Evie’s language is that
she’s trying to take charge of the conversation instead of her grandma leading
it, although she does at points during it.
“E some more
G some more things
E (.) sho-o-o-w
G you choose
E (2) this
G what’s that? (2) who is it?
E tigger”
This shows that she’s trying to choose what to do. She
attempts to say “show” which shows that she’s trying to understand language.
Her grandma is characteristic to trying to get her lead and talk. I have explained
this above.
Monday, 28 September 2015
Coursework Ideas
I am currently choosing between two ideas for my
investigation. My first idea is something to do with children’s language- I’m
thinking about how a 2 years olds’ language supports the stage that they should
be in. For this idea I’m considering linking the hypothesis from Skinner that
says that “children acquire language based on behaviourist reinforcement by
linking words to meanings.” I feel like this will be an interesting theory to
explore and test, considering more people believe Chomsky who is his opposite,
although I don’t completely believe in his theory. I am planning to collect at
least three recordings (and then turned into transcripts) to see if they
support my hypothesis. I will attempt to get the child to talk about different
subjects that I know they will respond positively too so that the recordings
aren’t too similar. I think that one of the only difficulties is that as it is
a child that I am testing, he (the child) might not want to cooperate.
The sample data that I have collected show me that he
definitely has some grammatical mistakes and errors like mispronounced words,
so I will have something to talk about and investigate.
I am considering using additional data but am not sure what
and how to link it to my investigation.
As mentioned before there will definitely be difficulties,
like the child not cooperating. But I will overcome this by recording at a time
that his parents have said he’s at his most talkative. Another difficulty is
that I could be subconsciously biased as the child is a relation of mine. I
will have to make sure, from my peers, that I don’t do this. I will also handle
this in my analysis/evaluation by mentioning what went wrong and why it went
like this. In addition, I’ll explain what I could have done instead to have
made it work.
My second idea for my investigation is to do with children
reading. I’m not sure what hypothesis to test for this idea. I’m thinking maybe
Uta Frith’s theory; “she proposed that the earliest stage, which she termed the
logographic stage, involves children being able to recognise written words on
the basis of remembering certain key characteristics of the printed word.” I am
planning to collect at least three, maybe four, recordings of the child (5
years old) reading. I will get probably 2 books that the child recognises and
maybe 1 or 2 books that the child doesn’t recognise. I think that it’ll be
interesting to see if the child will already say the words on the next page
before turning the page. I also think that it will be good if the child doesn’t
know a book and attempts to read it.
My sample data shows that the child can read quite well.
However she takes a while to read and takes a lot of pauses between longer
words compared to words like “in” and “is”. I think I could maybe include
additional data like a questionnaire to either the child or the parents to see
how well they think she can read and when she started reading etc.
I will come across difficulties/issues like the child not
being willing to cooperate, like in the first idea. And perhaps that the child can read quite
well and so there might not be many mistakes. In the evaluation, I will do
exactly like my first idea, I’ll explain what went wrong, why and what I would
do to change it.
I’m not sure what my media text will be about but it will be
linked to my coursework idea, something linked to children’s language or
reading. I think the question that I have is which idea do I do, I think I’m
leaning towards the first idea.
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