A2 English Language

In these transcripts, we see that the mother is asking Jess a lot of questions. The mother does this to attract and hold the babies attention, and make the conversation more predictable. This helps Jess to do something without seeing so demanding. The mother also uses a lot of simple sentences to help make the process of breaking down language into understandable chunks.
As for Jess, she is currently at the telegraphic stage, so she is beginning to understand grammar. There is use of negations, and the use of articles in her speech. There is also a use of the first person, and the acquisition of personal pronouns. The mother also keeps repeating certain sentences whereby a gap is filled with a different words to help keep the conversation predictable. The mum also uses a lot of concrete nouns to help Jess' language process thrive.
Jess is also using a lot of phonemic reduction that the only sounds being made are needed for their own language. However, Jess continues to get her sentences sound grammatically incorrect.

A2 English Language

Basil Bernstein's Restricted & Elaborated Code
The two types of language codes are the elaborated code and the restricted code. The restricted code is suitable for insiders who share assumptions and understanding on the topic, whereas the elaborated code does not assume that the listener shares these assumptions or understandings, and thus elaborated code is more explicit, more thorough, and does not require the listener to read between the lines.

Vygotsky's Proximal Development
The zone of proximal development  often abbreviated ZPD, is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help.

Vygotsky stated that a child follows an adult's example and gradually develops the ability to do certain tasks without help. Vygotsky's often-quoted definition of zone of proximal development presents it as

"the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers. For example, two 8 yr. old children may be able to complete a task that an average 8 yr. old can do. Next, more difficult tasks are presented with very little assistance from an adult. In the end, both children were able to complete the task. However, the styles methods they chose depended on how far they were willing to stretch their thinking process."

A2 English Langauge

May task is to write an entertaining piece on what a baby might be thinking if they had full adult abilities.

Please note that some of the babies thoughts may be sarcasm, this is all because of me, just trying to be funny.Enjoy :)

Jess:Book
Thinking "Come on Dad, could you please read me the book, thank you"
Dad:Yes,it's your book. Do you like that one?

Jess:Book

Thinking "Yes, that is my book. Now could you please read it to me"

Dad:You want me to read it?

Jess:Yes.Read
Thinking "FINALLY! Some Progress! Let story time begin"

Dad:Come and sit here then. 'Oh look, here are some horses'

Jess:Horses
Thinking "Yes, I can see its a horse, but I just want you to read the damn book"

Dad:And who is this?

Jess:Dog
Thinking "Oh No, not this again! Name the animals!"

Dad:Yes a dog. A big brown dog

Jess:Shop
Thinking "OK, I've had enough of this, lets see if I can throw him off course"

Dad:Shop?

Jess:Yea.Shop.Dog
Thinking "I think it worked, now begin telling the story please"

Dad:Oh yes, we saw Jim's dog in the shop

Jess thinking "Wow, he's still doing this, why won't you read the book, please, I beg of you"

Jess:Jim

Dad:Is this like Jim's dog?

Jess:Yes
Thinking "Yes, of course it's Jim's dog. It don't take a genius to work it out"

Dad:A bit. And what's this?

Jess:Baa

Dad:that's right- a sheep. It says baa

Jess Thinking "Well, glad that's over, now can you tell the story now?"

A2 English Language-Child Language Acquisition

15 Months
Bye Mummy
Isee
Allgone

At 15 months, a child is in the Sensorimotor stage, according to Jean Piaget. Children are currently experimenting with what movements their mouth's can do. The child also sees sentences as just one word. They also tend to make their language sound more Personal/Social words when they begin to acquire language.     

20 Months

All fall down
Teddy tired
Gone, where Mummy gone?
More juice

At 20 months, a child is just finishing the Sensorimotor stage, and beginning the Peroperational Stage. At this stage, a child has no understanding of talking with others and thinking out aloud. This means that most of what a child says at this point in its life doesn't need to be said because people have a different perspective, but at this current time a child has no understanding of this concept. Sometimes, the child will use reduplication (repeating a syllable) when talking. At this stage, a child is beginning to understand prepositions. The child isn't using articles such as "the" & "a".

28 Months

Teddy's hat came off
Harry's got a big, big green truck

At this stage, a child has reached the Telegraphic Stage,and is beginning to show signs of understanding grammar.  Also, the child is at the Concrete Operational stage, where they are showing signs of logic & problem solving, as well as referring to concrete facts.The child may remain at this stage for as long as they live, which can occur sometimes.

36 Months
Little Luke hit me, he did
I am going to see Harriet another day tomorrow
I don't like faces, I want to see children's ITV

At this stage, a child has become aware of form & time. they also have grasped the idea of compound sentences  The child is still currently in the Concrete Operational stage, but they have a greater understanding of grammar. The child also begins to use Present participles when speaking. The child is also beginning to use the subject pronoun "I" instead of the object pronoun "me". Another feature is that the child has become aware of a sense of time. 

40 Months
Look at my knee. I felled over in the playground
Once upon a time there was a little girl and she got beautiful hair and then the monster killed her and then she got dead and then and then the beautiful fairy came and made them better again

At this stage, a child has nearly fully grasped the concept of language. However, the child still doesn't know when to take a break when speaking.  The child has reached to formal operational stage and can now make a mental distinction between themselves and an idea.

A2 English Language-20th September

Explain some of the difficulties a child might encounter in it acquisition of vocabulary from the time it speaks to the age of seven. You can also refer to some phonological features, as well as considering ideas such as the use of concrete and abstract nouns, overextension, acquisition of grammar words etc.

Children will encounter many difficulties when acquiring vocabulary. The first thing is the phonology. Children will tend to use the smallest unit of sound (Phoneme) to describe something, they may also substitute difficult sounds for easier sounds. They may also use "Consonant Cluster Reductions" to reduce the amount of sounds they have to use. The next problem that could arise is the use of "Concrete" & "Abstract" nouns. Most children have no knowledge of what they mean, so they will use them at any given time when speaking. 

Another difficulty that children have is the use of Overextension. There are two types of overextension that children use while acquiring vocabulary. The first is "Catergorical Overextension", where a child presumes that all fruits are called apple, that all men are called daddy, basically where a child uses a term in a too broad manner, and often overgeneralising while speaking.  The next form of overextension is "Analogical". In this stage, a child believs that all round objects are called apple, its quite similar to Catergorical Overextension because the child is still using a term in a broad manner. 

 

Child Acquisition (Continued)

Jerome Burner Social Interactionist Theory

Bruner's theory proposed that social interaction played a key role in the development of language. He said that children use language to in order to communicate with the wider world, and also learn the linguistic code at the same time. He also argued that LASS (Language Acquisition Support System) should be used. LASS is turn taking during a conversation between a child & the caregiver, which is necessary for child development. This, when added to all the other theories gives an additional perspective of language acquisition.
He also added that no matter what age the learner is, they tend to learn better when they discover knowledge for themselves, and that students retain knowledge the best when they discover it for themselves. Bruner also argued that adults and children have conversations even though the child is unable to speak. The interaction between the two in non-verbal communication and games, builds the structure of language, long before the child can begin to communicate with a parent verbally.   

Jean Piaget Cognitive Development Theory

Piaget's theory helped with many central concepts in developmental Psychology  The theory concerns how one sees the world in "developmental stages", and acquiring new ways of representing information. Piaget stated that children go through 4 stages of Cognitive Development.

These stages are-

1-Sensorimotor Period-Lasts for the first 2 years of life, a child learns by using its senses & moving around. The sensorimotor is split into 6 sub-stages:- 1-Simple reflexes, 2-first habits & primary circular reactions, 3-Secondary circular reactions, 4-Coordination of secondary circular reactions, 5-tertiary circular reactions, 6-Internalization of Schemes

2-Preoperational Period-Last form 2-7 years of life,during which a child learns to use language. During this stage, children do not yet understand concrete logic, cannot mentally manipulate information, and are unable to take the point of view of other people.

3-Concrete Operational Period-From 7-11 years of life, is characterized by the appropriate use of logic. Children are able to transform different mathematical operations.

4-Formal Operational Period-Starts from age 11 & continues into adulthood,children become capable of applying mental operations to abstract concepts,and draw conclusions from the information available as well as apply all these processes to hypothetical situations. 

However, since Piaget constructed this theory, it has been attacked for numerous reasons such as-

Recent research has shown that he greatly underestimated children’s capabilities. For example, researchers have shown that babies achieve object permanence much sooner than Piaget said they do.

Children sometimes simultaneously develop skills that are characteristic of more than one stage, which makes the idea of stages seem less viable.

Piaget ignored cultural influences. Research has shown that children from different cultures tend to go through Piaget’s stages in the same order, but the timing and length of stages vary from culture to culture.

Some people never develop the capacity for formal reasoning, even as adults

Child Language Acquisition

Noam Chomsky Innateness Theory

The innateness hypothesis is a linguistic theory of language acquisition. Chomsky had a few factors that he used to support his theory of Language Acquisition. His first factor was that between the ages of 3-10, a child is more than likely going to grasp the fluency of the language in its full. After this age it has been considered impossible for a child to grasp the concept of language. The second factor is that children don't need to be triggered to learn language acquisition, they do it all on their own. If a child is around people who speak, the child will try to produce its language by its own accord. Parents can help a child to begin speaking, but they only have a small affect on the child and it will grasp the language by itself. Another part of the theory is that a child will grasp language in the same manner and speak the same way even if it isn't corrected by the caregiver.

B.F. Skinner imitation Theory

Skinner's theory about Operant Conditioning is based upon three types of responses.

1- Neutral Operants-No change in behavior being repeated

2-Reinforcers-Responses that will lead to certain behavior being repeated, therefore having a Positive & Negative affect

3-Punishers-Responses that will lead to the decrease of certain behaviour being repeated

In short, it basically means that we get rewarded for doing good, which will lead to an increase. In language acquisition, it is very easy. Children are rewarded every time they talk correctly, therefore they'll speak the same way in order to get a reward.  Skinner proved his theory by testing rats, subjecting them to electric shock before realising that if they pulled a lever, the shock would stop. This is known as Avoidance Learning. Other rats were placed into a box, and every time they pulled the lever, food pellets would come out.  Thus, they soon learnt that is they pulled the lever, they would be rewarded with food. This is known as Escape Learning.

A2 English Language Investigation-Transcripts

 

Preliminary Activity

Task

Chose an aspect of theory (e.g. FTA's and politeness strategies) in your chosen area and write a paragraph or two about in in three different versions.

1. A men's or women's magazine e.g. GQ or Elle

In a men/women's magazine, they editors of the magazine always use "positive politeness" to engage with the reader. They use this strategy to make the reader either feel good about themselves, their interests or possessions, or in some cases, they know the target audience pretty well. The main attempt is to avoid a conflict between the editor & the reader so they can maintain a relationship, so they will use strategies of friendship, compliments to keep the reader engaged. Sometimes they'll use exaggeration in the readers interests to manipulate the reader into thinking that they care about the editor really does care about the reader. This is normally used when both participants know each other.

Sample Data Evaluation

Data Collected- Kevin Keegan "I'll Love it if we beat them" Interview

1) Which Predictions were correct?

I predicted that I would find Brown & Levison's Politeness Theory, Uncertainty features & the use of hedges. What I predicted that i would find in the transcript did appear when I began analysing. However, some of what I predicted wasn't worth commenting on in my investigation as it was either not comparable, r there wasn't enough evidence to back up a certain theory that i could of discussed about. 

2) What else was in the data worth exploring?

The only other piece of theory that I could of explored was the use of uncertainty features. However, I soon discovered that all the pauses in the transcript were intentional, and not a sign of uncertainty. Also, in the clip, Kevin Keegan's facial expression isn't a sign of uncertainty, more a sign of urgency. 

3) Was the data challenging enough, scientific enough & linked to theory?

The data was linked to theory (Language & Power) which I've already know a lot about so it was pretty easy to link Language & Power theory to my transcript. I would have preferred the transcript to be a little bit longer so I could go a little more in depth with my theory.



4) Was there enough/too much data for 1500 words of analysis ? How much would be suitable to collect and still be reliable/comparable ?

There wasn't enough data to write 1500 words of analysis, and it also meant that my theory evidence was a little short. I would probably collect about 4 or 5 interviews and compare what features they all have in common. To make sure that the interviews were reliable, I'd make sure that it is the official interview & I calready have access to these clips.

 

Analysis of my Sample Data

Analysis of my Sample Data


Face Threatening Acts in Kevin Keegan's "I'll love it if we beat them" Interview

My investigation was to see how football managers use their power during a live interview. I chose Kevin Keegan's famous "I'll love it if we beat them" interview on Sky Sports. From the transcript of the interview, I noticed that Keegan used a lot of FTA's (Face Threatening Acts) throughout the course of the interview. At the beginning of the interview, the pundits (Richard Keys & Andy Gray) have the upper hand as Keegan take a considerable amount of time before replying to the question. Eventually, Keegan begins to take a hold on the interview by saying "I think you gotta send Alex Ferguson a tape of this game haven't ya (.) Isn’t that what he asked for". This is an example of Negative Politeness, which means that Keegan will be imposing his demands on the listeners & there is a higher risk for embarrassment or awkwardness.  Keegan also use upward inflections at the end of his answers. As the interview progresses, Keegan continues to assert his authority, slowly progressing form negative politeness, to Bald-on record, an example of this would be when he says “when you drew that with footballers”  which he says with great urgency and efficiency as he believes it is needed to get his point across to Keys & Gray. He also uses great urgency when he dictates that Stuart Pearce “went down in his estimation”. At the end of the interview, Keegan ends by saying “I will love it if we beat them (.) Love it” with an even greater intensity than he did before.  Keegan also uses a lot of idioms such as “he went down in my estimation”, “we have not resorted to that” and “were still fighting for this title” which are common phrases that the audience, particularly football fans will understand to a greater degree. By then end, the whole interview has turned into an unequal encounter, where Keegan has much more power than Keys & Gray did at the start of the interview.

Sample Data-Language & Power used by Football Managers

Sir Alex Ferguson Interview Pre-match interview vs. Real Madrid

SAF-Um(.) I know that people will keep saying that um (2.0) that were not as good as the Manchester United teams in the past but then (1.0) sometimes we get foggy (2.0) and pressures of the past y'know (1.5) and um I do so myself at times but (1.5) the reality is that (.) is that (2.0) this team (1.0) doesn't know when its beaten(.) its a great quality to have (.) and we have some great individual players (2.0) so I think that (.) we must have a chance obviously the asset test is tomorrow and I have no doubts in my mind about that

News Correspondent Talks

SAF-He's (Cristiano Ronaldo) at I would think he's at the peak of his career now the next three years will (.) also be that way for him (.) but um (1.0) he was still a young man when he left me (1.0) and I think you can see how well he has flourished(.) in Madrid (1.0) and his record is (2.0) I'd  never thought he'd get that total to be honest with you I knew he would improve I knew he was one of the best payers in the world (.) probably he and Messi are the best players in the world but to score that many goals is phenomenal

Kevin Keegan's "I'll love it if we beat them!" Rant

Key
KK-Kevin Keegan
AG-Andy Gray
RK-Richard Keys
/-Interruption

KK-(1.0) We we just wanna (.) keep our hopes alive and er a lot of things have been said over the last few days so some sort of a slanderous and I would never commented (.) we've just got on workin' (.) tryin to pass the ball like we do in training(.) I think things have said (.) I think you gotta send Alex Ferguson a tape of this game haven't ya (.) isn't that what he asked for/

AG-Well i'm sure if he was watchin it tonight Kev (.) tonight Kevin he could have no complaints about the way Leeds went about their job(.) it really tested your team /

KK-An an and were playing Notts Forest on Thursday(.) and he objected to that(1.0) now (.) that was fixed up months ago we were supposed to be playing Notts Forest(.) I mean that sort of stuff were its its been (.) were better (.) were bigger than that/

RK-Well that's part and parcel of the psychological battle Kevin /

KK-No (.) No (.) when you drew that with footballers like he said about Leeds (1.0) and when you do things like that about a man like Stuart Pearce (1.0) i'm I've kept really quiet but i'll tell you something(.) he went down in my estimation when he said that we have not resorted to that (.) but i'll  tell you (.) i'll tell him now he'll be watching it on the tele right now (.) were still fighting for this title an and he's (Alex Ferguson) gotta go to Middlesbrough and get something an an and i'll tell you honestly (1.5) I will love it if we beat them (.) love it

Analysis of my Data Collected

Analysis of My Data Collected

How language has changed since Chaucer?

For my investigation, I was going to collect the transcript of Bill Bailey's "Pubbe Gag", another text that was written by Chaucer, and a modern day translation of the same piece, to look at what changes in English Language have occurred since Chaucer.I will have to make sure that the data is reliable/comparable/ethical.

Reliable

To make sure that the analysis would be reliable, I would look for pieces of work that is recognised as an authentic piece of Chaucer, not a fake that someone else has re-written. I may decide to transcribe someone reading form Chaucer, also when trying to translate a piece of Chaucer into modern day English will require some knowledge of what English was like back in the time of Chaucer. Also, i should look through a range of Chaucer pieces before deciding what to analyse. I have to make sure beforehand that i actually understand the context of text before beginning my investigation. 

Comparable

To make sure i can compare all of the texts, I will have to make sure that all the texts have at least ONE comparability factor that i can then comment on. I will look at what sort of techniques were used by Chaucer, and see if those techniques are shown in the modern day translation. I could then contrast that to a modern piece of poetry that is based upon the work of Chaucer, and then look at how the presence and influence of Chaucer is shown in the poem. I could also look at how different comedians interpret Chaucer in their routines, and what affect it has on the audience.

Ethical

To make sure that my data is collected is ethical, i will have to make sure that the data is already available for me to use. When searching for data, i will have to use a reliable source that is official, and not a spoof or fake.

Compariable/Reliable/Ethical Data

Reliability of Data

How could I collect reliable data on the following topics

Editor's letters in women's & men's magazines

To get reliable data, I would collect magazines(one magazine every 2 months) taht are the most expensive, that appeal to a specific economic target audience. I would then analyse what sort of atypical day that the editor has had and check the letter to see if the mood differs from one letter, to another. I would then see whether or not the data was reliable or not.

Brian Cox's Tweets

To get the data, I would make sure that it is a fair sample by randomly selecting Tweets that were sent by Professor Brian Cox's official Twitter Page. This removes the initial chance of bias in choosing data.

Michael Gove's comments on education

To collect the data, I would watch previous interviews of Mr Gove, and then transcribe what was being said by him, and others around him. I would then look for features that I could then linked to theory and the subject that I was researching.

Compariability of Data

1-How far does the language of advertising vary according to the gender of the target audience?

Advertising will always have different aspects to the gender of the Target Audience. In the Herbal Essences advert, the announcer states "Want to do something to your body that you've never done before" implying that women have never used a Natural Volume Shampoo before. It also shows a couple running upstairs and getting undressed, which implies that they are going to have sex instead of what really happens. The advert uses specific words to express the women's feeling of pleasure because she is using this product. This manipulates the audience to buy the products is they can feel the pleasure of it as well. In the Lynx advert, their slogan "Get the look that gets the girls" is stereotypical of women, because they only go for men based upon the way they look, not their personality. The adverts also wants men to switch to this product because it has a longer lasting affect and will get you noticed "apparently" by girls.

2-How does a 'live' commentary on radio differ from one on television?

'Live' Commentary on the radio differs to commentary on television because of the visual experience one gets from watching the television. When people are listening to a live radio commentary, they have to listen very carefully and try to visualise what is going on in there head while in tandem with what is being said. When watching a live commentary on the TV, people tend to look at the images, rather than focus on what the commentator ahs to say. Also, a commentator in a radio show will have to keep constantly talking, describing to the audience what is going on, as well as adding his own comments. On the TV, the commentator is more subdued, making slight remarks occasionally. 

3-How do the publishers of Popular magazines use language to appeal to readers of different ages?

Popular magazines use there language to appeal to readers of different ages by making sure it is simple and easy to understand. There is no use of Low Frequency Lexis, instead, high frequency lexis are used. As readers get older, the complexity of the language used in the magazines changes, but it will still be easy to understand. More Low Frequency Lexis will be used, and it will be much more structured than it was previously. However, sometimes, if a magazine is about a certain subject, then field specific lexis will come into play, where lexical choices are used that are linked with a specific subject.

4-How do teachers vary the language they use according to the class they teach?

Teachers vary their language in class for many different reasons. The first being, they want students to know what they'll be studying, their for they will use the "Language of the Class" i.e. they'll use lexical choices & phrases that are associated with a specific subject. Also, when talking to the class, they'll use influential power to assert their dominance over the students. Teachers will also use upward inflections when speaking to the class because they are demand students listen to what they have got to offer.

Ethicality of Data

 

 

When I collect the data, I'll make sure that all the data has been published and is available for me to analyse. If I want to use "unpublished data" I will ask for an Informed Consent so I can explain how I will use their data in terms of my investigation. When searching for Brian Cox's tweets, I'll check to see if the tweets were posted by Brian Cox himself, not by someone who is connected with Brian Cox and it isn't a fake account that is pretending to be Brian Cox. The data that I collect for each of my investigations will have to be analysed thoroughly to check if it is a reliable source of data or not.

 

 

English Language-Investigating Language Change

Looking at Language Change by Investigating Bill Bailey's Parody of Geoffrey Chaucer




Analysis of Transcript The data I chose was a transcript of Bill Bailey's Parody of Geoffrey Chaucer. Bailey's aim is to modernize the poem by inserting lexical phrases that are more common, along with the language that Chaucer used when he was alive in the 14th Century.  I chose this particular data so I could examine how far language has come in the last 7000 years, & what theories I could then link to the text.

What I found was that Bailey has to use a lot of French, because at the time, England was under the invasion of the Norman’s, who spoke predominantly French.  Language change either evolving slowly for the better of society, or decaying. Norman Fairclough argues that English Language has begun to decay because most people now talk with an informal tone. In Chaucer, Fairclough’s theory is proven correct, although it is only proved correct when Bailey uses modern English. Before Bailey has even begun, when he states “The realm of Geoffrey Chaucer”, we assume that the mode will be formal, but instead we get Chaucer talking about women in pubs, talking about their love life. The quote “Ello darlin’ you fancy a drink?” is an example of modern day informal English.
However, Chaucer does use “Heroic Couplets” throughout the poem, which is a traditional form of English Poetry that was pioneered by Chaucer,
which is used for epic & narrative poetry.
Jean Aitcheson argues that this is down to a “Damp Spoon Syndrome” where he argues that language change is due to laziness, and explains that slow speech which is jerky & careful usually means that we miss out words that that we see unnecessary to convey.  
To carry out on investigation, I would analyse the Bailey "Pubbe Gag" and a text that was written by Chaucer, and another piece of Chaucer that has been translated. I would investigate how the language has changed over time, what interesting features that are located in the Chaucer text, & how certain words or phrases may be lost within the modern day translation. I shall call the investigation "How Language has changed since Chaucer".