Developing good reading and investigative skills

Developing good reading and investigative skills :

‘Listening’ to data and using annotation to stretch the most able students. Using AfL to enhance able pupils’ work: Assessing pupils’ annotations.

Danny Collins’ Child Language Acquisition Project 2007

Michael has jus returned from school and is sitting in the dining room with his mother and I. Michael is looking at his reading book from school. For the purpose of the transcript below, Michael’s mother is called Tina.

1 Tina : BenDanny : Yeh (laughs)Tina : Come on Ben (.) Whats wrong Ben? (Tina leaves the room)Danny : Michael (.) what colours the dog?

5 Michael : bakDanny : Yellow (1.0) say yellowTina : You come in with Mummy and Michael and Danny(Tina enters the room with Michael’s younger brother Ben)Tina : What’s happening now Michael (.) Look Danny’s looking at

your book 10 Danny : What’s the lady holding?

Michael : aa nightDanny : a light yehMichael : dit ditDanny : What are them in the sky?

15 Michael : Dit dirDanny : What’s that in the sky Michael ?Michael : mm bnn nnnDanny : StarsMichael : Starrr

20 Danny : That’s it (laughs)Tina : Did you say that was kipper? [referring to “dit dir comment

from Michael]Michael : Dit dirTina : Kipper, // goodDanny: //Kipper (1.0) What’s that boys (.) that girls name?

25 Michael : mmmm nah nooTina : Is that biff?Danny: Don’t know?Michael : BinTina : Biff

30 Danny : Whats that there // Do you know what that is?Tina : // Chip?Danny ? You don’t know?

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Tina : errr shed (1.0) Say shedMichael : shedr

35 Danny : oh look what’s that Michael?Michael : odge ud udTina : Is he sleeping?Michael : (laughs) naahooooTina : Whats he doing?

40 Michael : emm in (1.0) inTina : Theyr’e // insideDanny : // in the shed?Tina : the shed?Michael : Done

Michael is in the dining area after returning from his first day at school. I am talking to him whilst sitting at the table.

1 Danny : Michael (1.0) What’s my name? Michael : Dan Danny : Dan? (Michael and Danny laugh quietly)5 Danny : Who are my sisters? Michael : Ermm mm Danny : Rebecca? Michael : Rebec Danny : And Hannah10 Michael : Anir

The following transcript was recorded two weeks after Michaels first day at school. Michael is in the living room of his house after returning from school with his older brother Jack and myself. I am observing the speech and recording what is being said.

1 Michael : Noo noo (.) no (1.0) mine (.) mineJack : Don’t you want the best time // in the world this can beat

anythingMichael : // Noooo (.) noMichael : Dak (.) noo//

5 Jack : // Show him your wallet (.) look this is Michaels wallet

Jack : You got five pound note (.) show him your five poundMichael : nooJack : five pound (.) now I’m gunna take itJack : Show him your // favourite colour

10 Danny : // What are you reading Michael?Michael : a buhDanny : a book?

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Michael : a buhDanny: Who that?

15 Michael : oooDanny : oo? // Dr who?Michael : // oo (1.0) ye ooDanny : oo (laughs)Michael : ooo (.) oooo

20 Danny : say doctorMichael : docteerDanny : doctor (.) say docMichael : docdirDanny : who

25 Michael : docdirDanny : yeh that’s it doctorMichael : roeDanny: roseMichael : Rose //

30 Jack : // Whos that?Michael : nun no

The following transcript was recorded two weeks after Michaels first day at school. Michael is in the living room of his house after returning from school with his older brother Jack and myself. I am observing the speech and recording what is being said.

1 Danny : What colour is Jack’s shirt?Michael : um umm whi // whiDanny : //goodJack : Shall I put all you stuff in a like a

5 Michael : no naho (2.0) dakkkk dakk stopppJack : no Michael shall we put it all nicely so Danny can see

them all?Michael : dak dak dak dakkkJack : no so Danny can seeMichael : dak book da booo

10 Jack : Now put then cards thereMichael : there

In the following conversation Michael is in his living room after returning from school. He is with his older brother; Jack, and his mother; Tina is also present with his younger brother Ben. Ben is making unrecognisable babbling noises in the background for the duration of this recording.

1 Michael : Dan dan donirJack : Shall I play dominos with you Michael?Michael : Dan dan!

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Jack : Shall we come over here and play shall we come over here? 5 Michael : Dan dan

Ben shouts out and babbles in the background

Jack : Wanna play bowling?Michael : NoJack : Drive a car (.) look

10 Danny : What are they Michael?Tina :What have you got in your hand?Michael puts forward his handTina : No in the box (.) whats in the the box?Michael : Donir donir

15 Tina : DominosMichael : Dan donir Dan donirDanny : Dominos //Jack : // Who’s in the picture Michael?Jack holds a photo of Michael and shows it to

him 20 Michael : Me me

Jack : Is that you Michael

Michael is in my bedroom with his Father; Steve, his younger brother; Ben, my mother and myself. His father is fixing my computer whilst Ben and Michael wait for him in my room.

1 Danny : Have you got lots of friends at school?Michael : NoooDanny : You havnt got lots of friends?Michael : Noooo

5 Steve : You have got // lots of friendsMichael: // nooooSteve : lukeMichael : Danny mowSteve : Danny, Daniel sorry Daniel

10 Michael : DannirSteve : and who else?Michael : dan da err umm da daDanny : Are they your friends ?Michael : neil

15 Danny : Are you going shy?Michael : dine neil neil neil non neilDanny : Oh are you cold ?Michael : noDanny : are you cold?

20 Michael : noo neil

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The following transcript is taken in the living room of Michael’s home. Michael and I are discussing a musical mat that he received for his birthday. This is the fourth time that I have observed the speech of Michael.

1 Danny : What’s this Michael?Michael : MatDanny : Mat?Michael : Yer

5 Danny : Oh right what do you do with the mat?Michael : ermm

Michael stamps on several different sections of the mat which produce a musical note Michael : Dop

Danny : Are you playing a song? 10 Michael : Naahooo

Danny : No? (.) play me a song then (2.0) you playing a song?

The following transcript is taken from my fourth meeting with Michael. We are situated in the dining room of his home, and are discussing a piece of work he completed at school. Michael has jus returned from school.

1 Danny : Did you make these at school today?Michael : yeh (.) glittir

Michael points to the different colour glitters on a sheet of paper

Danny : What colours this Michael? 5 Michael : bue

Danny : What about that one Michael : Ded, blue, grinDanny : Green?Michael : ni gin

10 Danny points to the gold coloured glitter Danny : Gold

Michael : GolDanny : And what colours the paper?Michael : erm bak

15 Danny : YeeehMichael : Mine

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The following transcript is a recording of a conversation between Michael and myself. He has just returned from school and we are sitting in the dining room at his house. This is the fourth time I have observed Michaels speech and recorded it.

1 Danny : What are you drawing Michael?Michael : (laughs) nah no arrghh arrgghh aarghhhh (makes claw-

like hand gestures)Danny : What are you drawing?

The lid of a metal box falls onto the floor 5 Michael : ahhh bot (2.0) bot

Danny : A box?Michael : a botDanny : Can I draw a picture?Michael : noooo dannir

10 Danny : What shall I draw?Michael : ummm no noDanny : Tell me something to drawMichael : um um um arrggh (.) um um um

Michael passes Danny a piece of paper and gestures a circle with his hands 15 Danny :What shall I draw Michael? (.) shall I draw Michael?

Michael : No

The following transcript is the Fifth meeting between Michael, and myself where I have observed and recorded his speech. Michael is at my house following Christmas and is playing in the dining room with my two sisters; Rebecca and Hannah. My mother Lynda is also in the room. This transcript is taken from the 27th December, and therefore Michael is on school holidays for Christmas.

1 Danny : Bob pyjamas?Michael : yea bob pyjamirDanny : Where’s Jack and Ben?Michael : Ahome

5 Danny : At home? (.) who are they with?Michael : Mum DadDanny : Mum and Dad (.) ahhh (1.0) have you moved house

now?Michael : nooooDanny : Do you live in a new house now?

10 Michael : nooooDanny : Is it nice?Michael : nooooDanny : oi!

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Michael bursts into laughter and switches his attention to Danny from a toy 15 Danny: Do you like your new house?

Michael : Yuh DanDanny : Whats it like? (.) whats it like?Michael : uuuhhhhh yuhDanny : Is it big?

20 Michael : Bia


1 Danny : Hello Michael Michael : Hello mimirDanny : Are you going home soon? (.) who’s coming to get

you?Michael : ummm Mum Daddir

5 Danny : How are you getting home?Michael : ummm Daddir upDanny : Are you going in the car?Michael : darDanny : What colours your car?

10 Michael : umm whiDanny : It’s green isn’t it?Michael : Noo whi!Danny : It’s white?Michael : yeh whi (.) whi

15 Danny : Silver?Michael : Noo whi!Danny : White oh right (1.0) what did you do in Romford?Michael : ermmm brurkDanny : Did you shop?

20 Michael : Dop dopDanny : Did you buy anything?Michael : No buyDanny : no buy? Ahhh (.) So what are you going to do tonight, are you going to see Ben and jack?

25 Michael : Ben and Dak


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1 Danny : Are you alright Michael? (.) MichaelMichael : BecccDanny : You alright?Michael : alriggh Dannir

5 Danny: What did you get for Christmas?Michael : bob bobDanny : Bob? (.) You mean Bob the Builder?Michael : builderDanny : Really?

10 Michael : nyeeDanny : Did you have a good Christmas?Michael : dit dirDanny : Did you have a good Christmas ?Michael : dit dir (1.0) ye

15 Danny : Yea ? (.) Did you eat lots of food ?Michael : nooo egg doughDanny : Egg on toast?

Michael and Danny laughDanny : What did you have for breakfast this morning?

20 Michael : egg doughDanny : Egg on //Michael : // Dannir, danny (.) egg doughDanny : Egg on toastMichael : nyee (.) Beckdir (.) doo

25 Danny : Two?Michael : DannirDanny : Was it nice?Michael : YeaDanny : Nice (.) I like your top, what colour is it?

30 Michael : errmmm whiDanny : GreyMichael : GreyDanny : BrownMichael : Bown

35 Danny : Who did you sleep with last night?Michael : errrmm ummm (.) Beckdir bedDanny : You slept in a bed?Lynda : Rebecca’s bedDanny : Ah Rebecca’s bed.

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Analysing the data

Remind yourself of the relevant Assessment Objectives

AO1 - Select and apply a range of linguistic methods, to communicate relevant knowledge using appropriate terminology and coherent, accurate written expression

AO2 - Demonstrate critical understanding of a range of concepts and issues related to the construction and analysis of meanings in spoken and written language, using knowledge of linguistic approaches

AO3 - Analyse and evaluate the influence of contextual factors on the production and reception of spoken and written language, showing knowledge of the key constraints of language

AO4 - Demonstrate expertise and creativity in the use of English in a range of different contexts, informed by linguistic study

CRUCIAL GRADE DESCRIPTOR – DISPLAY IN YOUR CLASSROOMS!

A/B boundary performance descriptions Candidates characteristically: a) communicate relevant knowledge and understanding of the methods of language study b) consistently use appropriate terminology to support interpretations when applying this understanding c) structure and organise their writing well d) communicate content and meaning through expressive and accurate writing. Candidates characteristically: a) communicate relevant understanding of linguistic approaches, concepts and issues b) explore the significant features of linguistic variation that create meaning in spoken and written language c) generally use specific references to support their responses. Candidates characteristically: a) explore the relationships between spoken and written language and the contexts in which both are used b) communicate a practical understanding of issues relating to language in use. Candidates characteristically: a) write effectively in a form and style matched to audience, purpose and genre b) select and order relevant content c) identify here, and suggest how, key linguistic features are used in their writing to create specific effects.

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Analysing the data

Annotate the data, spotting all the relevant features you can:

Contexts

Pragmatics

Semantics

Grammatical features

Phonological features

Put question marks by ANYTHING you don’t understand

Grouping data

Discuss the data

What is going on here? What are the most interesting aspects of the data? What interests you?

What questions could you ask of the data?

TAKE A STEP BACK FROM IT: What are the MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST?

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What is this data saying to you?

Group the data

Write out a few different categories for grouping the data

Gather quotation to fit into your categories

START ANALYSING!

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A2 English Language Investigation – D Collins’ response

Child Language Acquisition

Introduction

The process of the acquisition of language in children is one of the wonders of human development. The ease at which children acquire basic grammar and vocabulary is something that causes much debate among linguists. Especially prominent are the theories of Chompsky and Skinner. Chompsky argues that every human has the capacity for deep universal grammar, whereas Skinner puts forward the case that children learn language by the processes of negative and positive reinforcement. My interest in the acquisition of language in children stems from the study of Language development in Unit 6. By accompanying my studies in class, with the further reading required for the Language Study it has allowed me to complement each Unit well. In addition to this I have a keen interest in the development of language in children. A specific reason for this is because I am able to relate my studies to my cousin who is fours years old, and at a key stage in language acquisition. My cousin; Michael, recently began infant school, and is currently being taught by a special needs teacher. This is because of his delayed acquisition of speech, which is significantly below that expected for his age. A major reason for this is that he suffers from Dispraxia, which is a condition that affects the co-ordination of the mouth muscles and can affect speech. At the age of four, his speech is mostly restricted to one-word utterances and sounds. For this reason I have decided to base my language study upon the how the acquisition of language in Michael is affected by special needs education in his first months at school.

Methodology

Over a period of three months I have observed Michael and his speech five times. The first transcript is recorded following his first day at primary school, and the last is recorded three months later following Christmas. There are a total of 20 transcripts, and I will aim to use around 15 of these when analysing Michael’s communication skills. The lengths of the transcripts range from 15 seconds to around a minute, and I have transcribed them directly from a digital camera recording. I have aimed to keep the semantic fields of my transcripts as narrow as possible, and have targeted specific

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topics such as friends, school, the home, colours and clothing. Using this method, it will be possible to chart any development in Michael’s speech regarding a certain topic over a period of months. The audience in the transcripts varies, but I am present at each recording. In two of the recording sessions Michael’s brothers are present as is his mother. In the three remaining sessions, I have observed speech between Michael and his father, and his aunt and cousins. Using this method, I will be able to analyse any potential differences in his speech depending on the company he is in.

Analysis

Questions

It is key to examine how responses from Michael differ depending on the nature of the question posed to him. A key type of question I have posed to Michael has been Open Questions, which give little clue of the answer required in the question. In my first meeting with Michael from transcript 1 and 2 the following questions are posed to Michael. Transcript 1 line 1 and 2 Danny : “Michael(1.0) What’s my name?” Michael : “Dan”

Transcript 2 line 1 and 2 Danny : What’s your favourite colour Michael? Michael : mmm gin

Here we can see that if basic open questions are posed to Michael then a recognisable answer is given. “Gin” represents Michael’s intention of saying “green”, but due to difficulties with pronunciation, Michael cannot link “g-r” at the beginning of the word. I will look to further examine Michael’s phonological problems later in the project.

To examine open questions more closely it is vital to study examples of more sophisticated questions posed to Michael.

Transcript 10 line 10,11,12 and 13

Danny : Your moving house?

Michael : Ye

Danny : Where are you moving to?

Michael : mummir, daddir, ben, dak, me, daddir

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From this example we can see that Michael’s struggles to understand the second question posed. In the semantic field of “the house”, Michael associates his family members with the home. Instead of taking note of the word “where”, Michael instead confuses it with “who”. Pragmatically this could mean that Michael has a notion of moving house, and uses the people he is moving with to reinforce his understanding of the question. I have recorded further evidence of this reinforcing of an answer, and this is shown below.

Transcript 15 line 35 and 36

Danny : Who did you sleep with last night?

Michael : errrrrmm ummmm (.) Beckdir bed

Here it again appears that Michael fails to understand to nature of the question and confuses “who” with “where”. However, I believe this further proves the point I made previously, that Michael is reinforcing his answer, expanding on the answer by giving further details, and stating where it was that he slept last night.


Danny : What’s that in the sky Michael?

Michael : mm bnn nnn

Again we can see that when a sophisticated open question is posed to Michael, he struggles to understand. This is shown by the “mm bnn nn”, which signifies Michael’s intention to answer, but his lack of understanding for the question posed.

A key point to raise about open questions, is that they are more pragmatically challenging to the recipient, especially to child in the process of language acquisition. This is because the range of possible answers and the sophistication is commonly of a greater complexity and diversity. Closed questions are more comforting on the other hand, because they only incur a set number of responses. This could explain why Michael has responded less well when posed open questions as opposed to closed questions.

Closed questions offer limited responses to the question posed. This usually incorporates an answer of “yes” or “no”. I will now look at some closed questions posed to Michael to observe how he responds to them.


Lynda : Do they [fireworks] go up in the sky?

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Michael : yeh dye (.) ye


Danny : Oh are you cold?

Michael : No

From these transcripts we can already gather that Michael appears to be more comfortable when asked questions which require a “yes or no” answer. As opposed to open questions, closed questions offer Michael a clue as to the answer required. An interesting observation from these two transcripts is that they both refer to on of the five senses, these being touch and his visual skills. This could suggest that Michael has a solid understanding of sensual feelings and in turn can respond to questions posed in relation to them.

In understanding speech, Michael occasionally needs prompting to be able to provide an answer. An example of this is repetition.


Steve : Say cheese

Michael : Cheeeee

Steve : Say cheese

Michael : Deeeeese

From this transcript we can see that following a further prompt from his father, Michael manages to pronounce the “se” an the end of the word cheese, however he also fails to pronounce the “ch” sound and instead replaces it with “d”. This is in juxtaposition to the first time Michael attempts to pronounce cheese, where he successfully pronounces “ch”, but does not incorporate “se” into the ending of the word. This could suggest more about Michael’s phonological traits than his understanding through further prompting by his father. It is possible that Michael finds it difficult to include two complex sounds such as “ch” and “se” at the same time. Instead he manages to pronounce one of these in each of his attempts to pronounce cheese. A further example of this is shown below.


Danny : Gold

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Michael : Gol

Danny : And what colours the paper?

Michael : erm bak

As before we can see that Michael fails to incorporate a consonant sound with a digraph within the same word. Here the two examples are Gold and Black. When pronouncing gold, Michael has no problem in pronouncing “g”, but when it has to be combined with the ending of “d”, he fails to pronounce the whole word. Again, when saying black, Michael fails to combine the digraph of “Bl” with the consonant ending of “k”. These facts suggest that Michael finds it hard to combine two consonants, digraphs or a digraph and a consonant when they occupy the beginning and ending of a word.

A further method of requesting information from Michael is through issuing statements or imperatives. These demand an answer from the recipient and are more declarative than a question. It is important to see how Michael responds to statements as opposed to open and closed questions.


Danny : Tell me something to draw

Michael : um um um arrggh (.) um um um

Danny: What shall I draw Michael? (.) Shall I draw Michael?

Michael : No

From this extract we can compare the differing reactions from Michael when given a question and a statement. When told, “tell me something to draw” Michael responds with the false start or filler token of “um um um arrggh (.) um um um” suggesting that Michael is willing to give a response, but is unable to understand the nature of the request. The beginning of the utterance; “tell me”, could be seen as more abrasive than beginning with “what” or “why”. This could explain why Michael struggles to give an answer. When the same request is given in the form of a question; “What shall I draw Michael? (.) Shall I draw Michael?”, the answer “no” is given immediately, suggesting Michael understood the nature of the request better when posed as a question rather than a statement.

The nature of questions and requests posed to Michael are of vital importance to this study because they give and insight into Michael’s development, and indicate where he stands in his understanding of basic commands. Through looking at various transcripts, I have found that when open questions are posed to Michael, he responds

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in a positive manner when the semantic field of the question is one in which he is comfortable. For example in terms of family and school, Michael tended to respond positively to open questions asked. However, when the semantic field of the question went past the boundaries of what he was comfortable with. Then the responses became either non-existent, or less confident and short. Michael tended to react far better to closed questions, because they offered a clue as to the nature of the question when asked. In their response, they often only require a single word, and so Michael was often more comfortable in answering question that needed a simple “yes or no”.

I looked at repetition as a way of gaining a response out of Michael, and they worked to a certain extent. Repetition is often used to correct phonological errors and so they are used often in conversation with Michael. I found that when someone was talking to Michael and a word was stated in order for him to repeat it, Michael often understood that he had to copy the speaker, but whether he was successful or not depended upon the phonological complexity of the word. For example I found that Michael often found it difficult to combine to complex sounds in a word such as “ch” and “se” when repeating the word cheese.

Audience

Through studying my transcripts of Michael’s speech, I have noticed that the audience to whom Michael is in conversation with is key to his interest in the conversation, tone and length of response. I have observed conversations between Michael and his mother, father, younger brother, aunt and myself.

Firstly I will examine Michael’s interaction with his mother through speech.

Transcript 3 line 37, 38, 39 and 40

Tina : is he sleeping?

Michael : (laughs) naahoooo

Tina : What’s he doing?

Michael : emm in (1.0) in

In the context of discussing his schoolbook, it can be ascertained that Michael shows a positive mentality towards the conversation. When asked two questions (one a closed and the other an open question), Michael provides a response which answers the question. Michael laughing when he is asked the first question suggests a positive interest in the conversation. Also as seen before, the open questions provides a less precise and detailed answer than a closed question. The reason behind this is again that when Tina asks, “is he sleeping”, a clue is given as to the semantic field of the question, and so provides Michael with an idea of how to respond. A further reason behind Michael’s positive interaction with his mother could be attributed to the fact that Tina is more aware of the semantic fields to which Michael responds the best. This would be because she spends the most time with Michael, and has more experience of his speech and responses

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I will now look at how Michael’s responses and attitudes towards conversation differ when talking to his father.

Transcript 9 lines 6-14

Danny : How are you today?

Steve : Say I’m, fine

Michael : Dine

Danny : What colour is your shirt?

Michael : umm umm um it um mm um

Steve : Yellow

Michael : Nanir

Steve : And purple

Michael : Purpir

Straight away from this transcript we can see that Michael’s father appears to take a more proactive role in the conversation. There are visibly more prompts and phonological clues given by the father, and he appears to be more expectant of answers. This expectant nature is shown when Steve states “Dine”, and “yellow” before Michael offers a response. This could suggest that Steve has less confidence in Michaels phonological capability than his mother, and so offers help through prompts, often before Michael has been given chance to offer a response. It appears to show that even when not confident about a word or response Michael attempts to give an answer because of the expectant nature of his father’s speech. The transcript shows that Michael has not yet mastered the sound of “y”, “le” and “f”. Twice he replaces the ending to a word with “ir”, and this could possibly suggest that when Michael is not confident about the final syllable he replaces it with a sound he is comfortable with, this being “ir”. We can also see that again Michael responds positively to repetition of the word, however as before, he struggles with the phonological aspect of the word as opposed to the understanding of it.

The final conversation I wish to observe is one between Michael and his older brother Jack who is 9 years old. It is important to establish how Michael’s speech differs when talking to another child as opposed to his parents.

Transcript 5 line 1-7

Danny : What colour is Jack’s shirt?

Michael : um umm whi // whi

Danny : // good

Jack : Shall I put all your stuff in a like a

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Michael : no naho (2.0) dakkk dakk stoppp

Jack : No Michael shall we put it all nicely so Danny can see them all?

Michael : dak dak dak dakkk

When asked a question by myself, Michael provides a positive answer, this being “whi”. Again, however we can see that Michael cannot use the “t” sound as the correct last syllable of the word white. Michael’s attitude is positive to the question posed by myself, however his attitude changes when Jack enters the conversation. When asked a question by Jack, Michael responds with “no naho, dakkk dakk stoppp”, and when this question is followed up the next response is “dak dak dak dakkk”. Such a sudden change of attitude towards the conversation can be attributed to the fact his brother is now asking him questions. Because of his greater familiarity with Jack, it can be ascertained that Michael is more comfortable to express negativity in his speech. An example of this negativity in his speech is shown by the following extract.


Jack : Look these are mine

Michael : No mine

Jack : No these are all mine

Michael : Noooo

This differs from when he is in conversation with myself, as although I am a member of Michael’s family, I spend little time with him in comparison with Jack. Therefore it could be said that he is less willing to express his true negative feelings to conversation with me. Michael’s relationship with Jack is also different to that of his parents. When in conversation with his parent’s they command authority over Michael, and a greater level of respect is shown in his speech. When questions are posed, which maybe out of the interest of Michael, he stills attempts to give an answer, which is in juxtaposition to his brother Jack. This could possibly be an example of parent’s expectant of answers from their children, and thus pressuring them towards corrects speech through the use of repetition and prompting. The more respectful nature of Michael’s speech is shown below when in conversation with his father.

Transcript 8 line 7,8,9,10,11 and 12

Steve : Luke

Michael : Danny mow

Steve : Danny , Daniel sorry Daniel

Michael : Dannir

Steve : And who else?

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Michael : dan da err umm da da

From this extract we can again see that Michael responds positively when posed questions by his Father. He offers answers when prompted or asked, and this is vastly difficult to when in speech with Jack, when only negative responses to denote a lack of interest in the conversation are given. It is probable that even if Michael lacks interest in a conversation with his father, he will still offer an answer because of the authoritive context of a conversation with a parent.

Paralinguistic features are key when trying to ascertain whether Michael has understood the nature and context of a question. Speech is only an aspect of communication, and paralinguistic features also come under this umbrella of communication. Therefore they can be used to show understanding, to communicate back a response and are a different component to study Michael’s understanding of speech.

Transcript 10 line 3,4 and 5

Danny : What did you do at school today?

Michael gets up from the table and begins to point at a cardboard box

Michael : bot bot


Danny : What are your drawing Michael?

Michael : (laughs) nah no arghh arrgghh aarghhhh (makes claw like hand gestures)

From the first transcript we can see that when posed an open question, Michael understands the context and nature of it, but cannot respond immediately. The question posed is highly conceptual, and requires Michael to recall information and then summarise it in a response. To avoid ignoring the question, Michael points to a box in the room to signify the fact that he has encountered boxes at school today. He then tries to follow this up by accompanying it with some speech, this being “bot bot”. Again we can see from this utterance that Michael finds it difficult to pronounce some complex sounds such as “x”. Michael understands the concept that he must summarise the nature of his question into a relevant response, and he summarises this down to “bot bot” which incorporates the main activity of his day at school. This activity was painting boxes, and therefore we can ascertain that Michael’s level of understanding is on a level with the questions posed to him, but again, it is shown that his phonological ability does not match his conceptual awareness.

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The second extract again shows paralinguistic features, but this time Michael uses them to emphasise the point he has just made though speech. It is key to understand that when asked the question, Michael is drawing a dinosaur. When asked what he is drawing, Michael uses onomatopoeia, which he links to the subject of his drawing. The “arrghh” utterance signifies Michael’s linking of this sound often associated with a monster, to the dinosaur in his picture. He then follows this up by making a claw like gesture with his hand. This again shows that Michael associates this action with dinosaurs or monsters through a semantic field of horror, monsters and dinosaurs. The use of the gesture is used to back up the utterance, which Michael has given, and could suggest that he is not entirely confident that I have understood him based on the speech alone. In this case he uses a paralinguistic feature to confirm my understanding.

Phonology

From studying the transcripts, it is clear to see that Michael struggles regularly with the pronunciation of certain letters and digraphs. I will look to highlight particularly prominent examples of this, and analyse whether there is a link between the sounds and how they are pronounced.

On several occasions Michael has a clear difficulty in pronouncing “h”. When attempting to pronounce “Hannah”, he instead responds with “anir”. A further example is when talking about “Dr Who”, Michael instead pronounces it as “oo”.

When talking about the word “green”, Michael fails to pronounce the digraph “gr” and instead says “guin” This occurs twice in the same conversation, and so it can be seen to be a problem with Michael’s phonology rather than an anomaly. Further on in transcript 13, Michael again fails to pronounce “green”, in its place he says “guin”.

Michael appears to also have a problem when pronouncing “j”. This is particularly prominent when attempting to say his Brother Jack’s name, which appears to always be pronounced as “Dak”, and is shown clearly in Transcript 4. Also in Transcript 4, it becomes clear that Michael has problems when pronouncing “k”. Instead of ending “book” with a “k”, Michael instead substitutes the “k” for a “h” and says “buh”. This could suggest that Michael realises his difficulty in pronouncing “k” and instead replaces it with a phoneme he is more comfortable with, this being “h”.

A very prominent feature or Michael speech is the use of the phoneme “ir”, which replaces several endings to words. The most common of these is when Michael is pronouncing a word which ends in “ee” or “y”. For example in transcript 6, “money” has been pronounced as “monir”, “mummy” and “daddy” are “mummir” and “daddir” and “Danny” is pronounced “dannir”. From looking at this, it is clear that Michael

“h” “gr” “”j” “k” « e e » or « y »

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struggles when pronouncing the phoneme “ee” or “y”. Instead he substitutes it with a sound that he is comfortable with, and this is “ir”.

What appears clear about the connection between “ee” and “ir” is that they both express a relatively similar sound. It may be possible that in the comfortable context of a home situation, Michael becomes comfortable in saying “ir” as opposed to “e” or “yy”, and therefore it becomes a habit to which he is not corrected. It could be possible that if he was in a different contextual situation such as school, then because he was less comfortable, Michael would be more open to correction of his mistake. Also the fact that Michael replaces “ee” with the similar sounding “ir” could possibly point towards Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar. This theory suggests that each human has the deep grammar to be able to produce language, and this is different to all other species on Earth. The fact that Michael cannot pronounce “ee”, but uses his initiative to instead say “ir” suggests that Michael has a clear understanding of grammar. He appears to understand that “ir” would be recognisable to a listener if it replaces “ee”, and therefore because “ir” is a sound he is comfortable in producing, he establishes it as a substitute for “ee”.

Conclusion

After analysing my transcripts I have uncovered some interesting patterns and possible reasoning behinds Michael’s speech patterns. As stated at the beginning of the study, Michael suffers from Dispraxia; a condition which affects the fine motor skills and most notably control of the tongue and mouth. It is important to understand that Michael intelligence is not affected by Dispraxia, only his means to convey it through speech. For this reason Michael is undergoing the phases of language acquisition a year or two after his peers. I have consistently found that Michael conceptual awareness and understanding of contexts is often let down by his phonological ability. He has the ability to understand questions and sentences, which has been shown by his limited speech and paralinguistic features. However, it is his lack of phonological capability due to Dispraxia that prevents him from conveying his understanding. Michael pragmatic awareness has been shown to be normal for his age several times. He understands the needs to summarise responses, and even provides answers

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which build upon the expected answer. Again it is his speech capability that lets him down. Context is a very important issue when understanding Michael’s speech. I have noticed several times that his speech has been shaped by the contexts in which he find himself., and also that he adapts his speech to fit certain social situations. This is another example of Michael’s firm grasp of pragmatic understanding of speech. A key example of context is the tone to which Michael speaks in. This varies between a respectful, and engaging tone when conversing with his parents, to a more brash and negative attitude when talking to his older brother Jack. The context of the household stipulates that a positive tone should be taken when talking to his parents, as they hold an authority over Michael. This authority is not present when talking to his brother, and therefore the tone of conversation from Michael does not reflect this. These factors show that Michael has a clear understanding of the context of conversation, and the tones he should talk to various people in. A final point I have observed about Michael’s speech is again context bound. He has developed some bad habits when learning to speak, most notably replacing word endings with “ir”. This could be explained by a lack of correction within the context of the household. Michael will feel a sense of comfort at home, and therefore will be more relaxed when speaking. If at school, his speech is liable to change due to the different context and his knowledge that he is more likely to be corrected.

TASK: Mark this investigation using the grid and assessment objectives.

ONCE YOU’VE GRADED IT, COMMENTING ON ITS STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS, BULLET POINT WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT ABOUT LISTENING TO DATA HERE:

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Language Change

Log onto this website and research the British Library’s catalogue, finding two texts of similar genres to compare:

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/TourIntroGen.asp

MAKE UP YOUR OWN SCHEME OF WORK!

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and click on the links for English Language A Level

Read the material and answer the quizzes.

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NAME:______________________________ ESSAY TITLE:________________________________________________________

DDESCRIPTOR A

B C D EDESCRIPTOR

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Main issues are outlined in the introduction, including comprehensive references to possible CONTEXTS.

No attempt to illustrate contours of question.

Introduction highlights the importance of the question.

Introduction fails to address the question.

ABIDING BY ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES

AO1 - Select and apply a range of linguistic methods, to communicate relevant knowledge using appropriate terminology and coherent, accurate written expression

Select and apply a very few linguistic methods, to communicate relevant knowledge using appropriate terminology and coherent, accurate written expression

AO2 - Demonstrate critical understanding of a range of concepts and issues related to the construction and analysis of meanings in spoken and written language, using knowledge of linguistic approaches

AO2 - Demonstrate limited understanding of a range of concepts and issues related to the construction and analysis of meanings in spoken and written language, using knowledge of linguistic approaches

AO3 - Analyse and evaluate the influence of contextual factors on the production and reception of spoken and written language, showing knowledge of the key constraints of language

AO3 – Describe in a limited fashion the influence of contextual factors on the production and reception of spoken and written language, showing knowledge of the key constraints of language

AO4 - Demonstrate expertise and creativity in the use of English in a range of different contexts, informed by linguistic study

AO4 – Demonstrate very little expertise and creativity in the use of English in a range of different contexts, informed by linguistic study

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A Level English Language essay

SUMMARY:

TARGETS:

MARK:

GRADE:

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Developing good reading and investigative skills