Paper 3 Section B
The dialogue being analyzed is between a mother and her five year old daughter Raina. In it, Raina and her mother are discussing the countryside and Raina is discovering more about her surrounding environment. With Raina being five years old, she is a part of the post-telegraphic stage. Raina’s developmental signs also fall under this category. Raina shows that she is able to maintain a conversation with her mother using more than one simple idea. Along with language development, Raina shows additional signs of cognitive and social development. This all shows that Raina is more pragmatic in every situation she is in.
Initially, Raina displays great turn-taking skills with her mother. This can be difficult for children, as they are forced to listen while the other speaks. Raina did indeed do this, until the end of the conversation. Overlapping actually occurred a few times by both Raina and her mother. Sometimes overlapping can be a sign of distress or conflict, but in this situation overlapping is done tastefully. Raina overlaps by answering her mother with “oh YES’, and later on Raina’s mother responds to Raina with “i think he can”. With all of this being said, the use of overlapping should still be limited and it shows that Raina is still developing.
Raina is five years old, and this age calls for a greater lexical demand. It seems that Raina has been placed in a new environment, so she has many questions that she asks her mother. The use of question forms is very normal for this age. Raina asks her mom many questions to better understand her surrounding environment. An example of this includes Raina asking “he can’t fly can he”. This, again, shows how she is working at analyzing the atmosphere she is in. Furthermore, greater lexical demand also includes Raina’s usage of auxiliary verbs. Auxiliary verbs provide a mood or voice, and Raina’s usage shows her development. Rainia does this with her usage of “can”. Raina’s mother also uses the contradictory term “can’t” to show Raina that there is an opposite term to the word she is already using in her vocabulary.
By this age Raina also understands that many words have more than one meaning. With this being said, children at Raina’s age often mix words up. Raina showed this with her usage of the word “one”. Raina used this word correctly and in the right context, which shows growth and development. Raina stated “it’s only a little one”. Raina did this again when she stated “I can see the sea”. With both of the same sounding words occurring in the same sentence, this could have been very confusing for Raina, but Raina proved her growth.
Between the ages of 3 and 5 children should become more familiar with family terms. In this dialogue Raina shows her mastery by referring back to her mother multiple times. She calls her mother both “mum” and “mummy”. With Raina being able to master family terms, she is also able to better develop her family communication. Raina will better be able to express her needs, wants and concerts to her “mum” and other family members.
Moreover, Raina’s language development can be traced back to both the Language Acquisition Device (LAD) and the Language Acquisition Support System (LASS). The LAD was developed by Noam Chomsy in 1965. He suggested that the human brain has an innate ability to learn language. In other words, he believed that a child’s environment played an important role in their language development. With Raina this remains true. Raina learns more about her environment by analyzing “the butterfly” or “the long grass”. This device continues to state that observation shows that children are active learners. This is exactly what Raina did.
As previously stated, Raina’s language development is also because of LASS. LASS was addressed by linguist Jerome Bruner in 1983. This device states that children’s parents and carers play a vital role in the development of the child’s language. It also stated that the family surrounding the child will often repeat the same words and phrases, in which the child picks up on. This device remains true with Raina and her mother. A prime example of this is Raina’s mother repeating the word “LOOK” and suddenly Raina began to use the word “LOOK” to. Raina’s interaction with her mother also allowed her to better explain the environment to Raina. With Raina’s mother using her own word choice, and Raina picking up on this.
Finally, not only is Raina’s age of five years old associated with the post-telegraphic stage, it is also associated with the preoperational stage. This stage occurs between the ages of two and five. It states that children are able to think in more definite terms, but it may be more in relation to themselves. Raina displays this because she is showing that she is learning more about her environment, but she is questioning what she is going to do in this environment. An example of this includes Raina stating “can we go in this field”. Raina is questioning what she can do in the environment that she is analyzing.
AO1 - 4 marks: Your detailed understanding of the writing is shown through your very well explained points and the many references to characteristic features throughout your analysis.
ReplyDeleteAO4 - 11 marks: You went into detail about many different concepts, issues, and approaches, I just feel like a few more buzzwords could have been thrown in to properly label things. For example, you mentioned Raina’s statement ‘I can see the sea’ and label these as ‘same sounding words’ when ‘homophones’ could have been used as a more appropriate label.
AO5 - 3 marks: Miss Taylor you did a good job on synthesizing your language data. For example, your connection of the LASS and LAD. Also with the connection of the post-telegraphic stage and the preoperational stage.
Total 18/25
AO1: 5 AO4: 11 AO5: 4
ReplyDeleteI thought you did an excellent job on your blog. I thought you showed a “sophisticated” understanding of the text through your use of relevant quotes like “LOOK” when describing certain buzzwords and theories. I especially liked how you went into great depth about the level of language Raina was at, and I thought it was very insightful. I would recommend that you speak more about the mother, since the prompt asks to discuss both “speakers” in the text. For example, you could discuss how the mother used upward intonations when talking to Raina like when the mother said, “see the butterfly ➚.” This demonstrates caretaker language. I also really liked your description about how Raina can tell the difference between “sea” and “see.” You could add in the buzzword homophones to your description, since these words are homophones. Another idea that you could mention to show the graders your developed knowledge of the theories is that LASS developed from LAD and LASS amended some issues with LAD. This would show an even further understanding of theories. Overall, I thought you did an amazing job, and your analysis was very intuitive!
AO1: There was a sophisticated understanding of the text, in reference to context, meaning, and audience. For example, “she is a part of the post-telegraphic stage.”. As well as an insightful reference to characteristic features. For example, “shows additional signs of cognitive and social development.” and “Raina is more pragmatic in every situation”. I gave this 5 marks.
ReplyDeleteAO4: There was a detailed understanding of linguistic issues, concepts, methods, and approaches. For example, “Overlapping actually occurred a few times” and “which shows growth and development.”. With effective reference to a wider study of linguistic issues and concepts. For example, “traced back to both the Language Acquisition Device (LAD)” and “LASS was addressed by linguist Jerome Bruner in 1983.”. As well as an effective reference to linguistic methods and approaches taken by appropriate theorists. I gave this 12 marks.
AO5: There was sophisticated selection, analysis, and synthesis of language data. For example, “overlaps by answering her mother with “oh YES’” and “also includes Raina’s usage of auxiliary verbs.” I gave you 4 marks.