How do children acquire and develop language

 

From the young age of fifteen months, children begin to develop linguistic skills of a basic level, for example making noises and sounds with their mouth and tongue. Bilingual children will develop slower as they are accessing different parts of the brain in order to access two different languages. The reason for only basic noises and sounds is the position of the larynx that doesn’t allow the throat to produce words. Over the next year from this age, the larynx will move down 3cm which will then allow the child to produce lexis and construct phrases, this is then known as the voice box. During the time in which the child is learning vocabulary and pronunciation, they are using 30 muscles in their face alone to speak, this then could affect the development of phonology as the child has to learn to use different sounds.

 

 

At 2 and a half years old, the child then goes on to learn 10 new words a day, in which they will use to describe in detail, communicate, construct sentences and use their vocab as an instinctive map for language (chompsky- universal language). A lot of sentence types at this age are declaritve, exampling alack of pragmatic skills. At this age, children mostly get the grammar correct all the time, as ‘children have an instinctive map for language’. It’s also this age in which children begin to develop self- awareness in which they recognise themselves in a reflection in the mirror and they realise they are their own person, hence why they say about the terrible 2’s in which children have their worst tantrums as they realise they are their own person and they don’t understand the concept of sharing and want everything for themselves.

This is article is based on the issue that ‘broken homes lead to damage the brains of children’; how dysfunctional family types lead to their children starting school with a lack of a mental capacity as their brain has not been able to develop properly. This article claims there is a link between the pattern of the family and lack of mental development.

In my opinion, children are able to develop their cognitive capabilities through social interaction and intellectual activities. It is possible that in these ‘broken homes’ there is lack of this, therefore limiting the child’s capabilities to learn and develop acquired skills. For example, a dysfunctional family may not have the time, ability nor want to read the child a book in bed, or take the time to teach them how to read basic literature. Thus setting up the children to potentially start school at a different level to the other students.

However, on the contrary I also believe that just due to the fact that children are from a dysfunctional family, doesn’t mean they will automatically face educational failure. In some cases those that are faced with non-broken homes will also potentially be troubled with ‘damaged brains’. In an article from ‘phycology today’, it reports that those from more privileged backgrounds are of the most distressing youth today. They show disturbingly high rates of substance use, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, cheating, and stealing.  As the kids approach adolescence, studies found they abuse the use of illegal substances, the same studies also found this among 10^th graders in a later study. Widespread cheating and random acts of delinquency, such as stealing from parents or peers, are also found to be more common among the rich.

U.K. Parliamentary language

The system
Within the uk parliamentary system, there are two houses of which the House of Commons have the role of legislating new laws, and observing financial issues, members of this house are elected bodies. The second part of the U.K. System is the House of Lords , this consists of hereditory peers in which have the responsibility of introducing legislation and checking the role of the government.

Parliamentary language
Parliamentary language refers to the discourse between members of the certain parliament, such lexis is likely to differ from everyday lexis.

Examples of parliamentary language:

Adjournment debate - usually a half-hour debate introduced by a backbencher at the end of business for the day. The subjects raised are often local or personal issues. There is also a series of short adjournment debates on Wednesday mornings.

Allocation of time motion (guillotine) - a means by which time for one or more stages of a bill is restricted, and the question is put on outstanding business, even though members may still wish to speak on that business (see Programme order).

Ballot (for Private Members' Bills) - drawn on the second Thursday that the House sits in each session. The 20 successful members put their bills down for discussion on particular days (Fridays).

Closure - the question "that the question be now put", i.e. that, although there are still members speaking or wishing to speak, the debate should be ended and the House proceed immediately to a decision. The Speaker has discretion as to whether to accept the closure and, if opposed, it requires not just a majority but also at least 100 members voting in favour; otherwise, the original debate is resumed. If the closure is agreed to, the question is then put immediately on the matter previously under debate.


Unparliamentary language 

Unparliamentary language refers to lexis within the parliamentary system that is seen as 'in-polite' and goes against the rules of parliament. Anyone who says anything if this sense, are asked to take back what they have said. 
- rat 
- swine 
- nazi 
-bullshit 
-liar 
- ignoramous 

http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2016/mar/09/im-going-to-get-cancer-and-theres-nothing-i-can-do-about-it


This article displays the need for change in lexical choice when referring to Cancer in everyday context. The argument is that through lexical choice, of declaratives for example; "everything gives you cancer these days!', this lexis indicates imminent development through anything, which is obviously a misconception that is potentially socially constructed. Therefore the alternative of knowing there are specific precautions one can take in order to prevent the illness developing, is a lot clearer and correct phrase to prevent it seem as if everything does give you cancer - which it doesn't. Another argument in which this article proposes is the lexical choice of 'gives you' [cancer], this article argues that the semantics of this phrase needs to shift as nothing literally gives you cancer, in the sense that it for example hands you it. There's things that theoretically could potentially trigger a pre-existing condition, therefore it is wrong to say ' everything gives you cancer these days'.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2016/mar/09/im-going-to-get-cancer-and-theres-nothing-i-can-do-about-it

Language and occupation- doctors

 

This is a letter from one doctor to another written in 2003. Due to the format of this text, it is expected that there is Latinate and formal lexis, this may differ from a conversation between two doctors. This implies that the job of a doctor is to be professional and educated in all parts of their occupation and that the receiver of the letter is expecting a professional and formal standard. An example of the Latinate lexis are examples such as ‘deficiencies’, ‘initially’, ‘unambiguous’, ‘jeopardy’ and ‘institution’.

Within this letter, there is no occupational specific lexis, although there is semantic field, there are no form of words that are exclusive to being a doctor (jargon).  As this is a letter, the primary purpose may be different to one of a conversation between two doctors; this is more likely to include jargon. However it shows that the doctors role within a medical association is not limited to its primary function; there is also necessary interactions as written reports and letters; in which show differing factors of discourse between different job roles.

The letter is closed with ‘thank you for your attention’, which is less assertive and more focused on politeness and appreciation; this shows that within this occupational community, the writer of the letter is not the one with the power, and therefore in this occupation there is a system of hierarchy in which power can be negotiated.

 

Doctor’s slang

Within the occupational discourse, I found that exclusive to the doctors’ occupational community, there is such thing as ‘doctor’s slang’ in which is a folk linguistic allegedly created by doctors in order to secretly insult each other or their patients. For example NFN (Normal for Norfolk), FLK (Funny looking kid) or GROLIES (Guardian Reader of Low Intelligence in Ethnic Skirt).

Dr Fox recounts the tale of one doctor who had scribbled TTFO - an expletive expression translated as "Told to fuck off" - on a patient's notes.

Other examples of the slang are "Whopper with Cheese", "Handbag positive" or "Coffin dodger" could be lost forever.

(Source: BBC news)

 

Occupational lexis

HARRY

What do we have Kelsey?

KELSEY

GI obstruction...

HARRY

What do you need me to do?

KELSEY

(beat) Nothing really, he’s been referred and we’re getting ready to move him to theatre.

 

This is a section of a transcript from the hospital based programme. In this example they display the wide use of occupational specific lexis; as if it’s their own way of communicating.

Ochs and Taylor

Ochs and Taylor completed a study in 1992 in which they examined how the family is a political institution through conversational interactions. One argument they proposed is that families are political bodies in that certain members review, judge, formulate codes of conduct, make decisions that evaluate + impact the actions, conditions, thoughts and feelings of other members. 

Ochs and Taylor studied conversations at dinner times which they argue is the first time a whole family can interact with each other by giving stories about their day which draws in the participation of other members. Their findings state that mothers tended to be the introducers of the conversations the majority of the time and children only introduced 1/3 of the time. The class pattern was that the women would select fathers as primary recipients who would be the problematizes. The mother would usually be the person who would try to solve the problem.

In most western cultures, the language that parents use to address and interact with small children can be known as "parentese". 

Self evaluation

In the most recent class assessment I found that there are a few areas of improvement within my essay. Most attention is needed in my AO2 than AO1, however improvement is needed in both categories. In order to improve my grade I need to ensure that my essay is portraying a balanced argument throughout; not just displaying one side of the argument. I also need to ensure I am including my own opinion of the topic, in relation to the points being made. Another thing I need to ensure I do when writing this question, is include more language levels at  more than basic level; for example talking about lexis, syntax, grammar, phonology, pragmatics, semantics etc. and drawing context relevant to the question using the language levels.

Lexical Asymmetry

Is an imbalance of two matching words. An example of this is man and woman should have opposite but equivalent meanings. However, by dictionary meanings, being manly or womanly carry very different meanings.

Manliness is seen as strength, womanly as weakness. Expressions equating to being female such as "take it like a man", " cry like a little girl", " run like a girl",  suggest lexical asymmetry within the words man and woman.

Semantic derogation

Negative meanings associated with certain words and how they're used to 'put down' or denigrate particular groups of people. Examples would be "spastic", "cripple", "nigger", "gypo", "bitch", or "faggot".  Words that carry negative connotations that are used to degrade and insult people/ groups of people.

Semantic reclamation 

Process in which a word previously carrying negative connotations can be reclaimed by the group it was turned against to turn into something positive. The most obvious example is "nigger", by which the term has a long history associated with it. The use of it in hip-hop and street slang has helped it turn into a wholy negative meaning into a more positive one for some sections of society. The same process has happened with a lesser extent with the terms "paki", "queer", and "bitch".


Semantic over-representation, lexical gaps and negative semantic space 

An idea that means there are more words to describe a particular concept or group of people than their equivalent. There are many words used to describe sexually active females compared to males; for example, slut, slag, tart, whore, hoe, sket etc.

Many of these terms dehumanise women (treat them as objects rather than people) or associate women with a particular body part or sexual function rather than treat them as complete people (this can be termed as metonmy or synecdoche). The equivalent terms for men usually carry more positive connotations; e.g stud, player etc.

Lexical gaps are when no equivalent terms can be found. For example there's no male equivalent of "sweetie" or female equivalent of "stud". In the work of linguists Dale Spender, Julia Stanley and Muriel Schulz, their ideas suggest that terms used to label women are attached to a negative space. Even moving the term into a male "space", they bring negative connotations which can only be distanced by adding male prefixes, such as "male slut" or "man whore". Muriel Schulz's "semantic rule" proposes that all words associated with women are pejorate (negative).

Critical discourse analysis

CDA is a type of analytical discourse that studies the way that power, dominance and inequality are enacted and reproduced. Discourse in "language social practice determined by social structures". 

Social practice is that language is a part of society, and not external to it; language is a social process that is conditioned by other parts of society. For example, social historical context of the N word, conditioned to be racist. 

Beliefs of CDA:

• Power relations are discursive
• Discourse is ideological & constitutes society and culture. 
• Discourse is historical and a form of social action. 
• The analysis of discourse is interperitive and explanatory. 

Themes addressed in critical discourse analysis: 

- language + power 

- gender 

- advertisements 

- capitalism 

- politics 

- law 

- discrimination + racism 

CDA is allegedly used by historians, lawyers, business institutions- jobs involving analysis of a text. 

Fairclough

Power in and behind discourse

Fairclough's model 2001 - Fairclough suggested the theory of synthetic personalisation which is when the producers receive a manufactured relationship through words between them and the consumer. Fairclough says the adverts create a ‘product image’. This helps to position the receiver as a potential consumer. This is used as the producer doesn’t come into contact with the consumer. 

Power behind discourse – creates an instant desire to buy the product.

Power in discourse – exposition of advert leads to purchase product (more in the long run)

etymology of bachelor

Bachelor

In contrast with the term ‘spinster ‘.

When looking at the oxford dictionary, the earliest record of when bachelor was first used in 1297.In which was used to describe young knights, by which had positive connotations such as strong, courageous, brave. This term addresses no stigmatisation due to an unmarried status. The nature of the term spinster is used to shame and attach a negative label to whoever is described as one, however evidence of the late 13^th century suggests that the male equivalent term used to describe the exact same unmarried status, is one that has had connotations of strong and brave; something people would look up to.

The word then has been modified in 1883 in which whomever is labelled as bachelor is described as someone who has been knighted- a gentleman who has received the honour of knighthood. This adds weight to the connotations of bachelor being of a positive light – someone who has been knighted is known to be someone who is strong, courageous and brave. This again has no relevance to the negative label of not being married – or even touches focus on the issue if the man is unmarried. “1883 Whitaker's Almanack 108 Knights Bachelors: a list of those Gentlemen [in number 278] who have received the honour of knighthood.”

In my opinion, the term bachelor has changed its meaning and what it is addressing, however it has still carried positive connotations as in today’s context, if someone is described as a bachelor- it is not frowned upon and contains connotations of strong, wealth and independence. Especially in today’s society, you wouldn’t refer to an unmarried woman as bachelor as it is a strongly marked form. No ‘knights’ are referred to as a ‘her’ or ‘she’ in these definitions, suggesting that bachelor, in this context specifically, is potentially also a marked form and that women wouldn’t have been included in this definition even in the 19^th century. This has then had the effect of removing women from this definition of being strong, courageous and brave, therefore this has potentially removed women from being described as similar positive labels when being stated as unmarried. An example of today’s context this is that bachelor is often paired in the term with eligible; meaning if a man was described as this they are considered to be a particularly desirable potential husband, usually due to wealth, social status or other specific personal qualities. This is still describing an unmarried man, however the term ‘eligible spinster’ is not used and wouldn’t make sense if it was used due to the term ‘spinster’ creating negative connotations.

The word ‘ bachelor’ has changed from its primary meaning over time, in which it began to mean an unmarried man in the late 19^th century, meaning that the word has changed meaning to be a man worthy of the honour of being knighted, to man who simply isn’t married.

There is evidence that displays a wide use of this word, for example there are different spellings of the word such as bachiler, bachillier, baculere, Bachler. The extent of the phonology within one word suggests that there has been a wide use of the word from many different areas; displaying the popularity of it.

What are the attitudes towards afro-Caribbean influence on Standard English?

I recently carried out a survey that investigated the thoughts on effects on Standard English with the influences of afro-Caribbean. I carried this survey out on a group of male and female aging from around 16-17 years old.
Throughout this questionnaire, I will be using the male and female results to compare how they differentiate. I found that 100% of females answering the first question, felt there was a need for a multi-cultural society, however only 90% of males felt there was an importance for a multicultural society, with 10% feeling there isn’t an importance, implying that percentage felt they shouldn’t think that our society should be multi-cultural. When females were asked about their understanding of ethnicity, the overall results for females was that they had at least a basic understanding of the meaning; their answers generally varied from someone’s ‘background’ and ‘origin’, and that it was a group of people with a shared heritage. However the males’ response to this question differed from the female’s in that the knowledge on ethnicity was a lot more limited;  as many as 10% didn’t know what ethnicity meant and just put their answer as ‘ I don’t know’, 70% had limited awareness in that their answers included ‘being from different countries’ and ‘people who communicate and get involved with other ethnic groups of people’, however 20% thought that ethnicity referred to someone’s colour of their skin (their race ).
Comparative results of male and female when asked of their ethnicity:

From the results, all female responses illustrated  that they were white British, fully understanding the question and showing the potential that that is what ethnicity a majority of British citizens automatically say they are ‘ white British’. However, this differentiates from the male’s response as the male response was a lot more specific in their choice of ethnicity, answers included responses such as ‘Caucasian’ and also ‘mixed’, which is contrarily quite broad and can be taken with different personal connotations. However a large portion of the responses didn’t understand the question and a larger portion were ‘white British’.
Throughout the responses, all females noted that there are negative issues raised that the Afro-Caribbean has influenced. 50% of the respondents said that there was more slang words within the afro-Caribbean style dialect and that pronunciation and meaning of lexis, grammar and vocabulary were all impaired by the afro-Caribbean style of dialect. These responses were linked to the concerns with the decline of speaking ‘proper English’, and that it is perceived, to them, as lazy, un-professional and the general decline of ‘proper English’ (standard English). This distinguished from the general male response, although some responses illustrated they were concerned with the decline of vocabulary and grammar, this only covered 20% of the responses, along with the effect it will have on specifically younger people. The remaining 80% promoted the view that they thought influence of the afro-Caribbean style of dialect was not implementing any bad influences whatsoever, they with-held no concern with the decline of spoken Standard English.

For question 7, participants were asked whether they felt the use of Standard English is getting worse, this chart represents the results:

For question 8, 19/20 participants stated that example 2 was the better example of speaking. All females said that the Standard English example was favourable, and one male stated they thought the afro-Caribbean example was better. Therefore the overall opinion was that Standard English is the better way of using their dialect. 

When asked whether they think afro-Caribbean has had either good or bad influences on Standard English, only one female stated that it did have influence of a good nature, due to society becoming ‘more cultural’. However the other large percentage of females believed the influences were of a negative nature, due to the decreased quality of Standard English, the new vocabulary introduced which is perceived as in-proper and lazy. The overall opinion of participants represented the thought that there is a large amount of influence of the afro-Caribbean dialect, as a large amount of people use it, particularly young students.

However the male portion of the results promoted that only three participants believed it had a bad influence, when the other seven participants believed it had a particularly good influence.

Even though a large percentage of females believed there was a negative impact on Standard English from afro-Caribbean, the male results nearly equalised with these results, showing between males there is generally no concern with the potential decline of their standard language, spoken Standard English. 

 

 

 

 

 

This advert is a screenshot from the Apple brand promoting the iPhone 5s, this advert is largely influential as it uses features such as direct address. This captures the audience’s attention as it is personal pro-nouns and makes the audience feel as if they are being addressed personally. This advert is also showing a background picture of two people running whilst smiling/laughing, this promotes the idea that if a consumer purchases this product, then it will lead to them also leading a life of health and control; which is very attractive to Apple’s target audience. Apple’s target audience is probably male and female in the ages of adolescence to adult, in which is the two people in this advertisement; which takes the influence further as it seems the ‘power’ fulfilment and better lifestyle will apply to them; therefore they will find the product more attractive and become consumers of the product.

The saying “you’re more powerful than you think” suggests that Apple is trying to influence its audience in creating an ideology of this product will make you powerful, in control, and have an all-round better lifestyle; just by the purchase of this product. This creates a sense of enticement as apple begin to sell more of a lifestyle, as a pose to features of the actual product, the only demonstration of the product is, assumedly, on the arms of the runners. Apple has made assumption of what the audience wants; meaning apple has taken an example of a healthy and positive lifestyle, in which looks like is situated in new York city (a powerful city in itself), and assumed that this lifestyle is what their audience desires. Without this product the advertisement is suggesting that this product can fulfil their full potential to be strong, powerful and lead a positive lifestyle; in which apple are potentially suggesting that without this product, that’s not what they are doing.

Within this advertisement there is only one line of lexis, therefore there is not much to say on discourse structure, however this advertisement could have the potential to have power behind discourse. Where by Fairclough suggests that this type of power will encourage consumers to purchase product, following the exposure of adverts. This could apply as the lifestyle that this advert promotes applies top many peoples desires, therefore if someone sees the advert and doesn’t think much about it, but then at a later date has a desire for that specific lifestyle, they may relate this back to the apple advert and purchase this product in believing this will kick start them into this kind of lifestyle.

The semantic format of the word ‘powerful’ explores the possibilities of the words connotation in which it suggests it to have various merits, e.g. encouraging this lifestyle and the consumer to be strong and in control, helping the consumer in the potentially desired healthy lifestyle.

Within this advertisement, lexical choice has led to the consumer to feel inclusive towards the advert as it contains direct address, and there are no examples of lexis that would potentially isolate the consumer from the seller, for example there is no subject- specific lexis that the consumer potentially wouldn’t know. Also the positive face theory is applied, this is because apple are using complimentary language to fulfil its purpose of persuasion. This is likely to attract the customer as they would believe what apple are saying and will want to achieve this.