AS Monologues

Last lesson we explored the features of monologues and analysed the Alan Bennett piece 'Bed Among the Lentils'. Here is the link to the YouTube clip of the monologue if you would like to look at it again. 

Clip from Bed Among the Lentils

You could read or watch the whole series of monologues and consider the meaning and effectiveness of the title.

Also, here is the link to the PowerPoint outlining some of the features of monologues - useful for if you would to like to develop your writing in this area!

Features of Monologues

Hope this is useful!

Nina

PowerPoints on Language Frameworks (AS but A2 might find them useful too!)

Hello!

Thought you might find access to the PowerPoints on the language frameworks we have covered so far quite useful! Enjoy!

Phonological Framework

Lexis and Semantics

Grammar (Lexis)

Grammar

WUGS Experiment and Overgeneralisation

WUG experiment

Watch the following clip from youtube which features the linguistic Jean Berko going thhtough her 'Wug' experiment. What do you think she was trying to show with her experiment? Why did she choose imaginary words?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElabA5YICsA

Overgeneralisations

What is happening in the following examples taken from children's speech?

I runned

two mouses

my foots

he feeled shy

he satted on the truck

he drived himself.

Child Language Acquisition

Hello Linguists!

Read the utterances below which are taken from children of different ages. Post a piece of writing on your blog explaining what the data reveals about the language abilities of the different children and discuss how their ability develops between the different stages.

You need to use all you have learnt over the past few lessons and focus on both lexical and grammatical development.

15 months:

• Bye Mummy
• Isee
• Allgone

20 months:

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

28 months

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

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

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

Happy analysing and good luck!

A2 Language Work

Good afternoon!

We have been thinking about children's lexical development.

• Have a look at Jean Piaget's stages of linguistic development. Follow the link below and make notes on what you read.

http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/jean-piagets-theory-child-language-development-9170.html

• How does Piaget's theory on linguistic development support the type and order of words a child uses? Post a response on your blog.

Write an answer to the following question  and post it on your blog.

• 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.

A2 Language Work

Hello A2 Language Lovers!

Setting up a blog

The first thing you need to do is ensure that you have your own blog up and running - some of you will have one from last year and some of you will need to set one up today. Once you have done this I need to have your blog address.

Using your blog

Each week you need to post a blog outlining and reviewing what you have learnt in the lessons, including key terminology and ideas. This record can be a reminder of what you have done and it will help you to identify the areas that you need to work on. It is a good habit to get into and I will be checking to see that you are keeping on top of this!

Child Language Acquisition

• Read the following article on outlining current research on babbling. This should support the work that we did last lesson.
  Babbling Article

• In our first lesson on CLA, you all came up with a range of thoughts and ideas about how we acquire language. Your task is to find out some more information about your ideas by researching the following theories and theorists.

1. We are born with the ability to learn a language. This is a theory of innateness - have a look at what Noam Chomsky thinks about this.
2. We learn by imitating the people around us and by being rewarded for good use of language. This is an imitation and behaviourist theory. B.F Skinner is the theorist to research here.
3. We learn by interacting with different people. This is a social interactionist theory. Have a look for Jerome Bruner (remember peek a boo!)
4. Our language develops as we understand the world we live in. This  is a cognitive development theory. Jean Piaget is important here.

Make sure you make lots of notes and aim to post a summary of your findings on your blog. It is important to have a basic grasp of these theories as they will underpin your understanding of CLA.

Happy researching!

Task for AS Language

A final task....

•Choose a genre and purpose of your choice and write about yourself.

•For instance, a magazine article reporting an event in your life, an interview with yourself from the future, an autobiographical account of a memory, a monologue in character, a poem about your hopes, a leaflet…etc.

•I’m looking for creativity, accuracy and a clear structure.

•Post it on your new blog...this can be completed at home.

Remember to email me your blog address.

New Words

Good Morning!

Language usage changes all the time and words can come and go! The Oxford English Dictionary Online has recently updated its list of words to be included in the most recent version of the OED. Have a look through the new entries by clicking on the link below - are they familiar? Are there any words or expressions that you use that should be in the OED? Or any words that need to have a meaning update?

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/aug/28/twerk-geek-chic-oxford-dictionary

Also, there was a fascinating documentary on the BBC on 3rd September about a woman whose language changed completely after suffering from a type of stroke and she woke up speaking with a Chinese accent. What was interesting was the way that her change in speech patterns had a profound effect on her sense of self, showing what an important role our 'linguistic fingerprints' have in creating our identity. You might be able to catch it on iPlayer if you're quick!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b039sm17/The_Woman_Who_Woke_Up_Chinese/

Apostrophes and Exclamation Marks

Here are a couple of articles that are quite interesting and might get you thinking about how we use apostrophes and exclamation marks. What issues are raised by the articles? What do the articles suggest about language? What would you be interested in exploring further? Do you agree or disagree with what is being said in the articles?

Apostrophe article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23806585

Exclamation mark article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23781044

Happy reading.