Methodology

Methodology

My Investigation looks at how external influences such as Gender and Age affect the way people speak to babies,  I took particular interest in this topic area as I can look at the differences and explore Gender Theories, CLA (Child Language Acquisition) and CDS (Child Directed Speech) in great depth. I started collecting my data by gathering permission from those involved, I then began to record my sample data on a phone placed in the same room as Ly (Baby), and left it to record for ten minutes at a time, since doing my sample data I've decided i want to collect three sets of data from each different circumstance/ task (see table).When collecting my sample data I encountered a number of problems which made my results  reliability decrease sufficiently. Whilst I was recording the data Ly was not responsive as she was a little under the weather at the time. This meant that my results were effected as when people interacted with Ly her response was very influential with what they said to her to follow, this meant it was not a true result and that people spoke very sympathetically to Ly. Also an observers paradox is present in my results as natural speech is being recorded, I have kept this under control however by explaining to the people that are being recorded that I will be recording in the near future but not stating exactly when. Following my sample data I decided it would be important to record in written for Ly's reactions e.g. Laughs, Cries, Moans, Gurgles, as this can influence my data and allow me to look into CLA theories for younger children (-1yr). I also found some limitation factors of my investigation which include; My data being un-representative because it is such a small pool of data, I only look at how people speak to one child and possibly compatibility factors would be able to be explored further.I will carefully analyse my data by looking at anomalies and looking into why these have occurred and how they may skew my results, I will also look into what the theories suggest i will find in my results and compare them to what i actually found, if there is a difference I will look into what caused this difference: whether or not it could be human error or if there are any uncontrollable outside factors or influences. I will carefully analyse my data by looking at anomalies and looking into why these have occurred and how they may skew my results, I will also look into what the theories suggest i will find in my results and compare them to what i actually found, if there is a difference I will look into what caused this difference: whether or not it could be human error or if there are any uncontrollable outside factors or influences

sample data

L: Whats thaaaaaat(2) Its Lyliees shoes(3) who's got your shoes on?(3) Its Lyliees shoes

(everyone talking about G not liking the kitten)

Ly: gurgles

L: Grandads naughty(.) We don't like him

(everyone continues to talk L explains about when the kitten climbed up her back and G squeezed the kitten)

C: I would have slapped him

L: So we slapped him didn't we (.) we slapped him(2) I went bang!(1) like that

C: Has she fluffed(1) aww she has swell its worse than josh

(laughs)

C I would have her (kitten) but I haven't got a garden

L: (talking to the kitten) no not you!

L:(to LY) Say back off(2) Mila (1) say back off (laughs)(3) Have we been to a party?
(1)have you bent a party

C: would you have to go to southmead Luce or would you have to go to the childrens?

L:you're better off going to the childrens

L; (to LY) arnt you a big girl(2) boo!

(everyone talks over each other inaudiable)

L: oooh(.) Balloon

(laughs)

this transcript made me realise i need to place Ly in a situation where she is alone with one person so i can record a good amount of data with no/ less interruptions.



Transcript 2

E:idaa(.) idaa(.) what is it?

(laughs)

E: ababababa(2) yeah ababababa(.) stand up?

Ly:mumbles

E: dont suck your thumb or you'll have nasty teeth when your older I'm telling ya(5) what is it?(2) what is it?(.) no not that (3)are you talking to me(.)abababab(.)amumumum(.)adadada(4)awwww(3)did i scare you?(.)I'm sorry I'm sorry(.) do you want to see the light(2) what is it (.) Grampy put this up(.) grumpy put this one up dint he(.) he's good at putting lights up in he

Ly: mumbles

E: do you like it(2) what is it(.)do you like it (3) yeah(.)what did you say(.)again?

Ly:laughs

E:why do you like the light(.)i would take it down but i don't know how you do it(.)do you ike the light?(2) you can stand up well now can't you

Ly:cries

E:ready?(.)don't kick then

Ly:laughs

E: what is it Lyliee is it a light(.)is it a light(2) and what do you do with a light?9(.) on (.)off(.)on(.)off(4) kisses(.) kisses(.)i need to go in the shower(4) aw you playing with your hair(2) its growing(.)its growing(4)she's so pretty(.)who's a pretty baba(.)aw steady(.)aw steady(.)who is it?(.)who is it?(2)is it you

Ly:mumbles excitedly(6) cries

E: aw no(.)aw dear(2)did you bang your head(.)no matter(.)na matter all fixed(.)all better(2)yeah(.)is that your footie(3)i got her she's mine(3) laughs(3)why you crying?(.)why is she crying(.)our little girl(2)whats this now?(.)its not as good is it now(.)broken(4)there we go nice again(.)init

Ly:dada

E:laughs(.)can you do walkie for me?(6)you're doing it(4)who's so pretty(.)who's a pretty girl(2)your my Lyliee monkey(.)aw look

Ly:cries

E: don't be silly(2)don't be silly(.)is it you(5)alright(.)alright(.)alright(3)wheres esme(.)i song want the baby she cries(5)go to esme


Transcript 3

L:hello(.)whos clever(.)who's clever girl(.)where you going(3)ah wowowow(5)ayayayay(3)its your teeth init(6) huhuh banana(.)huhuh

Ly:cries mummy cries

L:what(.) all the balloons are gone(.)all the balloons

the remainder of the transcript is in audible due to people talking over each other

Methodology

My Investigation looks at how external influences such as Gender and Age affect the way people speak to babies,  I took particular interest in this topic area as I can look at the differences and explore Gender Theories and CLA in great depth. I started collecting my data by gathering permission from those involved, I then began to record my sample data on a phone placed in the same room as Lyliee (Baby), and left it to record for ten minutes at a time, since doing my sample data I've decided i want to collect three sets of data from each different circumstance/ task (see table).When collecting my sample data I encountered a number of problems which made my results  reliability decrease sufficiently. Whilst I was recording the data Lyliee was not responsive as she was a little under the weather at the time. This meant that my results were effected as when people interacted with Lyliee her response was very influential with what they said to her to follow, this meant it was not a true result and that people spoke very sympathetically to Lyliee. Also an observers paradox is present in my results as natural speech is being recorded, I have kept this under control however by explaining to the people that are being recorded that I will be recording in the near future but not stating exactly when. Following my sample data I decided it would be important to record in written for Lyliees reactions e.g. Laughs, Cries, Moans, Gurgles, as this can influence my data and allow me to look into CLA theories for younger children (-1yr). I also found some limitation factors of my investigation which include; My data being un-representative because it is such a small pool of data, I only look at how people speak to one child and possibly compatibility factors would be able to be explored further.

Background Research-

- David Crystal: Stage 1- Children say things for 3 purposes; Get something they want, get attention, To draw attention
- Jean Piaget: Sensori- motor stage (0-2 months): baby can differentiate itself from objectives
- Chomsky: Children are born with an inherited ability to learn any human language, e.g.I drawer not I drew
- Jean Aichinson: Language is biologically organised; Labelling- E.g. Mummy, Daddy, Packaging- Range of meanings for one word
- Stages of Acquisition
1- Babbling stage (0-6months)
2- One-word stage (1yr)
3- Two-word stage (2yrs)
4- Child reaches the grammatical complexity of utterances of colloquial adult language (3yrs)

Babbling:
Children begin to babble regardless of what linguistic environment they are in, Sounds like [b],[p],[m],[a] are most common

One-word:
-Words are generally monosyllabic
-Understand multi-word utterances but utter singular words

Tannen- Difference pairings; Independance- Intimacy, Information- Feelings, Advice- Understanding.

I will carefully analyse my data by looking at anomalies and looking into why these have occurred and how they may skew my results, I will also look into what the theories suggest i will find in my results and compare them to what i actually found, if there is a difference I will look into what caused this difference: whether or not it could be human error or if there are any uncontrollable outside factors or influences.

'All the things' Evie

'to what extent is this an example of child-led discourse?' And 'what is characteristic of the two participants' language?'

In this transcript Evie’s pronunciation of <picture> varies.  How many variations can you find? 3  Is there a pattern to them? no How might you explain them? In between the first time we hear evie say picture and the second and third time her Grandmother says the word picture, this could potentially be significant because her Grandmother will give an accurate pronunciation of the word to Evie, then Evie will be able to work on her pronunciation. Significantly Evies pronunciation improves ever so slightly

In this sequence, grandma follows each of Evie’s utterances with an extended version of what she has said.  What does she add?  Why? Because Evie is in the telegraphic stage of speech her utterances become longer but are not fully developed, her Grandmother helps develop her utterances further by extending them allowing Evie to learn from what her Grandmother has contributed.


As you can see very clearly in the video, Evie is thoroughly enjoying playing to the camera and wants to see the video straight away.  How does this awareness of the camera shape the conversation? It skews the data as she may react differently in front of the camera after being aware it is present.

As with <picture> we can see variations in Evie’s pronunciation of <kangaroo>.  Trying to get it right?  Creative experimentation with sounds and words?  To what extent do you agree with these ideas? To some extent I think that Evie is trying to pronounce the word kangaroo correctly and this is why we see the differentiation in how she says the word however because Evie is still only learning to talk I feel the way she edits the way she says the noun could be a creative expression in order to determine how the word is said.

Evie appears to be using some distinctive non-standard forms here: <fings> and <a-comin’>.  Are these features of the Durham dialect?  Compare with recordings on the British Library Sounds Familiar webpage  When looking through the BLSF I found that what Evie says is not represented in the Durham Dialect meaning that the words she is combining and the way she pronounces them is unique to Evie

Grandma uses a lot of questions in this transcript.  What proportion of her utterances are questions?  How would you classify the functions of these questions? 

This sequence entails a misunderstanding about the bath.  How would you describe this misunderstanding?  How might you explain it?

There are interesting switches here between real and play worlds, with toy bath and real towels.  How do you account for this?

Earlier in the recording Evie pronounces <panda> in a standard way, but here appears to be saying something like <pandip>.  Do you agree?  How do you account for this?

Coursework

In my coursework I plan to carry out how adults of different genders and ages talk to my niece Lyliee, and how the language they use differs and how far gender has an effect or whether it has an effect on this. I will use Lakoff's deficit language theory.


I'm going to collect and transcribe different daily activities in Lyliees routine and how my mum dad and sister speak to the baby. The problems that could occur is if different adults do different activities with Lyliee it is less comparable, and if the adults are made to do the same task it would skew the data as it would be forced and set up.


My sample data will hopefully show me what theory's I can expect to find in my actual data and highlight the problems or issues that could come up, like comparability issues or the participants acting different because they are aware they are being filmed.

Phonics

noun

noun: phonics

1. a method of teaching people to read by correlating sounds with symbols in an alphabetic writing system.

    

   Advantages of phonics-

    

   - helps children learn phonemes

   - helps children decipher words

   - helps children with progressive language

   - helps writing ability

    

   http://enlightenme.com/learning-phonics/

    

   Disadvantages of phonics-

    

    - Able readers damaged by phonics

    - 'Mechanical exercise' 

    - Approach to learning phonetics is strict

    - Over emphasis on phonics can do more harm than good

   
   

   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25917646

   http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/mar/04/reading-lessons-phonics-world-book-day

   
   

   
   The more up to date articles I read above^ in comparison with 'The sound and fury of the phonic boom' (1999) seem to suggest that teaching phonics can affect children adversly to previously suggested, and the children who already have the ability to read may be made worse by the implementation of phonic teaching.

   
   

Research

Chomsky:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/opinion/fish-scholarship-and-politics-the-case-of-noam-chomsky.html?ref=topics&_r=0
http://www.simplypsychology.org/language.html


Chomsky argued that children will never acquire the tools needed for processing an infinite number of sentences if the language acquisition mechanism was dependent on language input alone.

Consequently, he proposed the theory of Universal Grammar: the idea that biological grammatical categories, such as a noun category and a verb category that facilitate the entire language development in children and overall language processing in adults.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfiHd6DyuTU&feature=player_embedded