How do children acquire and produce language - By Dr Robert Winston

How do children acquire and produce language - By Dr Robert Winston

 With the first child, I found that a child’s language begins at with their parents. This is a form of primary socialisation. Primary socialisation is how children learn key norms and values from their parents to help them in society in the future. This shows how language and words have such a big importance in children’s developing language.

Another child was learning both Greek and English Language at the same time. I found that it is more natural for babies to learn two languages at a time at a young age. This is because they use a different part of their brain to learn languages at a younger age.

Young children learning to speak on average learn 10 new words a day and just 30 muscles are used to say one word. Children’s speech develops as the larix in their throat sinks. It is originally high so it allows babies to drink and breathe at the same time. However a disadvantage of the larix sinking is it causes the baby to be more prone to choking.

annotation 1700's

1700’s text on ‘Cosmetic water used by the queen’ – Megan Wibrow

There are seven language levels that can be used to examine texts in English Language. These are Lexis, semantics, grammar, phonology, graphology, pragmatics, and discourse structure. Lexis is to do with the specific vocabulary and words selected in the text. Semantic fields are the study of meanings within the text. Next grammar is the organisation of the language within the text. Phonology is the study of any sounds within the text. This isn’t found often in texts. Graphology is the study of visual features of a text such as pictures, format, text font and style. Next pragmatics is the implied meanings. For example why something in the text has been used. And lastly discourse is where the language of the text comes in to.

The text that I am analysing is the Queen's Royal Cookery on how to make a cosmetic water used by the Queen in the 1700s. The purpose of the text is to inform people on how to make a cosmetics product that is commonly used by the queen from the 1700’s. I believe the register of the text is very formal. I think this because of the words selected in the text are highly formal. This pragmatically was chosen as it is from the Queen’s Royal cookery so would hold high formality. I believe the audience of the text book is women above 20 who want to look after their skin as the text is about how to make a product perfect for skin care in the 1700’s. The mode of the text is from a book.

Lexis – nouns, capitalisation, letter change, words not used.

The graphlogical features in the text are the italic writing in the title. I believe that this has been selected to stand out from the other text so readers can see what the text in the book is about. In the text, there is a line ‘a cosmetic water used by the queen’. I think that this has been chosen to be in italics as it shows the importance of the queen using the cosmetic water.

A grammatical feature in the text is how the text uses a list. The example of this is when they are describing the benefits of the product. They say it ‘smooths, whitens, beautifies and preserves’. This allows the readers to know how much benefits the product gives. The text uses declarative sentences as they just simply makes a statements about the product. The text also uses imperative sentences as in the text they are saying commands or requests of how to make the product. This is so people reading the text follow the article.

The text is under the semantic field of cosmetics and beauty. This can be seen in the text as the words selected in the text are ‘completion’, ‘powder’, ‘smooths’, ‘whitens’ and ‘beautifies’. This matches the text’s audience to women.

 Discourse..

Comment on broken homes

Comment on ‘Broken homes damage brains of infant children’ – Megan Wibrow

The article ‘Broken homes damage brains of infant children’ is about how it is believed that that broken homes, different or dysfunctional family types can cause children to start school with the mental capacity of a one year old due to their brain have failed as they are not being able to develop properly.

I believe that children learn their language from imitation and social interaction from a very young age. Therefore an example of this is if a child receives poor socialisation from their parents then it will prevent the child from learning appropriate and relevant language and information. This is due to if the parents themselves have poor language, grammar and didn’t receive good education then they will not be able to teach their children a lot. Therefore this can lead to the child receiving a poor socialisation. This will result in them starting school at a different level to other children at a similar age.

However I also believe that broken homes, different or dysfunctional family types can cause children to have a different upbringing. However I do not believe that this happens in all cases as it does not necessarily lead to children having undeveloped brains. Just because a child may have a different upbringing does not set them up for their future to fail. This is because different family types doesn’t necessarily mean that the child will experience ‘physical and detrimental effects, whose brains failed to develop properly.’ The child can have other forms of support to help them be able to succeed.

In the article I found it surprising that from broken homes, children’s brain do not develop how it should in the first three years. To solve this, I believe that the government should introduce more programmes within nurseries and schools to provide extra support. This will help to ensure that these children can achieve similar levels to other children in their year who have not experienced these problems. However I found the article to be very repetitive and not taking in other opinions.

Therefore I believe language acquisition starts in the home but schools should provide extra support for children whose brains are less developed.

Key words

Lexical Asymmetry - imbalance in the meaning of two sex equivalent meanings but with very different meanings. For example 'cry like a baby', 'Take it like a man'.

language change; gender

Spinster - Female

The true meaning of the word spinster is a woman who does spinning for her main occupation. Due to the fact that she was an unmarried women she done this career. The word has now a days of the definition has changed for the semantic shift. Derogation is the negative meaning or connotation that some lexical items have attached themselves to the. However the derogation has changed to the view of a women that no one wants to be with. Therefore it is now believed that a spinster is an unmarried woman, usually an older woman who is past the usual age for marriage. This has a very negative connotation.

Bachelor - Male

The true and old meaning of this word is a young knight, not old enough, or having too few vassals, to display his own banner, and who therefore followed the banner of another; a novice in arms. Therefore due to his youth he was unable to support himself. Therefore Now in the 21^st century it has resulted in having the connotations of a man who is not and has never been married. Therefore this may lead him to become one of the country's most eligible bachelors. This has a very positive connotation.

Slag/Slut - Female

The true and old meaning of the word slag is a clear substance, composed of earthy or refuse matter, which is separated from metals in the process of smelting,. It is often used in the construction of roads. Any similar product resulting from the fusion or distillation of other substances. There has been a huge semantic shift with this word as Now in the 21^st century it has now resulted in a negative connotation. The word now means a prostitute or sexually promiscuous woman with many different partners. If someone is named this, it has very clear and obvious negative connotations.

Stud – Male

The true and old meaning of the word is the opposite of the female word of slag and slut. Therefore in a building the walls are of ‘studs’, intertwined with twigs or having laths nailed upon them and covered with mud or plaster. Therefore this is a building method. Now a days there has been a semantic shift in the 21^st century as the connotations of the word now means the same as the words slag and slut but has more of a positive connotation for men than women. To be called a stud is not common in 2016 but a few years ago it was. Therefore is has the connotations of a male who is popular and appeals with women

Research

Deborah Cameron - Verbal hygiene 1995

This comes up with the theory of Verbal hygiene which was published in 1995. This information was published in the book named Verbal hygiene. She argued that verbal hygiene was a term for the motley collection of discourses and practices through which people attempt to ‘clean up’ language and make its structure or its use conform more closely to their ideals of beauty, truth, efficiency, logic, correctness and civility – is not just an unnatural and futile enterprise rooted in a failure to appreciate how language works. Rather verbal hygiene is a product of the way language works. It is an outgrowth of the capacity for metalinguistic reflexivity which makes human linguistic communication so uniquely flexible and nuanced. That capacity fulfils important functions in everyday communication (enabling us, for instance, to correct errors and misunderstandings), but it cannot be restricted to those functions. Its more elaborate forms exemplify a tendency seen throughout human history: reflection on what we observe in the world prompts the impulse to intervene in the world, take control of it, and make it better. In relation to language, that impulse leads to a proliferation of norms defining what is good or bad, right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable. Though their ostensible purpose is to regulate language, these norms may also express deeper anxieties which are not linguistic, but social, moral and political.

 

Muriel Schultz - Semantic deterioration

Muriel Schulz in 1975 came up with the term of semantic deterioration. She said that there were two categories which are derogation and deterioration. Derogation is a negative meaning or connotation that some lexical items have attached themselves too. Deterioration is the process which negative connotations become attached to lexical items.

Muriel Schulz 1975; ‘ Again and again in the history of the language, one finds that a perfectly innocent term designating girls or women may begin with totally neutral or even positive connotations, but that gradually it acquires negative implications…’.

Hussy = housewife à ‘a lewd woman or prostitute’

harridan = ‘worn out horse’ à a disagreeable old woman à 

                                                A decayed strumpet

Wench: OE wencel = child, servant à ME wenche = girl, young

                                                Woman à  end of 13^th C = wanton/lewd woman

Hag = witch à ugly old woman à prostitute

 

Sara Mills

 Investigated the various lexical pairs and how they are lexical asymmetric to one another. She also did further research in the correlation between femininity and politeness and masculinity and impoliteness. She also considered whether the politeness used was genetic. Therefore she focused on the way in which certain genders speak and the hereditary traits in which they entail. 

 

Linguistic Research Task

Eckert Study Eckert study was a focused on her observational research on the social practices which are the ways in which people in groups habitually behave. She done this study of American high-school students. In order to study language usage, she identified two distinct groups, the jocks and burnouts. Jocks – Students who participated enthusiastically in school life such as sport and social events. Burnouts – Students who were rebellious and refused to take part in school activities She found that people tended to speak more like those with whom they shared social practices and values. The ‘burnouts’ used exaggerated pronunciations associated with the urban accents of their Detroit neighborhood, while the ‘jocks’ were more concerned with speaking in a socially prestigious way- sometimes reflecting their middle class backgrounds. Eckert also studied attitudes to language- the ‘jocks’ were critical of the ‘burnouts’ for their ungrammatical language, lack of articulation and frequent swearing, whilst the ‘jocks’ were seen as sounding like their parents. Cheshire Study She used long-term participant observation to gain data about the relationship between use of grammatical variables and adherence to peer group culture by boys and girls in Reading. She gained acceptance from three groups (two of boys, one of girls) in two adventure playgrounds in Reading and recorded how often they used each of eleven variables For the girls she made a distinction between the girls who did not have positive attitudes to such group activities as carrying weapons, fighting, participation in minor criminal activities, preferred job, dress and hairstyle and use of swearing (Group A) and those who approved of these features and activities (Group B). Similar findings when boys against boys and when boys against girls were compared, showed clearly that those who conformed to the conventions of the group also used the linguistic standards of the group - and that conforming boys conformed most of all. Eckert study within school To a certain extent I agree that the Eckert study is within each school in the UK. In these schools there are many different social groups and friendship groups within each year. People more likely now become friends by personalities not sport groups like in America. Cheshire Study within school Within school this is relatable as people often change their language depending on the different social groups they are with. This can be done due to the person changing their voice, words and grammar to feel more like they are fitting in with the specific group. Task 2 – Research Task Investigate the following academic linguistic research blog and write notes about any interesting pieces of research you find. http://linguistics-research-digest.blogspot.co.uk/p/about.html Accent and Dialect What is a dialect? • A dialect is a specific variety of English that differs from other varieties in three specific ways which are lexis, grammar and phonology (pronunciation or accent). What is an accent? • A dialect is a specific variety of English that differs from other varieties in three specific ways which are lexis, grammar and phonology (pronunciation or accent). • English dialects may be different from each other, but all speakers within the English-speaking world can still generally understand them. Difference between accent and dialect • A dialect is a variety of language differing in vocabulary and grammar as well as pronunciation. Dialects are usually spoken by a group united by geography or class. When a standard language and pronunciation are defined by a group, an accent may be any pronunciation that deviates from that standard Dialect • Birmingham - words are heavily emphasized and dragged out, the largest emphasis tends to be in the middle of each word. Accent • The Essex accent is very rural, most people seem to think that people from Essex have a cockney accent. Nowadays due to the East London overspill. For example people from Essex say ‘gunna go’ instead of ‘going to go’. • An accent is a distinctive way of pronouncing words in a language, especially one associated with a particular country, area or social class. • For example, a speaker from Newcastle-upon-Tyne may say something such as gan from someone in Essex would say “to go” Overview • Accent only relates to pronunciation and intonation rather than grammar and vocabulary. • Listeners can make judgements on peoples’ intelligence, ethnic and warmth socioeconomic and geographical background purely by listening to a recorded accented speech. • Listeners can also make judgements on others’ intelligence • Two people speaking the same language, who use the same grammar and word choices will give different cues about their social and regional origins, ethnic group membership or class • Engagement with TV programmes, radios etc. seems to have an influence on young’s people speech as they can pick up from the presenter’s accent and pronunciation.