Candidate Number : 6423 Language Investigation
Word Count : 2162
Jaiya Sandhu
A comparison of linguistic styles between 2 age groups within the same classroom
setting
Introduction
The UK education system is implemented in every child’s life, at least until the age of 18. Even though every
British child has this universal experience, accounts of it are entirely unique. Despite this, overall
conclusions agree that distinctions on the basis of age can be recognised. The growing consensus is that
older students use language for academic engagement while younger students use language to form
friendships due to the “strong need to conform to their peer’s values, fashions and ideas.” 1 During my time
in education, I have naturally observed discourses; between teenagers themselves; interactions with
teachers throughout secondary school, thus becoming aware of my own linguistic features in different
environments within school, developing my interest in this topic.
Aims
I aim to compare two age groups: a younger class (Year 7) and the most senior, mandatory class (Year 11) to
evaluate whether age alters communication within school, applying the data to theories about teen
sociolects. I predict that the Year 7 classroom’s most dominant speaker will be the teacher due to the
students only beginning to align themselves into social groups, or their fear of social rejection if they are
more vocal. The social pressure, inflicted by peers, may encourage students to interact less. Contradictorily,
the Year 11 classes students will collectively be dominant speakers. They have stronger interpersonal
connections from longer periods of time interacting, illustrating signs of non-standard language, such as
comical language and expletives, consistent with the style of a closed network2, as well as evidence of the
features in Stenstrom's 'teen speak ‘theory.3
From the teacher’s language, I expect to find similar pragmatics; including positively reinforcing statements
in both lessons, suggested by Skinner’s Behaviourist approach4 to improve participation. Vygotsky’s
scaffolding theory5 will also appear in the teacher’s supportive lexis to improve the students’ abilities.
However, I predict that there will be a consistent frequency of these declaratives to optimise the students’
engagement in Year 7, with a stark reduction in Year 11. Academic responsibility could correlate with older
years, leaving an impression on teachers that older students need less support.
Methodology
I have opted to analytically compare two transcripts of personally observed lessons due to; the accessibility
of lessons from being in a school; the advantage of having primary data that has not been tampered to fit a
pre-existing hypothesis and intricate knowledge of the classroom setting experiences.
My sampling method will be random, which eliminates any bias from me (the investigator), the teacher or
students as there was no customised preparation prior to this investigation. Although the full hour of the
lesson was recorded, the findings will be a generalisation of how the class, as well as target population,
speaks as more extensive data was not collected beyond the observations.
These two age groups were purposefully chosen as they are direct opposites of the secondary school
spectrum. A random name generator selected Religious Education lessons from all subjects, then a specific
1
How your Year 7 child develops | TheSchoolRun
2
Linguistic change, social network and speaker innovation
3
Teenage Talk in General | SpringerLink
4
Reinforcement Theory of Motivation - Explained - The Business Professor, LLC
5
Vygotsky Mind in Society
