Child Language Acquisition summary - CIE A-Level English Language 9093
55 views 0 purchase
Course
A level English
Institution
A Level English
CIE A-Level English Language 9093 - Child language acquisition summary. This summary follows the CIE syllabus (9093) for chapter 8, which provides in-depth knowledge of features of spoken language, conversational interactions, transcribing speech, the main strategies of early language development, ...
Child Language Acquisition
8.1 Features of spoken language
Discourse: any spoken or written language that is longer than a sentence
Utterances: a section of spoken language which is often preceded by silence and
followed by a silence or a change of speaker
● Our discourse is in utterances and not sentences
● Speech is spontaneous and we need strategies to make it flow smoothly (it's
inevitable to say the wrong thing)
● Public speaking such as speeches, sermons, lectures, TV and scripts for
plays and movies share common features with written language as they’re
planned and organised before delivery
● Texts,tweets and other online communication blur the lines between written
and spoken discourse
The structure of unscripted conversation
Transcribing unscripted conversational
● Transcripts are records of speech
● They not only record what was said but also how it was delivered
● The standardised conventions allow for accurate representation from any
transcript and ensures reliable data for analysis
● These conventions allow to capture and represent language as accurately as
possible
Convention What it shows
(1) Pause in seconds
(.) Micropause for breath
underlined Stressed sounds/syllable
// overlap
[italics] Paralinguistic features
UPPER CASE Words spoken with increased volume
↗ Upward intonation
↘ Downward intonation
, /WIV/ Phonemic representation of speech sounds
°word° Words spoken with decreased volume
How to transcribe speech
● Listen to the recording at least 3 times before transcribing, discourse
(especially informal) has many overlaps of different speakers which can be
hard to record at first
● You should not follow the conventions of literary speech (no quotation marks,
new lines shouldn’t start with capital letters)
● The speaker’s name must be written in capital letters on the left hand side,
use a colon to separate the speaker from the utterances
● Use conventional spelling not phonetic spelling for representing speech
● Where words are unclear use (xxxxxx)
● When there’s an overlap indicate it with //, some transcripts use brackets to
show that two or more speakers are speaking at the same time
● Only words and phrases with distinct change in tone need to be marked with
the intonation symbol
Discourse features
Opening greetings:
● Conversation openings usually have a standard form to help ease participants
into the conversation
● Greetings such as hi, hiya, good morning establish feelings of mutual ease
● These standard greetings often is accompanied by body language and
gestures such as handshakes, hugs and kisses
● Participants who are strangers will usually introduce themselves
Body language: communication using non-verbal gestures to put across meanings
Turn-taking: in conversations, people usually wait for their turns to speak, some
may interrupt out of eagerness or rudeness, the norm is for one speaker to yield the
floor by prolonging a pause or glancing at the elected next speaker who then takes
their turn
● Conversation is usually cooperative with participants taking turns but
speakers often overlap
● This has to be done with sensitivity as it can be seen as rude
● When a conversation isn’t cooperative participants adopt very different
strategies which can have an unpleasant outcomes eg. arguments
Adjacency pairs: dialogue that follows a set pattern of an utterance from one
speaker and a response from the other (eg. greetings)
, ● Statement and response form the basis of a conversation
● Consists of a question/exclamation/declaration from Participant A, followed by
a response from participant B and by any others
● It can expand to a three/part exchange, which is when the first speaker
responds and the conversation continuous
Conversational floor: speaking until you have finished what you wanted to say or
until someone interrupts you
● In discourse, the person who is talking is holding the conversational floor
● We use a variety of strategies to determine who will take over and when they
will do so:
○ Name them (Anna was there, she knows)
○ Complete what we are saying (and so I got soaked)
○ Hesitate - a longer pause than usual could result in someone else
talking, silence makes discourse tense
○ Use sounds and body language - our voices may start to fall and we
might start looking at those who are about to take their conversation
turn
Clashing:
● When two people start to speak at the same time and the clash is
acknowledged, one participant must stop and the other continuous
● Status and context are important as having a conversation is related to the
context and to the relative status of the speakers
Repairing:
● During discourse, participants are constantly monitoring themselves and
those whom they’re talking to
● A speaker may repair what they say by correcting themselves or using
phrases to acknowledge the mistakes (eg. I mean, no, I wanted to say)
● There is instant updating of information and self-correction in conversations
● Sometimes another participant will correct the speaker’s mistakes for them
Topic-shift: the point where people move from one topic to another
● Conversations are dynamic and spontaneous
● We talk about all sorts of topics and people that change frequently
● Management of topic change is achieved with impressions like ‘By the way’
Conversation ending:
● Closing a conversation has formulaic utterances with standard phrases like
‘see you later’, ‘bye’ or ‘see you next week’
● Body language reinforces the discourse, we may check the time, start to pack
away belongings, stand up or turn away
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller bernadettgerends. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $22.24. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
