LCRT 5810: Workshop in Language Development & Acquisition

Welcome back!

Class Session #3: Face to Face September 20, 2014 Dr. Sherry Taylor

Take 5: Let’s Reconnect

With your colleagues • (Re) Introduce

yourself to someone new to you at your table or nearby.

• Reconnect with a classmate or two & learn something new about them.

With the Course Content • What did you observe

about how YOUR language varies when you change social-cultural contexts?

• Or how it varies when YOU change conversation partners? Or when YOUR role changes?

Class Session #3, Sept. 20th • Linguistics: Tools for Observing & Analyzing Language • Examining Language in the Classroom • Case Study Learner: Background Summary • Collecting & Transcribing Language Samples• Language Change & Variation • Trackton & Roadville (Ways with Words) • Using APA to Write an Academic Paper • Looking ahead to Session #4

Using linguistics to observe and analyze…

…language behavior and language interactions to help us better

understand the learner’s language and

to inform our approach to effective classroom communication &

instruction.

Pragmatics – Context: Examining Language in the Classroom

1. Using language for a variety of functions; 2. Adapting language according to the

situation or the listener; 3. Adapting language according to your role; 4. Following conversational rules; 5. Using appropriate non-verbal

communication;6. Clarifying when communication is

ambiguous. 7. Repairing: Do we know how, when, why?

Linguistics & Language Systems: Tools for Analyzing Language

Phonology: Sound patterns of language including pitch, rate, stress, volume, classifying sounds [phonemes & allophones].

Phonetics: Description of speech sounds; how the sounds are formed in the mouth (point of articulation & passage of air)… links to pronunciation/enunciation of phonemes in L1 & dialect.

Morphology: Meaning units in a language including: • FREE: Single word that serves as morpheme, e.g., school, the, non…• BOUND: Morphemes linked to other morphemes, e.g., -ing, un-, -ed, -

able (often prefixes, suffixes, affixes, past tense markers) … clipping (prof-for professor); acronyms (SEHD); blends (fog/smoke=smog)…

Linguistics & Language Systems: Tools for Analyzing Language (2)

Syntax: Structure of sentences/rules for forming sentences (S-V); forming questions; negatives; using possessives; plurals (also links to morphology and the “s” plural which is a bound morpheme).

Semantics: Making meaning of words (& synonyms), phrases, and sentences.

Pragmatics: Communication in context, according to what is appropriate for the particular context (conversational rules; repair when needed); Non-verbal communication (body language, gestures, eye contact, facial expression; physical distance; time/timing; interrupting, etc.

More on Pragmatics: Tools for Analyzing Language

• Performance versus competence; • Grice’s maxims

(relation/relative, quality/truthful, quantity/TMI, manner/logical sequence);

• Shifting registers (formal/informal);

• Use of slang

• Discourse functions (declaratives, questioning, imperatives, exclamations);

• Using rising or falling intonation to send meaning; • Restricted code (insider info),

elaborations needed;• Lexical ambiguity (vocab) or

structural ambiguity (unclear message).

(Barry, 2008, 3-8; 145)

Speaking of Ambiguity: Lexical or Structural?

My Blackberry is not working!Watch, listen & decide which aspect(s) of ambiguity are influencing this situation! Lexical? Structural?

Blackberry: a line of smartphones developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM).

Orange: a mobile network operator and internet service provider in the United Kingdom.

Apple: a corporation that designs & markets the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone & the iPad.

Dongle: a small hardware device that plugs into the serial or USB port of a computer.

Booting: a self-sustaining process that proceeds without external help.

Xbox 360: a video game console produced by Microsoft.

But first, let’s not communicate within a restricted code.

Here is some elaborated code to assist you!

How does ambiguity play a role here?What type? Lexical or Structural?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI

With the spontaneous nature of spoken language, speakers can gain important

insights when we listen to our unfiltered language use.

• Was my spoken language clearly enunciated? • How did I use volume, rate, pitch, stress, pauses?• Was I able to effectively repair miscommunications? Students’

misunderstandings? Ambiguous messages? • Did I use (overuse) acronyms? Clipping? Slang? • How did I structure questions? What types of questions did I

ask? Did I assume too much ‘insider info’ or background knowledge?

• Did my spoken language make sense? Did I clarify ambiguities? Or emphasize essential information?

• Did I enact conversational rules by giving students a chance to engage? Ask their questions?

Examining Classroom Language

You used many of these tools when you examined YOUR language and STUDENTS’

language during classroom instruction.

What did you discover about your competence & performance? And your responsiveness to pragmatics…to the

classroom context?

Examining Language in the Classroom

1) Connect with someone who teaches or works in a similar position where you currently are located (or were, if you are not in the classroom);

2) Sit together and share your template, your examination of language in the classroom and your reflections about the language you used and your students used (including those “ah-ha moments”).

3) Identify how you will use these data, insights & outcomes to inform your classroom language.

4) What are ‘next steps’ you identified for yourself? 5) Prepare to share one piece of new learning or a

‘next step’ with the whole class.

Your questions?

Decide on due date of FINAL “Examining Language in the Classroom” assignment

Learner Background SummaryAssignment

Related documents: Learner background summary (draft) Learner profile Learner interview

Learning & Progress made toward the Case Study

COMPLETED! • Select a learner who is average with language

or literacy. Someone who may be a ‘puzzle’ to you. • Collect background information using the

learner profile & questions on language & literacy. • Complete draft of the “Learner Background

Summary” and Submit final assignment (due date TBD today by the class!). • Next? We will discuss next steps today!

Supporting your colleagues: Learner Background Summary

Partner with a colleague!

How you will support your colleague: Learner Background

Summary Assignment

With a partner, read & check for: 1. Learner’s name is noted as a pseudonym (to maintain privacy); 2. Summary includes: - ten or more details about learner, family, home language, academics, behavior, interests, beliefs about language & literacy;- thorough rationale for choosing learner (remember, this learner will be used as the Case Study learner).

3. Academic Writing: -Paragraphs: Indent first sentence; Do not skip line between paragraphs. -Double space. Font size 12. Use 1 inch margins. -Well written; Accurate spelling & grammar; Generally 3-5 pages in length; Include Appendices as directed.

Your questions?

Learning & Progress made toward the Case Study

NEXT: • Collect & transcribe oral language

samples in academic and social settings (due 10/18). • Collect reading samples (e.g., running

records, DRAs, etc.) (11/1) • Collect writing samples (e.g., dictated

stories, independent writing, paragraph, essay, etc.) (11/1)

Case Study Progress 8 sections 1) Abstract2) Learner Background Done! 3) Analysis of Oral Language Starting! 4) Analysis of Reading5) Analysis of Writing6) Discussion of Findings and Conclusion7) Works Cited8) Appendices

• Learner Interview and Profile Done! • Coded Transcript Analysis Starting! • Reading and Writing Samples Start collecting!

Analysis of Oral Language Starting!

Purpose: To examine language development in order to inform your understanding of

language development & use of PK-12 learners, with particular relevance to learners

in your classroom teaching context.

Analysis of Oral Language: Starting!

Assignment: Collect samples of the learner’s oral language and analyze the language using elements of linguistics & language systems addressed in the course readings.

1. Collect several oral language samples with the learner from both academic and social settings (5-6 samples);

2. Settings could include small group interactions, conferencing with the learner, lunch conversations, conferring with the learner about a reading, literature, visual, lyrics, or recent experience.

Collecting oral language samples

Audio or video record the learner in several academic and social settings where the learner is likely to engage in oral language use (build rapport, bring props & set it up! You do not want a series of Qs & As).

Listen to (or watch) the recordings to ensure that you have a large enough sample of conversational language from the learner to analyze.

Select linguistically interesting language samples that are representative of the learner’s oral language.

Transcribe the interactions from these selected samples exactly as they sound. Number each line and identify each speaker.

Transcribing oral language

Transcribe WHAT the learner said and HOW s/he said it phonetically. For example, the speaker may have asked, “What are you doing this for?”

but it may have sounded like this,

“Whacha doin this fa?”

SAMPLE TRANSCRIPT Key speakers: I = InterviewerM = Child’s motherL=Language Learner

Sample Transcript: Transcribing oral language

(1) I: Do you like horses? (2) L: Ya…ya….um-m-m… I hava horse puzzul. (3) I: You have a horse puzzle?(4) L: Ya..ya…but..um-m-m, Nonni gave me sommar horses, a..a..a (5) L: baby ana mama wid poka dots on-em (6) I: Oh, do they have names? (7) L: Um, no, dere, dere, dere jus horsus.(8) L: They’re just horses.(9) L: Who’s Nonni? (10)L: Well, I awways cal-er my gwampa… gwampa. (11)M: Grandma.(12) L: Oh.

Identify 5 interesting features of this transcript sample to discuss.

Sample Transcript Requirements

• Number each line. • If a speaker’s

utterance extends to the next line, give it a new number.

• Do not start a new number sequence with each new setting.

• Use single spacing.

• Identify speakers by an initial.

(1) I: Do you like horses? (2) L: Ya…ya….um-m-m… I hava horse puzzul. (3) I: You have a horse puzzle?(4) L: Ya..yabut..um-m-m, Nonni gave me sommar horses, a..a..a. (5) L: baby ana mama wid poka dots on-em. (6) I: Oh, do they have names? (7) L: Um, no, dere, dere, dere jus horsus.(8) L: They’re just horses.(9) L: Who’s Nonni? (10)L: Well, I awways cal-er my gwampa… gwampa. (11)M: Grandma.(12) L: Oh.

Looking ahead to Class Session #5: Oral Language Analysis Workshop

• Bring two copies of the typed transcript, one to submit and one to use during the in-class workshop.

• You will have between 3-5 pages of single-spaced typed transcripts (with each line numbered & labeled with the initial of the speaker).

• In class, you will use the transcript to code language patterns noted in the oral language sample.

• The work you do in class will launch & support your analysis of the oral language samples.

While you are at it

While you are interacting with the learner, you may want to….

• Collect reading samples (e.g., running records, DRAs, etc.) (bring to class on 11/1)

• Collect writing samples (e.g., dictated stories, independent writing, paragraph, essay, etc.) (bring to class on 11/1)

You deserve a break today!

Language Change & Variation: Taking a Linguistic Perspective

Language Change & Variation

Languages are dynamic and vulnerable to change. Language evolves historically, for example:

Irregular verbsPRESENT IRREG. PAST REGULAR PAST (-ed)

Help ---------------- Holp ---------------- became “helped”

Words get added to & dropped from the dictionary: Dropped: cassette tape - and - video jockey (2011) Considered: boombox

Plural Nouns SINGULAR HISTORIC PLURAL CURRENT PLURAL Shoe shoon shoes Child childer children

Language Change & Variation • Language has evolved with the influence of other languages

through historical events, invasions, trade & commerce.

English has been influenced by Greek, Latin, Celtic, Scandinavian, French, Italian, German, Dutch, and Spanish.

With transitions from Old English/Anglo-Saxon & influences by Norman-French, lasting impressions on academic English persist.

For example: Anglo-Saxon French Latin Fear Terror Trepidation Win Succeed Triumph Kingly Royal Regal Holy Sacred Consecrated

Language Change & Variation: Dialects & Ethnicity

Variations in language are associated with ethnic identity, social class, regional identity, gender identity, etc.

• Dialect: Any variant of any language;• Standard American English: Is one of many dialects used in the USA.

Considered neutral, universal, ‘standard,’ middle-class, educated; • Other US dialects: African American Vernacular English (AAVE),

Appalachian English, Southern English, New England English, etc.

In many cases, speakers thoughtfully maintain a dialect as a means of personal identity and family identity. It is not unusual for a speaker to ‘shift in and out’ of a dialect according to contextual appropriateness & pragmatic influences.

Language & Bias: Taking a linguistic perspective

Language & language differences are NOT neutral.

As professional educators, what is our professional responsibility?

To ensure that all of our students learn to read and write Standard American English with enough facility to gain them the respect and privileges to be able to advance in the world in the ways they choose?

What do you think?

Language & Bias: Taking a linguistic perspective

Cultural Relativism • Cultural relativism is the view

that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the individual within his/her own social context.

• In other words, “right” and “wrong” are culture-specific.

• What is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another, and since no universal standard of morality exists, no one has the right to judge another society’s customs to be correct or incorrect.

Ethnocentrism • Ethnocentrism is

characterized by the attitude that one’s own group, beilefs, culture and/or customs are superior. • As such, one believes his/her

way to be the best way, the one true way. • One is not willing to see

another custom as valid or potentially “right.”

Language & linguistics in real world contexts

Gather in your Ways with Words groups of 4

Learning how to talk in Trackton Teaching how to talk in Roadville

• In your group of 4, first take 10 minutes to meet with the person who followed the SAME community as you did. • With this partner, discuss your

understandings & thinking about YOUR community. • As you discuss, note the

essential elements about your community that you want to share with those who followed the other community.

Learning how to talk in Trackton Teaching how to talk in Roadville

Now, talk with the

whole group of

4.

Ways with

Words

• Start by discussing the questions from Ch. 1 & 2.• Next, discuss Ch. 3 & 4 using the ‘parent belief

chart’ on the note-catcher to guide your documentation of information for each community.

• Document the key ideas and parents’ beliefs in each community on chart paper.

• After collectively noting key ideas on chart paper, discuss the major differences you are noticing between the 2 communities. Note strengths & challenges in each community.

Identify 5 interesting observations your group noticed about the 2 communities to share out with the class.

What are the observations your group has noticed about the

2 communities?

What’s next? Read Chapters 5 and 6

Using the note-catcher in Canvas (Session #4).

1) What are distinct characteristics of oral language in Trackton/Roadville? What is valued?

2) How do children interact with other children? And, with adults in Trackton/Roadville?

3) How is print used in Trackton/Roadville? How is print viewed?

4) How do religion and church influence the use of language & literacy in Trackton/Roadville?

Language & Linguistics in

real-world contexts

Continuing the conversation

Do you speak American? • Draw on the map where people speak differently.

• Write what they sound like.

• Share your thinking with others near you.

Do you speak American? • “Do you speak American?” Is a 3-part series

hosted by Robert MacNeil, which takes viewers on a journey through the United States, exploring how the language we use can define us or separate us.

• This series provides several resources for our upcoming studies together.

Plan for 35-45 minutesto complete these items• Go to CANVAS, Session #3, “Working Lunch” tab

• Click on or enter the link to the NY Times quiz in your browser http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?_r=0 Complete the quiz (about 10-15 minutes) and access the results.

• View the three “Do You Speak American” video clips, also in Session #3 in Canvas. The 3 video clips total about 15 minutes.

• With a LCRT 5810 colleague, please discuss your reactions to the quiz and the questions that accompany the videos.

Linguistic perspectives on language variations & dialects

What did the results of the NY Times quiz reveal about your dialect?

To what extent do the results correspond with the regional and linguistic influences you have experienced in your life?

How we talk to one another defines who we are.

You are what you speak.

• What is your reaction to these statements? Do you agree?

• Do you speak “American” English?

• If yes, why do you think so? If now, what English variety do you think you speak?

Do you speak American?

• What additional reactions did you have to the video clips?

• What connections did you make to Ways with Words?

• What connections did you make to your classroom context?

Linguistic perspectives on language variations & dialects

When you read aloud a written text & your dialect influences what you say, does this constitute a miscue?

TEXT: During the science experiment, the beaker was bubbling over onto the bunsen burner.

READ ALOUD: “Durin the science experment, the beaker was bubblin over onta the bunsen burner.“

Looking ahead to Session #4 ONLINE

TOPICS: • First Language Development• Oral & Literate Traditions

(WWW)

READINGS: • WWW, Ch. 5 or 6 Oral &

Literate Traditions • LP, Ch. 8: Child Language

Acquisition• Harp & Brewer chapter on

“Becoming Literate” (PDF in CANVAS)

• Yellin chapter on Language Origins & Acquisition (PDF in CANVAS)

Submit to Canvas by 10/18• Final Learner Background &

Beliefs Summary• WWW Note Catchers

Due date for Examining Language in the Classroom ___

Bring to Class on 10/18• Transcribed Oral Language

Sample• Any paper copies that you

would like to use in discussion

CU Writing Center

Academic Writing Using APA Style Selena Dickey

Welcome!