english 2011

June 2011 exam

After comparing and analysing texts A, B and C, I became aware that the child- Briony was 21 months categorising her in the two-word stage meaning she can only produce two word utterances, she will not have the capacity to produce full sentences yet. In text A she is in the company of others as she is at a family friend’s house. Therefore, it is likely that she will be speaking more and extended her vocabulary to impress a bigger audience. In text B and C, Briony is at home with her mother, therefore she will simply be in the comfort of her own home and will be spontaneously speaking and mumbling other than speaking to her best ability. Therefore, as this is a much more relaxed environment we can expect Briony to be less enthusiastic to show off her vocabulary as there are no unusual people there to impress. There are a range of omitted words displayed in all 3 texts. Examples of this are portrayed in text A where she says “Dad, look ice cream.” She is simply demanding here the attention of her father to look at her ice cream, instead that phrase should have been “Dad, look at my ice cream.” In text B it reads “a dummy mummy, dummy mummy” Again she is simply demanding her dummy, she is just stating what she wants as opposed to asking for it, which is a typical feature of child language within this stage. In text C Briony states “ah its mine… Moose” Again there is a clear limitation as to the standardisation of Brionys speaking, and she is ultimately speaking in two word utterances. Brinoy’s language consists mainly of nouns. She is consistently addressing people she says e.g. “Mummy or Daddy” and pointing to things and places e.g. cupboard, Mr. Moose etc. This is common as 60% of children’s first words consist of nouns/names. In text B Bryony is very dismissive of her .2mother’s request when her mother asks her to say please she responds “Now, now” This was expressed in Browns theory. In 1976 Brown carried out a study which of two-word stage of babies from0 all over the world. He stated that there was negation, and a certain amount of denial, for example children would be very dismissive of their requests, which is what is expressed in text B. This, according to Brown is a typical feature of child language during the two-word stage. In text C we see evidence of omitted words; there is constant use of phonology used within the 3 texts. Most children learn vowels first therefore these will be evident in their speech. For example, in text A it reads “Go bo-bo. Bye bye” Here we see clear signs of her trying to spell out the word using alternative imaginary terms such as ‘bo-bo’. This relates to Berko-Gleasons theory, which states that children will understand newly invented words, and understand the true context of what they mean.