Justin Bieber Boyfriend

Question 1

Texts A is a transcript of a conversation between Josh (4 years and 2 months) and Franki (3 years and 4 months), and their child-minder, Sue.  Rather than state the information from the question - use it instead. I would discuss the wider context and what I would expect to find. For example, the fact that they are only ten months apart would make it unlikely that they are siblings - Josh is older and therefore would be more likely to be dominant - they are returning from a morning at school and therefore we would expect them to talk about their day - they are being looked after by Sue in an unfamiliar environment and would be unlikely to converse in the same way if they were at home  etc...

Text A is a conversation from when Sue the child-minder has just picked up Josh and Franki from their nursery school and has brought them home for lunch. Josh is aged at 4 years and 2 months and Franki is 3 years and 4 months. The text is purposely being recorded and throughout the transcript. (We don't know that on this occasion) As Sue is the child-minder this would influence the child less in interaction due to how comfortable they feel around her. Throughout the transcript even though the children seem uncomfortable (keep it tentative) feel uncomfortable they are influenced by child directed speech from Sue. This supports Vygotsky and Bruner in that Josh and Franki’s language development is influenced through interaction with Sue and also because of the environment he is around.  

In this scenario Sue demonstrates the use of Child Directed Speech. Although it is not clear from the transcript, her utterances will probably be expressed using exaggerated intonation as in ‘right (.) how are you doing Franki (.) have you got your shoes off yet.’ Through Sue’s prosodic features she is able to express her opinions whilst attempting to sustain Franki’s attention. In addition, Sue successfully encourages Josh’s and Franki’s participation in the exchange through the use of interrogatives, such as ‘would you like a drink? (2.0)’ and ‘were you a good girl?’ The use of interrogatives is an important aspect of Child Directed Speech as it develops the etiquette of turn-taking and stimulates interaction as demonstrated in the transcript as Franki’s responded with ‘yeah.’ The display of interrogatives also relates to power and that throughout this transcript Sue holds the power through the use of questions. Sue is leading the conversation with CDS and is reinforcing her point throughout the transcript. The use of this language is allowing the children to learn about socialisation which relates to the theories of Vygotsky. The power does shift a number of times in the transcript as although Sue is asking the interrogatives Josh and Franki lead the conversation with the answers they give to them questions. This means that the conversation is revolved around them but in the transcript their response utterances are very brief and are sometime one worded which doesn’t reflect the stage theory they should be at according to their age. This supports the stage theory of David Crystal and how he believes that people at the age of 3 and 4 should be at the telegraphic and even the multiword stage of utterances.  The mean length of utterance being so small reflects how Sue is the child-minder and how Josh and Franki might feel uncomfortable in their environment and feel nervous or anxious in replying to what isn’t their direct family member.

Focused just on Text A and Child Directed Speech with power intertwined into this.
You did indeed - and what a splendid paragraph - well done George. You may want to work on your introductory paragraph - there is an opportunity to pick up AO3 marks here.

Tom's transcript essay

Tom's transcript (aged 3 years and 9 months)

The transcript is of a young boy of an age of 3 years and 7 months called Tom. His Mother is purposely recording this conversation that has taken part outside. The Mother and Father both influence Tom throughout this transcript with child directed speech. This supports Vygotsky and Bruner in that Tom’s language development is influenced through interaction through his Mother and Father and also because of the environment he is around. Try to develop your opening paragraph to include the wider context.

Remember, we talked about starting with AO1. You have started with Power (AO2).  You also need a topic sentence so your reader is aware of which linguistic method you are discussing in this paragraph.Throughout this transcript the power shifts between Tom and his Mother and then also when the Father joins the conversation. The power at the beginning of the transcript is fronted by Tom. This is because the interrogatives that his Mother asks Tom are based around the answer that he gives. For example Tom says, ‘the bike (.) the dad bike’ and then Mother replies by saying ‘dad’s bike?’ This shows that the conversation is orientated and based around Tom. This quote from the transcript can also be linked to gender because of the fact that Tom is talking about his dad’s bike and then talking about how he is going to fix it. AO2 Gender This is gender specific as fixing a mechanical object is very typically performed by a male. Tom uses his dad’s bike to show that he looks up to his and this is also a reason as to why his Father has influential power. Also influential power is seen due to the control his Father possesses over Tom, for example the use of the utterance, ‘yeah (.) he has to get the bits out,’ supports this statement. Throughout the whole transcript the Mother has power over both Tom and his Father. This is (use 'may' - keep tentative) because Tom spends more time with his Mother during the week as Tom’s Father would be at work. This means that Tom would be more comfortable with his Mother and Tom would more open around his Mother. 

The use of the first person pronoun ‘I’ that Tom uses throughout the transcript shows that he is a competent speaker and reflects the age that he is. For example in the transcript Tom says, ‘I just getting the bits out OK?’ and also the use of ‘I need I (.) um I need to get the bits out OK?’ supports the statement I just produced. The use of the first person pronoun of ‘I’ supports the theorists Halliday and his heuristic language function. At this stage it shows that a child is a competent speaker and is confident and also comfortable in his surroundings to express him/her. During the transcript the heuristic stage of preoperational stage that is once again supported by Halliday and the taxonomy theory. The use of the utterance, ‘I trying to get the bits out Dad,’ supports egocentrism which comes under the preoperational stage. Children in this stage can mentally represent events and objects, and engage in symbolic play. In this utterance Tom is trying to get the bits out and is representing the bike in his symbolic play. The heuristic stage is also a reflection of the child’s age and in this specific transcript Tom is 3 years and 9 moths. This is where the theorist David Crystal can be related too. Crystal explains that Tom at the age of 3 years and 9 months should be shifting from the telegraphic stage on to the post telegraphic stage. Also the multiword stage in reference to the earlier quotes in this paragraph is interpreted by Crystal as to be a prolonged utterance is connection to a conversation.  The use of stage theory that is seen to be true with Tom is reflection to his surroundings and the way he has been brought up. Throughout this transcript Tom’s Mother and Father invites him to do most of the talking which allows Tom to learn through speech. This is in connection to Vygotsky’s theory of a child developing language due to his/hers surroundings and environment. This paragraph is good in terms of AO2 but there is too much going on.  You need to ensure you explore on concept at a time and convince your examiner that you know precisely what you are talking about.

In conclusion, in analysing the date through the linguistic methods and theorists, it is clear that Tom’s language acquisition is enhanced through social interaction and also encouraged through hints of the use of Child Directed Speech. It seems that through interacting with her Mother and Father and influence of her immediate surroundings, Tom is able to progress through each stage of David Crystal’s stage theory and is also able to develop his lexis range and utterance length.

Read the model essay under my user name for further development.

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