Child Language Acquisition - The Main Theories

Skinner = behaviourist:
Language as learned behaviour, children learn through positive and negative reinforcement. (A nurture argument) See correction as crucial to development. Children do imitate the phonology of language e.g. accent.
Counterargument: children not animals (what Skinner had perviously studied) and they can not be punished as if they are. More interested in interested in the truth of a child's utterance, rather than grammatical accuracy. Studies show that correcting a child's grammar can impede dev. Over-generalisation & virtuous errors show child actively applying grammar rules.

Chomsky = innateness:
Capacity and the apparatus for language learning are already there when we are born - a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) Focuses on rules rather than imitation = 'linguistic creativity' All children across the world pass through similar stages,. Medical research also indicated that there are specific areas of the brain which control language. Chomsky realises there must be input.

Piaget = cognitive
language acquisition is part of a child's wider development: lang. comes with a wider understanding. A child cannot articulate concepts s/he doesn't understand.
Counterargument: some children with cognitive problems manage to use lang way beyond their apparent understanding.

Bruner = social interruptive
The interactions between child and carer are crucial to lang dev. and help children to develop concepts eg. turn-taking. Importance of conversations, routines of social interaction and the role of Child-Directed Speech (CDS)

emagazine - Notes on Language and Gender clips

'Sexism in English - the 1970s and now'

http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/emag/subscribers/_emagclips/cameron11.php

Deborah Cameron suggests that English is 'sexist language' examples of this include:

1. 'he' being used in a general term
2. a lot of jobs include 'man' at the end e.g.. chairman 
3. mankind excludes 'women'

Feminists in the 1970s said this should be changed, because women are now counted in the public sphere so language should be more neutral, therefore they introduced new job titles and give practical alternatives. However, this worked in a 'patchy way.' Some women insist on not being referred to by the change in title, as they thought it meant they lost status. 

• If your intended form of reform doesn't match social opinion then the change won't happen, or at least, won't happen permanently. 
• Word collocations are important to the understanding of connotations. 

'The Social Consequences of Linguistic Stereotyping'

http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/emag/subscribers/_emagclips/cameron10.php

• Gender stereotyping is something that should be done a lot less, which would allow people to figure out who they are. 

Language and gender - the three 'D's

http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/emag/subscribers/_emagclips/ross_gender.php

The Deficit Model - male language as the norm, used as a comparison for women's language, suggesting that's it's inferior - no hard data to confirm the theory. In representation, the female version suggests the inferior/smaller version or has sexual connotations in comparison to the male. 

The Dominance Model - most research in 1970. Males dominating conversation and interrupting more. Still relevant to today? 

The Difference Model - men and women misunderstand each other because they use language differently. Doesn't look into misunderstandings between the same gender. 

'Performing gender' - gender isn't the only variable. Use language not just for gender but for age, race, social group, etc. Women and men can diverge from what is considered 'male' or 'female' language. 

Apprentice and Dragon's Den

Language and Power – Apprentice

Both texts have a similar context, as they are interactions between a highly regarded businessman who is respected by the entrepreneur who is simultaneously trying to gain the respect and money of the businessman. The entrepreneur’s ultimate goal is to ‘win’ to program.

Alan Sugar insists on being called Sir Alan, or Lord Sugar, this is because he has personal power. However, this is not a rule that is explicitly explained, but all of the contestants address him this way as a sign of respect. As they should know that he has more power than them considering his vast amount of experience in the field of business. There is a lot of interruption in the text, and it seems to be the convention that if Sir Alan interrupts on of the candidates then they should stop talking. This does not stop Phillip from challenging Sir Alan when he repeats ‘but we won.’ Which is a direct contradiction to Sir Alan’s claim that it was a ‘fool’s win’ - ‘fools’ has negative connotations that unpin Phillip’s attempt at gaining power and respect. If possible, it gave the opposite effect, meaning that Sir Alan became impatient with him, which leads to the decisive point of ‘if you could come out with something [other than criticism for Lorraine] I might listen to you.’ The mitigated imperative of ‘might’ suggests that Sir Alan is willing to give Phillip another chance but on the condition that he follows the terms previously mentioned.

Phillip tries to gain power over Lorrain in attempt to sway Alan in his favour and so he repeats the phrase ‘she’s trouble’ to emphasise his point, much to Lorraine’s discomfort and Nick who further challenges Phillip by embarrassing him with ‘tell us about pants man’ putting extra emphasis on ‘pants’ by pausing before saying the word.

Juxtaposition in power and dialect

Sir Alan uses informal and non-standard grammar that is unquestioned because of his power. An example being ‘cuz since then you ain’t done that great’ his informalities are not challenged by any of the contestants, because they are not the more powerful participants and therefore do not have the right to do so, especially considering Phillip repeatedly uses the word ‘cannae.’

Language and Power – Dragon’s Den

Deborah Meaden has examples of false starts such as ‘produce we’re producing’ this suggests that she might not be entirely confident in her previous investment, which is aggravated by Peter who asks –rhetorically – ‘have you got something that (.) is better than (.) potentially something Deborah has got up her sleeve?’ This further suggests that there is going to be conflict between the ‘Dragons.’ The show, of course, revolves around the presentation that the entrepreneur and therefore they will be challenged continuously. Peter indirectly asks whether the product is recyclable by saying ‘one great thing about the post-it notes…it’s the fact that it’s…recyclable.’ John wants to appear courteous considering the context and so uses the politeness strategy of ‘thanks, Peter. I appreciate that.’ The use of the first person address makes it seem more personal in attempts to build a relationship with Peter as they could potentially be in business together, where Peter would still be the more powerful participant. John also uses politeness strategy when talking to Deborah despite the fact that she rejected his proposal because it is important for him to appear professional in front of all the Dragons.

Repressive Discourse Features

One way in which this online advert has used repressive discourse strategy is firstly by using a colloquial tone to build a relationship with the reader. They use things like ‘best pals’ and ‘mug of builders’’ by using a friendly tone they are putting themselves on the same level as the reader. If the language used doesn’t seem different from the audience then it could mean they are more likely to donate, or join in with what is being advertised, because it seems more familiar.

Another technique that is subtly exerting power is the litotes of ‘just click here.’ They want the audience to click on their links to get more information. This differs to the oppressive strategy they used at the beginning of the advert by saying ‘order you free event pack’ and ‘download free resources right now.’ The author has, most likely, assumed that if the audience have read to the bottom of the page then they are already likely to be interested in the subject matter so they don’t have to be as harsh with their phrasing.

The advert includes a lot of synthetic personalisation, which is used my to the same effect as the more intimate and colloquial tone – to gain trust and build a relationship with the reader. By addressing the audience with ‘you’ it become more personal. If the advert seems to be speaking to one person, rather than a large group of people, then it may be easier to influence and encourage individuals to take part in their activity. “The money you raise will help us” is a declarative statement which gives the illusion that the reader doesn’t actually have a choice on whether or not they want to raise money. The advert is guaranteeing that people will want to help and raise money. This determination is what makes the advert hard to ignore.

Also the charity uses modality, for example, ‘you can’ which again seems to suggest an optional response. It also widens the audience if they are suggesting that any one is able to hold their own Tea Time. That way people that may have felt like they weren’t able to do it, because they didn’t have the available resources, are more likely to join in and help the campaign. With is only emphasises by the triplets used afterwards ‘anywhere- at home, in the office, your local hall.’

Twitter Promotions

The accounts that are either promoting themselves or a website use standard grammar and punctuation. @christophe's use of direct address creates a connection with the reader making it easier for them to advertise, promote or make recommendations. @Radioindie uses a commonly used hashtag to expand their audience to make sure they are promoting to the most amount of people possible. The specific use of a hashtag means that the tweet will not only go out to their followers but any one using the hashtag will be able to find this tweet. Twitter only allows users to write messages with 140 characters @smogfest2012 has utilised all of them, this creates a larger advertisement on follower's feeds attracting the attention of the audience; the more space taken up on a feed the more likely it is that someone is going to read it.

Twitter Analysis

Using the Twitter data from one user, attempt to write an analysis of how the technology has affected the language used, and then post to your blog. Remember context as a priority.

I have used Anna Kendrick as my example of a famous twitter user.

Posts on Twitter, ‘tweets’, can only have a maximum of 140 characters, it was created to replicate the original format of texting. It has now been modernised for the current generation to embrace short hand messaging. The users are restricted to a certain amount of characters, therefore they are forced to use abbreviations and punctuation for effect. A new feature that Twitter has introduced  is ‘hash tags’ which aim to lower the character count, they’re also a way of building a community around a commonly shared idea. They make the things that you tweet about more relatable to a wider audience, however that audience is mainly going to be young adults and teenagers.

                Twitter is commonly used by this demographic because of the instant updates and the celebrities that use the platform; it is way of connecting with them on a more personal level. The limited characters has forced it’s users to be concise and direct with their opinions ‘When I was a kid I’m pretty sure I had a T-shirt of Bugs Bunny wearing a backwards hat and a leather jacket. The 90s were a weird time.’ Humour is a common device used in these 140 character messages, because the aim of them is to a get a response through favourites and retweets. This has shaped how the users express themselves so that they get the best response possible.

                The actual language used in Twitter differs from the language of a text message, because abbreviations, and phonetic spelling aren’t very common, instead the users stick to standard grammar but condensed ideas. The senetences structures rarely change from simple sentences; “Sam Bailey is everything.’ And ‘Jared Leto has better hair than me.; are examples of this from Anna Kendrick’s latest Tweets.

- What does she use it for
- What can you tell about Anna Kendrick from her tweets
- Realtionship between her and audience

theguardian Website Analysis

The Guardian website decides for us what we want to read through its layout. The logo is the first thing we see along with the weather for London; this is where they believe the majority of their audience is situated. Not only that but the stories that the creators consider most important fill the top of the page. The most attention grabbing article of today being “Qatar’s accidental vaginal stadium is most gratifying’, the colour of the titles are red and black which are different to those around them in the blue. The red scattered around the web page draws our eyes to the stories, for example the red of the main article, the red that proclaims ‘Breaking News’, but also the less obvious red that separates the adverts. The adverts have their own side bar, because the website is paid by external companies to promote their products, however they have prioritised aspects on their own website such as the online dating and the jobs, this is done in attempt to gain more views to the lesser looked areas of the website, which could be down to the fact that the links to these pages are on the far right of the sidebar. This is significant because we generally read left to right, so the most important links will be put on the left.

                The advert for the ‘guardianjobs’ had been placed at the top of the page, because there is a job crisis, it makes the audience think that the Guardian are looking out for their best interests by advertising jobs described as the ‘best jobs’. However it is on the right side so the priority has been shifted, this indicates that although jobs is as important part of the layout the Guardian doesn’t think it’s as important as the sexual architecture.

In contrast the left sidebar is full of new stories, such as ‘Woman admits to ditch murders’ and the top one being; ‘Denis MacShane pleads guilty to expenses fraud.’ People want to know the more controversial new stories, mainly the ones with risqué or sensitive topic material, like murders and fraud. It’s likely that the audience of this website, regardless of age, will want to know more about scandal and criminal activity over other topics.

The article about women: ‘Sorry, but being a mother isn’t the most important job in the world’ has been placed in the centre of the page, because it is a controversial topic that a lot of people will have an opinion on, this will invoke more audience participation, and boost the view count on their other articles to do with the same topic. The front page attracts the attention of readers of all different ages; this article in particular is probably aimed at women in their thirties and forties – the most common age bracket for mothers. This is compensated by having the Sport section’s headline in larger section to attend to the male audience. The sport headline is to do with football, one of the most popular sports in the UK, this will gain the attention of the largest audience compared to a little known sport or a less televised sport.