I am still not clear on precisely what the content of my investigation will be, however I have made progress on deciding how I should go about collecting some data. After doing a task which depicted roughly 20 different liquid holding containers, and asked you to name them all, I was sufficiently interested enough in the idea to try and copy it. The things I am now considering is exactly what I am going to be testing for, using this method.
First I will have to design the task, so the first step is to think of a hyponym, then think of a lot of hypernyms that fit into it. Then I have to draw each of those things as accurately as possible. I have considered what that hyponym could be, and thought of a few things, such as fruits, that are quite recognizable but also come in many different varieties. Then I simply have to make a table in which the volunteer can label each of the fruits, and there I have my data, from which I could draw conclusions.
One thing I have thought of testing was the differences between those who were from Bristol and those who were from Bath, and see if any relevant conclusions come up, or indeed, if there are very few differences, that could be relevant too.
Tuesday, 30 September 2014
Monday, 29 September 2014
The different ways we acquire language
Language Acquisition Device
Not much is known about the workings of the human brain, and this 'device' is theoretically located somewhere in the human brain, though nothing can be made certain of. It is this device that supposedly allows and helps children to intuit language features as they do, learning at exponentially growing speeds. This is a nativist idea, first proposed by linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky.
Nativism
The idea that we are born with certain innate understandings or abilities that assist us in acquiring language features. One idea that supports this theory is that there are no records or evidences of human civilizations that did NOT have some kind of language. Another example is that all healthy five year olds will have learned at least one language by that age, though obviously do not yet possess a mastery of that language. By adulthood, they will have mastered the use of their language, and will have a pragmatic understanding of grammatical rules, though both the adult and the child will have difficulty articulating exactly what these rules are, why they know them, and why they even matter.
Behaviorism
This is the idea that we learn language through positive and negative reinforcement, like a dog being trained. It suggests that we learn language by being rewarded when we get it right, and being punished when we get it wrong. However, these studies were carried out on dogs and pigeons, rather than on actual children, so the relevance of the data and conclusions drawn from it are somewhat questionable.
Cognitive Theory
This is the idea that children learn language because they are desperate to, they feel an intense need to express themselves and their desires, which motivates them to be attentive in the presence of experienced language users and inspires them to put their share of the effort in when conversing with other language users.
Input Theory
This is the idea that children learn language by absorbing it, primarily from their caregivers, who are likely to speak to and around them the most. Garegivers are also very likely to use 'parentese', converging with their child's language to accommodate their limited understanding. This is also known as Child Directed Speech. Child Directed Speech is an important part of the learning process, as caregivers will encourage the child to converse by directing the conversation through use of interrogatives and by prompting them in times of uncertainty.
This is the idea that we learn language through positive and negative reinforcement, like a dog being trained. It suggests that we learn language by being rewarded when we get it right, and being punished when we get it wrong. However, these studies were carried out on dogs and pigeons, rather than on actual children, so the relevance of the data and conclusions drawn from it are somewhat questionable.
Cognitive Theory
This is the idea that children learn language because they are desperate to, they feel an intense need to express themselves and their desires, which motivates them to be attentive in the presence of experienced language users and inspires them to put their share of the effort in when conversing with other language users.
Input Theory
This is the idea that children learn language by absorbing it, primarily from their caregivers, who are likely to speak to and around them the most. Garegivers are also very likely to use 'parentese', converging with their child's language to accommodate their limited understanding. This is also known as Child Directed Speech. Child Directed Speech is an important part of the learning process, as caregivers will encourage the child to converse by directing the conversation through use of interrogatives and by prompting them in times of uncertainty.
Monday, 8 September 2014
Unspeakably Intriguing
Unspeak is the art of giving hidden meaning to your words. An example of Unspeak could be a mobster who says they are going to 'make you an offer you can't refuse'. What they mean is that they are going to kill you if you do not co-operate with their request, but they mask that meaning by using something of a euphemism.
Words that changed or acquired meanings over time
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/words-literally-changed-meaning-through-2173079
The above Mirror article is an informative piece that lists some words which have changed meanings over time. The complexity of the article is quite low, suggesting it aims to encompass a non-specialist audience who are perhaps interested in language features. The primary purpose is to inform, and the secondary purpose is to entertain, as the article informs the reader on interesting language features. The form of the piece is a listed article on a webpage.
The author is looking at language change, more specifically how specific words have evolved over time to change meanings, many of which almost change to an entirely opposite meaning. Possibly the most well-known and relevant example of this today is the term gay, which used to mean something comparable to 'joyful or colorful' but now is used to refer to a homosexual person.
One technique the author uses is that they refer to themselves and the reader within the same pronoun: 'we'. For example, 'So which other words have we got wrong for so long they are now right?'. One would hope that the author of an article in The Mirror, a well-known publication, does not in fact misuse words with the same frequency that the average reader might do. Instead, it is more likely that the author wishes to put readers at ease with the informative content of the article, by grouping themselves with the reader, the reader may be more inclined to feel like they are on the same intellectual level as the author on this topic, and so need not worry that the content of the article will be difficult to fully comprehend.
The article is written in quite a polite, but informal register. The author uses jokes at certain parts in the text, in order to entertain the reader whilst also informing them on language issues. The informative nature of the text means that for the most part the language used is rather clinical, particularly where word definitions are concerned, as a single word out of place can change how the reader understands the definition drastically.
The writer makes use of conventions, by formatting the article as a list of headings with a few sentences between each one, descending in alphabetical order. This means that the information is very simple to navigate for the reader, as it brings an easily discernible order to the text.
The above Mirror article is an informative piece that lists some words which have changed meanings over time. The complexity of the article is quite low, suggesting it aims to encompass a non-specialist audience who are perhaps interested in language features. The primary purpose is to inform, and the secondary purpose is to entertain, as the article informs the reader on interesting language features. The form of the piece is a listed article on a webpage.
The author is looking at language change, more specifically how specific words have evolved over time to change meanings, many of which almost change to an entirely opposite meaning. Possibly the most well-known and relevant example of this today is the term gay, which used to mean something comparable to 'joyful or colorful' but now is used to refer to a homosexual person.
One technique the author uses is that they refer to themselves and the reader within the same pronoun: 'we'. For example, 'So which other words have we got wrong for so long they are now right?'. One would hope that the author of an article in The Mirror, a well-known publication, does not in fact misuse words with the same frequency that the average reader might do. Instead, it is more likely that the author wishes to put readers at ease with the informative content of the article, by grouping themselves with the reader, the reader may be more inclined to feel like they are on the same intellectual level as the author on this topic, and so need not worry that the content of the article will be difficult to fully comprehend.
The article is written in quite a polite, but informal register. The author uses jokes at certain parts in the text, in order to entertain the reader whilst also informing them on language issues. The informative nature of the text means that for the most part the language used is rather clinical, particularly where word definitions are concerned, as a single word out of place can change how the reader understands the definition drastically.
The writer makes use of conventions, by formatting the article as a list of headings with a few sentences between each one, descending in alphabetical order. This means that the information is very simple to navigate for the reader, as it brings an easily discernible order to the text.
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