Theorists

Chomsky Theory of Language Acquisition
-Suggests that language is innate and everyone has the ability to learn langauge
-Certain set of principles which do not change no matter which language

BF Skinner's Operant Conditioning
-Behaviour is conditioned by negitive/positive repetition
-This theory was used on pigeons, they learnt to change there behaviour based on the response; E.g. they got food if they pecked.


Piaget's Theory Of Cognitive Development
-Child plays vital role in learning language
-Main stages of learning
-Progressive mental processes


Vygotsky's Theory of Social Interaction
-Stages where children learn at their best
-Zone of proximal development
-Children require interaction in order to learn language

Essay Question Texts E&F

Text E starts with formal register ‘dear father’ this shows us that at this time, letters were considered a very formal way of communication.  We see a different register in text F, the writer of the letter has wrote ‘HOLLA PEOPLE’, which is slang and this suggests that the language in letters have changed dramatically, not only is the register completely different in the two texts but also text F has been written in full block capitals. This shows us that grammar has changed as well since text E and F. We could also look at who the letters were for. Text E was written to the soldiers’ father, this could explain the formal register as in the 19^th century, people showed more respect towards elders, especially if they were in their family. Text F meanwhile, is still written for the soldiers’ family but the informal register shows us that in the early 21^st century register in communication to family is generally informal.

 

Also we can see signs of illiteracy in Text E, ‘it blewe down’. This can reflect language at the time as many people did not have the opportunity of education which meant they never learnt to read or write, or learnt how to read and write incorrectly. Also in this period, standardisation had only just been around for less than a hundred years, and considering language takes a very long time to change and for the majority of the population to understand it and for it to be taught properly in education.

Mrs Kaddu Language analysis

The class I observed was Mrs Luis' Year 9 English class.
The first sign of power displayed by the teacher was in the form of a question. A student had misbehaved and at the end of a telling off, the teacher asked 'Do you understand?'. This question implies power as the teacher has told the student what to do or what not to do and the question is forcing the student to respond. A different way a question was used in the classroom was to help out a student answer a question. For example the teacher asked a student 'What was important?'. This helps the student structure their response and gives them a hint as to what to think about. The teacher used praise to show her authority in the class. Once the noise levels had dropped, she said 'that's better, keep it like that'. The praise is also followed by an imperative, showing the students what that are ment to be doing.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2424390/Ayvani-Hope-Perez-Georgia-girl-abducted-home-mother-valuables-robbers.html 'Kidnappers demand $10,000 for safe return of Georgia teen snatched from her own home' The noun 'Kidnappers' instantly have an effect as it would grab the attention of anyone who sees. 'Teen' is used as a noun, this is to make the reader even more interested as the person who has been kidnapped is also a young person which makes the story a bit more interesting.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2424194/iPhone-5S-launch-fans-line-outside-Apples-Fifth-Avenue-store-ahead-Fridays-official-launch.html 'The madness begins! Apple fans start lining up outside flagship New York store ahead of Friday's iPhone 5S launch' The noun 'madness' is used to draw people in to read the article. This is because the word 'madness' could mean a number of things depending on the context, for example with this article, the madness is that loads of people will queue for hours just to get a mobile phone.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2424123/Guard-dogs-protected-Prince-William-RAF-duty-destroyed-days-quits.html 'Two guard dogs that protected Prince William on RAF duty are destroyed days after he quits because they couldn't be redeployed or re-homed' The noun that will attract readers in this article is 'dog' this would potentially attract all owners of dogs or pet lovers. Also the use of a proper nouns 'Prince William' attracts a lot more people who are interested in the royal family.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2424349/Elephant-tramples-baby-death-just-moments-born-German-Zoo.html 'Caught on camera: elephant tramples baby to death just moments after it was born at German zoo' Baby is the main noun that will attract the most attention as any story that has a baby involved has the potential to interest anyone. The post-modifier 'death' really effects the main noun 'baby' because without reading the article or even the end of the title we can get the idea of what the story is going to be about.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2424259/GTA-5-robbery-Man-stabbed-buying-Grand-Theft-Auto-V.html 'Three teenagers arrested over man stabbed on his way home from buying new Grand Theft Auto V game' The noun 'man' isn't particularly attracting but the post-modifier 'stabbed' gives us the idea of what the story is going to be about and interests the reader.