Abstract In this book review of "How Children Learn the Meanings of Words", author Paul Bloom's theory of language acquisition in small children is explained. The paper discusses the primary theory called the "theory of mind," which is also called naive psychology. The paper explains that the book presents this theory on language acquisition through descriptions of research, presented in a clear and largely conversational manner. The writer of the review recommends this book to both students and to parents interested in helping their children acquire language.
Outline:
Theory of Mind
Fast Mapping
Objects and Concepts
Context Learning
About this Book
Conclusion
From the Paper "This book describes the process of language acquisition through syntactic cues that are present in the child's environment. Such a process is not just a part of language acquisition, but is also part of other forms of reasoning as well. The capacity to learn language in such a way belongs to human beings alone. Although other mammals are capable of communicating in what could be considered to be a limited language, only humans have the capability to acquire abstract concepts."
This paper is a review of the literature on the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) and student achievement when learning English as a second language.
Abstract This paper explains that the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) is used as a means of evaluating language proficiency among students learning English as a second language to identify students who are learning English as a second language. The author points out that the CELDT also is used to monitor the performance of these students at regular intervals and to reclassify students from limited English proficiency to fluent English proficiency. The paper stresses that CELDT is a monitoring system, not a pedagogical approach; therefore, its use will never directly improve or diminish the scores of second language learners. The paper concludes that administrators and educators may have unwittingly created a setting in which the CELDT is given more credibility than it deserves in terms of its significance as a testing apparatus.
Table of Contents:
Abstract
Introduction
CELDT in Application
Implications
Conclusion
From the Paper "The test was used for the first time in 2001, suggesting that data pertaining to its use is insufficient to judge long-term outcomes based on the use of the test. The CELDT was developed by the professional for-profit test organization, "CTB-McGraw Hill" and is "designed to assess English learners in grades 1 through 12 on reading, writing, comprehension, and oral English along a continuum of five levels, from Beginning (1) to Advanced (5)" The test has been praised in California by educators and administrators who were forced to rely on a variety of different tests but now can evaluate a student's performance even when he or she has moved from one school to another."
Abstract This paper explain that, in deciding how to interpret Franz Kafka's "Texte Zum Jager Gracchus Thema", the most obvious clue appears in the title in word 'Gracchus', which has the same meaning as the Czech word 'Kavka', 'jackdaw'. The author suggests that at least some elements in the Jager Gracchus character are autobiographical. The paper points out that, in the cited quotation in German, that Kafka appears to be expressing his awareness of both the attraction and the dangers of searching his wound, or in other words, scrutinizing himself. The author stresses that, in "Texte Zum Jager Gracchus Thema", Kafka explores the existential concerns of the Jewish people who have lost their link with faith and thus also God. The paper includes many quotations in German.
From the Paper "The dilemma here is clearly that of Kafka; while he has a job, he is the Burgermeister, responsible for the angst of the Jager Gracchus who is neither living nor dead as a result of the lack of commitment on Burgermeister's part. The Jager Gracchus knows that the Burgermeister cannot remain in Riva, ''Es gibt hier nur zwei ... Du bist auf" He would be taking the wrong turn himself if he pretended that he could remain in this hedonistic, sensual (woman breast feeding baby, people doing normal stuff) paradise of Riva. He can't."
Abstract In this article, the writer analyzes two pupils and looks at their different learning needs. Through a series of questions, the writer looks in depth at the learner's background and learning needs and styles of the respective individuals. The writer notes that when looking at language as a social instrument it is necessary to consider the different social groups and what a person's speech can reveal about their circumstances and individuality and the way that communicative events accomplish their objectives. The writer concludes that assessing learners' styles is central to ensuring individuals may learn quickly and efficiently. The paper is written from a personal point of view.
Outline:
How Information is Gathered, Equal Opportunities and Potential Disabilities
Impact of Literacy and Numeracy on Learners
Methods used to Obtain the Information
What are we trying to achieve?
What do you find easy?
What do you find difficult?
Do you have any learning difficulties that you are aware of?
How the Information is used to Develop the Group's Learning
From the Paper "There are a number of common misconceptions related to number associated difficulties. Family attitudes and peer group pressure can be negative simply because some see it as socially acceptable to have low numeracy skills. Being that numeracy is also often viewed as difficult or boring; it may be assumed that those with difficulties are simply being lazy or idle."
"Limited number attainment can however, seriously restrict individuals within the community. They may experience difficulties such as telling the time, calculating prices and handling change and estimating and measuring such things as car speeds.Those with limited number attainment may also find it hard to remember telephone numbers or use telephone books for example."
Abstract The paper attempts to determine the place of standard and non-standard varieties of English in education. It examines how the study of language attitudes has a long history that has expanded across several decades and social scientific disciplines and how it recognises that language is a powerful social force that does more than convey intended referential information. The paper also looks at how a "standard" English has developed over the years and how it has been dictated by association with the social group with the highest degree of power, wealth and prestige.
From the Paper "By the 16th century a specific form of English used mainly by the government, and among the most educated, had surfaced and the standardisation of its written form was later encouraged by the development of the printing press. Regional dialects which possessed their own distinctive grammar, vocabulary and accent, continued to be spoken by all classes of society until their rapid decline in the 19th century. The main reason for this decline was related to issues such as geographical mobility, the spread of education, and the mass-readership press. Meanwhile, a standard form of accent, now known as 'received pronunciation' (RP) had emerged and by around 1900 this form, or one very close to it and containing only a few small markers of one's local accent, had come to be widely recognised as the form indicative of 'educatedness' (Honey, 1983)."
A review of a book on the language of infants and toddlers by Roberta Golinkoff and Kathy Hirsch-Pasek, entitled "How Babies Talk: The Magic and Mystery of Language in the First Three Years of Life".
Abstract This paper discusses the book "How Babies Talk: The Magic and Mystery of Language in the First Three Years of Life" by Roberta Golinkoff and Kathy Hirsch-Pasek." It explains that the book is geared toward parents with infants who are interested in tracking how their children learn language. The paper looks at a portion of this book which is devoted to "experiments" that parents can do with their children. This also paper examines the style in which the book is written, the language used and the use of humour. Overall the writer was not impressed with this book and feels that it adds very little to the study of language development.
Outline:
Overview
In Utero
Tactile Learning
Babbling and Other Things
Toddlers
Conclusion
From the Paper "The authors of this book, Roberta Golinkoff and Kathy Hirsch-Pasek, claim that the fetus is being prepared to hear "the contours of our voice and the cadences of speech without ever hearing words the way that we do" (13). The words that the fetus hears, the authors state, is like the swimming pool game of guessing words spoken underwater.It is possible to hear the syllables and pitch of those words, but in most cases the words are indistinct at best. Using an experiment that monitored fetal heart rate, which declines initially before rising again when the fetus is exposed to a new experience, researchers found that babies can even differentiate between new sounds even in the uterus (14-15). Other experiments revealed that the fetus could determine differences in music and in poetry as well."
Tags: childern, speaking, sounds, music, development
Abstract The paper reveals the linguistic definition of politeness and shows how politeness is an integral part of speech. The paper discusses how the use of politeness is determined by three main sociological factors: distance, power and cultural rate of impositions. Finally, the paper demonstrates how language is transformed by politeness in practice.
From the Paper "Everyone knows what politeness is. From our very childhood, we are constantly told phrases such as "be polite" and we are faced with the issue of addressing people in a decent way, using either their nicknames, first names or their titles plus last names, etc. and in some foreign languages distinguishing between the formal second person personal pronoun and the familiar one (e.g. tu/vous in French). When our neighbour tells us "beautiful day, isn't it?" it would never occur to us to reply "no, in fact I totally disagree with you. Haven't you seen these clouds? It is undoubtedly going to rain". Why if it is true? It is simply because it is a basic matter of politeness that we are also used to calling good manners. In fact, politeness is really part of our everyday life and speech."
Abstract This paper explains that American Sign Language (ASL) involves home signs that resemble the objects, which they are meant to indicate. The author points out that, like any other language, ASL has its abbreviations, slang and contractions, often used by omitting full signs when fluent persons are conversing, especially in groups of persons known to one another. The paper stresses that ASL is a dynamic, evolving language that responds to cultural and environmental changes. The author underscores that the inventors of the prime ASL symbols and gestures could not imagine the impact of the Internet or various technology-assisted devices now available to persons who cannot hear or speak as others do.
From the Paper "ASL includes symbols and actions that are just as arbitrary as spoken language. When consulting a person fluent in ASL, she noted that with many people having become fluent in the language over time and with the particular ways in which ASL was taught, some 'shortcuts' or abbreviations had become usual, understood by deaf persons with whom she spoke or when observing third persons communicate in ASL who were not deaf. Some symbols refer obviously to the objects or actions they represent but others are just customary, ... "
Abstract In this article the writer examines the influence the mass media exerts on the individual's perception of the world. This is done from the standpoint of social constructionism, a theory heavily influenced by Postmodernist thought. The paper posits that language is our basis for interpreting the world and because language is the product of a social process, the 'reality' we perceive is nothing more than a collective construct. Consequently, the writer maintains that whoever controls the transmission of language and the ideas and information it conveys shapes reality. Today much of this transmission is done by the mass media. The writer concludes that today the role of the mass media and the educational system in socialization is growing as the traditional family structure so instrumental in this process for thousands of years wanes.
From the Paper "Whenever we read, listen or watch one of the mass media, in other words, we become part of somebody else's agenda, a means to some outside entity's ends. So, at a profound level, we should be continuingly asking ourselves: do we do so willingly or unwittingly? Yet it is a question many rarely pose and fewer answer. Are we too busy, too complascent, or too indifferent to? Or are we simply too trusting? The aura of autheticity surrounding what we read, hear and see in the mass media may very well be lulling us into an uncritical acceptance of the messages imparted."
Abstract In this article, the writer studies the film 'Cache', by writer and director Michael Haneke, through a narratological analysis. The writer first provides a definition and analysis of narratology. The writer then notes that 'Cache' is a complex and ambiguous drama that readily makes itself available to narratological analysis due to its deceptively "simple" visual presentation and story structure, which in fact disguises a profoundly inventive underlying narrative approach reminiscent of Antonioni in its lack of closure and refusal to manipulate or pander to audience expectations. The writer concludes that Cache also plays with the ambiguity between the hermeneutic code and the proairetic code. The writer maintains that by allowing these two codes to interplay without well-defined closure, Haneke is able to provide his audience with an active role in the decipherment of the film's "text," a task which can continue long after the film has ended.
From the Paper "The opening fade-in to what appears to be a simple long-shot of the house front, held for an interminable amount of time, is in fact revealed to be a videotape of the house front being watched on their television by Georges and Anne. This identical shot, or shots very nearly identical to it, is repeated several times throughout the film. Other shots which appear at first to be ordinary omniscient narrator shots (such as Georges' first visit to Majid's apartment), turn out, when repeated minutes later in another context, to have been in fact point-of-view shots taken from the position of the mysterious voyeur's hidden video camera."
Abstract The paper describes how Samuel Johnson created the most influential dictionary in the history of the English language. The paper illustrates how Johnson beat all odds, including financial constraints, illness and the death of his wife, to create this important piece of literature. The paper shows how, not only does the dictionary offer a glimpse into 18th century British life, it is also an autobiography of sorts of Johnson himself.
From the Paper "Samuel Johnson created, singlehandedly, the most influential dictionary in the history of the English language. The Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1775, and took nine years to complete. Although the Dictionary would now be considered obsolete, it was the most reliable dictionary until the appearance of Noah Webster's American dictionary at the end of the nineteenth century. The Dictionary is unique in many aspects, but most notably in that it was the first to feature illustrative quotations--and there are thousands of them (Millward 240). What is perhaps more intriguing than the dictionary itself is the story behind its creation and its creator."
Abstract The paper shows how, in conversation, people cooperate in making utterances, thereby creating social communication in an effort to express meaning. The paper discusses what constitutes a request and reveals that much of the time, a speaker will make an indirect appeal for action, slightly obscuring the request within an indirect sentence. The paper then investigates and compares how indirect directives are expressed in the English and the Mandarin Chinese languages. The paper appends a pronunciation guide for Chinese tones, vowels and consonants.
Outline:
Introduction
Speech Act Theory
Speech Act Categories
Speech Act Categories in Chinese
Direct and Indirect Speech Acts
Grice's Cooperative Principle
Politeness Theory 'Face' and Its Effect in Indirect Directives
Examples of Co-Maintaining Face in Chinese Conversation
Levels of Politeness in Conversation
Conclusion
From the Paper "In speaking people do more with words than share information, and when they do share information, an implicit meaning in an utterance is often expressed along with what the words in the utterance explicitly express. In an utterance, there can be three diverse levels of action that may be associated with the utterance. According to Austin, these levels include "the act of saying something, what one does in saying it, and what one does by saying it..." (Bach, K: internet) and are called locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts. Take, for example, the utterance, "There is a car coming." The locutionary act in that utterance is the act of informing a hearer that there is a car approaching. There is a lack of literal information regarding where exactly the vehicle is and exactly at what time it is due, but the sharing of the information occurs. The illocutionary act is what the utterance does, which in this case involves informing the hearer of a moving vehicle and advises him to look for the car. The perlocutionary act is the effect that the utterance has on the hearer, which in this utterance is that the hearer becomes vigilant and looks for the car. In the utterance itself, there isn't any explicit warning spoken to the hearer, but the implicit warning can be understood."
Tags: information, utterance, statement, request, command, sentences, meaning
Abstract The paper relates that various styles of test methods and test items have been developed over the years in order to measure the levels of
knowledge that a learner has attained. The paper critically looks at an exam given at an International High School in China, the Dalian Maple Leaf International School Exit Exam. The paper assesses test items and questions with regard to their validity and reliability, offers suggestions on how the exam could be improved and presents a final assessment of the quality of this exam.
Outline:
Introduction
Dalian Maple Leaf International School
Dalian Maple Leaf International School Exit Exam - Part A
Dalian Maple Leaf International School Exit Exam - Part B
Exam Results
Test Method Facets with Relation to DMLIS Exit Exam
Purpose of the DMLIS Exit Exam
Conclusion
From the Paper "Dalian Maple Leaf International School (DMLIS) is a privately owned and funded International High School with approximately 800 students in the coastal city of Dalian, Liaoning Province, China. As of this writing, DMLIS has the only agreement with another country of any school in China to provide a joint high school education to its students. The agreement is with the Provincial Government of British Columbia, Canada and specifies that for the sophomore, junior and senior grades of high school, the British Columbian curriculum will be taught in English with Chinese classes in Mandarin, Geography, History and Political Science. Upon successful completion of their senior year, a student would receive a joint Chinese-Canadian high school diploma that would be recognized at many post-secondary institutions in Canada. As many students at DMLIS are interested in post-secondary education abroad, this diploma has great appeal."
Abstract This paper attempts to present a definition of interlanguage and then briefly discusses the components of interlanguage and how they affect second language acquisition (SLA). The paper provides some examples of how interlanguage possibly influences Chinese adolescent learners at Dalian Maple Leaf International High School (DMLIS) in China.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Interlanguage - What is it?
Hypothesis Testing
Beginnings of Interlanguage
Fossilization
Processes Involved in Interlanguage
Language Transfer
Over-generalization
Transfer of Training
Strategies of L2 Learning
Communication Strategies
Conclusion
From the Paper "With regards to the learners at DMLIS, the aforementioned College English - Intensive Reading text reinforces errors being taught by some of the staff in the ESL Department. Learners are being given information (implicitly through the text and explicitly through instruction) that it is acceptable to begin sentences with the coordinating conjunctions, 'and', 'or', and 'but'. Within the College English - Intensive Reading text that is being used in the ESL department, there are 47 instances of coordinating conjunctions beginning a fragmentary dependent clause within 16 reading passages: an average of 3 per reading passage. Although there is the possibility of beginning a dependent clause with a coordinating conjunction to show emphasis of an idea, Swan (1980) specifies that conjunctions are "used to join clauses together..." (ibid: 152) and "...cannot be used with just one clause." (ibid: 154) In this instance, the instruction, supported by the text, is influencing the learners into accepting and acquiring incorrect grammar structures."
Abstract This paper describes a research that examined how some words can be falsely recalled during a memory recollection test. The writer explains that, in the research, one 23-year-old student completed an Internet based test that presented a sequence of words followed by a grid of 16 words. The writer notes that the participant selected which words in the grid had previously been shown. The participant correctly recalled 71.43% of previously presented words, 2.08% of non-semantically related words and 66.66% of semantically related words. The writer concludes that false memories are easy to create for words that are highly semantically related. The writer maintains that these results add weight to the semantic model of memory and arguments against other models of memory. Further, the writer notes that these results have important implications in the identification of suspects during criminal investigations.
From the Paper "Endo and Masao demonstrated that knowledge about the false memory phenomena could alter results. They informed one group of participants about the false memory phenomena but not the other. Half of each group were then asked to respond within four seconds, the other within eight as to whether they 'remembered' seeing the word. Results showed that in the slow condition false memory rates were lower within the forewarned group compared to the uniformed group. However in the fast condition there was no significant difference between the forewarned and uninformed group. Thus in the current experiment the participant is likely to have made more errors had he been uninformed of the false memory phenomena and under time pressure. This would explain why these results do not vary more significantly in comparison to other research. Similarly how words are presented can affect results."
