Mel's thoughts for the day!

Today’s lesson built on the work we did last week on how language is developed. We began by discussing a plan for a series of lessons entitled, ‘A Personal Language History’, which was a series of tasks aimed to get children thinking about language usage and how it is acquired.

I thought the tasks were well thought out and they got me thinking about tasks that would hold children’s attention and excite them. I especially liked the idea of discussing everyone’s names and what they meant; learning how to write their name is one of the first things children learn so attaching meaning to it would facilitate children in thinking about their personal identity. Melissa means ‘honey bee’ in Greek and ‘red rose’ in Persian, although my parents were unaware of this when naming me. I was named after the two actresses from ‘Little House on the Prairie’, which my mother loved.

It was interesting to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches to studying where language comes from. I hadn’t really thought about how difficult it is for children to learn English as a second language but children do pick it up remarkably well. It is really important that children learn about and appreciate each other’s backgrounds and experiences; the language story is a great way of exploring this. If children learn about individual differences from a young age then they would probably be more accepting of people from different backgrounds as they develop. The tasks are a good way of building children’s confidence and encouraging them to express themselves.

Having ‘story time’ on the carpet was a really nice idea as it was a change from the standard learning environment and also enabled us to view things from a child’s perspective. I was amazed by how easy it was to remember the details of the story but in reflection we were told that the story was designed to be presented orally so there are features of it that facilitate this process. Recalling the tale of the ‘Red Headed Thief’ in pairs and as a group was really fun and emphasised how individuals tend to personalise the narrative and add their own colloquialisms.

Recalling the story, and looking at a transcription of a pupil retelling the story, helped to reinforce the differences between spoken and written language. The most significant feature of the transcription was the absence of punctuation; even though we punctuate our speech, it is not in the same standardised, structured way we do in written language. As a pair Wendy and I discussed the differences between formal and informal communication and how we adapt our language in different circumstances. Speech would be more standardised in the form of a lecture than in general conversation although it would still contain typical features of speech such as fragmentation.

One of the most striking points of the lesson for me was the idea that the process of writing helps people to develop what they think and encourages them to understand and make sense of what they’re feeling. I do think that sometimes ideas can be in your mind but are never explored; this can be done through the process of writing. I find that sometimes if I’m upset or stressed that writing about it in a diary of some sort helps me to rationalise and make sense of my emotions. Writing is a method that is commonly used in psychotherapy for this very reason.

At the end of the lesson we touched on theories of language acquisition, it was fascinating to be taught that most children regardless of culture learn language at about the same time. The fact that when children are without contact in early years they often find it hard to master language, suggests that the process is highly social and that there is a critical period involved in language acquisition. Finding out more about this would be useful when planning the best methods to teach children.