U1 AOS 2 - Language Acquisition

do ch. 4, flashcard 2 is ch 5 onwards

What is ‘morphological overgeneralisation’?

Applying a grammatical pattern when it is not appropriate in adult language. When acquiring language, children tend to overgeneralise the morphological patterns for plurality (e.g. 'tooths' for 'teeth') and verb tense (e.g. 'runned' for 'ran').

What is the ‘critical period of language acquisition (the critical age hypothesis’?

The hypothesis that learning a new language to a level of native proficiency is biologically constrained to a critical period of life, beginning in early childhood and ending around puberty. During this period the brain has a higher level of neuroplasticity (ability to change). After this time, learning grammar is more difficult.

What is ‘first-language acquisition’?

The developmental processes by which children acquire a first (native or home) language.

What is ‘the theory of universal grammar’ ?

The theory that children are born with innate knowledge about the structure of language, which allows them to adopt any language. This innate grammar involves a set of language rules that are assumed to be universal, shared by all languages of the world.

What is the ‘usage-based theory’?

Proposes that children acquire language through social interaction, in combination with their general cognitive skills; that they gain knowledge and skills by using language throughout their life; and that an important role is played by caregivers using infant- or child-directed speech.

What is ‘additional-language learning’?

The developmental processes by which a speaker acquires a second or additional language.

What are the characteristics and developmental stages of first-language learners’? (state/list + give at what age this occurs)

• Pre-linguistic (0-6 months)

• Babbling (6-12 months)

• Holophrastic (12-18 months)

• Two-word (18-24 months)

• Telegraphic (24-30 months)

• Multi-word stage (30 months)

What is the ‘pre-linguistic’ stage of the characteristics and developmental stages of first-language learners?

Occurs from around birth to six months of age. During this time babies begin to communicate in a basic form. They cry to signal needs such as hunger, discomfort and pain. As babies develop more control of airflow to make sounds, they begin to cough, gurgle and coo. They can recognise a primary caregiver's voice and distinguish differences in tones of voice.

What is the ‘babbling’ stage of the characteristics and developmental stages of first-language learners? (elaborate)

• Occurs at around six to twelve months of age

• Babies experiment with making repetitive vocal sounds. Consonant-vowel sounds (the blend of consonant and vowel sounds) such as 'dadda' and 'mamma' are frequent. Babies can be observed making all manner of noises, often entertaining themselves and primary caregivers with vocal effects involving the vibration of their lips and poking out their tongues, colloquially known as the 'raspberry'.

• They experiment with prosodic features such as intonation and volume, while physical gestures begin to develop.

• As babies reach around twelve months of age, the sounds they make when babbling become specific to the particular language they are learning.

What is the ‘holophrastic’ stage of the characteristics and developmental stages of first-language learners?

• Occurs around 12-18 months of age

• They use one word to communicate several meanings, or the meaning of a whole sentence. For example, 'ball' can signal that the child recognises the physical object, or it can mean they want someone to pass them a ball. To express the intended meaning, the child will vary the sound of the word and use gestures, such as by pointing to an object they want

What is the ‘two-word’ stage of the characteristics and developmental stages of first-language learners?

• Occurs around 18-24 months

• During this time children develop a greater understanding of syntactic and semantic relations as they begin to combine words. These two-word constructions mainly consist of noun and verb combinations; for example, 'dadda come'.

What is the ‘telegraphic’ stage of the characteristics and developmental stages of first-language learners?

• Occurs at 24-30 months of age

• They communicate meaning by combining content words (words that possess meaning) while omitting grammatical function words; for example, 'I want pat doggy’ and 'I go shops’.

What is the ‘multi-word’ stage of the characteristics and developmental stages of first-language learners?

• Occurs at 30 months of age

• Children begin to use grammatical function words along with content words. Their sentences become more complex, demonstrating that their syntactic knowledge has increased

What is the phonological development of subsystem development of language in children?

• Generally has a sequential pattern and coincides with the development stages of first-language acquisition. Children learn the speech sounds and patterns in language, in particular the consonant and vowel sounds. As their language develops, consonant and vowel sounds blend together to make words. Children start to use intonation in speech and, by the time they are four or five years old, almost all of their connected speech will be intelligible.

What is the morphological development of subsystem development of language in children?

• Occurs when children start to understand the patterns in the structure of words. Some of the earliest grammatical morphemes (the smallest unit of meaning within a word) young children develop are inflectional morphemes, such as those that show possession (e.g. 'Mummy's flower').

• Morphological overgeneralisation commonly occurs at this stage: children apply patterns of inflection to irregular nouns (e.g. 'tooths' for 'teeth') and irregular verbs (e.g. 'runned' for 'ran'). As their receptive and expressive vocabulary increases, young children begin to use derivational morphemes (affixes used to create new words) to modify root words and change meaning (e.g. by adding the prefix 'un-' to the root 'happy' to form 'unhappy').

What is the lexical development of subsystem development of language in children?

• When children begin to utter their first words, between twelve and eighteen months of age, they develop an expressive vocabulary of approximately fifty to 100 words. Notably, half of these words will be nouns. A 'vocabulary explosion' occurs at around eighteen months of age, when their average expressive vocabulary increases as they begin to use some verbs and adjectives.

• Between two and three years old, children begin to use pronouns and contractions, and start to use adverbs of location (e.g. 'here' and 'there'). Between the ages of three and four, they consistently use contractions and pronouns, and start to use reflexive pronouns. More sophisticated conjunctions are used by children between the ages of four and five (e.g. 'when', 'so' and 'if'). Coinciding with their curiosity about new concepts in the world around them, children also ask questions using 'why', 'when' and 'how'.

• By the time they are seven, children can draw on a well-developed lexicon that allows them to use language at a higher level. They make jokes, argue, explain and can talk about past events in detail.

What is the syntactic development of subsystem development of language in children?

• Before children begin to form sentences, they must acquire words, particularly nouns and verbs, that they will eventually combine. Between twelve and eighteen months of age, they usually know up to 100 words. Once they have mastered an expressive vocabulary of this size, sometime between eighteen months and two years, they begin to combine two words, demonstrating some understanding of semantic relations (e.g. noun + verb as in 'nanny go').

• Somewhere between the ages of two and three, they can combine three or four words in subject + verb + object format (e.g. 'Franky build blocks'). Coinciding with their expanding vocabulary, by the time they are four they can combine four or five words into sentences. They use compound sentences containing conjunctions, frequently use complex sentences, and demonstrate an understanding of sentence functions. At five, children combine four to eight words and begin to refine their syntax. By the time they begin school, they have enough syntactic knowledge for their speech to be understood by everyone they converse with

What is the semantic development of subsystem development of language in children?

• Children's semantic development begins before they utter their first words. By the time they are twelve months old, young children begin to construct meaning associated with objects around them; for example, that object containing food is a bowl. They can understand and follow simple commands regarding body actions (e.g. clap). They also use paralinguistic features to indicate their wants and needs.

• By eighteen months, they comprehend approximately 200 words; by the age of two, they show understanding of a variety of word classes (nouns, verbs, pronouns, prepositions etc.). By three or four years old, children can sort objects into categories as they develop knowledge of semantic domains (e.g. colour: blue, red, green, yellow). Soon after, children begin to understand temporal markers and use prepositional phrases such as 'under the bed' and 'up on the shelf'. By four, they understand and can describe the differences and similarities between objects and can describe these using three or more adjectives

• Much like morphological overgeneralisation, young children apply semantic overgeneralisation when they extend the meaning of a word beyond its intended use. For instance, a young child learns that the word 'cat' means the family pet but then applies the word to all four-legged furry animals.

• By the time children begin primary school, they can comprehend approximately 13000 words. Between six and seven years old, a child's comprehension of words expands to around 20000 to 26000 words.

What are the theories of first-language acquisition?

• Universal grammar theory

• Usage-based theory

What is the ‘theory of universal grammar’ as one of the theories of first language acquisition? (elaborate)

• Accredited to linguist Noam Chomsky, which proposes that children are born with innate knowledge about the structure of language, which allows them to adopt any language. This innate grammar centres around a set of rules for language that are assumed to be universal, meaning that they are shared by all languages of the world.

• Language Acquisition Device (LAD): proposed that children are born with an innate cognitive structure called the LAD, which helps them recognise and organise grammatical patterns. This means humans are biologically “hardwired” to acquire language, similar to how a SIM card is pre-programmed before use

• Poverty of stimulus argument: Chomsky argues that the language children hear is too incomplete and inconsistent for them to learn grammar purely from experience. Children are exposed to fragments, errors, and incomplete sentences, yet still develop complex grammatical and syntactic knowledge during the multi-word stage. Therefore, language acquisition must rely partly on innate linguistic abilities, not just environmental input or imitation.

What is the ‘usage-based theory’ as one of the theories of first language acquisition? (definition + state/list other components)

• Introduced by Michael Tomasello, the usage-based theory of language acquisition proposes that children acquire language through social interaction in combination with their general cognitive skills (Tomasello 2003). According to this theory, language learning results from the accumulation of knowledge and skills gained through language use across a child’s life.

• Key processes:

  • Intention reading:

  • Pattern finding:

  • Analogy:

• Social interaction:

  • imitation

  • corrective feedback

  • infanct/child-directed speech

What is the ‘usage-based theory’ as one of the theories of first language acquisition? (definition + elaborate on other components)

• Introduced by Michael Tomasello, the usage- based theory of language acquisition proposes that children acquire language through social interaction in combination with their general cognitive skills (Tomasello 2003). Асcording to this theory, language learning results from the accumulation of knowledge and skills gained through language use across a child's life.

• Key processes:

  • Intention reading: Children identify the speaker’s communicative intention or goal, rather than only the literal meaning of the words. For example, “Can you close the car door?” is understood as a request for help, not a question about ability.

  • Pattern finding: Children recognise repeated patterns in language and develop linguistic schemas/constructions from them. Hearing repeated noun + verb + noun sentence structures helps children reproduce similar patterns during the telegraphic stage, e.g. “Doggy splash water” or “Baby eat fruit”. This shows children learning syntax through exposure to common language patterns

  • Analogy: Children compare similar language patterns and make generalisations based on them. This helps language learning, but can also lead to errors when rules are overapplied. Example: adding the plural “-s” to irregular nouns (“foots”, “mans”) instead of using the correct forms (“feet”, “men”). These mistakes are called morphological overgeneralisation.

• Social interaction:

  • imitation: In early developmental stages, children imitate sounds, gestures, paralinguistic features, and speech used by adults. Imitation is contextual, meaning children copy language based on how it is used in real situations. Example: a child pretending to talk on a toy phone may imitate phrases (“hello”) and conversational cues (“mmm”, “uhuh”) heard from caregivers.

  • corrective feedback: Caregivers usually correct children indirectly by recasting the sentence with correct grammar instead of directly pointing out errors. Example: Child: “I goed there.” Parent: “Yes, you went there.” This exposes children to the correct grammatical form naturally.

  • infant/child-directed speech: Caregivers often modify their speech when talking to children by using: higher pitch, exaggerated intonation, slower speech, shorter and simpler sentences, exaggerated vowel sounds, and stress on key words (e.g. content words at end of sentence) Example: “Look! There’s a doggy.” These features make language easier for children to process and learn.

What is the developmental pattern of ‘additional-language learners’ (ALL)? (state/list)

• Pre-production → Early production → Emergence of Speech → Intermediate speech fluency →Advanced fluency

What is the developmental pattern of ‘additional-language learners’ (ALL)? (state/list and elaborate)

• Pre-production: Shares some similarities with the pre-linguistic stage of first-language acquisition as learner mainly listens and absorbs the additional language while speaking very little or remaining silent. Communication may rely on gestures such as pointing, with limited comprehension.

• Early-production: Learner begins developing vocabulary and using one- or two-word utterances or simple phrases. Basic comprehension of the target language starts to develop.

• Emergence of Speech: Learner gains stronger comprehension and can respond in simple sentences. Grammatical and pronunciation errors are common during this stage (like a child acquiring a first-language)

• Intermediate Speech Fluency: Learner has excellent comprehension and can use more complex sentences in conversations. Errors become less frequent, and the learner may begin thinking in the additional language.

• Advanced Fluency: Learner reaches near-proficiency in the additional language. They can communicate effectively in a wide range of contexts and purposes, while thinking in the additional language.

What types of factors influence additional-language learning? (state/list)

• Internal

• External

What types of factors influence additional-language learning? (state/list and elaborate)

• Internal factors:

  • Age: Younger learners generally achieve greater proficiency in pronunciation and grammar than adults (critical age hypothesis). Proficiency may begin declining between ages 4–6 and plateaus in adulthood, although adults have different learning advantages.

  • Motivation: Learners who genuinely want to learn the language are usually more successful. Motivation may come from enjoyment, work, socialising, or personal goals.

  • Attitude: learners who have a positive attitude towards the target language’s speakers and culture are likely to learn more effectively than those who have less positive attitudes

  • Cognitive abilities: Having a good memory, in addition to well-developed verbal and auditory skills, can help learners acquire new languages more easily.

  • Aptitude: Refers to a person’s natural potential for language learning. Can be measured through tests such as the MLAT.

  • Preferred learning styles: Learners may prefer different methods, such as speaking practice or grammar exercises. Preferred styles do not guarantee success, but can improve motivation and attitude.

  • Personality

    • Introversion/extroversion

    • Self-esteem: Learners may perform better if they see themselves as capable of learning the language.

    • Inhibition and risk-taking: he learner's willingness to take risks and make errors will impact their performance when learning a language. Inhibition or self-consciousness can stifle learning additional languages.

    • Anxiety: feelings of worry, self-doubt, uneasiness and frustration can have a negative impact on learning languages.

    • Empathy: When communicating in an additional language, willingness to relate to others can improve learning.

  • National language/s of a learner: Learners transfer grammatical and phonological patterns from their first language. Languages similar to the learner’s native language are usually easier to acquire. (E.g. English has a ‘subject + verb + object SVO word order which is similar to French, Greek and Norwegian)

• External factors

  • Instruction

  • Feedback and Encouragement

  • Access to native (or proficient) speakers

What is the critical age hypothesis? (elaborated)

• Eric Lenneberg hypothesises that the ability to learn a language to a level of native proficiency is biologically constrained to a critical period, beginning at early childhood and ending at puberty ((birth-5, 9-14))

• Eric Lenneberg proposed that during childhood, the brain has high neuroplasticity, allowing new synaptic connections to form easily. This “sensitive period” makes language acquisition easier and more natural. After puberty, neuroplasticity declines sharply, making first- or additional-language learning more difficult.

What is ‘multilingualism’?

The ability of a speaker to communicate in more than one language.

What is ‘code-switching’?

Alternating between two or more languages when speaking or writing.

What are the similarities between children acquiring their native language/s and adults learning an additional language (first-and additional-language learning)? (state/list)

• Both progress through identifiable developmental stages during their learning

• Both benefit from making errors

• Both benefit from interacting with native speakers

What are the similarities between children acquiring their native language/s and adults learning an additional language (first-and additional-language learning)? (state/list & elaborate)

• Both progress through identifiable developmental stages during their learning

  • Pre-linguistic stage in early childhood resembles the pre-productive stage for additional-language learning (both adults and children aborb th new sounds and words of the language without producing them)

  • Children receive constant language input from caregivers, and adult learners receive input from teacher, learing materials and native speakers

  • The holophrastic stage in children has some parallels with the early production stage in adults → learnes at both these stages begin to associate meaning with words and begin to speak basic words as they develop their vocabulary

  • Common for both young children and adults to understand basic speech before speaking the language themselves → for both children and adults learning languages, speaking can be more challenging than comprehension

• Both benefit from making errors

  • Caregivers are more likely to recast the child’s utterance using correct grammar rather than to directly point out the grammatical error. Adults learning additional languages in a more structured environment benefit from the teacher both recasting their expression and giving explicit feedback, explaining.

• Both benefit from interacting with native speakers

  • Both adults and children benefit from interacting with native/proficient speakers, as it helps develop language skills and cultural understanding. Young children acquire language rapidly through interactions with caregivers, learning sound patterns by listening and responding. Through these interactions, children imitate caregivers and use analogy, helping develop early conversational speech and understanding of the world.

What are some of the benefits of learning languages?

• Improves working memory

• Increases ability to multitask

• Improves concentration

• Enhances creativity in problem-solving

• Can delay degenerative brain disease (e.g. Alzheimer’s)

Expand on ‘language learning in multilingual children’.

• When children learn more than one native language at the same time, they are said to be simultaneous multilinguals (e.g. a Spanish mum and a Russian dad). A simultaneous multilingual child acquires the vocabulary and grammar of each target language in the same way that monolingual children acquire their native language. In contrast, a sequential multilingual child learns a new language after acquiring their first language.

• A multilingual child may develop more proficiency in one of their languages than the others, a phenomenon known as language dominance. (A child’s dominant language can shift depending on their environment and level of exposure. Example: a child who mainly speaks Italian at home may become more dominant in English after immersion in Australian early education.)

What is ‘code-switching’? (elaborate)

• When speakers alternate between languages, they are said to code switch (see this a lot with migrants). Code switching mostly occurs in interactions between multilingual speakers who have two or more languages in common. This is considered to be an effective communicative strategy that helps multilingual speakers to convey their ideas and ensure they are fully understood.

• Code switching in multilingual children:

  • Multilingual children often mix elements of different languages during communication. Code switching is now viewed as a sign of multilingual proficiency and adaptability, rather than language confusion. Children may switch or borrow words from another language to express ideas when they lack vocabulary in the main language being spoken.

• When examining code switching, researchers look to syntax, specifically where in a sentence the code switching occurs. There are three types of code switching: inter-sentential, intra-sentential and extra-sentential or tag switching. The word 'sentential' simply means 'relating to sentences'.

  • Inter-sentential code switching occurs at either the beginning or end of a sentence or clause.

    • Example:

      

  • Intra-sentential code switching occurs when a speaker changes to a different language in the middle of a sentence, then back again.

    • Example:

      

  • Extra-sentential code switching or tag switching occurs when an exclamation, tag question (a question added to the end of a statement to seek confirmation or express doubt) or parenthesis (phrase containing non-essential information) from one language is inserted into an utterance in another language.

    • Example:

      

What are the 3 types of code-switching? (+ provide examples)

• Inter-sentential code switching occurs at either the beginning or end of a sentence or clause.

  • Example:

    

• Intra-sentential code switching occurs when a speaker changes to a different language in the middle of a sentence, then back again.

  • Example:

    

• Extra-sentential code switching or tag switching occurs when an exclamation, tag question (a question added to the end of a statement to seek confirmation or express doubt) or parenthesis (phrase containing non-essential information) from one language is inserted into an utterance in another language.

  • Example:

    

What are the reasons for code-switching?

• to emphasise a point

• to express attitudes, intentions or emotions

• to convey meaning when the speaker doesn't have the vocabulary to express themselves in one of the languages

• to convey solidarity with a group (especiall both people communicating in both languages)

• to address different audiences with varied linguistic backgrounds

• to use a popular expression or phrase from the speaker's native language

• to call attention to particular contextual elements in an utterance.

Elaborate on ‘interlanguage in additional-language learners’?

• As learners go through the developmental stages of learning an additional language, they create an interlanguage. Interlanguage theory, generally credited to Larry Seiinker (1972), proposes that additional-language learners create their own linguistic system that is somewhere between the system of their first language and that of the additional language. Therefore, a learner’s interlanguage is different from their first language as well as the target language.

• Interlanguage acts as a “bridge” between a learner’s first language and the additional language. Through feedback from teachers or native speakers, learners correct errors and adjust their language patterns as understanding develops. Interlanguage is dynamic because it changes across developmental stages. Larry Selinker also proposed fossilisation, where part of a learner’s interlanguage stops developing and certain errors become permanent (such as the correct way to form past tenses)

• The 5 processes that Selinker has proposed that can be observed in the interlanguage behnaviour of a learner acquiring an additional language

  • Language transfer: occurs when a learner transfers linguistic patterns from their first language to the additional language. For example, a Spanish speaker learning English might transfer features of Spanish into their interlanguage, using the verb 'to be' in place of the verb 'to have' to express possession, as in 'I am a car' instead of'I have a car’.

  • Strategies of additional-language communication: consist of a set of skills that additional-language learners draw on, mainly when speaking, when they do not have enough knowledge and understanding of the target language. Examples include code-switching, employing pause fillers (words used to fill in pauses, such as 'urn' and 'ah'), inventing new words (known as neologisms) and using approximate words.

  • Transfer of training: occurs when the learner of an additional language learns and applies incorrect patterns in the target language. This can happen if the teacher of the additional language is not a native speaker of the target language and gives the learner incorrect instructions.

  • Strategies of additional-language learning: are applied by learners as an interlanguage develops. These include hypothesising patterns and inferring meaning as the learner communicates with native speakers. These strategies are a way for the learner to make complex language simpler.

  • Overgeneralisation: including both morphological and semantic overgeneralisation, occurs when the learner generalises a language pattern and extends this to a situation where it does not apply. For example, a learner of English might apply the plural '-s' morpheme to words such as sheep ('sheeps’) and tooth ('tooths')

Expand on ‘additional-language learning in children and adults’.

• Children vs adults in language learning

  • Children acquire language through full immersion, while adults usually learn additional languages after mastering their first language.

  • Adults often learn in structured classroom settings rather than through constant immersion.

  • Children immersed in languages during the critical period generally achieve higher proficiency in phonological sounds, whereas adults often struggle to reach native-like pronunciation.

• Children immersed in tonal languages during the critical period can acquire tone distinctions more naturally.

• Adults learning tonal languages later may find pronunciation and tone recognition more difficult.

Examples of tonal languages include Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese, where pitch changes alter meaning.

Another difference in the way that children and adults acquire additional languages:

• Implicit vs explicit learning

  • Children usually acquire additional languages implicitly through immersion, making learning more automatic and supporting spontaneous speech without consciously thinking about grammar.

  • Adults rely more on explicit learning in formal settings, requiring conscious effort to learn grammar and language rules.

• Differences in proficiency expectations

  • Children have smaller vocabularies and simpler communication needs due to their age and experience.

  • Adults require larger vocabularies and more sophisticated grammar to express complex ideas, which may make additional-language acquisition seem slower.

→ Implicit will outperform bc more versatile, less complex, more immersive

Adults in structured learning environments

• Adults often outperform children in explicit, formal learning settings due to cognitive maturation.

• They can understand and apply grammar rules more quickly and accurately in these contexts.

• However, adults tend to perform worse than children in implicit, immersion-based learning environments.

• Adult advantages in language learning

  • Adults can draw on their already developed first language to support learning (transfer of syntax and grammar knowledge).

  • When languages are similar, this comparison helps adults learn grammatical patterns faster.

• Pragmatic and experiential knowledge

  • Adults use prior life experience and pragmatic knowledge to interpret meaning, intentions, and implied messages (implicature).

  • Children are still developing these pragmatic skills in their first language while learning an additional one.

• Personality and affective factors

  • Children are generally less inhibited, more willing to take risks, and less afraid of making errors.

  • Adults may experience anxiety, fear of negative feedback, and test/performance pressure, which can limit language learning.

errors are important for identifying correction → adults make errors less bc to protect face needs, ego, fear of negative feedback

What are the differences in language learning and multilingualism in children and adults (diagram)?

What is the acronym for ‘strategies of spoken discourse’?

TTMC

What are the ‘strategies of spoken discourse’?

T - Topic management

T - Turn taking

M - Management of repair sequences

C - Code-switching as marker of group membership or belonging

What is ‘topic managment’?

• Refers to the methods speakers use to manage a topic within a conversation or monologue.

What are the strategies/features of ‘topic management’?

• Initiation: Introducing a new topic in a conversation. It can be explicit with a direct statement or quesition, or implicit with hints or cues that introuce the topic

• Development: The progression or elaboration of a topic within a conversation. It involves expanding upon the initial discussion by providing mroe details, examples or explanations related to the topic.

• Shift: Where the conversation moves from one topic to another, and there is a coherent link between the two (intentional)

• Change: The transition from one topic to a different topic during a conversation. It can occur naturally as participants move from one point to another or it can be deliberate change to a different subject (e.g. natural cuz u run out of ideas)

• Loop: Revisiting or returining to a previoiusly discussed topic n a converstation. It involves resurfacing a subject that has been previously mentioned but not fully explored or resolved (e.g. in sport commentaries, comnfirmation, debates, politicians → more formal settings)

• Termination: The closure of a topic within a conversation, ocurring when participants reach a natural end point of the conversation.

What is ‘turn-taking’?

• Refers to the methods by which speakers alternate turns when talking.

• Cooperative turn-taking, prevents people from talking over each other (maintains politeness), & helps to maintain the flow of a conversation.

• When discussing turn-taking, we refer to the concept of ‘the floor’, which is like ‘the talking stick’:

  • Taking the floor = getting your turn in a conversation

  • Holding the floor = maintaining your turn (e.g. strategies like pause fillers, speaking quickly, etc.)

  • Passing the floor = Offering someone else a turn (e.g. by asking a question)

• Turn-taking (handout):

  • Change speakers regularly

  • Speak one at a time

  • Be orderly

  • Take turns of any length

  • Provide cues and feeback

  • Signal problems

What are the strategies/features of ‘turn taking’? (state/list)

• Change speakers regularly

• Speak one at a time

• Be orderly

• Take turns of any length:

• Provides cues and feedback

• Signal problems

What are the strategies/features of ‘turn taking’? (state/list + elaborate)

• Change speakers regularly: One of the most basic rules of conversation is that turns regularly pass form one participant to another

• Speak one at a time: Most of the time, only one person speaks at a time in a conversation. Although there are exceptions, this is a common trend across various cultures (more than 1 person speaking → news reactions)

• Be orderly: Turn-taking is not random. The current speaker can select the next speaker (e.g. by using an interrogative in a question-answer adjacency pair), or another participant can self-select to be the next speaker.

• Take turns of any length: The ‘turn’ does not have to be a certain length. It can be a word, a phrase, a sentence or a whole monolongue.

• Provides cues and feedback: Speakers use various cues to signal the end of a turn, such as falling intonation, slowing speech and syntactic completion. Liseners can use backchanneling to show they’re paying attention and indicate that they’re not yet read to take a turn.

• Signal problems: If there’s a problem with turn-taking (such as overlap ocurring), participants will usually try to ‘repair’ the conversation by deciding who should continue speaking.

• Signal problems

What is ‘Management of Repair Sequences’?

• Refers to the processes by which speakers identify & correct communication problems in spoken discourse - to ensure smooth & continuous conversation.

• These problems could be related to pronunciation, grammar, word choice or misunderstanding.

• Repairs can be considered in terms of:

  • 1. Who makes the utterance requiring repair

  • 2. Who initiates the repair sequence

  • 3. Who performs the repair

• The repair sequnce types:

  • Self-initiated self repair: The speaker realises their own mistakes and corrects it immediately without intervention from the listener. This is the most common method of managing repairs.

    • Student: I got 68% on that test - oops, I mean 78%.

  • Self-initiated other repair: The speaker notices their own mistake and invites the listener to correct it. This indicates a cooperative speech exchange as well as familiarity or rapport with the listener.

    • Student: What score did I get again?

      Parent: I think 78%.

    • E.g. a teacher asking how to pronounce a student’s name → builds rapport and reduces social distance

  • Other-initiated self-repair: The listener indicates a problem and the speaker makes the correction. This indicates a cooperative speech exchange and familiarity or rapport with the listener; however, it can be face threatening in some settings and contexts (reduces autonomy)

    • Parent: Did you say you got 68% on that test?
      Student: No, I meant to say 78%.

  • Other-initiated other repair: The listener indicates a problem and provides the correction. It may cause offence if not appropirate to the context. Successful correction that does not cause offence can indicate familiarity or rapport with the listener. (causes most offence → ‘me & _’ correction: ‘_ & I’ → depends on situation & context)

    • Parent: You didn’t get 68% on that test, silly, you got 78%.

What are the strategies/features of ‘management of repair sequences’?

• Self-initiated self repair

• Self-initiated other repair

• Other-initiated self repair

• Other-initiated other repair

What is ‘turn-taking’?

• Refers to the methods by which speakers alternate turns when talking.

What is ‘cooperative turn-taking’?

• Prevents people from talking over each other (maintains politeness), & helps to maintain the flow of a conversation.

What is ‘code-switching’?

• When a speaker switches between two or more languages in a single interaction or text.

Why do people code-switch? What are the purposes of code-switching?

• Demonstrate group membership & belonging

• Reflect a shared cultural/linguistic background

• Increase social bonds & solidarity

Note: When analysing topic management you must be _,

e.g. if you state a topic is being initiated – what topic?

if you state there has been a topic change or shift – what was the topic before and what has it then changed or shifted to?

specific

Note: When analysing turn-taking you must be s_,

e.g. if the floor has been passed – from who to who? And how? Was it a question? Falling intonation? Rising intonation?

If the speaker is holding the floor – How? What language feature is aiding that? Increased volume (prosodic), filled pauses (non-fluency feature)?

specific

What is the acronym to remember the ‘features of spoken discourse’?

BANDOO

What are the ‘features of spoken discourse’? (state/list)

B - Backchannels & Minimal Responses

A - Adjacency pairs

N - Non-fluency features, including pauses, filled pauses/voiced hesitations

D - Discourse particles & markers

O - Overlapping speech

O - Openings & closings

What are ‘backchannels & minimal responses’? (provide example as well)

• Minimal responses, also known as backchannels, are brief replies in a conversation that acknowledge and encourage another speaker, and may provide opinions on the topic, without providing significant additional information or indicating intention to take the floor.

• They help maintain conversational flow and indicate understanding, engagement, support or agreement. They may consist of vocalisations, words, phrases or non-verbal cues such as nodding, smiling or frowning.

• Example:

  

What are ‘adjacency pairs’? (provide example as well)

• Sequentially linked utterances or turns in a conversation where one speech act (e.g. a question), is followed by its expected response (e.g. an answer)

• These sequences are normally adjacent – one after the other – in a cooperative conversation

• Adjacency pair sequences have what is referred to as preferred or dispreferred responses.The preferred response is the one expected.

  • When dispreferred responses are used, they may be a face-threatening act, and often the interlocutor (speaker) will use a longer response in order to mitigate the threat

  • E.g:

    

• Examples:

  

What are ‘non-fluency features’?

• Pauses – can indicate speaker gathering thoughts, hesitation, etc.

  • Pauses: Silence between words.

    Example: "I want to... um... go later."

• Filled pauses / voiced hesitations – where speakers use vocalisations such as ‘um’, ‘er’ ‘ah’ to fill the silence in their speech. Can indicate uncertainty, or holding the floor while gathering thoughts

  • Filled Pauses / Voiced Hesitations: Sounds or words like "um", "uh", "like"

    Example: "So, like, I didn’t really know what to say."

• False starts – Speakers begin an utterance but then interrupt themselves. Can occur due to self-correction, uncertainty, or need to clarify

  • E.g. So I ju- I mean I only left for just ten minutes

• Repetition – Unintentional restating of words, phrases or clauses due to hesitation, self-correction or difficulty finding right word.

  • E.g. I’m not late! I’m just I’m just. fashionably delayed!

• Repairs – Instances where speakers correct or revise their previous utterance. May occur due to errors, miscommunication

  • Example: ‘I have, I mean had, enough money’

• Repairs – Instances where speakers correct or revise their previous utterance. May occur due to errors, miscommunication

  • A: I ate eight potato cakes last night

    B: Sorry, you ate what? (repair initiated – info sought)

    A: Hahaha, I had eight potato cakes! (info provided, forms adjacency pair)

• Common in spontaneous speech. Usually unintentionally used.

What are ‘discourse particles & markers’? (state/list)

• Discourse particles, also known as discourse markers, are linguistic elements that do not carry meaning on their own, but play a role in organising communication, managing interactions and indicating speaker intention.

• Discourse particles:

  • Well

  • You know

  • Like

  • Anyway

  • So

  • I mean

  • Right

What are the discourse particles?

• Well:

  • Indicates that the speaker is about to make a comment or response, often one that may be unexpected or unwelcome. Can also be used to express doubt or an opposing viewpoint

  • ‘Well, I think that’s not entirely true’

• You know:

  • Checks that the listener is following along or emphasises a point

  • ‘It’s, you know, not as easy as it seems’

• Like:

  • Gives an example, or indicates approximation or uncertainty.

  • I’'t was like a hundred degrees in there.’

• Anyway:

  • Changes the topic or loops back to a previous topic. Can also indicate the continuation of a narrative.

  • ‘Anyway, like i was saying earlier …’

• So:

  • Introduces a conclusion or a result

  • ‘So I decided to take the job’

• I mean:

  • Clarifies or elaborates on a previous statement, or expresses a personal opinion.

  • ‘I mean, it’s not that I don’t like it, it;s just too expensive’

• Right:

  • Checks for understanding or agreement, or dicates that the speaker is about to move on to a new point

  • ‘Right, so the next item on the agenda is…’

What is ‘overlapping speech’?

• Indicated by square brackets ( ‘[ ]’ )

• Overlapping speech is the situation in which two or more participants in a conversation speak simultaneously.

• Overlapping speech can be either cooperative or uncooperative

  • Cooperative: This occurs when participants engage in simultaneous speech that demonstrates mutual understanding or support. It is often used to show agreement of build the conversation.

    • Example:

      

  • Uncooperative:

    • Where participants speak over each other without regard for the ongoing conversation. It can disrupt the flow of communication, hinder understanding or show disregard.

    • If frequent, this type of overlap signals a hostile relationship between participants.

    • Can be considered a face threatening act

What are ‘openings & closings’?

• Openings:

  • The initial phase of a discourse where participants establish contact & introduce the topic or purpose.

  • The content of an opening sequence are specific to the context (e.g. consider greeting parents after school vs. beginning a formal speech)

  • Openings not only establish contact but also help to create rapport (or familiarity & solidarity) between people

  • Can also signal the intended tenor / register & help to meet face needs

  • Examples:

    

• Closings

  • Occur in the final phase of discourse, where participants wrap up the interaction, exchange finishing remarks, and signal the end of the exchange.

  • Provide a clear end point to a conversation

  • Also give an opportunity to express appreciation, gratitude or good wishes – and in this way help to maintain social norms & demonstrates politeness and respect. (politeness strategy / face affirming)

  • Example:

    

What is the acronym to remember ‘phonological patterning’?

RACORA

What are the components of phonological patterning? (state/list)

R - Rhythm

A - Alliteration

C - Consonance

O - Onomatopoeia

R - Rhyme

A - Assonance

What are the components of phonological patterning? (state/list + elaborate)

R - Rhythm

• Created when he intonation of a set of words is repeated across two or more phrases, clauses or sentences

• ‘Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary’ - Edgar Allen Poe

A - Alliteration

• The repetition of phonemes at the beginning of words ina phrase, clause or senence

• Those are pretty practical pants you’re wearing

C - Consonance

• The repeptition of consonant phonemes often at syllable-final boundaries

• The bees in the trees buzzed with ease

O - Onomatopoeia

• The process by which evocative words are created from the sounds they represent

• The crow squawked loudly, causing a rustle in the bushes

R - Rhyme

• The repetition of similar phonemes at the ends of two or more words. This entails the direct manipulation of consonance and assonance in word-final syllables

• The potato cake was fake

A - Assonance

• The repetition of vowel phonemes across phrases, clauses or sentences

• The fleet of jeeps drove through the streets

What are ‘plosives’ as a manner of articulation?

• A complete stop or closure and then an explosion of air

• E.g. /b/, /p/

What is ‘nasal’ as a manner of articulation?

• A complete closure at some point in the mouth and lower soft palate so air escapes through the nasal cavity

• E.g: /m/, /n/

What is ‘fricative’ as a manner of articulation?

• A narrowing between articulators creates friction as air passes

• E.g: /f/, /z/

What is ‘affricate’ as a manner of articulation?

• Begins like a plosive but transitions into a fricative upon release

• E.g:

  • ‘ch’ (church, chips, feature) → voiceless

  • ‘j’/’dg’ (judge, jam, edge) → voiced

What is ‘lateral’ as a manner of articulation?

• Air passes round the side of the tongue

• E.g: /l/

What is ‘approximant’ as a manner of articulation?

• Very little obstruction, sometimes referred to as semivowels

• E.g: /w/, /r/

What is ‘voiced’ as used as part of voicing to describe consonant sounds?

• Made when the vocal folds/vocal cords vibrate

• E.g: b, d, g, v, z, ð (as in ‘then’), ʒ (as in ‘measure’), dʒ (as in ‘joke’) → affricate

What is ‘voiceless’ as used as part of voicing to describe consonant sounds?

• Made when there is not vibration in the vocal folds

• E.g: p, t, k, f, s, θ (as in ‘thin’, ‘that’), ʃ (as in ‘show’), tʃ (as in ‘choke’) → affricate

What are the ‘connected speech processes’? (State/list)

• Assimilation, Vowel reduction, Elision, Insertion

What are the ‘connected speech processes’? (State/list + elaborate)

• Assimilation: occurs when speakers make one sound segment sound similar to a neighbouring one.

  • Consider how you would say the following sentence, as naturally as possible: 'I like a Vegemite sandwich’. Let's focus on what happens when you say the word 'sandwich'. Firstly, you probably drop the /d/ consonant sound, [sasnwitf] ('sanwich'). If you pronounce the word 'sandwich' the way many people do, it probably sounds more like [saemwitf] ('samwich'). This is because the alveolar nasal /n/ sound assimilates to the labial-velar /w/ sound by changing the alveolar to a bilabial /m/ sound. In this way, [sasndwitf] ('sandwich') becomes [saemwitf] ('samwich'), or even [sasmitf] ('sammich')

• Vowel Reduction: vowel sounds change and the quality is consequently reduced. Vowel reduction tends to make the vowel sounds short, making some speech sound unclear or relaxed.

  • Consider how you say the word 'banana'. If you pronounce the word naturally, it might sound more like [baneina] ('benaneh') than [benerne] ('banana'). The initial and final /e/ vowel sounds are reduced to a schwa: a short, unstressed sound represented by the I PA symbol /a/.

• Elision: When a speaker drops a sound segment. It usually involves the omission of an unstressed vowel, consonant or syllable.

  • Consider how you say the word 'library'. Through the process of elision, the word is most likely pronounced [laibj i] ('lie-bri') rather than the fully articulated [laibjeu i], as a whole syllable is elided. As another example, many people pronounce the word 'chocolate' as [tfoklat] ('choklet') rather than [tjokalat]. In this case, the schwa vowel in the middle of the word is elided, making it easier to say in connected speech.

• Insertion: When a speaker adds a sound where there wouldn’t normally be one. It usually occurs when a word ending with a vowel is immediately followed by a word that begins with a vowel, or when two consonants in a row are difficult to articulate.

  • Consider how a speaker would naturally say 'Anna ate a pancake’: 'ate' is likely to be articulated as [jaeit] ('rate') as the speaker transitions between the words 'Anna' and 'ate'. This is an example of r-insertion, which is common in Australian English. Similarly, a speaker might insert a schwa between two consonants. Take, for instance, the word 'athlete': for some speakers, producing the combination of/0/ (th) and /I/ feels unnatural, so they include a schwa /a/ and say [aeOali :t] ('ath-e￾leet’) instead, while others do not insert a schwa, producing [ae9H:t] ('ath-leet')

What is ‘assimilation’ as a connected speech process?

• Occurs when speakers make one sound segment sound similar to a neighbouring one.

  • Consider how you would say the following sentence, as naturally as possible: 'I like a Vegemite sandwich’. Let's focus on what happens when you say the word 'sandwich'. Firstly, you probably drop the /d/ consonant sound, [sasnwitf] ('sanwich'). If you pronounce the word 'sandwich' the way many people do, it probably sounds more like [saemwitf] ('samwich'). This is because the alveolar nasal /n/ sound assimilates to the labial-velar /w/ sound by changing the alveolar to a bilabial /m/ sound. In this way, [sasndwitf] ('sandwich') becomes [saemwitf] ('samwich'), or even [sasmitf] ('sammich')

What is ‘vowel reduction’ as a connected speech process?

• Vowel sounds change and the quality is consequently reduced. Vowel reduction tends to make the vowel sounds short, making some speech sound unclear or relaxed.

  • Consider how you say the word 'banana'. If you pronounce the word naturally, it might sound more like [baneina] ('benaneh') than [benerne] ('banana'). The initial and final /e/ vowel sounds are reduced to a schwa: a short, unstressed sound represented by the I PA symbol /a/.

What is ‘elision’ as a connected speech process?

• When a speaker drops a sound segment. It usually involves the omission of an unstressed vowel, consonant or syllable.

  • Consider how you say the word 'library'. Through the process of elision, the word is most likely pronounced [laibj i] ('lie-bri') rather than the fully articulated [laibjeu i], as a whole syllable is elided. As another example, many people pronounce the word 'chocolate' as [tfoklat] ('choklet') rather than [tjokalat]. In this case, the schwa vowel in the middle of the word is elided, making it easier to say in connected speech.

What is ‘insertion’ as a connected speech process?

• When a speaker adds a sound where there wouldn’t normally be one. It usually occurs when a word ending with a vowel is immediately followed by a word that begins with a vowel, or when two consonants in a row are difficult to articulate.

  • Consider how a speaker would naturally say 'Anna ate a pancake’: 'ate' is likely to be articulated as [jaeit] ('rate') as the speaker transitions between the words 'Anna' and 'ate'. This is an example of r-insertion, which is common in Australian English. Similarly, a speaker might insert a schwa between two consonants. Take, for instance, the word 'athlete': for some speakers, producing the combination of/0/ (th) and /I/ feels unnatural, so they include a schwa /a/ and say [aeOali :t] ('ath-e￾leet’) instead, while others do not insert a schwa, producing [ae9H:t] ('ath-leet')

Common strategies to hold the floor?

are used to allow a speaker to convey more information. This may be due to a requirement for them to establish or reinforce their role in the discourse. For example, a politician may want to hold the floor for as long as possible to convey a greater number of policies their government is pushing. This is to reinforce their affiliation with their political party, including their role as representative of that party in that particular discourse.

• Pause fillers “um”, “you know”, “like”

• Prosodic features: fast tempo, loud volume, high-rising terminal if listing items

• Repetition “and and”, “but but”, “as I said as I said” “must be clear must be clear

Common strategies to cede the floor?

Participants cede the floor as they are wishing to hear from other participants. If they cede the floor, they are attempting to meet the positive face needs of the other speaker as they are welcoming their input. Conversely, you could discuss how these strategies somewhat threaten the negative face needs to the other speaker as there is an expectation for them to start speaking, diminishing their right to act freely. So, it is important you understand what is happening at that particular point of the discourse. All interrogatives don’t affirm positive face needs!

• Interrogative sentences These are great! You can mention how interrogative sentences are used in conjunction with the response from another speaker to form adjacency pairs, allowing the discourse to be more cooperative.

• Falling intonation or final intonation units to mark the end of one’s turn, opening the floor up to the other speaker/s

• High-rising terminal as a means of ‘uptalking’, whereby the speaker is asking for reaffirmation from another participant as they seem unsure.

• Use of vocatives, particularly names

• Use of deixis, including gestures

Common strategies to seize the floor?

Participants may wish to seize the floor if it is vital for their input to be given, which may be due to the role of the speaker. When speakers seize the floor, they may threaten the positive face needs of the other participant as they may not value nor agree with what the other participant said. In addition, they are threatening the negative face needs of the participant as they are not allowing the participant to speak freely.

• Fast tempo or loud volume

• Use of a discourse particle to signal your desire to start talking.

• Repetition. You may want others’ attention before conveying the information you want to say, and so may repeat the first word or two to wait for the other participant to stop talking

Topic management metalang to use in AC?

• Topic initiation → New topic following topic exhaustion. Often occurs after an opening

• Topic has been exhausted → A topic has been finished talking about, often signaled by a long pause

• Topic shift → When a slight movement in topic has occurred, but stays in the same general/broader topic

• Topic loop → When speakers start talking about something, move on to other topics, then go back to the initial topic

• Topic avoidance → When topics are abruptly changed as a speaker us unwilling to participate

• Discourse particle → A word or short phrase that signals the initiation of a new topic or a topic shift

• Interrogative sentence → Questions that could be used to facilitate a topics

• Declarative sentence → Statements that could be used to facilitate topics

Why are topic management strategies important?

Topic management strategies are pivotal for a text to achieve various functions, and for speakers to achieve different purposes and intents. When writing your AC paragraph, you should include a purpose/intent in your first sentence.

Examples:

Topic management strategies are employed by [Person A] to reinforce their role as the judge for the court case.

[Person B] employs topic management strategies to allow the conversation to flow, whereby [Person B] attempts to reduce social distance with [Person B].

It is important for [Person A] to effectively manage topics throughout their speech in order to maintain engagement from the audience, aiding [Person A]’s desire to inform [Person B] and [Person C] of the new operation guidelines for their workplace.

How should Topic Managment paragraphs be structured?

Sentence 1: Explain how topic management strategies are important in the text, aiding a specific purpose and intents. Even better! - Ensure you include relevant contextual information in this sentence too. e.g. if the topics are largely managed by a program’s host, this would be expected due to their role.

Topic initiation

Using metalanguage, how was the first topic initiated ( = WHAT)

Who initiated this topic? HOW are they reinforcing or establishing their role by doing so? (This provides more context, and highlights a greater understanding of discourse)

WHY did they initiate a topic? (link to purpose/intent)

Topic shifts

Using metalanguage, how do topic shifts most commonly occur? (WHAT)

Who often shifts topics? How are they reinforcing or establishing their role by doing so? (This provides more context, and highlights a greater understanding of discourse)

Why is it important to shift topics within this discourse? (Link to a purpose/intent of the text)

Topic avoidance (Politicians do this a lot)

Using metalanguage, how was a topic avoided in the discourse?

Considering the situational context, what could a reason be for why they wanted to deflect the topic?

Topic loops (Sometimes happens. Less common, but important to analyse if you see it)

Using metalanguage, how was a topic looped back to a previously mentioned topic?

How are they reinforcing or establishing their role by doing so? (This provides more context, and highlights a greater understanding of discourse)

Why was it important to loop back to a previous topic? (Link to a purpose/intent of the text)

What are paralinguistic features?

• the non-verbal cues and vocal effects that accompany spoken language and sign. They shape meaning, convey emotion, and manage interactions without using actual words. (google)

  • Vocal effects (laughter, whisper, etc.)

  • Non-verbal communication (gestures, facial expressions, etc.)

  • Creakiness/breathiness