Apostrophe now: Bad grammar and the people who hate it

Language acquisition essay - mock

This transcript shows a conversation between Ruby and her auntie, Lou. Through reading the transcript, it is evident that Ruby is in the post-telegraphic stage and this can be seen through her use of contractions, for example, ‘I’ll’ use of low-frequency lexis ‘adorable’. Throughout the transcript, Ruby’s auntie, Lou, uses many examples of caregivers’ language to help encourage Ruby’s linguistic development, for example, through reinforcing her language or keeping the conversation flowing in order to teach Ruby turn-taking in conversation. Furthermore, Lou uses inclusive pronouns ‘shall we’, which according to Coates is a female trait of language. Another example of Lou using female traits of language is when she apologises to Ruby ‘sorry shall we take your COAT off then’.

Ruby is able to use contractions showing that she is in the post-telegraphic stage. For example, when she says ‘it’s not a jacket, it’s a coat’. It could be said that Ruby has made this statement because women are more interested in clothes and fashion and therefore more aware of synonyms, which is a female trait of language. She is also showing signs of egocentricism, as she is recognising synonyms, trying to assert her authority and perceiving her auntie as a weak link. Another example of Ruby using contractions is when she uses the future simple ‘I’ll sit’. The use of the personal pronoun ‘I’ll’ could indicate egocentricism, which is a term used by Piaget, meaning that children in the earlier stage of linguistic development are only aware of themselves and think that the whole world revolves around them. During the transcript, Ruby omits the consonant cluster ‘th’ when she says ‘wiv’, ‘Felma’. Also, later on in the transcript when she says ‘only wiz my toast’. Her caregiver, Lou then corrects her by saying ‘Thelma’. Her use of rising intonation indicates that she is showing Ruby the correct pronunciation and trying to encourage her to repeat it, which helps to encourage her linguistic development. This acts as evidence for Skinner’s theory or repetition and reinforcement. He believes that children acquire language through copying others around them, such as caregivers and by having their language reinforced helps their language to develop. Another example of Lou reinforcing Ruby’s language is when Ruby says ‘he’s better’ and Lou responds by saying ‘he’s better now’. This helps to keep the conversation flowing and also teaches Ruby turn taking in conversational talk.

During the transcript, Ruby says ‘em Simba got bitted by a dog’. Here, she had added the inflection ‘ed’ to an irregular verb. This could suggest that Ruby hasn’t fully entered the post-telegraphic stage of linguistic development. However, it could merely be due to contextual factors, such as the fact that she is at home with her auntie in a comfortable environment. In addition, Ruby may feel that she can push the boundaries more with her auntie, as opposed to her mother and is therefore slightly more relaxed with her language. After this, Lou corrects Ruby by saying ‘Simba got bitten’, which is another example of caregivers’ language, in which they teach the child to model the correct response. Chomsky’s native theory suggests that children have a language acquisition device and an innate ability to acquire language; that needs to be stimulated by caregivers’ language. Ruby’s addition of the inflection ‘ed’ to the irregular verb ‘bite’ is evidence for this as Ruby would never have heard an adult say this and therefore challenges Skinner’s theory of repetition and reinforcement.

Later on, Ruby says ‘we took him to the bets two times’. The fact that Ruby says ‘bets’ instead of ‘vets could suggest that she is still undergoing phonological development and hasn’t yet managed to pronounce the consonant ‘v’. Her semantic awareness has outstripped her phonological awareness. Similarly, Deb Roy found this in his study when he filmed his son 24/7. His son knew the semantic ‘water’, but took four months pronounce it correctly. Nevertheless, Ruby’s difficulty with pronouncing the consonant ‘v’ could be due to her contextual environment; she is at home with her auntie, a close relative and could therefore be seeking attention by trying to sound ‘cute’ by putting on a lisp. Furthermore, the fact the Ruby says ‘two times’ could suggest that she hasn’t yet entered the post-telegraphic stage of linguistic development as she isn’t aware of the adverb ‘twice’.

Lou later says to Ruby ‘a little glass’ when asking if she would like some apply juice. Her use of rising intonation shows she is asking Ruby a question and helping her linguistic development. Ruby responds by saying ‘big girls have glass don’t they’. Here, she has omitted the inflection ‘s’, possibly suggesting she is in a lower stage of linguistic development. Her use of the tag question ‘don’t they’ could be related to her gender. Lakoff argues that women use tag questions in seeking confirmation and indicates that they are deficient of male language. Moreover, it could indicate that Ruby is seeking attention from her auntie.

Later in in the transcript, Lou says ‘Mummy’s moved her bed or your bed’. Her use of rising intonation indicates that this is a question and she is again keeping the  conversation flowing with Ruby and helping her language develop. Bruner refers to this as child-directed speech in his input theory, which argues that a child’s language acquisition is said to depend on the contribution or input made by parents or ‘significant others’.

Towards the end of the transcript, Ruby says ‘we getting a book’. Here she has omitted the auxiliary verb ‘are’. After this, she omits the verb ‘to be’ and the indefinite article ‘an’, when she says ‘she can be explorer’. In addition to this, she has added the inflection ‘er’, when she should have just said ‘explore’. However, her caregiver corrects her by saying ‘she can be an explorer’. Ruby later says ‘Mum says when we at sun’. Here, she has omitted the indefinite article the’. However, she later corrects herself by saying ‘Sunday dinner’. Ruby’s use of low-frequency lexis ‘adorable’ indicates that she is in the post-telegraphic stage of linguistic development.

In conclusion, although Ruby makes several virtuous errors throughout the transcript, for example, the omittion of auxiliary verbs and the adding of the inflection ‘ed’ to irregular verbs, it is evident that she is in the post-telegraphic stage of linguistic development as she is able to use regular sentence structure and contractions, throughout.