Data analysis

Analysis of data

Which data you chose and why?

I chose to look into a video clip based on ‘a conversation with an almost 2 year old’. I transcribed this conversation, so I can later look into child language acquisition. I chose to look at child language acquisition as this subject links with other courses that I study in college. The way in which children develop language is an interest of mine as I hope to work with children in the future. I also have access to young children, who are either family or friends which would support my investigation.

What you found and what theory you linked it to?

From looking at this data, I can see that the adult uses a lot of child directed speech in order to obtain the answer they are looking for. There are many examples of this in the transcript. Firstly, this is seen when the adult in included uses a higher pitch and exaggerated intonation: ‘A: No^ (.) you don’t want that to be your name^ (3) you’re being silly [giggles]’. The change in pitch on the word ‘no’ is suitable for the context as the word no is often a face threatening act. To ensure that she does not put the child off, she changes her pitch to sound soft. The adult also questions the child on if she can say her name but words the interrogative in an unusual way that the child may not understand. She asked the child ‘can you say your name’ which the child responded to in an indirect way, as she is probably used to the question ‘what is your name’. Theories that this links to are Jean Piaget’s (1896-1980) cognitive development theory which states that children cannot learn unless they are interacting with others and their environment and by making mistakes they learn from them. Another theory this links to is Jerome Bruner (1964). Bruner believes that the child has to learn for itself by making sense of their own environment.

What other data you could choose to go with it or replace it with to make an investigation?

Rather than using a YouTube clip to transcribe and analyse to research child language acquisition, I could collect my own data. I could do this by recording my own conversations, with perhaps a family member and my three year old nephew. I would have to record a series of interactions, in order to notice patterns or how my own data fits into theories related to child language acquisition.

What you would call that investigation?

The way in which a series of conversations between 4 year old and surrounding adults vary, compare and link to suggested theories.