Together with a number of other eminent journalists and educationalists, I co-founded and help run the popular educational blog, Local Schools Network. I also blog for Mumsnet on Tales Behind The Classroom Door. My YouTube channel is Wonderfrancis. My Soundcloud Channel is Electric Schubert. I am @wonderfrancis on Twitter. Other blogs: A Streetcar Named Desire for […]

I used to be a bit sceptical about the whole idea of Media Studies until I started teaching it at A Level. The process of choosing a suitable syllabus (we opted for OCR), devising schemes of work and delivering the lessons over the last few years has now convinced me that it should be an […]

 Starter activity: brainstorm the times when you were ill when you were a child. What did your carers say to you in connection with your illness? What are your memories of your first trip to the doctors, to hospitals? What language did people use to describe your illnesses etc? What did they say to comfort you? Learning […]

Romeo and Juliet essay questions1. To what extent do you think Mercutio and his death is to blame for the tragedy that ensues after his death? 2. Shakespeare’s presents fate as playing a vital part in the death of the lovers. To what extent does he convinces the audience that fate plays a central role […]

Should you want further reading on language acquisition, these websites are very helpful and explain all the relevant hypotheses and theories:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_acquisition   http://home.cogeco.ca/~monicafitz/theories.htm   http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/ling001.html

Log onto: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/exlist/exlist.htm

Read the following two articles from the Daily Telegraph and write about whether you think that children’s changing environment is affecting their language for better or worse. Use evidence from your own investigations and research. Teacher and class notes have been added in CAPITALS. Not on Speaking Terms: Why do many children lack basic language […]

Lexical Choice It appears that Ewan becomes a bit worried that he will cause Holy to drop out of their role play game, due to his aggressive tone. He repeats the proper noun ‘Holly’ in order to grab her attention and says the verb ‘playing’ once again using a declarative where he should be using […]

1. The transcript has been set in both a domestic and a child’s play context, and the fact that the speakers involved are of a completely different linguistic capability due to age, makes the interactions all the more interesting. Although the playgroup assistant tries to address the children at the same level, using the same […]

• MLU – mean length of utterance – Roger brown 1969 Total number of morphemes Number of utterances Stage 1 – 1.1 – 2.0 Stage 2 – 2.0 – 2.5 Stage 3 – 2.5 – 3.0 Stage 4 – 3.0 – 3.5 Stage 5 – 3.5-4.0 Theories and the ages at which they are applicable: […]

1. What do we mean by the active and passive voices of verbs? Analyse these sentences in this regard. ‘I kicked the boy’. And ‘The boy was kicked by me’. What is the difference in tone and approach?2. What do we mean by the affix, suffix, and prefix of a word? 3. What does ‘amelioration’ […]

ENGLISH LANGUAGE (SPECIFICATION B) ENB6Unit 6 Language Development Thursday 19 June 2008 1.30pm to 3.30pm For this paper you must have: • the data booklet (enclosed) • a 12-page answer book. Time allowed: 2 hours Instructions • Use black ink or black ball-point pen. • Write the information required on the front of your answer […]

Audience: Text H appears to be possibly aimed at a doctor or ‘physitian’- description of precise look, smell, touch as well as place to find and when to find it. This information id provided in detail in order to direct the would be doctor to gathering the plant; whereas the website, gives no information as […]

Behaviourism (B.F. Skinner 1950s-60s) Language is learnt by positive reinforcement (offering a reward for ‘good behaviour’) and negative reinforcement (for ‘inappropriate behaviour’) Language is a particular social behaviour that follows this model. Positive reinforcement can be verbal praise or reassurance, and negative reinforcement could simply be correction. Skinner wanted to apply his theory to all […]

Many researchers followed up on what Chomsky speculated upon: children’s knowledge of grammatical rules. However, the idea of impoverishment (parents’ language is insufficient) prompted others to look in more detail at language experience, with an emphasis on social circumstances and the language of adults. Two key factors are important: 1. Social or experiential factors 2. […]

Here is Adam, in the year following his first word combinations at the age of 2 years and 3 months (Pinker, 1994a). The numbers by the transcript indicate his age, so 2;3 means two years, three months and so on. Look carefully at the following changes in his language development, and using the systematic framework […]

English Language A Level Revision Quiz – key theories Explain what these terms mean which Michael Halliday uses for his taxonomy: Instrumental use of language Regulatory Interactional Personal Representational Heuristic Imaginative What were John Dore’s complaints about Halliday’s taxonomy? He replaced them with: Labelling, repeating, answering, requesting action, calling, greeting, protesting, practising Why is very […]

Read the following extract very carefully. This transcript is a conversation between Katherine at 27 months and her mother. Consider the aspects of the baby’s speech: ability to use verbs (tenses, tag questions); functions and conversational (pragmatic) skills; use of inflexions; the MLU, the comparing the score with Brown’s stages (see page 3 of Myszor); […]

Several attempts have been made to catalogue the different functions of language, and to chart child language development in terms of the increasing range of these functions to be found in the growing child’s repertoire. Michael Halliday’s taxonomy is documented below:- Instrumental: Language used to fulfil a need on the part of the speaker. Directly […]