ENGB3 Developing LanguageENGB3 Developing LanguageSession 2: Language Acquisition

and exam techniques

Second session: main areas of focusSecond session: main areas of focus

Thinking about approaches to written data in the exam (developing writing)

How to read and annotate dataApproaches to note-taking and planningWriting analytically Re-drafting exercises

Written acquisition: data set 4Written acquisition: data set 4

Thor visit’s the land of the Giant’s Thor visit’s the land of the Giant’s

1. One day Thor and Some of his friend’s decided to go to the land of the Giant’s. When they got their they found that the gate was locked.

2. Loki had a Good Idea. He sliped through the Gate. They went into the hall of utgard. “Greetings” said Thor “I sapose you’ve come here to test your strenth”.

3. “The first thing you have to do is drink from this horn”. So Thor began to drink from the horn. A couple of minites later Thor ran out of breath. He had to stop.

4. “Next you’ve got to lift up my cat”. Thor went over to a enormous cat. He tryed to lift it up. But all he could do was to lift up one paw.

5. By this time Thor was geting angry. “Let me someone wrestle with me. The Giant’s Started laughing. “O.K” Said one Giant you can wrestle with Ellie.

6. The next morning Thor woke up his friend’s before the Giant’s woke up. “Come on lets sneek out before they wake up”. So they sneaked out.

Analysing written dataAnalysing written data

Pick out the positives.Don’t just leap in and

identify errors.Use linguistic detail:

narratives like this often contain time connectives or adverbials.

If spelling errors follow a pattern is it an identifiable one?

Can you place the writing within a stage or model – Kroll, Rothery, Britton, Perera – and explain why?

What is the context of the task? What type of writing is the child doing? What stimulus material has been used?

Advice about reading, note-taking Advice about reading, note-taking and planning.and planning.

A heavily-annotated question paper is the sign of a good candidate!

But, be organised in your annotation: good note-taking can save you time.

Read the rubric on the paper: AQA advise you to spend half an hour of your 2 hours 30 minutes reading and preparing before you start writing your answers.

Advice about reading, note-taking Advice about reading, note-taking and planning.and planning.

• Reading: make sure you understand the context in which the data has been produced.

• How old are the children? • Who are they interacting with? • What kind of writing or reading have they been

set to do? • What genders are the children? • What is their physical environment? • Are they engaged in a specific task?

Advice about reading, note-taking Advice about reading, note-taking and planning.and planning.

• Note-taking should be informed by linguistic methods/ frameworks.

• Can you use the skills you developed on ENGB1 to group features of the extracts together?

• Can you select and group features of lexico-semantic, grammatical, phonological, pragmatic development from the data?

For example...For example...

All features of tense (grammar)

For example...For example...

All features of CDS/ caretaker language

Analytical sentencesAnalytical sentences

Each group of observations could then form the basis of at least one topic paragraph in your answer.

Try to write concisely, using analytical sentences.◦ e.g. “The childminder in text D uses a range of features

of child-directed speech, including tag questions (didn’t we/you in lines 33, 37 and 40) and expansion in lines 39-40. These CDS features encourage interaction between carer and child, and are discussed by Jerome Bruner and Catherine Snow in their social interaction model as scaffolding the child’s language development.”

Analytical sentencesAnalytical sentences

In analytical sentences you are IDENTIFYING an area to discuss, LABELLING the features linguistically, EXEMPLIFYING them and EXPLAINING their significance.

Try to write concisely, using analytical sentences.◦ e.g. “The childminder in text D uses a range of features

of child-directed speech, including tag questions (didn’t we/you in lines 33, 37 and 40) and expansion in lines 39-40. These CDS features encourage interaction between carer and child, and are discussed by Jerome Bruner and Catherine Snow in their social interaction model as scaffolding the child’s language development.”

Bringing in context (AO3)Bringing in context (AO3)

The marks awarded for each question are:

Assessment Objective Total /48

AO1 24

AO2 16

AO3 8

From Principal Examiner’s report on ENGB3 June 2010:“The best marks were awarded to candidates who had considered a range of situational contexts, as well as the contexts relevant to text production and reception, and linked these to evidence from the data.”

Bringing in context (AO3)Bringing in context (AO3)

Perhaps offer some brief discussion of the context at the start of your answer and then use that as a starting point for your first topic paragraph.◦ e.g. If the extract is focussed on a child reading a story book in class, explain how

the interaction between teacher and child will influence the child’s performance and then pick out key moments where that interaction occurs (corrections, praise etc.)

◦ Alternatively, if the extract is focussed on two children playing together, explain how the room they are in and the game they are playing gives rise to shared understanding, co-operation and examples of context-dependent language (that one/ this one, examples of children completing each other’s utterances).

Re-drafting tasksRe-drafting tasks

Can you re-draft these paragraphs of student answers to improve their AO1, 2 or 3?

Example 1◦The child has used incorrect spelling on two or

three words (geting, sliped, strenth) but has been accurate with many other words…

Example 2◦The child is using a narrative structure which is

shown in several examples where connectives start sentences (next, by this time)…