SPA 340 – Language Development

Project 1: Preschool Language: Development of Early Syntax

Due Date: See Syllabus

Guidelines for answers:

For this assignment you do not need to describe context.

Please use quotes or highlights when you refer to something a child has said within your text. For example, a child may omit a word; you must transcribe sentences exactly as it was said.

Your assignment should be typed. Put your answers in list form, not essay.

· Please underline the portion of a sentence that answers the question.

i.e. Find a contractible auxiliary. ‘I am going to the store later.’

· Please use table format provided for your answers.

· A transcription of Ella and Molly’s conversations will be available for you to use during your analysis.

Children you will be observing on video:

Ella: 21 months

Molly: 2;10

Questions

Child 1: Ella 21 months

1. Find one example where Ella clearly imitates her mother’s 3-word utterance. (3 points)

2. Find an utterance where Ella omits a pronoun. What pronoun did Ella omit? (3 points)

3. Find 1 example where Ella produces an utterance with contractible copula. (3 points)

4. Find an utterance that contains a Brown’s Semantic Relation. Write the utterance and state which semantic relation it is. (3 points)

5. Find an utterance that contains an infinitive (not semi-infinitive). (3 points)

6. Find an utterance that contains an uncontractible copula. (3 points)

7. Use the handouts of Brown’s Stages provided to you. Which stage characterizes Ella’s language? Provide at least three points why her language is appropriately characterized by that stage. (6 points)

Child 2: Molly 2;10 Language Development

8. Find 1 utterance where Molly produces negation. (3 points)

9. Find 1 other utterance where Molly produces negation with irregular third person. (3 points) (This utterance should be different than the example in #8)

10. Molly produces an utterance in which she omits an obligatory ‘to be’ form. Provide the utterance and the name of the form (Brown’s grammatical morpheme). (3 points)

11. Listen for the following morphological structures in Molly’s language. Provide the number of examples requested for each. Give the entire utterance but specify which aspect represents the target utterance. (12 points). 2 examples each of: regular third person, irregular past tense, present progressive tense,

12. Find 2 utterances in which Molly produces subject-auxiliary inversion. One is with a modal (write the modal in italics). (5 points)

13. Find one example in which Molly produces a conjoining sentence (a coordinate conjunction). (5 points)

14. Give an example of Semantics, Morphology, Phonology, Syntax, and Pragmatics in Molly’s conversation. Keep your answers short, but include an example. EXAMPLE of how to write answers: Semantics: use of pronoun “I” (5 points).

Questions

Name:

#	Question	Answer
	Child 1: Ella 21 months
1	Find one example where Ella clearly imitates her mother’s 3-word utterance. (3 points)	Vans are on.
2	Find an utterance where Ella omits a pronoun. What pronoun did Ella omit? (3 points)	(Uh, I/’ll open), I’ll open. (Uh, I/’ll open it), I’ll open it.
3	Find 1 example where Ella produces an utterance with contractible copula. (3 points)	That/’s [concop] a song man.
4	Find an utterance that contains a Brown’s Semantic Relation. Write the utterance. State which semantic relation it is. (3 points)
5	Find an utterance that contains an infinitive (not semi-infinitive). (3 points)	I want to see that monkey.
6	Find an utterance that contains an uncontractible copula. (3 points)	Those are[unconcop]Ruthie/’z wipe/s.
7	Use the handouts of Brown’s Stages provided to you. Which stage characterizes Ella’s language? Provide at least three points why her language is appropriately characterized by that stage. (6 points)	Stage: 1. 2. 3.
	Child 2: Molly 2;10
8	Find 1 utterance where Molly produces negation. (3 points)	No, ribbit.
9	Find 1 other utterance where Molly produces negation with irregular third person. (3 points) This utterance should be different than the example in #8	(He doesn’t) This part doesn’t work.
10	Molly produces an utterance in which she omits an obligatory ‘to be’ form. Provide the utterance and the name of the form (Brown’s grammatical morpheme). (3 points)	Utterance: Brown’s grammatical morpheme code:
11	Listen for the following morphological structures in Molly’s language. Provide the number of examples requested for each. Give the entire utterance but specify which word represents the target utterance. (12 points)	Regular Third Person 1. He wants another flavor. 2. He says he likes, he likes orange. Irregular Past Tense 1. I gave this one to Duky, monkey gets his and I gave that one to the horsey. 2. He fell. Present Progressive –ing 1. The baby’s going to eat. 2.Hey, it keeps moving
12	Find 2 utterances in which Molly produces subject-auxiliary inversion. One is with a modal (write modal in italics). (5 points)	1. 2.
13	Find one example in which Molly produces a conjoining sentence (a coordinate conjunction). (5 points)	1. 2.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, including a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two-sentence responses, simple statements of agreement, or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’s level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’s level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.