GROUP MEMBERS

SANGEETHA ARUMUGAM SHAMALA VENKATESAN SUGANIYA NILAMEGAN JOSEPHINE UMA SELVARAJU VINOTHINY VIJAYAKUMAR

LANGUAGE AND AGE

INTRODUCTION

• Language variation allows us as speakers to locate ourselves in a multi-dimensional society.

• Age is one of the dimensions on which we construct identities for ourselves and others.

consider three life stages and how people construct an age identity for themselves and others at those stages.

:Children :The teenage years :The elderly

Age as a factor in language variation

Age as a factor in language variation

In English the age description is the most ‘defining’ characteristic for classifying people . it’s placed closest to the person:

Example: The intelligent old womanThe attractive teenage singerThe dishonest young man

Their attempt to initiate a new topic is

ignored

They are to be interrupted and

overlapped

Elderly people communicate more

confidence.

Video..

How people talk..Children

Young peopleElderly people

CHILDHOOD

Children naturally acquire language

Infancy and early childhood is the ideal

time to immerse a child in a foreign

language

They can differentiate the sounds of any

language in the world

They can acquire two languages at a

same time

ADULTHOOD/YOUNG PEOPLE

Use informal style of

language

Use language as a

range of everyday

personal skills

CONTINUE….Difficulties in some areas

1. Poorer quality of communication

2. Inappropriate register

3. Narrative skills

ELDERLY PEOPLE

Use simple sentences

Ask more questions

Repeating or paraphrasing what

has just been said.

TALKING WITH ELDERLY PEOPLE

Use clear and precise sentences

Make an eye contact

Adjust voice tone appropriately

Talk slow, be patient and smile

How can a language refl ect the

status of

children and older people?

Importance of age as a cultural category

Your age can determine whether you can

attend school, marry, drink alcohol, vote, draw

a pension, or get into the movies at half price.

To see just how important age labels :

(a) Intelligent woman the old

(b) singer the teenage attractive

(c) dishonest man young the

(d) middle-aged the nurse kind

Most people produce the following:

(a) the intelligent old woman(b) the attractive teenage singer(c) the dishonest young man(d) the kind middle-aged nurse

The age description is placed closer to the

‘the person’ than the other description

Even though intelligence, honesty,

physical attractiveness and kindness are

all important to us, they somehow seem to

be secondary to a person’s age.

Labeling age groups

Under 5 –youngstergirlboyminornewbornkid/kiddyinfantbabyToddler

20-60•adult•mature person•woman•man•lady •gentleman

Over 65•adult•elderly person•senior citizen•retired person•aged

Talking about age groups

Have you ever noticed that some

adjectives seem to ‘belong’ to a

particular age group

There seem to be several adjectives,

both positive and negative foolish that

are used very frequently to describe

both these groups.

LANGUAGE CHARACTERISTIC

Definition of Language.

•Any code employing signs, symbols, or gestures used for communicating ideas meaningfully between human beings.

There are three theories of language

1. Behavioristic by skinner.

2. Nativistic or psycholinguistic:

Chomsky

3. Interactionistic: Piaget

Language Components & Skills

a) Phonology, b) Morphology, c) Syntax, d) Semantics and e) Pragmatics

There are five language components :

A. Phonology

Study and use of individual sound units in a

language and the rules by which they are combined

and recombined to create larger language units.

Phonemes are the unit of sound such as /s/ or /b/, /

d/ they do not convey meaning.

Phonemes alter meaning of words when combined.

For an example for the phonemes /s/ is sat then /b/

for bat and /d/ for dog.

Phonological Deficits

Frequently appear as articulation disorders◦Child omits a consonant: “oo” for you◦Child substitutes one consonant:

“wabbit” for rabbit◦Discrimination: child hears “go get

the nail” instead of mail

First video is a Speech sample

http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pw6_tHmztk

Second video is about how a Speech-

Language Pathologist teaches student /r/

production.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpJLDJn5

eBU&feature=related

B. Morphology.

Study and use of morphemes, the smallest

units of language that have meaning.

A morpheme is a group of sounds that refers

to a particular object, idea, or action

Free morphemes that can stand alone

Affixes are bound such as prefixes and

suffixes and when attached to root words

change the meaning of the word.

Morphological Deficits

Elementary aged: may not use

appropriate inflectional endings in

their speech (e.g.," He walk” or

“Mommy coat”).

Middle school: lack irregular past

tense or irregular plurals (e.g., drived

for drove or mans for men).

D. Semantics

Language meaning; the meaning of

individual words as well as the meaning that

is produced by a combination of words.

More than single words, includes complex

use of vocabulary, including structures such

as word categories, word relationships,

synonyms, antonyms and figurative

language.

Semantic Deficits

Limited vocabulary especially in

adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, or

pronouns

Lack of understanding of how context

can change the meaning of words

Figurative language problems

C. Syntax

Syntax: rule system governing the order

and combination of words to form

sentences, and the relationships among the

elements within a sentence.

Referred to as the grammar of the language

and allows for more complex expression of

thoughts and ideas by making references to

past and future events

Syntactic Deficit

Lack the length or syntactic

complexity

Problems comprehending sentences

that express relationship between

direct or indirect objects.

E. Pragmatics

Pragmatics: use of language in

communication; may include verbal,

vocal, or motoric expression

Knowledge and ability to use language

functionally in social or interactive

situations.

Pragmatic Deficits

Problems understanding indirect

requests

Example : may say yes when asked

“Must you play the piano?”).

Q & A SESSION

The end