Class outline: Class #4

.Teaching Students with Intensive Communication Needs

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June 7, 2006 (class #4)
Topic: Theories of Language Development, cont.

Class outline:

4:20-4:30 Quick questions and quandaries. Announcements:

Don't forget to turn in your reading questions for Ochs, 1986.

We will be talking about symbols on Monday. Bring in some examples of symbols and icons to share with the class.

We have a guest speaker on Tuesday. Please make sure you are well prepared for his presentation.

4:30-4:50 small group activity:

What do you think Ochs (1986) meant when she wrote that language socialization refers to both "socialization through language and socialization to language" (p. 2)?

How does this relate to individuals with intensive communication needs?

4:50-5:10 Report out and whole group discussion

5:10-5:20 quick write: Define language socialization in your own terms.

5:20-6:15 interactive presentation: Interactional theories of language development

6:15-6:20 minute paper:

What was the most important concept you learned in class today?

What was the muddiest part of the class?

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Overheads:

PowerPoint file

Handouts:
Language socialization, sociocultural theory, and the transactional model of communicative development.
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Optional Reading Questions:
Note: All of the readings, required and recommended, can be found on electronic reserves at Zimmerman library. Please contact the instructor for the course password.
Ochs, 1986

1) How does the perspective in this article differ from popular notions of a behavioral model of language development (i.e. stimulus- response and behavioral reinforcement)?

2) In what ways can you imagine a child as active participant in language socialization?

3) Thinking about socialization as a process -- what are some overt and covert ways that you have observed children being socialized?

4) Ochs talks about "socialization to language" -- what do you think she means?

5) How is the above different from "socialization through language"?

6) Now that you've read this chapter:

what are some new terms for you from this chapter?

what seem to be some important concepts in this reading?

what new questions do you have?

Halliday, 1993 - to be added by June 4

1) According to Halliday, what are signs?

2) Symbols that are deemed to be conventional are considered arbitrary? What possible difficulties could students with intensive communication needs have in learning arbitrary symbols?

3) The author states that words are learned by children from a thesaurus, rather than from a dictionary? What does this mean?

4) What are the stages in the metafunctional principle and what language aspects do they contain?

5) Why is a child’s ability to give information that is previously unknown to the listener an important step in language development?

6) Now that you've read this article:

what are some new terms for you from this article?

what seem to be some important concepts in this reading?

what new questions do you have?

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Additional Resources:
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Recommended Readings:
Abbeduto, L., & Boudreau, D. (2004). Theoretical influences on research on language development and intervention in individuals with mental retardation. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 10(3), 183-192.
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Bannink, A. (2002). Negotiating the paradoxes of spontaneous talk in advanced L2 classes. In C. Kramsch (Ed.), Language acquisition and language socialization (pp. 266-288). New York: Continuum.
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de Valenzuela, J. S. (2007). Sociocultural views of learning. In L. Florian (Ed.) Handbook of special education (pp. 280-289). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
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Ochs, E. (2002). Becoming a speaker of culture. In C. Kramsch (Ed.), Language acquisition and language socialization (pp. 99-120). New York: Continuum.
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Rosenkoetter, S. (2001). Lessons for preschool language socialization from the vantage point of the first day of kindergarten. Early Education & Development, 12(3), 325-342.
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Schieffelin, B. B., & Ochs, E. (1986). Language socialization. Annual Review of Anthropology, 15, 163-191.
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Schieffelin, B. B., & Ochs, E. (1991). A cultural perspective on the transition from prelinguistic to linguistic communication. In M. Woodhead & R. Carr & P. Light (Eds.), Becoming a person (pp. 195-210). NY: Routledge.
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Wells, G. (1994). Commentary: The complementary contributions of Halliday and Vygotsky to a "language-based theory of learning". Linguistics and Education, 6, 41-90.
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Wong Fillmore, L. (1991). Second-language learning in children: A model of language learning in social context. In E. Bialystok (Ed.), Language processing in bilingual children (pp. 49-69). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Related Web sites

See this on-line resources on "Cultural diversity and language socializationnin the early years" from the Center for Applied Linguistics: http://www.cal.org/resources/Digest/0313park.html

See this interesting paper on "how global practices of English on the Internet intersect with local practices of English in the territorial or national sphere in constructing the language experiences of... two teenage Chinese immigrants in the US": http://llt.msu.edu/vol8num3/lam/default.html

See this article from the Bilingual Resarch Journal that contrasts Korean-as-a-Foreign-Language classrooms with ESL classrooms, in terms of language socialization: http://brj.asu.edu/vol30_no2/art2.pdf

Here is the Wikipedia entry on Vygotsky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotsky

This page has a wealth of links regarding sociocultural theory: http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/soc_cult.html

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Return to top Julia Scherba de Valenzuela, Ph.D.
Last updated: June 4, 2007

4:20-4:30	Quick questions and quandaries. Announcements: Don't forget to turn in your reading questions for Ochs, 1986. We will be talking about symbols on Monday. Bring in some examples of symbols and icons to share with the class. We have a guest speaker on Tuesday. Please make sure you are well prepared for his presentation.
4:30-4:50	small group activity: What do you think Ochs (1986) meant when she wrote that language socialization refers to both "socialization through language and socialization to language" (p. 2)? How does this relate to individuals with intensive communication needs?
4:50-5:10	Report out and whole group discussion
5:10-5:20	quick write: Define language socialization in your own terms.
5:20-6:15	interactive presentation: Interactional theories of language development
6:15-6:20	minute paper: What was the most important concept you learned in class today? What was the muddiest part of the class?

1)	How does the perspective in this article differ from popular notions of a behavioral model of language development (i.e. stimulus- response and behavioral reinforcement)?
2)	In what ways can you imagine a child as active participant in language socialization?
3)	Thinking about socialization as a process -- what are some overt and covert ways that you have observed children being socialized?
4)	Ochs talks about "socialization to language" -- what do you think she means?
5)	How is the above different from "socialization through language"?
6)	Now that you've read this chapter: what are some new terms for you from this chapter? what seem to be some important concepts in this reading? what new questions do you have?

1)	According to Halliday, what are signs?
2)	Symbols that are deemed to be conventional are considered arbitrary? What possible difficulties could students with intensive communication needs have in learning arbitrary symbols?
3)	The author states that words are learned by children from a thesaurus, rather than from a dictionary? What does this mean?
4)	What are the stages in the metafunctional principle and what language aspects do they contain?
5)	Why is a child’s ability to give information that is previously unknown to the listener an important step in language development?
6)	Now that you've read this article: what are some new terms for you from this article? what seem to be some important concepts in this reading? what new questions do you have?