Gems

[Anne Graffam Walker]

As a linguist who has been away from academia for longer than I wish to
admit, so doesn't feel much like a 'linguist' anymore, I thought I'd
stay out of this discussion.  But I have my own unique niche in the
field: teaching professionals who have need to question children
(primarily for forensic purposes) that it is vital that they fully
appreciate the differences between their facility with language and
their level of cognitive power and that of children.  I pack a great
deal of information into my workshops, whether they are 1 or 2 days
long, or 90 minutes short, so humor is an extremely valuable tool in
making that information memorable.  I use cartoons and comic strips, of
course, but the humor I enjoy adding the most comes from the very kind
of "children say the darndest things" examples given to me by the
professionals (ranging from cops on the street to judges on the bench)
who attend those workshops. Not all of the phenomena in your GEMS
discussion (e.g., learning the proper use of the reflexive) are
applicable for those audiences.  But idiosyncratic substitution of the
familiar for the unfamiliar (Nan Ratner's "Why are all those grown ups
arguing about tissues?"), and creative capture of an entire verb phrase
in one word (Betty Jancosek's 3-yr-old's ,"Someone's lawning!") are
perfect lead-ins to alerting adult questioners to more serious kinds of
idiosyncrasies that can have long-term consequences in cases such as
allegations of child abuse.  So I am particularly thankful to add to my
repertoire the examples you share.

In fact, let me thank all of you for your interest in, and curiosity
about language with a small 'l', and your generosity in sharing your
knowledge and expertise on such an enormous variety of linguistic
topics.

Anne Graffam Walker, Ph.D.
Forensic Linguist
6404 Cavalier Corridor
Falls Church VA 22044-1207
Ph: 703-354-1796
Fax: 703-256-2914

 [Author of Handbook on Questioning Children: A Linguistic Perspective]


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