using films to teach lg acquisition courses

Sun Feb 1 00:54:22 UTC 2004

Hi,
A while ago someone asks about films/documentaries on language development 
taht may be used to teach.
I have  often used F. Truffaut "the wild child" and this year, for a level 
1 course that students from various backgrounds (humanities and hard 
science- some of whom chose it as a 'default' since there were not many 
courses offered in the intercession) took, I actually used it to develop a 
task they had to complete after they had had
their first lecture on Hockett design features. More than
80 students completed the course and all of them commented positively on 
the film and this particular task, which is why I feel I want to share it 
with other people who may have to teach language acquisition courses (find 
task below) If you do: remember you need to stop at specific points in the 
film, in order to give a chance to students to answer the questions.  If 
you or your library owns a DVD the subtitles are much clearer than in the 
video.  The questions
in which I ask students for their opinions, based
on their experience did not really weigh anything in the mark: it was a way 
to make students think and to have an idea of their opinions on this topic.

Yours,

Isabelle Barriere
Visiting faculty
Department of Cognitive Science
Johns Hopkins University

Language acquisition 050.111

Your name:___________________

Mark: ________

In class 1 (4%):            Observing a case of atypical development and 
characterizing a communication system according to Hockett (1969) Design 
Features

Truffaut, F. (1969) The Wild Child based on  and accurate reflection of the 
two reports produced by Itard (1801, 1806) for the French Academy of Science.

The aims this task are a) to enable you to characterize a communication 
system on the basis of the design features defined in the lecture, b) to 
make you aware of the similarities and differences between the wild boy and 
typically developing children (with a focus on language and communication 
development and the contexts in which they are exposed to language). Bear 
in mind that there are sometimes more than one possible answer to the 
questions (and we will bear this in mind when we mark your work): it is 
therefore important that you explain in a few words how you reached your 
conclusion, where appropriate.

I. BEFORE THE WILD BOY GOES TO LIVE IN ITARDS HOUSE

I.a In a few words describe the vocalizations that the wild child produces 
at the beginning of the film and the contexts in which they are produced

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I.b In a few words describe the way he interacts with people at the 
beginning of the film

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I.c In a few words describes how the wild boy moves from one place to another

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I.d In a few words describe the way he expresses his emotions

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

II. HIS LIFE IN ITARDS HOUSE

II. a How does Itard communicate to the wild boy that he is ready to take 
him out for a walk, to his friend Lemeris house?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

II. b How does the wild boy express his joy on his way to Lemeris house?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

II.c At Lemeris house how does the lady with the baby communicate to the 
wild boy that she is going to give him a bowl of milk? Describe the 
behavior of the wild boy that constitutes evidence that at some level he 
has understoodthe message.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

II.d How does the wild child communicate to the same lady that he wants to 
play outside with Mathew?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

II.e How does he communicate the fact that he is hungry to Mrs Guérin?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

II.f On the basis of your answers to II.a, II.c, II.d, II.e would you say 
that the means of communication used by the wild child in these contexts 
exhibit the following design features (you may want to check the lecture 
hand-out).  Why/Why not?

Arbitrariness__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Duality of patterning____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Displacement__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Productivity__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

II.g On the basis of your answers  to II.a, II.c, II.d, II.e, would you say 
that the wild child is unable to communicate? Why/Why not?

____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

III. In the 2nd scene at Lemeris house, when the lady with the baby is not 
there to give him his milk, what does the wild boys behavior (hitting the 
cupboard to get his bowl of milk) reveal about his behavior: is it 
spontaneous or tied to the context?

____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

IV. Why was he named Victor?

____________________________________________________________________

V. Characterizing the language input

Va. In your experience (including the fact that you were a child yourself 
and you may have observed your siblings, cousins, children you may have 
looked after etc), is the attempt by Itards and Mrs Guérin to teach Victor 
the sound oat the dinner table similar or different to the way young 
typically developing children are exposed to a language/the sounds of a 
language? In what ways?_______________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

V.b In your experience (including the fact that you were a child yourself 
and you may have observed your siblings, cousins, children you may have 
looked after etc), is the  scene acted out by Mrs Guérin and Itard showing 
how to ask for a bowl of milksimilar or different to the way young 
typically developing children are exposed to a language/the words of their 
language? In what way?____________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

VI. The 1st word produced by Victor (lait/ milk)

VI.a What is this 1st word used for, to request or to name?

____________________________________________________________________

VI.b Does the production of this 1st word provide evidence for the 
following design features? Why/why not?

Arbitrariness__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Duality of patterning____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Displacement__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Semanticity__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

VII. In your experience (including the fact that you were a child yourself 
and you may have observed your siblings, cousins, children you may have 
looked after etc), is the way Itard attempts to teach Victor to produce 
sounds similar or different to what happens in the language input to 
normally developing children? (that is do most parents do with their 
children what Itard does with Victor?)

____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

VII. Victors learning of names of tools (keys, hammer, brush) etc

VII.a Does the fact that Victor is able to match each tool to its drawing 
constitute evidence of the following design feature? Why/not?

Arbitrariness__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Duality of patterning____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Semanticity__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

VII.b Does the fact that Victor is able to match each tool to its written 
representation constitute evidence of the following design feature? Why/not?

Arbitrariness__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Duality of patterning____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Semanticity__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

VIII Itard and Pinel have different ideas about how to account for Victors 
behavior and his potential. In your own words, briefly outline these two views.

Itards views__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Pinels views____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

IX. What does Victor rely on in order to carry out the alphabet task(ie 
matching each block letter to letters on the board) the first times? How 
does Itard attempt to challenge this strategy?

____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

X. Does his ability to use block letters to request milk exhibit evidence 
of the following design features:

Semanticity__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Arbitrariness__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Duality of patterning____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

XVII How does the doctor attempt to teach Victor to perceive distinctions 
between different vowels?  Is Victors learning of vowels successful?

____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

XVIII. When asked to bring a specific object to the doctor, does Victors 
good performance provide evidence of semanticity?

____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

XIX In your experience (including the fact that you were a child yourself 
and you may have observed your siblings, cousins, children you may have 
looked after etc), is the system of rewards and punishments developed and 
used by Itard to try to teach Victor language similar or different to what 
most parents do with their typically developing young children? In what way?

____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

XX. On the basis of your experience (including the fact that you were a 
child yourself and you may have observed your siblings, cousins, children 
you may have looked after etc), how would you characterize Victorss a) 
non-verbal communication abilities (ie. whether he is good at understanding 
peoples intentions and responding to their non-verbal signals and 
communicating his needs/feelings/emotions) and b) language abilities (his 
ability to distinguish between language specific sounds, understand and 
produce words and/or their combinations):

Like/inferior to a typical child aged between 1 year 6 months (1;6) and 2 
years 6 months 
(2;6)_________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Like/Inferior to a child between 2;6 and 4____________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Like/ Inferior to a child between 4 and 6____________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

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