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Hi,<br>
A while ago someone asks about films/documentaries on language
development taht may be used to teach.<br>
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<br>
their first lecture on Hockett design features. More than<br>
80 students completed the course and <u>all of them</u> 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<br>
in which I ask students for their opinions, based<br>
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.<br><br>
Yours,<br><br>
Isabelle Barriere<br>
Visiting faculty<br>
Department of Cognitive Science<br>
Johns Hopkins University <br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
<b>Language acquisition 050.111<br><br>
</b> <br><br>
Your name:___________________<br><br>
<br><br>
Mark: ________<br><br>
<br><br>
In class 1
(4%):
Observing a case of atypical development and characterizing a
communication system according to Hockett (1969) Design
Features<br><br>
Truffaut, F. (1969) <i>The Wild Child</i> based on and accurate
reflection of the two reports produced by Itard (1801, 1806) for the
French Academy of Science.<br><br>
<br><br>
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. <br><br>
<br><br>
<b>I. BEFORE THE WILD BOY GOES TO LIVE IN ITARDS HOUSE<br><br>
</b>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<br><br>
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br><br>
<br><br>
I.b In a few words describe the way he interacts with people at the
beginning of the film <br><br>
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br><br>
I.c In a few words describes how the wild boy moves from one place to
another <br><br>
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br><br>
I.d In a few words describe the way he expresses his emotions<br><br>
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br><br>
<br><br>
<b>II. HIS LIFE IN ITARDS HOUSE<br><br>
</b>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?<br><br>
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br><br>
<br><br>
II. b How does the wild boy express his joy on his way to Lemeris
house?<br><br>
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br><br>
<br><br>
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.<br><br>
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br><br>
<br><br>
II.d How does the wild child communicate to the same lady that he wants
to play outside with Mathew?<br><br>
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
II.e How does he communicate the fact that he is hungry to Mrs
Guérin?<br><br>
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br><br>
<br><br>
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?<br><br>
<i>Arbitrariness__________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
Duality of
patterning____________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
<br><br>
Displacement__________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
<br><br>
Productivity__________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
<br><br>
</i>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?<br><br>
<i>____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
III. In the 2<sup>nd</sup> 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?<br><br>
<i>____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i>IV. Why was he named Victor?<br><br>
<i>____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
<b>V. Characterizing the language input <br><br>
</b>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?<i>_______________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
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?<i>____________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
VI. The 1<sup>st</sup> word produced by Victor (<i>lait/
milk</i>)<br><br>
VI.a What is this 1st word used for, to request or to name?<br><br>
____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
VI.b Does the production of this 1<sup>st</sup> word provide evidence for
the following design features? Why/why not?<br><br>
<i>Arbitrariness__________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
Duality of
patterning____________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
Displacement__________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
Semanticity__________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i>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?)<br><br>
<i>____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
VII. Victors learning of names of tools (keys, hammer, brush)
etc<br><br>
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?<br><br>
<i>Arbitrariness__________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
Duality of
patterning____________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
Semanticity__________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
<br><br>
</i>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?<br><br>
<br><br>
<i>Arbitrariness__________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
Duality of
patterning____________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
Semanticity__________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
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.<br><br>
<i>Itards
views__________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
Pinels
views____________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
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?<br><br>
<i>____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
<br><br>
</i>X. Does his ability to use block letters to request milk exhibit
evidence of the following design features:<br><br>
<i>Semanticity__________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
Arbitrariness__________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
Duality of
patterning____________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i>XVII How does the doctor attempt to teach Victor to perceive
distinctions between different vowels? Is Victors learning of
vowels successful?<br><br>
<i>____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
XVIII. When asked to bring a specific object to the doctor, does Victors
good performance provide evidence of <i>semanticity</i>?<br><br>
<i>____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
<br><br>
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?<br><br>
<i>____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
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):<br><br>
Like/inferior to a typical child aged between 1 year 6 months (1;6) and 2
years 6 months
(2;6)<i>_________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
Like/Inferior to a child between 2;6 and
4<i>____________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
Like/ Inferior to a child between 4 and
6<i>____________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
_____________________________________________________________________<br><br>
______________________________________________________________________<br>
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