Paper 3 Section B: Mother and Raina

         Raina is five years old and having a conversation with her mother while walking through the countryside.  Reina is the continuing development stage of post-telegraphic.  This stage ranges from the ages of three to five.  The child is able to acquire language skills in more complex ways and is able to sustain conversation by using more than one simple idea combined through conjunctions.  Her mother is facilitating her development by allowing Reina to experience nature and instruct her through caretaker language.  

Within the conversation, Raina repeatedly commands her mother to agree with and perform certain actions.  For example, at the beginning of the transcript, Raina said “i want to go this way.”  This command falls under the Regulatory language of Halliday’s Functional theory.  Raina uses Regulatory language to influence the behavior of her mother, and she wants her mother to follow her instructions.  

The mother demonstrates caretaker language throughout the transcript.  For example, she uses phrases like “creepy crawly,” “birdie,” and “too long grass in there” when talking to Raina.  Although these phrases are not included in proper English, these words are used to speak at the child’s level so that she could understand what the mother is saying and understand the topics.

Another example of caretaker language is seen through the mother’s upward intonations.  For example at the end of her sentences, she increases the pitch of her speech and speaks in a higher register.  This can be seen when she is pointing out things in nature, such as when she said, “see the butterfly ➚.”  This higher pitch indicates that the child should listen and thus helps the child learn the information.

False starts are both seen by the mother and Raina.  False starts are when a speaker realizes that they made a mistake and attempts to repair it through reformulation.  The mother displays this idea when she corrects the phrase “in that” with “in those.”  This is significant since it contributes to the role of parents in LASS (Language Acquisition Support System).  This is because children will learn from their interactions with those around them, especially their parents.  By correcting herself, the mother ensures that she is setting a proper example for her child.

Raina also had a false start when she said, “YES (.) a I (1) he can’t fly can he.”  This demonstrates that Raina is attempting to repair her misspoken sentence through reformulation.  This displays that Raina has acquired enough grammar skills to know that the original phrase that she was going to say was incorrect.

Raina displays that she is fluent enough in the English language to be able to hold a conversation and uses key features.  For example, Raina uses backchanneling when her mother is speaking to her.  She uses the noise “mm hmm” to express that she is understanding when her mother is pointing out things that she can see.  This is important because it allows the mother to know that Raina is understanding the conversation and has conversation “etiquette.”

Raina’s ability to hold a conversation is also demonstrated through the turn-taking and adjacency pairs throughout the conversation.  These two concepts go hand in hand, as most of the conversation consisted of a question and answer or a simple phrase and a response.  This can be seen when the mother said, ”do you hear them” and Raina responded with “YES.”   It shows that Raina is at the level where she can hold a fluent back and forth conversation.

Raina uses Heuristic language from Halliday’s functional theory during their conversation.  Heuristic language is used to explore the world and to learn and discover new ideas.  It can either be seen in the form of questions or a running commentary.  Raina more often uses questions like “mum can we skip this way” to try to convince her mother to let her explore the area.  The ability to explore and go to new places adds to her vocabulary and understanding.  This is why her mother brought her for a walk in the countryside and is pointing out animals that she finds interesting.