Transcript Norm, standard, deviation - UCL Department of Phonetics

Norm, standard, deviation
Richard Hudson
Giessen, September 2008
Plan
• Norm: why language is normative
• Standard: why nations adopt standard
languages
• Deviation: why it sometimes matters
• Education: what it can do
• Educational linguistics: what it can do
Norm: why language is normative
•
•
•
•
•
Norm = normal pattern
e.g. /kat/ means
Normally, when people say /kat/, they’re thinking
This is ‘what is’, not ‘what ought to be’.
But it’s ‘normative’ because:
– only true in certain communities, so part of culture
– only a strong tendency, allowing exceptions
– necessary for cooperation
• So conformity in language is almost morality
The benefits of normality
• Speed
– normality allows fast talking and listening
– especially if memorized chunks are large
• Accuracy
– normality avoids misunderstanding
• Social identification
– only full members of the club know the norms
properly
– so outsiders are easy to spot
Research questions: norms
• Does variability affect speed?
– of speakers
– of listeners
– of readers
– of writers
• How much misunderstanding is due to
abnormality?
Standard: why nations adopt
standard languages
• symbolic support for the nation
– users identify with the nation
• efficient publication and administration
– larger markets available
– fewer translations needed
• easy communication between citizens
– in writing
– in speaking
Another reason?
• To help foreign learners
– Instrumental learners want a single form to
learn
– Variation is a problem, not a source of
important social information
• So the needs of foreign-language learners
conflict with those of first-language
learners.
Research questions: standards 1
• What part should pronunciation play in
standardization?
– it’s central to sociolinguistic identity
– pronunciation differences are a major source
of communication difficulty
– but it doesn’t affect writing
• sociolinguists distinguish accent and dialect
• UK schools teach standard ‘dialect’ but not accent
Research questions: standards 2
• What are the effects of the two main
models of standardization?
– standard/dialect, e.g. England
– diglossia, e.g. German Switzerland
• Do more children learn to use the standard
in one than in the other?
• Are there any general lessons for
education?
Research questions: standards 3
• Does standardization for foreigners have
any effect on native standards?
– Much discussion about ‘World Englishes’,
driven by non-native speakers
• Foreigners want uniformity
– natives rejoice in diversity
Research questions: standards 4
• What is ‘maturity’ in a standard language?
– Is it more mature use of existing linguistic
resources
• better performance using the same competence
– Or is it the use of more mature linguistic
resources?
• better performance using better competence
For example
• Why do more mature writers use more
subordinate clauses? Because they:
– get better at using subordinate clauses?
– learn more subordinate patterns?
• more mature = older (England: ‘Key Stage’)
–
–
–
–
KS1 = Year 2, age 7
KS2 = Year 6, age 11
KS3 = Year 9, age 14
KS4 = Year 11, age 16
• more mature = better (England: ‘Grade’ 1-10)
subordinate clauses/100 words
5
4
KS1
KS2
KS3
KS4
3
2
1
0
1
2b
3 4/F 5
6 7/C 8
grade
A
Deviation: why it sometimes
matters
• Positive deviation
– creative language
– verbal humour, verbal play to explore the boundaries
• Neutral deviation
– geographical variation between alternative standards,
e.g. England, Scotland, USA
• Negative deviation
– deviation based on ignorance
– deviation that evokes negative stereotypes
Research questions: deviation
• Does positive deviation aid learning?
• How successfully do non-standard
speakers learn standard?
– and how about speakers of other languages?
• What, exactly, does ‘mature ability’
require beyond native knowledge of:
– standard
– non-standard
– other languages
Education: what it can do
• Traditionally: ‘the three Rs’:
– reading
– writing
– arithmetic
• Notice: 2/3 are language skills
• Language is still central to education
– But we now have a more sophisticated view.
The four Ts
• Teach
– new knowledge
• Train
– new skills – ways of using knowledge
• Track
– development towards maturity
• Transmit
– traditional culture
– research findings
The educational cycle
school teacher
adult
researcher
university
knowledge
knowledge
Year 1-13
infant
research
Language education in England
• 1960: grammar teaching dies in English
• 1980: it dies in foreign languages
• 1990: grammar teaching reborn thanks to:
– Mrs Thatcher’s central control of education:
• ‘back to basics’
• first National Curriculum
– Linguists’ good ideas
• 1999: new National Curriculum for
– English
– Foreign languages
The 1999 National Curriculum:
English
• liberal about non-standard forms
– called ‘dialectal’, not ‘wrong’
• includes ‘Knowledge About Language’
• structure
• variation
• for example, …
KS 3 & 4 Writing
Comments
• ‘appropriate grammatical terminology’
– Hooray!
– This requires explicit study of grammar
– I believe this is a good idea
• But am I right?
• ‘for example: nouns, verbs, adjectives, …
– What about ‘subject’, ‘phrase’, ….
– Is this ‘dumming down’ or ignorance?
Foreign languages …
• … are ‘in crisis’
• School children find them ‘difficult’ and
‘boring’
• They don’t want to study them at
university.
• Language graduates don’t want to become
school teachers.
• Inspectors complain about the teaching.
Year 13 Foreign languages
35000
30000
25000
French
20000
German
15000
Spanish
10000
5000
0
38
9
1
65
9
1
75
9
1
85 9 88
9
1
1
90
92
94
96
98
00
0
2
2
4
6
Languages: The National
Curriculum
(In learning foreign languages,) they explore
the similarities and differences between other
languages and English and learn how
language can be manipulated and applied in
different ways. The development of
communication skills, together with
understanding of the structure of language, lay
the foundations for future study of other
languages and support the development of
literacy skills in a pupil’s own language.
Comments
• ‘explore the similarities and differences
between other languages and English’
– Hooray!
• ‘understanding of the structure of
language’
– Hooray!
• ‘lay the foundations for future study of
other languages’
– Hooray!
and even …
‘support the development of literacy skills in
a pupil’s own language’
• Hooray!!
• Traditionally, English and foreign-language
teachers have worked separately
• Linguists suggested ‘Language
awareness’, in which they work together.
• A revolutionary idea!
Lots of good ideas, but …
• Teachers didn’t learn ‘Knowledge About
Language’
– at school – grammar was dead
– at university – little study of language
• Teachers of L1 didn’t learn about L2 and
vice versa,
– so cross-subject linking is hard and
unattractive
The educational cycle meets reality
school teacher
adult
researcher
university
knowledge
knowledge
Year 1-13
infant
research
Wanted:
• More relevant research
• Better flow of research findings into
undergraduate courses for
– L1
– L2
• More language graduates in teaching
• More application of research-based ideas
in teaching
Educational linguistics: what it can
do
• Relevant and usable research on:
• Linguistics:
– how language matures
• Didactics:
– how schools can teach language
• Cultural studies:
– how schools can integrate language with
other parts of culture
Thank you!
• This slide show can be found at:
www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/talks.htm#gi
• Some papers on educational linguistics
can be found at:
…/dick/papers.htm#ed