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Running Head: REFLECTIVE WRITING
Reflective Writing
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Language use amongst children of age sixteen ought to have developed to allow these
adolescents to use advanced language. At this age, the child is supposed to construct complex
sentences both orally and in written form, following all the grammar rules with minimal or no
errors. Acquisition of language skills enables children of this age to have an ability to use
figurative language correctly and even understand their usage when they are used by the other
party when conversing. This essay will reflect an interview of a sixteen-year-old student by
looking at how she uses language to communicate and establish why she does so in the manner
provided by the prompt.
In the interview, we meet Cathyrine, who is a sixteen years old student. Cathyrine can use
language, though her speech is full of grammatical errors in most instances. These grammatical
errors arise because she is not fully equipped with language skills that help her construct
grammatical statements and avoid using filters. Most of her simple sentences are grammatical,
but the problem arises when required to respond using a complex sentence. Most of her complex
sentences are erroneous. Tenses and spelling are also other big problems that Cathyrine has in
her language skills.
The other child, who is the interviewer, is also equipped with language skills and is
somehow not conversant with most of the grammar rules that help construct grammatical
sentences. Unlike Cathyrine, the interviewer's speech is full of sentences that serve the heuristic
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Running Head: REFLECTIVE WRITING
function. The way this child applies tenses in her sentences shows that she is aware of tense
rules. Almost all of her sentences are grammatical about tenses. Word spelling is her biggest
problem. A lot of errors that I identified in her speech arose from the way she was spelling her
words.
Although Cathyrine's language use is poor, she can communicate her thoughts and
feelings in the erroneous language that she is using. The knowledge of tenses does exist in her
language skills though she cannot utilize the rules effectively in some instances. For example, in
dialogue nine, she uses the words lead and pay in the future tense while taking place in the past.
Another problem that cathyrine has is that she often omits keywords in her speech and has
influence from her background. From the sample given in the prompt, the predominant function
that Cathyrine's speech function is representational. A lot of explanation was evident in her
speech, but this resulted from the direction that the interviewer was taking.
Cathyrine’s communicative use
Function Inf/Rep Interactional Heuristic Regulatory Personal Imaginative Instrumental
% 38 14 10 2 9 23 4
Example OK. It
like… that’s
what I all
remembered.
It’s has been
so long I
Good
morning
What,
hold on,
they do?
Hhhhh…
that’s
…wow,
didn’t
I will say
“excuse
me, here is
the line.”
Sometimes
I do,
sometimes
I don’t
I didn’t
thought
about that
yet. There
seems like
so much
things I
Investment
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Running Head: REFLECTIVE WRITING
can’t do it
all
expect
that.
would do.
Rent my
apartment,
find a part
time job, I
don’t
know,
those just
something I
watch from
the
YouTube.
But for
sure,
college
seems like
a lots of
fun
The interviewer uses language fully aware of language rules though she was facing some
difficulties with spelling. Her tenses are correct, and the subject + verb+ object order is being
adhered to in her speech. The communicative function that is common in her speech is heuristic.
She is always enquiring about the affairs of Cathyrine using less erroneous complex sentences.
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Running Head: REFLECTIVE WRITING
Interviewer’s communicative use
Function Inf/Rep Interactional Heuristic Regulatory Personal Imaginative Instrumental
% 0 10 89 0 0 1 0
Example Hi
Cathyrine
How are
you
today
What
would you
do if you
are a
billionaire
Communicative Content
Cathyrine and her interviewer are discussing how Cathyrine has been fairing since the
Covid Pandemic broke out. Catherine is explaining how she has managed to home school and
engage in other activities during the period. The vocabulary of the two is not adequate. A lot of
omissions are exhibited, the tense rule is not being adhered to, and the choice of words is also
poor. For example, in dialogue 16, the interviewer uses the word profermance to mean
performance. Though these two are communicating to each other, many errors are being carried
forward, like in the same example, Cathyrine responds by using the same word ungrammatically;
preference. The learners' status of learning English well as the learners know that there are rules
present in the construction of sentences. Most of the concepts that the two are discussing are
concrete. They talk about Cathyrine's family and what she does daily. In one instance, the two
talk about the abstract concept of joining college. Both students are at a cognitive stage where
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Running Head: REFLECTIVE WRITING
they formally relate to abstract concepts using symbols. They can make hypotheses and grasp
abstract concepts.
Communicative Form.
The surface structure of Cathyrine's language shows that she is cognizant of word order.
The combination of words is grammatically done. S+V+O word order has been adhered to. e.g.,
in dialogue 4, she says, "My name is Cathyrine, my friend usually call me Cathy." Most of the
simple sentences are complete, but complex sentences have omissions. The interviewers’
language does not show home influence like Cathyrine’s. When she uses the word “gonna," she
is borrowing this word from her home language. There are consistent morphological errors in
both the student's speech. E.g., Cathyrine includes a lot of fillings.
Utter
Type
1 SS SSE FR CS CSE HOL TELEGR
% 18 15 5 0 10 60
Example Hi Good
morning
Oh, Thank
you so
acompliment
- Hold
on…it’s
4
Beside that,
I think
relationship
and
connection
is
important
too.
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Running Head: REFLECTIVE WRITING
The students are adhering to contextual contingency. Cathyrine is responding to the
questions the way they have been asked, although she does give a lot of unnecessary
information. Back channeling of conversation is taking place; that is why the conversation is
kept alive. Polite language has been extensively used, and the interviewer praises Cathyrine
where she has done an extraordinary act. The two are practicing turn-taking effectively, and they
are understanding each other even though I can deduce that their speech is full of grammatical
errors.
Effectiveness of Adult’s role.
Since children learn language through imitation, adults play a big role in a child’s
language development. Cathyrine's problem of omitting words may have been carried forth
because that is how she was used to communicating when she was learning, and the adults
around her responded without criticism. Cathyrine is assuming that the interviewer understands
what she is talking about even when she omits some words in the conversation.
Proposed Support Measures.
Cathyrine needs to read a lot of storybooks to improve her vocabulary. Teachers at school
should emphasize teaching her tenses because she has a big problem in identifying the tense to
use according to the time the action took place. Constant correction should be made during oral
communication to help her overcome obvious mistakes.
