ETE 234
Language Development Observation and Analysis
October 10th Location: Eva’s House Start time: 12:10 pm End time: 1:00 pm
*only ~20 minutes transcribed based on the amount of utterances she was producing*
Eva (age 4 years, 4 months). Eva was born 3 months premature and stayed in the hospital until
her original due date. Physically she is roughly in the 10th percentile for height. Yet, she has a
large and happy personality to make up for her size. She is extremely social once she warms up
to a new person and has a very inquisitive mind for what happens all around her.
Mom, Dad and younger sister (Myla) were all home and talking about all different events that
were going on in school and other recent events.
13. E: Yeah1, I1’m1 hold1ing1 in1 my1 toe1s1 and1 my1 ear1s1. 13
14. E: Can1 you1 do1 that1 Myla1? 5
M: Myla go see what Eva’s doing, it’s very funny. (Talking to Myla: “Wanna go see what
Eva’s doing?” Myla: No.)
20. E: Myla1, come1 on1. Myla1 it1’s1 not1 scary1, it1’s1 just1 me1. 12
Parents are encouraging Myla to go closer to Eva to see what’s happening.
40. E: How1 you1 gonna1 go1 in1 thirty1 minute1s1? Are1 you1 gonna1 go1? 12
L: No.
D: What’d you say? In three minutes?
M: Eva why don’t you tell Liana what you did at school today?
61. E: I jus, I1 just1 play1ed1 with1 them1… 6
63. E: No1 crack1er1s1, no1 juice1. I1 just1 have1 water1, water1, just1 water1. 13
D: Chips and water?
Mom informs Eva that picture day is on Wednesday. Eva comes over to the couch.
71. E: Look1. Look1. I1 got1 my1 pretty1 dress1 on1. 8
(Holds out the bottom of her shirt)
M: That’s a shirt.
72. E: Hey1. 1
73. E: Hey1 Myla1, me1… (screams) 3
D: Are you still hungry? 7:18
M: Eva, if you want a piece of pizza you need to drink your shake first.
Eva and Myla start running in circles between me and the parents.
M: Eva come here, come here. Eva what do you wanna be when you grow up?
76. E: I1 wanna1 be1, uh, a1 witch1. 5
M: A witch?
D: No that’s for Halloween. When you’re a big person what do you wanna be? What do you
wanna do?
77. E: I wanna be, I wanna be, I1 wanna1 be1 a1 ballerina1 play1er1. 7
M: Eva you said you wanted to be a police officer right, like Judy in Zootopia. 8:50
80. E: Yeah1. 1
D: Don’t you want to eat the moon like in Wallace and Gromit?
87. E: No1, on1 top1 of1 the1 moon1. 6
M: Eva what do you think is on the moon? Think there are any animals on the moon? 9:45
88. E: Nope1! Just1 star1s1. 4
89. E: I1 wanna1 be1 an1 astronaut1. 5
M: An astronaut?
90. E: Yeah1, out1er1 space1! And1 blastoff1! 6
91. E: Myla , what do you wanna be when you grow up ? You wanna be an1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
93. E: No1. 1
94. E: Hey1, daddy1 look1 my1 wing1 flap1…flaps her wings up and down. 6
100. E: It, come1 on1 it1’s1 outside1, come1 on1 with1 me1 momma1. 10
101. E: Come1 on1, come1 on1 momma1, come1 on1. 7
102. E: Come1 on1 momma1. You1 see1 it1? 6
M: What’s it doing out there?
111. E: They1’re1 just1 suck1er1s1 and1 thing1s1 and1 candy1 and1 a1 measure1 thing1. 15
D: What’s the measure thing called?
114. E: Rule1r1! 2
115. E: Hey1 Myla1, look1 what1 I1’m1 do1ing1. Holding up the ruler. 8
116. E: Look1 what1 I1 got1 daddy1, a1 ring1. Holding up a ring pop. 7
117. E: Bracelet1. 1
D: Is that candy?
118. E: No1, it1 fit1s1 on1 me1. Look1 dad1, it1’s1 a1 bracelet1. 12
D: A bracelet, oh.
128. E: I1 know1. 2
Continues to shuffle through her candy.
Mom and Dad are talking to Myla at the end of the recording. 15:55
131. E: Hey1 mommy1, I1 wanna1 have1 this1 suck1er1. 8
132. E: Hey1 mom1…I1 was1n’t1… 5
D: Myla, want blankie, baba, night night?
133. E: Singing. Blankie1, baba1, night1 night1. Blankie1, baba1, night1 night1.
Blankie1, baba1, night1 night1. 12
D: You want to take a nap with Myla in her crib?
134. E: No1. Laughs. 1
135. E: Continues to sing. Blankie1, baba1, night1 night1. Blankie1, baba1,
night1 night1. Blankie1, baba1, night1 night1. Daddy1 say1, blankie1, baba1,
night1 night1. Blankie1, baba1, night1 night1. 22
D: Eva, do you love Myla?
136. E: Yes1! 1
137. E: Myla1! 1
138. E: Continues to sing. Blankie1, baba1, night1 night1. Blankie1, baba1,
night1 night1. Blankie1, baba1, night1 night1! Makes a raspberry sound.
Blankie1, baba1, night1 night1. Blankie1, baba1, night1 night1!! Screams. 20
D: Why don’t you tell Liana what we did yesterday?
D: No, yesterday.
142. E: We1 saw1 the1 robot1s1! 5
Calculations:
Highlighting notes:
In order to count the number of morphemes per utterance in Eva’s speech I underlined
each morpheme and then put a superscript one next to each morpheme to help keep tracking of
the total. At the end of each utterance I then added each superscript and put the total. From there,
I added up each line (utterance morpheme total) to attain the total morphemes in Eva’s speech.
Then, since I numbered each utterance I took the total amount of morphemes (834) and divided
by the totally number of utterances (152) to get an MLU of 5.49 during the language observation
of Eva’s speech.
In order to calculate the types of morphemes I noted them in the transcript and then took
the total of each type and divided by the total amount of morphemes. For example, Eva used 58
inflectional morphemes so I took 58 divided by 834 and got 7% (rounded to whole percent).
Brown’s Stages:
After taking a good look at Eva’s utterances she fits into stage early stage 5 (Hulit 205).
She is very inquisitive and just wants to know everything about her surroundings. She has a large
range in the length of her utterances which shows that she still is working on her language
She definitely shows understanding with a few irregular verbs like: gone, saw, and went.
Eva was also using contractions pretty consistently during my observation but is still figuring out
when it’s acceptable versus when it isn’t. Some of the most used contractions Eva used includes
they’re, that’s, and we’re. She also shows that she is starting to understand the use of the
agentive form by adding the suffix –er to a verb to create a noun (i.e. player and sucker). Eva is
also using conjunctions to combine clauses and continue her thought processes. She uses and the
Eva is becoming more aware of the conversation and beginning to be able to guess what
is coming next. Many times during the conversation she would start to get excited about what
was being talked about and have to hold back and wait for her turn in the conversation. This
shows that she is getting better at taking turns and realizing that she can’t talk at the same time as
the other person in the conversation. She uses many indirect request during the conversation as
she definitely wants to keep tabs on what’s happening and where people are going.
Analysis One:
Overall Eva used a majority of free morphemes during my observation, roughly 92%. On
occasion she used bound morphemes. If bound morphemes were used, she would most
commonly use inflectional morphemes like –s (i.e. pants and things) and –ing (i.e. doing and
getting). Inflectional morphemes accounted for roughly 7% of Eva’s speech. When she used
derivational morphemes she used suffixes, mainly –er (i.e. sucker and outer). These morphemes
accounted for 1%. She also used quite a few compound words in combination with an
Analysis Two:
In regards to Eva’s speech sample, Halliday’s Communicative Functions best fit her
speech. Eva shows the use of the interacting function in order to maintain contact with her
parents. For example, she calls “Momma” four times in order to get the attention of her mom to
look down at her shoes. I noticed she tended to do this quite often during the interaction that I
observed. She many times would specifically call attention to one family member to make sure
they knew who she was talking to. There were many times in the sample that she used the
(Hulit 151) and she did this throughout the observation when she said things like “Eww” to
express disgust in something. Also, the use of the regulatory function to “control the behavior of
others.” When she mumbled “Mmmm,” under her breath, to warn Myla that she was to close to
the candy, that was her way to “regulate” Myla’s behavior and tell her to back up. Eva also used
the function, heuristic, to help explore her surroundings. For example, her dad was pointing out
something that was on the ground and she continued to ask “Is it a blueberry? Is it a
cranberry?” The shows her curiosity to explore her surroundings and categorize the different
objects.
Conclusion/Synthesis:
Overall, Eva’s language sample gives a lot of information and insight into her personality
and developmental levels. She definitely preferred to know what was going on around her and
loved when she can get the attention of her parents or sister. As a result, most of her utterances
included reference to someone or ended in a question so that the conversation would continue.
She tended to feed off of what else was going on in the situation and enjoyed talking about things
she did or was currently doing. The sample was pretty reflective of her day to day conversations
with her parents, as I told them in advance to do what they would normally do with her and her
sister. It also helped that Eva knows me well so she didn’t feel like she needed to be shy or
uncomfortable with me observing the situation. This is highly beneficial to this analysis because
if the child is comfortable he or she is most likely to respond and act like he or she would on a
regular basis.
Reflection:
The process of this observation and analysis made me gain a deeper understanding of
language development. When deciding who I would observe, I definitely weighed my options
and tried to decide which child would give me which results and who would be the most
interesting. It was neat to see how Eva interacted with her parents and sister from the observing
perspective especially because most the time I’m babysitting, not analyzing.
Actually writing up the report was definitely time consuming with all the work to
transcribe and then dividing all the morphemes. But, it was definitely interesting looking at
language from a different perspective and depth. I learned that there is way more to language
development than I originally thought. I realized that there is so much hidden meaning and
concepts behind the words we say everyday. Knowing the background of language and different
The sample relates to language acquisition because it supports that a child acquires
language in different ways and through a variety of aspects as they develop. It goes to show that
it is difficult to pinpoint one specific theory to explain language acquisition since components of
each theory all play a part and come together to make a more accurate approach. In regards to
acquisition the best. While watching the way she interacted with her family through spoken
language and non-verbal, like body language (proximity, movement, gestures, etc.), she
exemplified many of the aspects of the theory. The interactionist theory is explained as the
process of learning language as it develops due to the interactions between the child and those
talk to him or her regularly. Also, since Eva was born at such an early part in her prenatal
development she needed lots of support and guidance in order to develop the best possible. This
trend continues using Vygotsky’s ZPD and scaffolding to help her language development
continue to expand.
Overall, I believe the most difficult thing for me while collecting this sample was not
interacting with Eva during the observation. It was interesting to watch how she interacted with
her family and how she responded when I couldn’t respond to her like I usually would. One of
the challenging things about the sample was transcribing the recording. Since there were at times
4 people talking at once, it became difficult to pick out each voice and the words correctly.
Though I had taken lots and lots of notes throughout the process I still had to go back and listen
to multiple spots on the recording 5 or 6 times to make sure I got the most accurate utterance for
the transcription. All in all, I enjoyed doing this analysis on Eva’s language development. It gave
me a new perspective on this child that I’ve known all her life and I look forward to continuing
to pause and informally observe her every once in a while in the future.