Football & gendered languages (Originally written for Child Language Singapore)

I had an interesting discussion with a fellow mother at the kindergarten yesterday.  She is Japanese, and mentioned that she had just enrolled her son in football (soccer) classes, organized for other Japanese boys.  She then immediately started to explain that it was actually due to concerns about his Japanese language development, rather than any desires that he already be playing sports (the boy is only 3 years old, which many parents may consider quite young for organized sports classes).

This mother mentioned that Japanese is a gendered language, in the sense that men and boys are expected to use different speech patterns than women and girls.  This family consisted of Mom, Dad, Sister, and Brother, which meant that the boy was home most of the day practicing "polite, gentle" speech with his mom and sister.  The mother mentioned that even Dad, when he was at home, used "polite, gentle" speech patterns, I'm assuming because that's how he preferred to communicate with his wife and daughter, and even son.

It can always be challenging for parents to feel they are successfully raising their children to be truly bilingual when they're living abroad.  The language spoken by Mom, Dad and family members on Skype is often at a disadvantage to developing speaking and listening skills, compared the language spoken by teachers, peers, community members, television programs, and etc.  This is especially so when trips to the home country can't occur often enough.

Language is a multi-faceted treasure of human development, and is made up of vocabulary (semantics), grammar (syntax), and functions (pragmatics).  Vocabulary, for example, is learned when speakers have multiple opportunities to practice words in different settings with a variety of speakers.  Our knowledge related to all the meanings of each individual word in our lexicon becomes richer with each experience using the word or hearing someone else use it.  Likewise, with grammar, children need multiple opportunities to practice a structure before it is truly "mastered"-- think of the irregular past tense in English.  Mastery of the range of language functions for each cultural-linguistic group also takes practice, which is why we would accept and even praise a 1-word demand "COOKIE!" from a toddler, but why, as adults this same way of asking for food would sound rude or even absurd.   In other words, the appropriate way to use language [to request] evolves to something like "Can I have a cookie, please?" or even less direct with, "Did you bake those yourself?"

Socially, males are an interesting species, and when communicating with other males in their peer group, they often do communicate using rough, abrupt, blunt, and teasing language.  With a larger difference in age, respect and politeness come into play.  It's definitely a complex process in social education, as related to gender...

Evidently, use of the gendered forms of language can be considered stylistic in Japanese, and is not obligatory.  So, a man or woman can choose to use as much or as little of the gendered language as they want, and either way, what they say is still "grammatically-correct."  However, a little boy using "gentle" speech patterns with another little boy, during an argument at school over a toy, would be at a disadvantage linguistically.  So, this little Japanese boy was lacking in opportunities to practice the "vulgar, rough, abrupt, and blunt" speech style that is so characteristic of the way males speak to members of their peer group. 

So, what to do, when living abroad and your child is learning the "mother tongue" in a similar manner to a "second language"?  You have to create naturalistic opportunities for the child to practice the language skills that you want him/her to acquire.  In the case of this Japanese family, they decided that the most natural way for a little boy to learn "boy speech" would be a nice, long session of rough play with other little boys. 

Gives new meaning to the saying "boys will be boys"...


To learn more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_differences_in_spoken_Japanese
http://www.epochrypha.com/japanese/materials/genderspecific/
http://www.tofugu.com/guides/japanese-gendered-language/

1. Written in 2013, Singapore

Heckedy Peg (Post originally written for Child Language Singapore)

Title: Heckety Peg 

Author: Audrey Wood

Illustrator: Don Wood

I was already a fan of the (husband & wife) illustrator & author team of Don & Audrey Woods, from having used the Spanish version of The Napping House often in language therapy activities. We just accidentally stumbled on to Heckedy Peg at the library, from one quick look at it, I knew it was one we had to take home.

Heckedy Peg tells the story of a family whose world is turned upside-down when a witch visits their cottage, and turns the children into food. 

The beautiful illustrations are immediately enchanting, depicting life in a non-modern, agricultural world-- a nice change of rhythm for children being raised in an urban or sub-urban environment.  Don Wood also managed to perfectly capture the characters' emotions of joy, terror, and despair in his oil-paintings.


Here are some areas of expressive language that can be targeted with this story:

Basic academic concepts
The seven children are named after the days of the week, which makes for a nice, indirect way to incorporate this functional, academic concept.  And your child's teacher would also be pleased!  


Semantic associations
As the mother breaks the witch's spell by matching her children [turned into food] with the food each has asked for, there is a great opportunity for discussion with your child as to how the items go together.  For example:
-  "bread wants butter".  Why does bread go with butter?  Because we spread butter on bread.
-  "pie wants knife".  Why does pie go with a knife?  Because we use a knife to cut the pie.


Sequencing and prepositions of location
Audrey Wood, the author, divides Heckedy Peg's journey into distinct parts, which Don Wood illustrates beautifully.  It is beneficial expressive language practice for your child to use prepositional phrases in the correct order to describe the witch's journey home--  "... down the road, over the bridge, through the town, across the field, and deep into the woods."

Perspective-taking

For children who would benefit from practice with social language, adults can take time to discuss what the characters are thinking and feeling, and what each person or animal knows, in relation to the others.  Here are some ideas:

- First-order false beliefs-- The understanding of one person's beliefs about something.  For example, in Heckedy Peg, since the little bird was witness to the witch casting her spell, he knows where she has taken the children.  The mother does not know where her children are since she was out at the market.  Different characters think, know, and feel different things, and it can be worthwhile to actually discuss this with your children as you read the story.

- Second-order false beliefs-- The ability to understand one person’s beliefs about another person’s beliefs.  For example, the witch knows that the children in the story think that she is just an old lady in need of a light for her pipe.  Readers who have difficulty interpreting others' feelings and guessing their thoughts may really need an adult to talk about this in as simple terms as possible, even drawing simple pictures with "thought bubbles" to make it clearer.

Finally, mothers will especially love this one, since the main "moral" would be...

LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!!!!!

Find Heckedy Peg at the Singapore NLB under Fairy Tales, Witches Fiction.
Enjoy the story!

Written in Singapore, April 2013

Nasal airflow (Originally written as part of Child Language Singapore)

I'm currently reading Pam Marshalla's Apraxia Uncovered.  In case you don't know her, Marshalla is basically a living guru in the field of speech therapy, often associated with innovative treatments in the areas of apraxia, articulation, and oral motor. 

The book walks the reader through the 7 stages of phoneme development.  We learn how typically-developing babies must learn the "action skill" (among many others) of Differentiating-- learning how to differentially channel airflow through either the mouth (oral pathway) or nose (nasal pathway).  This is important to speech acquisition, since some phonemes are produced through the mouth (e.g. /a/, /t/), and some through the nose (e.g. /m/, /n/).

Marshalla proposes that a typically-developing baby would naturally start to learn about nasal sounds when the tongue, which is very large in babies relative to the size of the mouth, naturally falls back toward the velum as they vocalize while lying on their backs, which they do quite a lot before they can sit up on their own.  The "ng" sound (a nasal consonant) is produced inadvertently. 

In speech therapy, when therapists are working with older children who still haven't learned how to differentiate and control air flow through the mouth and nose, therapists may use mirrors placed close to the nose (because when air flows through the nose, a fog is visible), or other tools like flexible tubes or nose flutes to help teach this skill.

On a different but related note, my 6-month old baby is battling her first cold.  Lately, she can be fussy, bothered by the clear mucus draining from her little nose.

But... there are other moments when she seems to be playing with nasal airflow,  now that the runny nose makes air flowing through it much more audible than normal.  Quick, slightly forceful exhalations through her nose where you can even see her diaphragm moving inward to push the air out.  Longer, more drawn out exhalations through the nose when there is more movement of mucus to give her that audible feedback of what's happening to the air.

eeewwwwww...

And I wonder... should I visit www.pammarshalla.com, tell her all about my daughter's discovery, and suggest this be included in her list of ideas for therapy??

(Actually, as I write this, I'm thinking that my daughter probably isn't the first child in the world to play with nasal airflow in this manner.  Along our paths of acquiring all the skills we need to learn to be functional adult humans, I'm sure there are countless "accidental" learning experiences that actually teach us much more than any parent or teacher could ever do.  Let's celebrate colds, mucus, and learning!)

Addendum, 5/4/2013--
I think Baby did learn about nasal airflow, because later that day, the day she had so much mucus, she produced a prolonged, definite /m/.  Wow!

Visiting your local library (Originally written as part of Child Language Singapore blog)

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Those of us who live in Singapore** have a real treasure with the National Library Board. In my experience so far, it's easy to find a branch that's close to your home, work, or children's school.

Sometimes, however, when you walk into the Children's section of a library, you may feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of titles on the shelves. How is a parent to decide which books will be worth carrying home? You know, things made from the trunks of trees do get heavy if enough of them are piled into a bag. :)

Here are some of the things I look for when spotting books that can be useful in language therapy with children at 2 to 7 years old:

• Simplicity:

  
  
  • in terms of Language. The language level used in the book more or less matches that of my child audience. Think of the types of sentences your child says and the language they understand. If your child seems to lose interest, and you suspect that the book is written on too high of a language level, simplify what you say. Try shorter sentences, simpler vocabulary. You can even slow the pace of your reading. When you're ready to expose your child to new vocabulary, remember to present the new words alone (e.g. labeling pictures) or in simple sentences. 
    
    
  • In terms of topic. The story typically relates to experiences that are familiar to the child. I mean activities such as mealtimes, waking up, nighttime/going to sleep, injuries, work (e.g. cleaning up the house, going to school, building), and play. Even very young children typically have a solid understanding of these events-- which are actually multi-step processes in and of themselves. Reflecting on and talking about these activities with an adult gives children an opportunity to expand language skills on a solid foundation provided by their own knowledge of these very familiar processes.
    
    

• Predictable patterns and repetitive words or phrases. 

  This aspect is extremely important to me when selecting books for language therapy. The author creates a language structure, which becomes predictable because it repeats itself. Because it's the structure that repeats itself, not the exact words, the book actually becomes more entertaining, rather than boring. This structure, or scaffolding, supports the child's language as s/he reaches towards the next level, much like the metal scaffolds of a building being constructed. The element of repetition makes the language in the story more accessible to the child, and the child is more likely to try out some of these language structures in his/her own sentences.
  
  
  We see this type of language scaffolding used across the plots of a whole series of books (e.g. The Ted series, by Beaty and Lemaitre, which I will review later), and also at the level of sentences within a single book (e.g. Eric Carle books, such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar: “On ___DAY, he ate through NUMBER, COLOR, FRUIT. But he was still hungry.”).

• Clear plot and storyline. 

  When reading the story, it is clear who the main characters are, where the story takes place (setting), and that there is a beginning (usually with a “problem” that the main character faces), middle (what the character does to try to solve his/her problem) and ending (some sort of resolution or consequence to all that happens). And, as stated earlier, for younger children, all of this would ideally be related to some life situation that they have direct experience with.

• Something that your child finds entertaining and interesting, and that you, as the parent and reader, are able to enjoyably read and discuss within your own realistic time frame. 

  Children can perceive when the adult is really putting energy and enthusiasm into the telling. It makes a big difference when we rush through a story in monotone, vs when we are able to put emphasis into key words and expressions, using funny voices for characters, changing the intonation and volume of the voice as necessary. Children also feel validated when the adult seems to also enjoy reading the story they ahve selected. But, let's be honest, it is difficult to give it all we've got at storytime if we find the book too long for the time we have. Consider realistically your child's and your own attention span, energy level, and time available for reading stories, and do your best with the resources you have!

The benefits of reading to our children are clear. In subsequent entries, I will be sharing with you some of the wonderful books I've stumbled upon at the NLB, organized and presented by author, which, I hope, will make them more easy to locate in the libraries.

Sources:

Darian, Shea. (2001) Seven Times the Sun: Guiding your Child through the Rhythms of the Day. USA. Gilead Press.

Miller, L., Gillam, R. B., & Peña, E. (2001). Dynamic Assessment and Intervention: Improving Children's Narrative Abilities. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

Pepper, J. and Weitzman, E. (2004) It Takes Two to Talk. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Hanen Centre.

Weitzman, E. and Greenberg, J. (2002) Learning Language and Loving It. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Hanen Centre.

** written in 2013, Singapore