PRELUDE TO CHAPTER 5
PHASE 2 PHASE 2 - INDIVIDUAL ADMINISTRATION OF RAPT, FOCUS GROUPS AND INTERVIEWS
8. Tell me what the man is doing
5.4 REVISTING THE RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
As was indicated in the research methodology chapter, chapter 4, the RAPT, which has performed several roles in the research, including that of being a research instrument, was adapted after phase 2 of the study. The pictures and content were adapted according to all the responses from the participants. The adapted version of the RAPT depicted below was presented to SLTs using the Delphi technique (see chapter 4) and the findings are discussed in this chapter.
1. What is the girl doing?
Information
Hug, teddy bear,
( to) nurse, doll(dollie), son, girl, boy, baby, play, catch, hold,play with
Grammar
Present participle e.g. holding, hugging
RESPONSE BY SLTS TO ADAPTED VERSION The content is linguistically and culturally relevant but:
• The girl in the picture is not hugging the doll so ‘hug’ is no longer relevant in the information
• There is no longer a teddy bear so the word should be omitted from information
• The phrase ‘to nurse’ can be ambiguous as it is associated with sickness
2. What is the mother going to do?
Information
Put, put on, pull off, take off, get off, child, shoes, boots, school, sister, girl, mother, ma, mama, baby
Grammar Future tense
pull- put- Poss, noun or fem
Poss. Pronoun or preposition with noun Girls’s, her, on the girl
Note
• No gender pronouns in African languages e.g. her
• Limited prepositions in African languages
RESPONSES BY SLTS TO ADAPTED VERSION
• Culturally and linguistically relevant but picture is unclear
• Unclear what the mother going to do i.e. looks like she is tying the shoe not ‘putting on/off’
3. What HAS been done to the dog?
Information
Go, home, dog, tied to, fastened to /fas to, punished, wood, plank, stick
Grammar Nom. Sing. Pronoun or noun
It, he, she, the dog, someone, his/her master, his/herlead
Auxiliary is, has, was Passive got
-appropriate to form of question been Past tense or past partiple tied Note:
1. No gender pronouns in African languages
2. Research shows passive acquired earlier in isiZulu
RESPONSE BY SLTS TO ADAPTED VERSION
• Culturally and linguistically relevant but too much information in picture and affects focus.
• Gender pronoun difference - not relevant - any would be relevant for the dog.
Questioning the relevance of early acquisition of passive voice in isiZulu when test is in English.
4 Tell me all about what the man is doing?
Information Going on,horse, boy, man up,
riding on, make jump,horse, jump, jump over, jump with, going over, gate,fence
Grammar Present participle
Jumping, riding, going
RESPONSE BY SLTS TO ADAPTED VERSION
• Culturally and linguistically relevant but excessive contextual information.
• Black and white poles not culturally relevant, should be brown/black, like a fence usually is.
• Concern with front view, suggestion - side view better visually.
5. What has the cat just done?
Information
Cat, catch, step on, jump on, mouse, kill
Grammar
Past tense, verb, regular ending - catched, killed
Past tense verb, correct irregular ending – caught, got
Plural, noun, regular ending - mouses Plural noun, irregular ending - mice Note: No irregular plural or past tense in African languages or Afrikaans
RESPONSE BY SLTS TO ADAPTED VERSION
Culturally and linguistically relevant but picture unclear. Mice need to be darker.
6 What has happened to the girl?
Information
Girl, fall, down, on, over, steps, break, glasses, floor
Grammar
• Fem. Nom. Sing pronoun, or noun.
She, the girl
• Past tense verb, regular form falled, tripped
• Past or perfect tense, verb, correc irregular form has fell, fell
• Incorrect combination for past tense has fell, after falling
• Coordinating conjuction
• Past tense verb, regular ending breaked, smashed
• Past tense verb, correct irregular
• Broken (with ‘has’ above)
• Broke (with ‘fell’above)
• Past tense verb but inconsistent with verb in main clause broke (with
‘has fallen’)
• Broken (with ‘fell’) RESPONSE BY SLTS TO ADAPTED VERSION
Culturally and linguistically relevant.
7 What has the BIG girl done?
Information
Make child, take, book, baby, mother, big girl, catch, post, lift up, hold up, put up, pick up, baby boy, brother, post(posi), put in letter/ dvd/newsletter/paper/ticket/card/book in postbox
Grammar
Past tense verb lifted, helped, tried to help
Subordinating conjuction to, so (that), because
Coordinating conjuction ‘and.’
RESPONSE BY SLTS TO ADAPTED VERSION
Culturally and linguistically relevant. Concerns about the picture are:
• The woman’s smiling facial expression can be a distraction
• The woman in the picture is no longer ‘an older girl’ more like a ‘gogo’
• Does not look like a posting box but a DVD slot
8. Tell me what the man is doing?
Information
Man, get on, roof, catch, father, boy, up, climb, steps, get, fetch, ball, on/off, down
from/off, from roof, top of house
Grammar
Present participle or future climbing, going to fetch
Subordinating conjuction to, so (that),
‘because,’
Coordinating conjuction ‘ and’
RESPONSE FROM THE SLTs TO ADAPTED VERSION Culturally and linguistically relevant
9. What is the boy doing?
Information
Boy, baby, cry, shout, scream, dog, has, has got, take, bite, won’t give, back, take off, get, eat, shoe
Grammar Present partiple crying
Subordinating conjuction because Coordinating conjuction and
Present tense verb eating, has got Past tense verb, regular ending taked, stealed, chewed, bited
Past or perfect tense verb, correct irregular ending
Has taken/bitten, took, bit RESPONSE BY SLTS TO ADAPTED VERSION
Culturally and linguistically relevant. Concerns about picture:
• Too much contextual information
• Boy looks more like shouting than crying
• Boy looks like he’s hurt his arm, so distracting from focus
• Appears as if boy is hiding from the dog
10. Now look at this picture and tell me what is happening?
Information
Lady, woman, mother, mom/mum, ma, mama, apple, tomato, drop, fall, come, open, lose, run, all with/out, from, down, torn, can’t see, hole, break, bag, plastic, boy, man, pick up/try to, get, fetch, steal
Grammar
Main clause subject: noun phrase or noun with determiner - there is a a/A/ The lady, boy, apple (s), hole, bag
Main clause verb, any tense has, is falling, dropped, going to pick, got
Conjuction (score only one) – subordinating because, to
Coordinating , and
Relative pronoun that, which, who Subsidiary verb (score only one) any tense picking, going to pick, came
Pronoun referring to noun previously used it, them, one, they
RESPONSE BY SLTS TO ADAPTED VERSION Culturally and linguistically relevant
SUMMARY
In this chapter, a comprehensive presentation and explanation of the findings from the individual administration of the test on the children, the children’s focus groups, parents and community members’ focus group and academics’ individual interviews was provided. A basis for the vocabulary and picture adaptations was given. Finally, the responses from the SLTs on the research instrument that have been adapted were presented. Vignettes
interspersed the findings to elucidate the information as it emerged. A further critique, to be derived from the findings and implications for the language assessment of EAL speaking children from indigenous linguistic and cultural backgrounds, is given in chapter 6.
CHAPTER 6
A CRITIQUE OF THE FINDINGS
This chapter takes a comprehensive look at the findings that have been described in chapter5.
Concepts that were raised in the literature review in chapter 3 are revisited in the context of the findings. Comparisons are made and patterns that emerge are further explored. Some of the themes that emerge include differences in the responses of the children from urban and rural areas. Significant variations appeared between the adults’ responses (parents, community and academics, the language experts) and children’s responses. This chapter concludes with a detailed critique of the children’s voices.