Language Analysis

Find an ESL speaker (the informant) who is willing to allow you to audio-record and analyse their spoken English. It is useful to find someone who speaks a language

other than English that you also know well.
Use the template provided to prepare an information sheet explaining the project and a consent form for you and the informant to sign before you record the

conversation. Make sure the informant gets a copy. Include a copy of the signed information sheet/consent form as an appendix in your final assignment. The template is

available on the course website.
Audio-record no more than five minutes worth of the informant’s speaking. It should be natural and should not be rehearsed (e.g., ask them to tell you about a time

something funny or interesting happened, or a time they were very happy, or a place they have visited).
Type ten lines of the recording (written exactly as you heard it) in normal script in a word document. Leave two lines free underneath each line. The second line is

for identifying the non-standard features of the informant’s speech and the third line is where you reconstruct the speech in formal, standard English.
In the first line, highlight the non-standard features of pronunciation in YELLOW. Highlight the non-standard grammatical and morphological features (e.g., incorrect

pronoun use, inaccurate tense formation, inappropriate verb inflections, missing plural or 3rd person ‘s’) in LIGHT BLUE. Highlight the non-standard features of syntax

(word order) in LIGHT PINK. Highlight the non-standard lexical features (word choice) in LIGHT GREEN.
In the second line, devise a code or shorthand for analysing these features.
In the third line, reconstruct the features in standard English as best you can without losing the informant’s original meaning.
Your analysis will look something like this:
Line 1: The informant writes: Ze bigfirtie go.
Line 2: Language analysis line: [Write an IPA transcription of phonological features as you heard them] -past part. had (which means: missing past participle ‘had’).

Mismatched S + V (which means ‘no agreement of Subject and Verb’).
Line 3: Your reconstruction: Breakfast time had gone.
Attach this analysis to your informant profile (see part 2).
Part 2: The informant profile (1,500 – 2,000 words)
Write a profile of your informant. Introduce him/her by describing his/her gender, age, approximate language proficiency level, language learning experiences, cultural

background, learning purpose, motivation and any other important information. Present the phonological features from your language analysis (it is best to summarise

them in a table format). A helpful resource is Douglas Brown, H. (2007) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, pp. 257-281. In the same way, present and discuss

the grammatical (morphological and syntactical) features of your informant’s speech.
Based on your analysis, identify the most urgent language learning needs of your informant and discuss some ways that teachers could address these needs. Use

references to support your profile, following APA 6th style.
Notes:
Try to avoid referring to the non-standard features of your informant’s speech as ‘errors’. This is now considered rather outdated. It is now considered less

pejorative to talk in terms of cross-linguistic transfer or non-standard features of language.
Ethical clearance for this assignment has already been obtained from the university research office.

Criteria & Marking:
A rich and detailed profile description of your selected speaker (12)
Ability to conduct a sound phonological analysis of the learner’s speech (18)
Ability to analyse morphological and syntactical features of the learner’s speech (18)
Effective analysis of the student’s language learning needs based on your findings (8)
Clear, effective presentation; follows formal academic wrtiting style and APA 6th style referencing (4)
A marking rubric will be available on the course website