Halliday and Dore

Michael Halliday’s ‘Learning how to mean’ proposed seven main ‘functions’ that spurred a child to want to use language.
FUNCTIONWHAT IT ISWHAT IT’S USED FOR
 
INSTRUMENTAL		Language used to fulfil a speaker’s needDirectly concerned with obtaining food, drink comfort etc . e.g. ‘I want’
 
REGULATORY		Used to influence the behaviour of othersPersuading / commanding / requesting other people do as you want ‘daddy push’ (child on swing)
 
INTERACTIONAL		Used to develop social relationships and ease interactionThe Phatic dimension of talk eg ‘hello’
 
 
PERSONAL
 		Used to express personal preferences / the speaker’s identitySometimes referred to the ‘here I am!’ function – conveys attitudes, expresses feelings
INFORMATIVEUsed to communicate informationRelaying or requesting information eg ‘I got a new doll
 
HEURISTIC		Used to learn and explore the environmentUsing language to learn – this may be questions or answers or the kind of running commentary that accompanies child’s play
 
IMAGINATIVE		used to explore the imaginationMay also accompany play as children create imaginary worlds / may arise from story telling. Also jokes, songs etc
This can be a complex system which is difficult to apply to data, therefore, John Dore’s ‘Infant Language Functions’ is a lot simpler to learn.
FUNCTIONEXAMPLE
LABELLINGNaming or identifying a person, object or experience
REPEATINGEchoing something spoken by an adult speaker
ANSWERINGGiving a direct response to an utterance from another speaker
REQUESTING ACTIONDemanding food, drink, toy, assistance etc
CALLINGAttracting attention by shouting
GREETINGPretty self explanatory
PROTESTINGObjecting to requests etc
PRACTISINGUsing and repeating language when no adult is present

Comments

  1. Unknown2 October 2016 at 10:59

    Good info - link to your source and next time use multiple sources to check info. Also apply to examples from the transcript so I can check you understand and can apply the theory. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete

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