Year 11 English Language

Students take language research into the real world

Glen Eira College's Year 11 English Language class stepped off campus last term for a pair of excursions to Glen Carnegie Kindergarten, collecting real speech data from young children as part of their VCE studies.

Over two visits to Glen Carnegie Kindergarten in May and June, Year 11 English Language students gathered the natural speech data they need to complete their unit on language acquisition.

Working with children aged two to five, students observed and recorded spontaneous speech during classroom activities and play, then conducted a "WUG test," a classic exercise in linguistics where children are shown images of imaginary creatures or actions and prompted to produce plural forms and verb tenses. The results give students a window into how grammar is acquired before it is ever formally taught.

"It was wonderful to see the children and students connect, and to observe how they supported one another." (as said by the kindergarten’s staff). 

The partnership was warmly welcomed by the kindergarten team. The Early Childhood Teacher and her colleagues provided a flexible and enthusiastic environment for both visits, allowing students to collect authentic data that would otherwise be impossible to replicate in a classroom setting.

Victor Yaroshetsky

English, English Language, Humanities, and Hebrew Teacher