Posted: December 9th, 2021

Language Observation essay

EDS 125
Winter 2021
Unit 1: Understanding Bilingualism and Language Policy
The purposes of these two assignments are: 1) to develop your understandings of language use
and translanguaging, linguistic diversity, first and second language development, and bilingual
education, and 2) to provide you with opportunities to explore some of the methodologies used to
study bilingualism and bilingual education. You are NOT expected to have prior research
experience to complete these assignments, nor are you expected to conduct a formal study.
Rather, your investigation should inform your understanding of course concepts and theories.
Part 1: Language Observation (15 points)
For this assignment, you will conduct a 10-minute observation in order to attend closely to how
people use language(s) in their everyday lives. Please note that given the current covid-19
restrictions, it will be challenging to find a setting where you can observe others’ language
practices safely (unless they are already in your pod/current living situation or online).
Alternatively, you can explore language use in a movie or television show. In order to develop an
understanding of the dynamic nature of language and bilingualism, and the fluid ways in which
languages are used in the 21st
century, you will spend some time noticing how people “language”
in this setting. Your observation should consider:
● Who is present in the setting? What activities are they engaged in? How do you know?
Be careful to delineate what you see from your assumptions about what you’re observing.
● In what languages and/or language practices are people engaged? How do they use
language for different purposes or with different individuals? Consider the use of
receptive (listening, reading) and productive (speaking, writing) language skills, standard
and non-standard languages, registers, translanguaging, as well as the use of technology.
We will review how to conduct the language observation in more detail in class.
Your final assignment should consist of the following components:
1. Introductory paragraph: Where did you observe? Why did you select this setting?
2. Analysis (1.5-2 pages):
○ What did you notice in terms of the languages and/or language practices being
used? How did the people you observed use language to make meaning or
otherwise communicate with one another? How do you know? Be sure to share
how people used language(s) to engage in various activities or interactions, with
some description of dynamic uses of language.
○ How did attuning to the use of language help you “see” different language
practices? What did you notice that surprised you?
○ How did what you observed highlight concepts from at least two of the readings
or other materials from this course?
3. Format:
a. 12-point font, 1” margins, double-spaced
b. APA or MLA style citations in text
c. Reference list in APA or MLA style
Submit your paper on Canvas by 11:59pm on Friday, January 22.

Order | Check Discount