Milestones of Communication during Adolescence
Adolescence: “the period of life that starts with the biological, physical, hormonal stages of puberty and ends at the age at which the individual attains a stable independent role in society” (Blakemore 2010)
“Adolescence may be divided into three stages: pre-adolescence (from about 9 -12), early adolescence (about age 13- 16) and late adolescence or early adulthood (about age 17 to age 21)” (Turkstra 2000, p.350)
Many teachers may assume that adolescents have developed most of their language skills by the time they arrive in a secondary education setting. This may well be due to the influence of the critical period hypothesis (CPH), an oral language acquisition theory put forward by Lenneberg which suggested that children complete much of their language learning between the ages of 2 and 12 (Nippold, 2007). This is often further justified by evidence that the brain loses some of its neural plasticity around the start of adolescence as brain organisation becomes complete. However new research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has now demonstrated that the brain continues to change into the early 20s as a process called myelination takes place, where synapses or connections within the grey matter of the brain are pruned back and fine tuned (Blakemore 2010, 2013; Turkstra 2000). (See also BrainFacts.org link in further resources). Despite extensive research into language acquisition and development "it is difficult to identify any point in the lifespan when the process is truly complete" (Nippold, 2007, p.1)
Adolescence: “the period of life that starts with the biological, physical, hormonal stages of puberty and ends at the age at which the individual attains a stable independent role in society” (Blakemore 2010)
“Adolescence may be divided into three stages: pre-adolescence (from about 9 -12), early adolescence (about age 13- 16) and late adolescence or early adulthood (about age 17 to age 21)” (Turkstra 2000, p.350)
Many teachers may assume that adolescents have developed most of their language skills by the time they arrive in a secondary education setting. This may well be due to the influence of the critical period hypothesis (CPH), an oral language acquisition theory put forward by Lenneberg which suggested that children complete much of their language learning between the ages of 2 and 12 (Nippold, 2007). This is often further justified by evidence that the brain loses some of its neural plasticity around the start of adolescence as brain organisation becomes complete. However new research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has now demonstrated that the brain continues to change into the early 20s as a process called myelination takes place, where synapses or connections within the grey matter of the brain are pruned back and fine tuned (Blakemore 2010, 2013; Turkstra 2000). (See also BrainFacts.org link in further resources). Despite extensive research into language acquisition and development "it is difficult to identify any point in the lifespan when the process is truly complete" (Nippold, 2007, p.1)
CONTEXTS AND COGNITION
An increasing variety of contexts (school, work, social and sporting groups) provide opportunities for adolescents to expand their language content, further develop their communication skills and begin to reflect upon these skills using metalinguistic constructs (Haig, Oliver & Rochecouste, 2004). Discursive literacy in particular undergoes tremendous development as students transition into what is known as Piaget's 'Formal Operational' stage from early to later adolescence. This stage is marked by an expansion of cognitive abilities, the ability to discuss, read and write about abstract ideas, justify viewpoints and engage in negotiation and persuasion (Berman, 2008). Later language development is a gradual process of refinement (Nippold, 2007) making definitive ages and stages for specific abilities harder to define. However salient aspects of adolescent language development are summarised below:
An increasing variety of contexts (school, work, social and sporting groups) provide opportunities for adolescents to expand their language content, further develop their communication skills and begin to reflect upon these skills using metalinguistic constructs (Haig, Oliver & Rochecouste, 2004). Discursive literacy in particular undergoes tremendous development as students transition into what is known as Piaget's 'Formal Operational' stage from early to later adolescence. This stage is marked by an expansion of cognitive abilities, the ability to discuss, read and write about abstract ideas, justify viewpoints and engage in negotiation and persuasion (Berman, 2008). Later language development is a gradual process of refinement (Nippold, 2007) making definitive ages and stages for specific abilities harder to define. However salient aspects of adolescent language development are summarised below:
COMMUNICATION USE (Pragmatics)
Adolescents are generally very skilled at 'code switching' or adapting their communication for various audiences. Most understand the importance of more formal speech and politeness in front of teachers, older relatives and young children (Reed, 1999). With the advent of the digital age and the increasing globalisation of information adolescents can be observed using language for a complex range of functions, often simultaneously. The ability to produce contingent responses are particularly important conversational skills when communicating with peers whether face to face or via technology. Verbal or text responses include asking and answering questions and responding with directly related content (Turkstra, Ciccia & Seaton, 2003). Non-verbal responses when physically with peers are also essential to maintaining group membership. One must nod, have a neutral or positive facial expression and use suitable back channel responses such as ‘uh huh', 'yep' or 'you’re kidding me!’ as mechanisms for not taking a turn and for demonstrating continued attention and empathy. The ability to tell a personal narrative, use appropriate stress patterns and often ‘over the top’ emotive language is also a common feature of adolescent peer communication. You may have noticed that adolescents use and even produce new slang terms frequently. Although this is primarily a mechanism for demonstrating connection with their particular peer group, it also reveals the adolescent’s growing ability to use figurative or metaphoric references meaningfully (Nippold, 2007).
Adolescents are generally very skilled at 'code switching' or adapting their communication for various audiences. Most understand the importance of more formal speech and politeness in front of teachers, older relatives and young children (Reed, 1999). With the advent of the digital age and the increasing globalisation of information adolescents can be observed using language for a complex range of functions, often simultaneously. The ability to produce contingent responses are particularly important conversational skills when communicating with peers whether face to face or via technology. Verbal or text responses include asking and answering questions and responding with directly related content (Turkstra, Ciccia & Seaton, 2003). Non-verbal responses when physically with peers are also essential to maintaining group membership. One must nod, have a neutral or positive facial expression and use suitable back channel responses such as ‘uh huh', 'yep' or 'you’re kidding me!’ as mechanisms for not taking a turn and for demonstrating continued attention and empathy. The ability to tell a personal narrative, use appropriate stress patterns and often ‘over the top’ emotive language is also a common feature of adolescent peer communication. You may have noticed that adolescents use and even produce new slang terms frequently. Although this is primarily a mechanism for demonstrating connection with their particular peer group, it also reveals the adolescent’s growing ability to use figurative or metaphoric references meaningfully (Nippold, 2007).
COMMUNICATION FORM (Phonology, Morphology, Syntax)
Grammatical refinements are just one aspect of adolescent language development, which you may notice more by their absence in the early stages. By age 11 many students are beginning to understand the use of derivational suffixes such as adding ‘y’ to adjectives and ‘ly’ to adverbs. Complete understanding of for instance, vowel shifting rules when inflections are added, may not be fully established until up to age 17 (sane – sanity) (Owens, 2012 p.349). According to Nippold (2007) adolescent’s improved cognitive abilities allow them to develop an understanding of abstract nouns which represent concepts, states of being and emotions (courage, freedom, pleasure). They also expand the range of verb forms they can use effectively including: metalinguistic verbs (assert, concede, imply) and metacognitive verbs (conclude, remember, doubt) along with factive and non-factive verbs indicating certainty (know, see, notice) and uncertainty (believe, think or guess) (pp.42-46).
Exposure to new disciplines often leads students to use more descriptive language including a more extensive range of adverbs including those of magnitude (slightly, rather, unusually) and adverbs that describe likelihood (probably, certainly, definitely) (Nippold, 2007; Owens, 2012). As adolescents are exposed to the different genres needed in various disciplines, the structure of their writing needs to change to suit the audience. The mean terminable unit (MTU) is a measure of syntactic complexity used by linguists to chart later sentence complexity after the mean length of utterance (MLU) used during preschool is no longer valid. Sentences can be measured according the number of morphemes used (meaningful units or word elements) but can also be assessed according to their complexity in terms of the number of independent, dependent and subordinate clauses along with the coordinating conjunctions that link them. Research across adolescence has shown that MTU length increases according to genre; being lowest during conversation, increasing in expository text and recorded at its highest levels in texts that require persuasion (Nippold, 2007 pp. 364-365). Some students will need explicit instruction to develop competence in using the sophisticated clause linkages needed in expository texts and those used to formulate logical arguments (Berman, 2008; Nippold, 2007). Text cohesion will be enhanced as students learn to use pronouns to refer to things outside the immediate sentence (Nippold, 2007) and passive forms will appear more frequently in both speech and writing (Berman, 2008).
Grammatical refinements are just one aspect of adolescent language development, which you may notice more by their absence in the early stages. By age 11 many students are beginning to understand the use of derivational suffixes such as adding ‘y’ to adjectives and ‘ly’ to adverbs. Complete understanding of for instance, vowel shifting rules when inflections are added, may not be fully established until up to age 17 (sane – sanity) (Owens, 2012 p.349). According to Nippold (2007) adolescent’s improved cognitive abilities allow them to develop an understanding of abstract nouns which represent concepts, states of being and emotions (courage, freedom, pleasure). They also expand the range of verb forms they can use effectively including: metalinguistic verbs (assert, concede, imply) and metacognitive verbs (conclude, remember, doubt) along with factive and non-factive verbs indicating certainty (know, see, notice) and uncertainty (believe, think or guess) (pp.42-46).
Exposure to new disciplines often leads students to use more descriptive language including a more extensive range of adverbs including those of magnitude (slightly, rather, unusually) and adverbs that describe likelihood (probably, certainly, definitely) (Nippold, 2007; Owens, 2012). As adolescents are exposed to the different genres needed in various disciplines, the structure of their writing needs to change to suit the audience. The mean terminable unit (MTU) is a measure of syntactic complexity used by linguists to chart later sentence complexity after the mean length of utterance (MLU) used during preschool is no longer valid. Sentences can be measured according the number of morphemes used (meaningful units or word elements) but can also be assessed according to their complexity in terms of the number of independent, dependent and subordinate clauses along with the coordinating conjunctions that link them. Research across adolescence has shown that MTU length increases according to genre; being lowest during conversation, increasing in expository text and recorded at its highest levels in texts that require persuasion (Nippold, 2007 pp. 364-365). Some students will need explicit instruction to develop competence in using the sophisticated clause linkages needed in expository texts and those used to formulate logical arguments (Berman, 2008; Nippold, 2007). Text cohesion will be enhanced as students learn to use pronouns to refer to things outside the immediate sentence (Nippold, 2007) and passive forms will appear more frequently in both speech and writing (Berman, 2008).
RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE (Aural comprehension)
The ability to take the listener’s perspective has been shown to be highly important in terms of peer acceptance. Empathy and addressee focused skills include: perspective taking, vocal tone interpretation and non-verbal comprehension. According to Reed (1999) these are key components of adolescent friendships. These skills reflect an improved cognitive ability referred to as the ‘theory of mind’ (Owens, 2012). Although this ability develops throughout childhood, research has shown that important further development of this capability occurs during adolescence and increases the capacity for emotional connection and understanding of others (Blakemore, 2013 - see YouTube link below). Adolescents increasingly understand the use of non-literal language such as sarcasm and later in adolescence irony, with boys in particular seeing humour as an important aspect of their peer friendships (Reed, 1999).
Owens (2012) asserts that adolescents at age 12 will have on average a 50,000 word receptive vocabulary (p.424 ), however Nippold qualifies receptive knowledge, suggesting that specific experiences will lead to different sets of vocabulary knowledge (2007, p.46 ). External experiential factors and educational experience and performance, in terms of the ability to extract meaning from contexts while reading and the application of morphological root word knowledge also plays a part in an individual's vocabulary development (Nippold, 2007; Berman, 2008). Adolescents developing pragmatic skills mean they increasingly use both the content of the utterance and the context to infer speaker’s intent (Owens, 2012). Enhancing and guiding their ability to understand and interpret extended discourse across a wide range of genres is really the crux of secondary education. Although adolescents have increased information processing capacities (Berman, 2008) it is important to remember that within each cohort of students there will be some students with language processing disorders or other language difficulties. By presenting information in a variety of ways and considering the complexity of both written and spoken instructions teachers can support all students to learn effectively (see Patchell & Hand,1993 in further resources). In some cases it may be necessary to refer a student for a comprehensive assessment by a trained speech pathologist who can identify areas of strengths and weaknesses and recommend suitable strategies for use in the classroom.
Where to now?
Descriptions of developmental milestones are all very well however ‘adolescent development and trajectories can only ever be described as patterned generalisations’ (Williams & Thurlow 2005, p.2). Many a teacher and parent will agree with Turkstra when she states that ‘although the individual may be expected to act like an adult, particularly in regard to self-regulation, the execution of desired behaviours remains inconsistent’ (2000, p.357). We must not forget that during the adolescent period, communication needs are also intrinsically linked to psychosocial development in terms of self-image, morals and values and sexuality (Turkstra, 2000). These factors impinge on every context in which the adolescent communicates and present dynamic challenges within secondary and higher education that need to be considered alongside pedagogy and development (Patchell & Hand, 1993).
Adding to this complexity lies the bigger picture view of education within society, and the powerful influence of the dominant Discourses used, which Gee (in Haig et. al. 2004) suggests often alienate adolescents socialised in culturally different, non Anglo-Saxon, middle class homes (see also YouTube link below). Students need to be made explicitly aware of the written and spoken registers that are required within various disciplines of the educational system and the ways in which these Discourses give access to power and status within society. Students also need critical literacy skills to interpret the persuasive purposes of much communication especially in this increasingly digital and globalised age. You may be familiar with Sir Ken Robinson's TED talks about how education requires a revolution rather than simple reform (2010). He believes education should actively foster creativity and encourages his audience to see children ‘for the hope that they are,’ reminding educators to remember that we are preparing students for a future that we may not see and can barely imagine (2006, 18:32).
Descriptions of developmental milestones are all very well however ‘adolescent development and trajectories can only ever be described as patterned generalisations’ (Williams & Thurlow 2005, p.2). Many a teacher and parent will agree with Turkstra when she states that ‘although the individual may be expected to act like an adult, particularly in regard to self-regulation, the execution of desired behaviours remains inconsistent’ (2000, p.357). We must not forget that during the adolescent period, communication needs are also intrinsically linked to psychosocial development in terms of self-image, morals and values and sexuality (Turkstra, 2000). These factors impinge on every context in which the adolescent communicates and present dynamic challenges within secondary and higher education that need to be considered alongside pedagogy and development (Patchell & Hand, 1993).
Adding to this complexity lies the bigger picture view of education within society, and the powerful influence of the dominant Discourses used, which Gee (in Haig et. al. 2004) suggests often alienate adolescents socialised in culturally different, non Anglo-Saxon, middle class homes (see also YouTube link below). Students need to be made explicitly aware of the written and spoken registers that are required within various disciplines of the educational system and the ways in which these Discourses give access to power and status within society. Students also need critical literacy skills to interpret the persuasive purposes of much communication especially in this increasingly digital and globalised age. You may be familiar with Sir Ken Robinson's TED talks about how education requires a revolution rather than simple reform (2010). He believes education should actively foster creativity and encourages his audience to see children ‘for the hope that they are,’ reminding educators to remember that we are preparing students for a future that we may not see and can barely imagine (2006, 18:32).
|
|
Author: Rosemary Hughes
Photo credits:
Header - Retrieved from http://inmyworld-2012inphotographs.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/january-06-adolescence.html
Contexts and Cognition-Retrieved from http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02722/teacher-smiling_2722922b.jpg
Communication Use - Retrieved from http://yourteenmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/teens-technology.jpg
Receptive Language - Retrieved from http://www.hungryforchange.tv/images/woman-listening-to-music.jpg
Photo credits:
Header - Retrieved from http://inmyworld-2012inphotographs.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/january-06-adolescence.html
Contexts and Cognition-Retrieved from http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02722/teacher-smiling_2722922b.jpg
Communication Use - Retrieved from http://yourteenmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/teens-technology.jpg
Receptive Language - Retrieved from http://www.hungryforchange.tv/images/woman-listening-to-music.jpg