Cartoons that Make A Difference: A Linguistic Analysis of Peppa Pig

Thomaï Alexiou; Natassa Kokla

doi:10.30564/jler.v1i1.314

Cartoons that Make A Difference: A Linguistic Analysis of Peppa Pig

Thomaï Alexiou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Natassa Kokla (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

Article ID: 314

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/jler.v1i1.314

Abstract

The present paper examines the vocabulary contained in the British animated programme Peppa Pig and investigates whether the vocabulary included is frequent but also appropriate for beginner learners of English. It also examines if there is any formulaic language in it. Comparison with the BNC wordlist and with the CYLET and EVP wordlists for beginners suggests that one fifth of the English vocabulary contained in the show is frequent and that a small amount of it overlaps with the proposed vocabulary lists of CYLET and EVP for A1 level. Therefore, the majority of the vocabulary contained in the show is mainly infrequent but still appropriate while the in-depth analysis of selective episodes showed amplitude of formulaic language in the show and plenty repetition of it.

Keywords

Cartoons; Preschoolers; Corpus; Frequent/Infrequent words; Vocabulary; Lexical chunks

Full Text:

PDF

References

[1] Alexiou, T. (2015). Vocabulary uptake from Peppa pig: a case study of preschool EFL learners in Greece. In C. Gitsaki, & T. Alexiou (Eds.) Current Issues in Second/foreign Language Teaching and Teacher Development: Research and Practice (pp. 285-301). Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

[2] Alexiou, T. & Kokla, A. (2019). Teaching cultural elements and Pro-social behaviour to preschoolers through Peppa pig. Proceedings from the 4th International Conference for the Promotion of Educational Innovation, Larisa: University of Thessaly.

[3] Alexiou, T. (2009). Young learners’ cognitive skills and their role in foreign language vocabulary learning. In M. Nikolov (Ed.) Second Language Acquisition: Early learning of Modern Foreign Languages. Processes and Outcomes (pp. 46-61). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

[4] Alexiou, T. and Konstantakis, N. (2009). Lexis for Young Learners: Are We Heading for Frequency or Just Common Sense?, in Selected Papers from the 18th International Symposium on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics (ISTAL), Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of English, pp. 59-66.

[5] Alexiou, T. & Milton, J. (forthcoming). Pic-Lex: A new tool of measuring receptive vocabulary for very young learners’ In Zoghbor, W. & Alexiou, T. ‘Advancing ELT Education’. Zayed Univeristy, Dubai, UAE.

[6] Alexiou, T. Roghani, S. and Milton, J. (forthcoming). Assessing the Vocabulary Knowledge of Preschool Language Learners. In Prosic-Sandovac, D. and Rixon, S. Integrating Assessment into Early Language Learning and Teaching Practice, Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

[7] Alexiou, T. & Vitoulis, M. (2014). ‘iGeneration issues: Tracing preschoolers English receptive & productive vocabulary through interactive media. Mission impossible?’ In J. Evener, E. Lindgren & S. Ivanov (Eds), Conference proceedings from early language learning: Theory and practice 2014. Sweden: Umea University, 16-22.

[8] Alexiou, T. & Yfouli, D. (2019). Charlie & Lola: An innovative way of promoting young learners’ lexical development. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference for the Promotion of Educational Innovation. Larisa, Greece: University of Thessaly.

[9] Anderson, D. R. & Pempek, T. A. (2005). Television and Very Young Children, American Behavioral Scientist 2005, 48 (5), pp. 505-522.

[10] Anthony, L. (2018). AntConc (Version 3.5.7) [Computer Software]. Tokyo, Japan: Waseda University. Available from http://www.laurenceanthony.net/software

[11] Baddeley A. (1990). Human Memory, London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

[12] Biemiller, A. & Slonim, N. (2001). Estimating root word vocabulary growth in normative and advantaged populations: Evidence for a common sequence of vocabulary acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93,498-520.

[13] Brown, R. (1973). A first language: The early stages, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

[14] Cambridge Young Learners English Tests (CYLET 2018). Starters A–Z Word List, in Pre-A1 Starters – Word list picture book for exams from 2018, Cambridge Assessment English, pp.25-30. Available at: https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/Images/396158-yle-starters-word-list-picture-book-2018.pdf

[15] Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Languages to Young Learners, Cambridge: CUP.

[16] Capel, A. (2011). The English Vocabulary Profile. Available from www.englishprofile.org

[17] Cobb, T. (2017). Text Lex Compare v.3 [computer program]. Accessed on 22nd August 2018 at https://www.lextutor.ca/cgi-bin/tl_compare/index.pl

[18] Edwards, S. (2014). Towards contemporary play: Sociocultural theory and the digital-consumerist context, Journal of Early Childhood Research, 12(3), pp. 219 –233.

[19] Fisch, S. M. (2005). Children’s learning from television: It’s not just ‘violence’, Televizion, 10-14.

[20] Glassman, W. E. and Hadad, M. (2009). Approaches to Psychology, Maidenhead: Open University Press/ McGraw-Hill Education.

[21] Gordon, T. (2007). Teaching Young Children a Second Language, Westport: Praeger.

[22] Hakuta, K. (1974). Prefabricated patterns and the emergence of structure in second language acquisition, Language Learning, 24 (2), pp. 287-297.

[23] Hunston, S., Francis, G., and Manning, E. (1997). Grammar and vocabulary: showing the connections, ELT Journal, 51 (3), pp. 208-216.

[24] Huntly, A. (2006). ‘Art interrupting advertising: a critique of the educational paradigms of Linny the Guinea pig and Dora the Explorer.’ Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 4/1: 59-72.

[25] Kirkorian, H. L., Wartella, E. A., and Anderson, D. R. (2008). Media and Young Children's Learning, The Future of Children, 18 (1), pp. 39-61.

[26] Kokla, N. (2016). Dora the Explorer: A TV character or a preschoolers’ foreign language teacher?, In Selected Papers from the 21st International Symposium on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics (ISTAL), Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of English, pp. 666-683.

[27] Kostopoulou, I. (2015). ‘Vocabulary uptake from Caillou’s animated stories. A case study of preschool EFL learners in Greece.’ Unpublished MA thesis, Hellenic Open University.

[28] Leech, G., Rayson, P., and Wilson, A. (2001). Word Frequencies in Written and Spoken English: based on the British National Corpus, London: Longman. Available at: http://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/bncfreq/

[29] Lieven, E., Pine, J. and Dresner Barnes, H. (1992). Individual differences in early vocabulary development, Journal of Child Language 19, pp. 287–310.

[30] Martinez, R. & Schmitt, N. (2012). A Phrasal Expressions List. Applied Linguistics, 33 (3), pp. 299–320, https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/ams010

[31] McCarthy, M. (1990). Vocabulary, Oxford: OUP.

[32] Meara, P. (1992). EFL Vocabulary Tests, University College Swansea: Centre for Applied Language Studies.

[33] Milton, J. (2009). Measuring Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition, Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

[34] Milton, J. and Alexiou, T. (2006). What makes a young good language learner?, Selection of papers for the 13th International Conference of Applied Linguistics. In Kavadia, A., Joannopoulou, M. and Tsangalidis, A. (eds). New Directions in Applied Linguistics, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University.

[35] Milton, J. and Alexiou, T. (2009). Vocabulary size and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. In B. Richards, H.M. Daller, D.D. Malvern, P. Meara, J. Milton, and J. Treffers-Daller (eds) Vocabulary Studies in First and Second Language Acquisition (pp. 194-211). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

[36] Milton, J. L. and Vassiliu, P. (2000). Frequency and the lexis of low level EFL texts, in K. Nicolaidis and M. Mattheoudakis (Eds.) (2000). Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University.

[37] Muñoz, C. (2007). Age-related Differences and Second Language Practice, in De Keyser, R. M. (ed.) (2007). Practice in a Second Language: Perspectives from Applied Linguistics and Cognitive Psychology, Cambridge: CUP.

[38] Nagy, William E. & Patricia Herman. (1984). Limitations of vocabulary instruction. (Tech. Rep. No. 326). Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Center for the Study of Reading.

[39] Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Teaching and Learning Vocabulary, Boston, Massachusetts: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.

[40] Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning Vocabulary in Another Language, Cambridge: CUP.

[41] Nation, I. S. P. and Waring, R. (1997). Vocabulary Size, Text Coverage and Word Lists, in Schmitt, N. and McCarthy, M. (Eds.) (1997). Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy, Cambridge: CUP.

[42] Nattinger, J. R. and DeCarrico, J. S. (1992). Lexical Phrases and Language Teaching, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[43] Nightingale, R. (2014). Well I Never!: Formulaic Language as a Pragmatic Resource in Child Entertainment Media, in Gabrys´-Barker, D. and Wojtaszek, A. (eds.), Studying Second Language Acquisition from a Qualitative Perspective, Switzerland; Springer International Publishing.

[44] Perera, N. S. (2001). The role of prefabricated language in young children’s second language acquisition, Bilingual Research Journal, 25(3), pp. 327-356.

[45] Peters, A. M. (1983). The units of language acquisition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[46] Pimsleur, P. (1967). “A Memory Schedule”, The Modern Language Journal, 51 (2), pp. 73- 75.

[47] Prosic-Santovac, D. (2016). Popular video cartoons and associated branded toys in teaching English to very young learners: A case study. Language Teaching Research 21 (5), 568-588. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1362168816639758 (accessed 16 April 2017).

[48] Rideout, V. J., Vandewater, E. A. and Wartella, E. A. (2003). Zero to Six: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers, Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation.

[49] Robb, M. B., Richert, R. A. & Wartella, E. A. (2009). ‘Just a talking book? Word learning from watching baby videos.’ British journal of developmental psychology, 27/1: 27-45.

[50] Schefﬂer, P. (2015). Introducing very young children to English as a foreign language, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 25 (1), pp. 1-22.

[51] Schmitt, Norbert & Michael McCarthy (eds.) (1997). Vocabulary: description, acquisition and pedagogy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[52] Siyanova-Chanturia, A. & Webb, S. (2016). ‘Teaching vocabulary in the EFL context’. In W. A. Renandya & H. P. Widodo (Eds.), English Language Teaching today: Linking Theory and Practice. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 227-240.

[53] Szpotowicz, M., and Szulc-Kurpaska, M. (2009). Teaching English to young learners, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.

[54] Vaidyanathan, R. (2010). Peppa Power. BBC News. Posted 27th April, 2010. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8646601.stm

[55] Wible, D. (2008). Multiword Expressions and the Digital Turn, in Meunier, F., Granger, S. (eds). Phraseology in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

[56] Wilkinson, C. & Patterson, A. (2014). Peppa Piggy in the Middle of Marketers and Mashup Makers: A Netnography of Absurd Animation on YouTube. In Brown, S. & Ponsonby-McCabe, S. (Eds.). Brand Mascots: And Other Marketing Animals, London: Routledge, pp.123-140.

[57] Willis, D. (2003). Rules, Patterns and Words: Grammar and Lexis in English Language Teaching, Cambridge: CUP.

[58] Wong-Fillmore, L. (1976). The Second Time Around: Cognitive and Social Strategies in Second Language Acquisition, Doctoral dissertation, Stanford University.

[59] Wray, A. (2000). Formulaic Sequences Formulaic sequences in second language teaching: principle and practice, Applied Linguistics, 21 (4), pp. 463–489.

Refbacks

There are currently no refbacks.