No classrooms are homogeneous by nature. Heterogeneity of the classrooms can be understood by considering the language variation, including intra-speaker variation. It is often found that the same child uses variants of the same form, depending on the context of use. There are several models to explain such language variations. The variants used by a child can be projected as a part of one mental grammar within a generative paradigm. It can be argued that the mental grammar of a child accommodates the language variation. The paper discusses the theory of Combinatorial Variability or CV that links language variation with the manipulation of morphosyntactic features. Based on the model of Combinatorial Variability, the paper suggests that there is an external system that interacts with the Universal grammar, which decides the choice of forms from a pool of variants. The paper also draws from the theory of Multiple Grammar to establish the idea that language variation can be incorporated within a generative framework. The paper argues that the CV framework can help to build tools for classroom use where context-based variation is a commonplace phenomenon. Language variation data from two minoritized speech communities of rural West Bengal, India are discussed in support of the suggested model. As the suggested model is a feature-based model, it is argued that the morphosyntactic features of a child’s language can be analyzed in relation to the potential language variation. The paper suggests that the analysis of the language variation data can directly be used to create tools for developing materials for classroom use, primarily for the reading-writing tasks. The paper states that the analysis based on the suggested model has the potential for use in language conflict situations. The benefit of the children’s learning experience is discussed by giving some examples of Teaching Learning Materials created through the data obtained through the suggested analysis.

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Combinatorial Variability as a Model: Managing Classrooms for Minority Children

  • Dripta Piplai

摘要

No classrooms are homogeneous by nature. Heterogeneity of the classrooms can be understood by considering the language variation, including intra-speaker variation. It is often found that the same child uses variants of the same form, depending on the context of use. There are several models to explain such language variations. The variants used by a child can be projected as a part of one mental grammar within a generative paradigm. It can be argued that the mental grammar of a child accommodates the language variation. The paper discusses the theory of Combinatorial Variability or CV that links language variation with the manipulation of morphosyntactic features. Based on the model of Combinatorial Variability, the paper suggests that there is an external system that interacts with the Universal grammar, which decides the choice of forms from a pool of variants. The paper also draws from the theory of Multiple Grammar to establish the idea that language variation can be incorporated within a generative framework. The paper argues that the CV framework can help to build tools for classroom use where context-based variation is a commonplace phenomenon. Language variation data from two minoritized speech communities of rural West Bengal, India are discussed in support of the suggested model. As the suggested model is a feature-based model, it is argued that the morphosyntactic features of a child’s language can be analyzed in relation to the potential language variation. The paper suggests that the analysis of the language variation data can directly be used to create tools for developing materials for classroom use, primarily for the reading-writing tasks. The paper states that the analysis based on the suggested model has the potential for use in language conflict situations. The benefit of the children’s learning experience is discussed by giving some examples of Teaching Learning Materials created through the data obtained through the suggested analysis.