Blog 19

I haven't quite finished my paper yet, but this is what I have so far..................

Subrina Samaroo

12-8-11

Research Paper Rough Draft

Dr. Chandler

            Have you ever walked into a classroom while a teacher was reading a story to the students? What kinds of things would one observe the students doing while the story is being read? Many times the students are sitting in a circle on the carpet or in the reading corner listening and looking at their teacher. However, how can teachers tell if the students are actually understanding and comprehending the stories being read to them? Is there a skill that teachers can implement while reading that students can do to show his or her understanding of the material? Here is something to think about, during story time many students like to picture the characters, setting, and even the plot in their heads. So what if teachers have students put these pictures on paper what affect could this have on the children in terms of literacy? In other words, how do picture drawings influence how children remember or interpret text from stories?

            If I were to attempt a hypothetical research experiment for this focus there are many things that I would need to consider. First I would need to come up with a specific focus question which is stated is the above paragraph. It states, how picture drawings influence how children remember or interpret text from stories. This is the question I would base all my research on because it is what I am trying to answer. There is already much research being done in our society on what effects storytelling has on children. For example, one can find numerous articles and essays about how reading to children when they are young helps them become better readers as adults. Or articles on the why reading to children is important for their development as they grow into young adult. However, it can be difficult to find research on how children can contribute to story time and how the students interpret the stories.  Just like adults, students have their own opinions and like to use their creativity and imagination. In an article written by Amy MacDonald she states, “What is often overlooked is that the children, who live this experience, and their interpretation of events, may be vastly different from that of their parents and teachers.” (MacDonald, 40) My research project backs up this point by Amy MacDonald because I would like to get the child involved in my in the experiment. It is very important that children know that their ideas and viewpoints matter, as well as they have a voice in every aspect of their own learning. I believe that is the most essential part of my project.

            There are two main things that I would like to accomplish from my research project. The first is being able to help teachers find a new way to get students to interact and be interested in stories. In many classrooms, story time starts out great with everyone listening attentively and very eager to see what will happen next. However, sometimes half way through the book students begin to get bored and start to wander. This can cause distractions for the teacher as well as other students, and in some situations could put an end for story time for the day. From my project, teachers can engage the students attention to description of characters, setting, and plot and explain that there drawings have to reflect upon the descriptions. This can help to keep the children interested and help them to pay attention.

            The second thing I would like to accomplish from my project is to have picture drawings be a help for children to interpret or remember the stories. Having the students draw their own pictures can help them remember the sequence of events that took place in the story. For example, after drawing pictures for the fairytale Cinderella a child might say, “I remember that Cinderella had to home for the ball at 12 o’clock because I drew a picture of a clock with the number twelve.” Here it is seen that the child was able to interpret what time Cinderella had to be home from the picture he or she drew.

            In order to carry out my research project, the first thing I will need to do is figure out what research methods I should use. My thinking behind what research I would choose would be based on the following actions to get answers to my question. I would need to go to more than classroom setting while a teacher uses the skill from my focus question with the students. I would need to observe what children do as well as the teacher, speak with a variety of educators, numerous students, and then analyze the results I come up with.

            Based upon the steps I would have take to put my plan into action the first research method I would use is ethnography.  As an ethnographer, not only will have to be an observer, but I would also be a part of the observation. So after getting all the necessary paperwork done, I would do my observations in a classroom setting with a group of five to ten kindergarten students. The story I would to read to them is called I Can Read With My Eyes Shut, by Dr. Seuss. While reading I will observe the students actions, what they say, what they do, and how they interpret the story through drawing.

            A big part of using ethnography is taking notes. Since one of the main points in my focus question was about the pictures children draw, I would have to analyze and do note taking on the pictures. From the pictures there are a variety of things I should look for and interpret. For example, I can analyze the colors, sizes, and positions that children choose to incorporate with their pictures. Then I ask myself questions such as why did the student use a certain color, or why did he or she make one character bigger or smaller than another? Also I can analyze the content of their pictures and how it relates to the story I read in class. Did the child draw the most important parts of the story? Or why did he or she think one event was more important to draw than another?

            The second research method I think is important and connects well to ethnography would be interviewing. I would conduct two sets of interviews; the first will be an active interview with two kindergarten teachers. Both subjects will be asked the same set of questions consisting of what book did you decide to read to your class? What kinds of pictures did the students draw? How did the pictures relate to the story? What kind of reactions did you get from the kids? Do you think picture drawing is an effective strategy to help children interpret and remember stories? After getting the answers from the participants I would take time to compare and contrast what each had to say. This way I can get a clear understanding as to if my subjects had somewhat similar or complete different responses.

            The second interview would be with two kindergarten students who have used the picture drawing skill in their classroom. Once again I would ask a series of questions such as, what story did the teacher read? What did you draw a picture of? Why did you use a certain color or place objects in certain places? Did you like drawing pictures? Would you like to do it more often?

           

Blog 18

FOCUS QUESTION FOR RESEARCH PAPER:


How does picture drawing influence how children remember or interpret text from stories?


Research Methods I Plan to Use:
 Ethnography: I would observe in a classroom setting as I read a story to the students and observe and take notes on what they draw.
     Things to look for in their drawings would include:
                         -> Content
                         -> color, size, and position of characters, settings, and plot.
                        -> other features of the pictures


Interviewing: I would interview a teacher who has done this exercise with their students.
                   Some questions I was thinking to ask:
                           -> What book did you read to class?
                          -> What kinds of brainstorming did the kids use to draw their pictures
                          -> What sorts of pictures did the children draw?
                          -> How did the pictures relate to the story?
                          -> What kinds of reactions did you get from the students?
                          -> Is picture drawing a good technique to use? 
                          -> What were some of the advantages and disadvantages of picture drawing?


I would also interview one of the student's (with parental permission and also the parent would have to be there for the interview)
             Some questions I would ask:
                      -> What story did your teacher read to the class?
                     -> What did you draw a picture of from the story?
                     -> Why did you use a certain color, or make a certain character bigger than others?
                     -> Did you have fun drawing your picture?
                     -> Is picture drawing something you would like to do more often?
                     -> What did you learn from the story?


This is what I have so far... I am still working on my sources and brainstorming more questions to ask. I am planning to begin writing my paper very soon and see what things I need to add or leave out............ Hopefully with Dr. Chandler's feedback I will know if I'm heading in the right direction!! 

Blog 17

Final Draft: Discourse Analysis Paper

Subrina Samaroo

11/17/2011

Eng. 3029

Dr. Chandler

         

             In a literary transcript between a college professor and one of her students, the two discussed the student’s personal experience using online chat rooms. In the first excerpt the interviewer represented by “Ch” asked the interviewee who was represented by “A” a series of questions regarding the student’s first experience talking to someone she did not know in a chat room. The subject “A,” responds to the questions by telling the story of how she thought she talked to a pedophile and how she was scared in the situation.  A also explained that her parents did not know much about computers, and because of her experience monitored her siblings while they used the internet. In the second excerpt, of the transcript Ch asked A about what kinds of activities she and her friend did on the internet. A explained all of the different things they would online while browsing the web including talking to people in chat rooms.

In my analysis of this chat room transcript, I attempted to analyze how through A’s growth from excerpt 1 to excerpt 2, she was able to gain the authority needed to become a confident internet user. In excerpt 1, A is represented as a child using the internet for the first time. A states the quote below:

“and you could also chat strangers - which was dangerous cause I think I talked   to a pedophile I'm not sure, I I was in fifth grade I gave him my phone number when he called me I hung up I was so scared.”  

In this response by A, there are a few assumptions that can be made just by the language she used. It can be assumed that since she was not sure if it was a pedophile she talked to in the chat room, that her authority within the conversation was limited. This leads us into the following question as to why she gave the person her phone number. In this situation it seems as if the person A was talking to in the chat room had all of the authority because as A mentioned in the beginning of the transcript, she did not have much experience with the internet before this. After this response, Ch asked the question if she ever told her parents about this situation at the time it happened.  A responded by saying the following:

“no I never told my mom or my dad.” “I mean, I think I told them later on when I was in college, but it's dangerous, cause my parents weren't familiar with computers or web tv and I was a child exploring it -like - there was no restrictions, my parents didn't know how to put restrictions, they weren't too familiar with it.  It's only maybe three of four years ago that my mom learned how to use a computer so being a child, discovering it on your own could be really dangerous when there's chat rooms, and talking to people telling you that they're your age, but they're not.”

Here, a big question that could be asked is why did she not tell her parents? Was it because she was scared that she would get in trouble? That is a possibility, but since A stated that her parents did not know much about computers at the time of her experience with pedophile, who had the authority to control A’s online activities? Or was there any authority at this point in A’s life regarding using the internet?  If we look at the language in the above quote, A explains that she was still a child exploring something that no one in her family was familiar with. So as A learned new things by exploring, we can assume that she began to grow and gain some authority to help her know some of the dangers the internet holds.

 In the second part of excerpt 1 in the transcript, A described as she got older she monitored her siblings while they used the internet. A stated:

“I was careful, and then I was strict on my younger sister and my brothers using the computer.  I also hogged the computer because I liked talking to my friends. But when my sister started going online I would check up on who she's talking to, I would look over, I would check the history, see what websites she went on.”

 Here, it can be assumed that A was a little overprotective of her sister and the kinds of websites she used online. A question that can be asked is why was A more concerned with her sister more than her brother? Did it have to do with gender or more of the authority A gained through her experience with the pedophile? We can see that in this situation A has authority over her sister and can take control over what she does on the internet. A ‘s language in this quote also shows her confidence in using the internet. There was no hesitation as she explained to CH how she overlooked what her sister was doing. A knew exactly what things to check for to see if her sister was in danger. For example, A told CH that she knew how to look up the people her sister was talking to, and she had now gained the authority to warn her sister about questionable persons in chat rooms and what things to look for that could be suspicious.

This brings us to excerpt 2, where we can see A continue to grow as an online user, as well as how A gains some more authority on the internet. CH and A discussed another chat room experience with A and her friend.  CH asked the question, “so what did you and your friends do on the computer in a typical session - if you went over to your friend down the street?” From this question, we can that assume that A was not alone on the internet this time around, how would her responses be different than in excerpt 1, where she was by herself when she spoke to the pedophile.  A responded with this answer:

“our emails, check our home pages, see if people left us messages, go in chat rooms and chat with our friends, exchange pictures with people that lived in our area that was our age, which could be dangerous, cause they could be imposters, we really didn't care.”

Here, it is quite clear that A is much more confident with her online skills.  She now knows how to email, message and chat with friends, and exchange pictures. So she has gained authority of using the internet and feel in control of what she does and who she talks to. So why did she not care if she exchanged pictures with people who may have been imposters? Was it because she was with a friend or perhaps the reason might be because now that she was surer of her abilities, A had gained authority over how she approached different situations through her experiences. Even though her friend was there, A still had control over her own identity from the knowledge she picked up while exploring various websites. Unlike excerpt 1, where she was not confident in her actions with the pedophile, in this excerpt A seems more than confident and more or less carefree in her internet activities.

Here is another example of A’s growth in excerpt 2 in comparison to excerpt 1.  A stated:

um, one time we were in a chat room, chatting, well my friend and I were like, oh lets go with that guy's sceen name, and then, he was like do you have a picture, we sent a picture, we found out it was our pastor's son who was like 20, and we're like eeuew he's like an older brother, and then when he saw our picture he's like why are you doing that, why were you sending pictures to strangers, and kind of got mad at us.”

Here we see a similar situation like in excerpt; however A’s language seems to be completely different. Why was A not scared this time around and how were actions different? In this situation with the pastor’s son, A has gained the online authority to do things with assurance. She picked the guy she wanted to chat with and knew how to send pictures to him. Although this could still be a dangerous situation, A felt a little disgusted and embarrassed because it was with someone she knew from the neighborhood. If we take a look at the language, A says “eeuew” and did not seem to care that the pastor’s son was mad that they were sending pictures in the chat rooms. So why was A not scared this time around? Was it because the person they were talking to was some she knew? If we analyze the situation at this point, A had gained enough online authority to upload pictures so we can assume she would know how to delete them if need be. She also knew that the pastor’s son was someone who would not harm her, and figured he was in chat rooms just to have fun just like her.

From the transcript we can assume that A growth and experiences helped her to gain the authority she needed to be confident on the internet. In excerpt 1, A was quite scared and not in control of the situation, because she lacked the authority needed in order for her to be confident of the internet. However, as she got a older and became a little more familiar with the “online world,” A was strict on her siblings and was now gaining authority be know what aspects of the internet were dangerous for her sister. Then in excerpt 2, A seemed to have grown a lot since her first chat room experience. She now had the authority to be in control of her online actions which lead A to have confidence in the places and people she came across while being in the “online world.”

Blog 16

Ideas/topics for Research Paper:

• So for my research paper I am thinking about researching effective strategies teachers use to teach kindergartners to write the letters of the alphabet.
• I am thinking for the methods to use I would pick ethnography and interviewing.

      1.) Things I would observe and take notes on:
       -> The classroom environment
      -> What specific tools do teachers use to help students learn to write. (for example,    pencils, notebooks, tracing utensils, ect.  
      -> How does the teacher interact with the student to help them he or she practice writing the letters.
      -> these are just a few ideas I came up with so far.... still thinking and brainstorming........

       2.) The second method I would use is interviewing.
         -> I would interview a teacher who teaches kindergaten students.
         -> Questions I would ask:
                      -what are some techniques you use to help students with their letters?
                      - what activities to you do in the classroom to give students practice? (ie. worksheets, games, group work ect.)
                      - Do you find that students have a easy or difficult time with ths concept?
                      - How do you get parents involved in helping their children write thie letters?
Again these are just a few things I came up with...............
                  

Blog 15

Notes for Revision for my discourse paper


So after receiving feedback from Dr. Chandler about my discourse paper, I feel a bit confused and think that I might have missed the point of discourse analysis. My paper consisted of my main focus and evidence from the chat room transcript to back up my the purpose I stated in my introduction. I have set up a conference with Dr. Chandler so hopefully that will help me get a better understanding as to where I need to go with the paper.


Feedback notes:
1. My paper did not dig deep into the language and cultural aspects of discourse.
2. Not enough evidence to go along with my focus.


I guess I have a lot of work to do!!!

Blog 14

What I did well in my discourse analysis paper:
1.) I think I had a very good introduction because I stated the focus and explained the main purpose of the paper.
2.) I think I presented a few good points to back up my main focus.

What I need to work on in my paper:
1.) I think I need more evidence to support my claim.
2.) I am not sure if I've done everything needed to make this paper regarding discourse.

From Feedback
From the feedback I receive from Dr. Chandler I hope I can get a better understanding as to if I am on the right track with my paper. As well as how I can go into more detail with the language and uncover some of the aspects that are not so obvious in the chat room transcript

Blog 12

DISCOURSE Analysis Essay notes:

Topic: So I have narrowed my topic ideas and believe that I have come up with a reasonable and hopefully on the right track of what Dr. Chandler is looking for.

• A"s unawareness of the dangers of the internet put her at risk with the unsafe parts of chat rooms.
• It is important that young children have someone who is knowledgeable about the "online world" such as a parent of friend to monitor and teach them the dangers of the internet.

Points from transcript that I will focus on:

• A's chat room experience with the pedophile.
• A's parents not knowing much about the internet.
• A's experience made her very cautious and made her monitor her sister use when they were older.
• A's chat room experience with the pastor's son.
• The pastor's son acting like a parent figure, questioning the girls online safety.

This is what I've come up with so far......I will begin to write my introduction and see where I get with my paper.

BLOG 13

Subrina Samaroo

November 3^rd, 2011

Rough Draft for discourse analysis

Dr. Chandler 

            In our society today, it is more than obvious to say we are living in the age of technology. Children of all ages use the internet on a daily basis as a part of their everyday routine. The internet has become the place to go to do research, download music and play games, as well as to communicate with family and friends. However, the internet can be a very dangerous place especially for young children. It is important for parents to monitor and restrict their children from certain websites and various social networking forums. The chat room transcript is a reflection of how children are unaware of the dangerous aspects of the “online world,” and illustrates reasoning behind why parents should have a vital role in their child’s online activities.

In the chat room transcript between Dr. Chandler (CH) and Angela (A), the two discuss A’s experiences using chat rooms. In excerpt 1, A tells the story of how she thought she talked to a pedophile and how she felt about it. A stated, “and you could also chat strangers - which was dangerous cause I think I talked to a pedophile I'm not sure, I I was in fifth grade I gave him my phone number when he called me I hung up I was so scared.” Here we see one example of how dangerous the internet can be, and we also see that A was unaware of the danger because she gave the pedophile her phone number. She did not realize that this person she was talking to might have been lying about their age and who they were, until she received the phone call.

After describing how scared she was, Ch asked her did she ever tell her mom and A said, “No I never told my mom or dad.” A goes on to explain that her parents did not know too much about computer and had only learned recently. A stated, “cause my parents weren't familiar with computers or web tv and I was a child exploring it -like - there was no restrictions, my parents didn't know how to put restrictions, they weren't too familiar with it.  It's only maybe three of four years ago that my mom learned how to use a computer so being a child, discovering it on your own could be really dangerous when there's chat rooms, and talking to people telling you that they're your age, but they're not.”

As we see from A’s first experience with chat rooms, she had no restrictions and was pretty much free to do whatever she wanted. Since her parents did not much about the internet, they were not able to monitor the programs or websites A came across. She had to go through the experience with the pedophile to learn that sometimes people on the internet do not always tell the truth and you have to be very careful of whom you talk to and what private information is given out, and she used her situation to guide others to be cautious of chat rooms.

Since A’s parents did not know much about computers, when she was a little older she became very strict over her siblings. A stated, “I was careful, and then I was strict on my younger sister and my brothers using the computer.  I also hogged the computer because I liked talking to my friends. But when my sister started going online I would check up on who she's talking to, I would look over, I would check the history, see what websites she went on.” Here it can be determined that A was acting like the parent and monitoring what her sister was doing on the internet. Since A had already had a scary experience with the pedophile, she knew what kinds of websites to look for that could propose dangerous risks. A was now aware of the unsafe parts of the “online world” and could prevent her siblings from going through some of situations she faced.

In excerpt 2 of the chat room transcript, Ch and A discussed another experience using chat rooms. However, this time A was not scared because she was talking to someone she knew. A described the situation as, “um, one time we were in a chat room, chatting, well my friend and I were like, oh lets go with that guy's sceen name, and then, he was like do you have a picture, we sent a picture, we found out it was our pastor's son who was like 20, and we're like eeuew he's like an older brother, and then when he saw our picture he's like why are you doing that, why were you sending pictures to strangers, and kind of got mad at us.” In this excerpt, the pastor’s son assumes the parent role and questions A’s actions. He gets mad at A and her friend because he is aware of the dangers of sending you picture to someone you do not know.

Once again A does not see the danger in her action because the pictures were sent to someone who she viewed as an older brother. A stated, “it was kind of embarrassing, we were like eeuuew, we go to church with him, he's old.” A found this experience to be embarrassing rather than dangerous because it was someone she knew, rather than a complete stranger. What A failed to realize was that this still could have been a dangerous situation because even in cases where you know the person in the chat rooms, that does not always mean you can trust them with your pictures.

This transcript is just one of many examples of how dangerous certain aspects of the internet can be. Chat rooms may be a great place to meet new people and talk to family and friends, but it can also be very risky and get people into a lot of trouble. Young children especially, who are not yet aware of some of the harmful and unsafe parts of the “online world” need to be extra careful when talking to strangers in chat rooms. Parents need to monitor not only what their children are doing, but also who their children are talking to on the internet. In some cases, like A where parents do not know much about computers of how to check the websites their child is using, should have an older sibling or a trusty friend or family member keep a close eye on their online activities. This way parents can ensure that while their child is having fun with the internet, they are still be safe and are aware of the dangers that it beholds.

 

 

Blog 11

I decided to write my paper on the chat room transcript.


I know that the main focus of my paper would be dealing with how A thought the situation with the pedophiler was dangerous, but found the situation with the pastor's son to be funny. However, I'm finding it difficult to find the non-obvious aspect dealing with this focus. I know this is too general and I am still reading and rereading the transcript to come up with a more specific focus within this topic. 

Blog 10

Chat Room Transcript

Excerpt 1

1. The use of "I"

2. Repeat of the word "dangerous"

3. S asked the questions.

4. S moves the conversation along

5. A does the talking
6. A somewhat trusts the iinterviewer by telling her she was scared and did not tell her mom.
7. A explained when watching siblings, A was more overprotective with the sister than with the brother.

8. This excerpt was a serious

9. Told the story three times

S    so how do you think you felt about computers (when you were young- in grade school/middle school).

A    I loved it - I loved it because, when I discovered what AOL was - that I could email my friends, put in little pictures, photoshop - all those things - and like chat with people my age - which can be dangerous.  We didn't have a computer, but we had web tv.  Must have been in fifth grade.  And it was a slow connection and you could have a little keyboard, and you could, check your email, and you could also chat strangers - which was dangerous cause I think I talked to a pedophile I'm not sure, I I was in fifth grade I gave him my phone number when he called me I hung up I was so scared

S    what did that experience do

A    That was scary. because
S    did you tell your mom

A    no I never told my mom or my dad

S    we'll be careful if we publish this (laughing)

A    I mean, I think I told them later on when I was in college, but it's dangerous, cause my parents weren't familiar with computers or web tv and I was a child exploring it -like - there was no restrictions, my parents didn't know how to put restrictions, they weren't too familiar with it.  It's only maybe three of four years ago that my mom learned how to use a computer so being a child, discovering it on your own could be really dangerous when there's chat rooms, and talking to people telling you that they're your age, but they're not

S    Exactly

A    That was scary experience

S    But you figured that out, you knew to hang up when you got the call

A    Yeah, well as soon as I heard a deep voice I was like, that is not a kid, and like I think he asked me what I was wearing, and so I I was like, I'm wearing pajamas - bye, and I was like Oh my gosh, he's going to find where I live, my mom's going to kill me, so I didn't go on WebTv for a long time. 

S    Oh my.  So that was frightening. but it was also  - how did that change the way you used it then?

A    I was careful, and then I was strict on my younger sister and my brothers using the computer.  I also hogged the computer because I liked talking to my friends. But when my sister started going online I would check up on who she's talking to, I would look over, I would check the history, see what websites she went on

S    and how old were you when you were doing that.

A    High school.  I was in high school.  I was more familiar with it. And we started learning more about computers from the in middle school in high school by that time I was able to email who ever I wanted, and research, very familiar with the internet

Excerpt 2

1. The word "we" used.
2. S says something is funny, A continues saying fuuny things.
3. S and A take turns speaking.
4. Excerpt 2 much more funnier than Excerpt 1.
5. A did not seem scared when discussing her chat room experience with the pastor's son.

S    so what did you and your friends do on the computer in a typical session - if you went over to your friend down the street

A    check our emails, check our home pages, see if people left us messages, go in chat rooms and chat with our friends, exchange pictures with people that lived in our area that was our age, which could be dangerous, cause they could be imposters, we really didn't care

//

A    I think paint came with our computers,  I remember eight grade we were playing with like drawing our own little pictures, um changing the backgrounds and printing out whatever we did on paint, and then it evolved into photoshop, and making my eyes green, and fixing my cousin's nose to make it a little pointier, and then sending it to people will all the photoshop, so we had a lot of fun

S    oh you did (laughing) you did

A    we would make ourselves a little thinner, and that's what we did though, I think half of our albums were photoshopped, so um

S    so how often did you use technology with your friends?

A    every time we hung out

S    every time, every time

A    every time, that was just our way of life afterwards

S    do you have a particular story about one one adventure with technology (laughing)

A    um, one time we were in a chat room, chatting, well my friend and I were like, oh lets go with that guy's sceen name, and then, he was like do you have a picture, we sent a picture, we found out it was our pastor's son who was like 20, and we're like eeuew he's like an older brother, and then when he saw our picture he's like why are you doing that, why were you sending pictures to strangers, and kind of got mad at us

S    oh that's really funny it backfired on both of you

A    it was kind of embarassing, we were like eeuuew, we go to church with him, he's old,

S    that's really funny, how old were you then

A    we were freshman in high school

S    ok so you were about 14

16

A    yeah, and he was bout 20, and he was like our older brother, too, and we were like, so now we know how you pick us girls, all these girls you met were from the chat room

S    that's really funny

A    that was a weird story

S    that's a funny story, and it's funny, it's like a reprise of the story when you were little, and you gave, but it's um

A    well this time it's someone I know and I think we lied about our age, too, so we said, every time we were 14 we'd at 3 or 4 extra years, we wanted to sound older (small laugh) and we would change our screen name so many times, cause we're like  'ahh, we want to have a new personality today'

S    laughing

A    we're like "pinkgirlloves whatever" or there, like our new boyfriends name, like Angelalovewhateverhisnameis - we changed it every week.   What can you do?

Questions:

1. Why did it seem that "I" had less power in excerpt 1 than "we" in excerpt 2?

2. Why in excerpt 1 was the situation with pedophiler "dangerous", but in excerpt 2 the situation with the pastor's son "funny?"

3. How is A's tone different in excerpt 1 than in excerpt 2?


Adult Transcript

Excerpt 1

1.Repeats the phrase "I guess"

2.M replies with one word answers 

3. S pushes for answers

4. Ch does most of the talking.

5. M did not seem very interested in the interview, most of the answers given were very vague.

Ch        So in 2002, you were word processing, typing papers.  But in that math class you didn't want to use that math program

M         No

Ch        Do you remember why?  What were your feelings about it, can you remember that?

M         I guess thought that I couldn't do it, I didn't trust myself, I didn't trust the computer, I was afraid.

Ch        what was it about your self that you didn't trust?

M         That I could do it, I guess I didn't think that I needed to use a computer in that way.

Ch        Yeah

M         I was willing to use it to type

Ch        yeah, and what was it that you didn't trust about the computer?

M         I guess that putting all of my information in there, and trusting the computer to, you know, analyze it, the way that I could have done it myself

Ch        So you didn't think it would ah,

m         represent what I wanted it to represent.

Ch        yeah.[ pause] now go back again, so what was it, what was your resistance, if you can remember

M         With the computer?

Ch        Why didn't you want to learn it?  The teacher says we're going to do the course this way, and you rather than learning the program they gave you, that was supposed to make it easier, and that's the course where they were going to teach you and support you to use it, you you did it your own way, and that  isn't just you, that's fairly typical, so let's do some reflecting on, what were your motives, I understand the fear thing, but let's think about where the fear came from, what was it, the one you identified, about not thinking that it was going to represent what you really wanted, is a big one, that's big, but can you think of any of the other things, maybe about you, or your past experiences or

M         Maybe I didn't relate the computer to education in the right way, that I didn't think it was necessary

Ch        mm hm, and what do you mean, like, didn't relate the computer to education?

M         I guess I thought I could go through without - without having to do this.

Ch        It seemed like something extra?

M         Yeah, and even though I guess I wasn't you know comprehending that this was supposed to make my life easier, it made it more difficult

Ch        And also, I think I'm hearing, if I'm understanding you right, you felt that learning that program didn't really have anything to do with what you needed to learn for that course,

M         right

Ch        that you'd learn more, or better, or what you wanted, by doing it on your own

M         mmhmm

Ch        So you didn't see the program as part of what it was important to learn

M         Mmhm

[I wish I had asked why at this point]

M         I was fighting it

Excerpt 2

1. Says "didn't" alot 

2. Ch pushes for M to answer more specifically.

3. Ch asks the questions

4. M does more talking...explaining things in a bit more detail.

5. Just like in excerpt 1, M didn't seem interested.

Ch        that's very interesting.  OK that was your school experience beginning that fall. So then when you took the computer class, how did you feel, it was obviously different.

M         It was different, and ah, it was a fun experience because the teacher was very good, very willing to work with use, she asked us where we were all, part of the class it was you know, twice a week, once we would meet in the classroom, and the other time we would meet in the computer lab, so it was the history of computers, so we learned about the history of computers, and then it was the actual hands on, how we would use it, so and we had to do projects, each project, we had to do an excel project, we had to do a word project, we had to do what else, what other programs are there, we did excel we did word, we did (thinking) what's it? slides?

Ch        Powerpoint?

M         yeah powerpoint and ah,

Ch        frontpate?

M         no, I'm trying to think what else, but they were just projects that we had to turn in.  So ahm, some kids knew how to use the computer but they didn't know how to use it in the way she wanted it to be used, they would zip by all their work and not do it the correct way, and maybe I was in a better situation, because I knew nothing. about you know, computers, and this was my fear, entering the information and then you press a button, and I remember , you know, the laughed at me because you would press the button and everything on the screen would disappear and I'd be like "oh what happened" but there was a way to get it back, there was always a way to get it back, so it was a funny experience and it was ah, it was kind of taught me not to be afraid, to you know, to use the computer

Ch      good, so this course was important, in getting you over your fear

M         yeah

Ch        What do you think it was that got you over it?

M         Ahm, I guess what could happen, you know? You know, what could happen, you put your work in you press a button, and you just - what's going to happen?

Ch        So you had some assurance that your work would be there.

M         Right

Ch        that you knew how, that you knew how to what?  What was it that you learned how to do?

M         well I learned, well when I was typing on word I didn't know a lot of the different things, to use, I learned how to ah how to format, I learned different fonts, I didn't know how to use any of the pull down bars, I didn't know all of those things the drop down menus I didn't know all those things were there, I didn't know about the undo button, that's my favorite button the undo button (laughing) go back, go forward.

Ch        so let's go back to how you learned word when you learned it by yourself,

you had something you needed to do, right? and then you'd ask someone what to do.  Did you do very much exploring on your own?

M         No.  No if I had to type, I just went in and I typed I used it like a typewriter.

Ch        But you didn't go across the menu at the top and use the hover thing so

M         No I was afraid to.  I was afraid of breaking the computer. Or afraid of what would, I never explored, I went on, went to word, opened it up, typed what I had to type, and you know.

Ch        So your process of learning word was to go in and type, and then when you needed to do something that you didn't know how to do

M         Ask somebody

Ch        Ask someone, and then, how would they tell you, or what kind of directions did you get?

M         Ah, well like where us word.  I would type in Notepad, you know, and then maybe somebody showed me, or you turn it on, and I thought that was the only program and then somebody, don't you use word?  What do you mean?  You know, so , ahm, then I would go into word,

Ch        OK so, I guess then maybe that the discussions of the history of the computer and how they were organizred and what they did were important in that class

M         probably (but doesn't sound really convinced)

Ch        Do you remember

M         yeah cause when they, well it talked about, ah fear of computers, ah well and the realization that a computer has really been around for very a long time, and we talked about the internet and we learned how to find things, on the internet, and

Ch        What kinds of things - did they tell you how to get help on the internet?

M         I think so

Ch        Did you use that?

M         No

Ch        Ok, I'm trying to figure, cause, we've skipped all these other things about friends and growing up in school, so you had this one class and ah, so then, ah you bought a computer - how did things change when you bought a computer

M         I guess then I was little, my kids used it a lot more than I did, and I really didn't explore at first, and then I became more comfortable with it, little by little, then after I took that computer class, I took an internet course for the first time, I said, well let me try this, now that I, well I had to trying to graduate from Middlesex, to fit into my schedule, and then that internet course kind of helped me to build up my confidence, cause we had to do everything on the computer, answer all these questions had the discussion group and we had to answer all the se questions and he the teacher. It was an English course and he set up all these links to different things on the internet that we could go to, so I kind of explored a little bit that way.

Ch        So the internet course helped you to learn how to explore?

M         I guess so, how to research on how to use the computer for research

Ch        did it help you with exploring programs

M         not really programs, no

Ch        So how would you learn a program now?

M         Ask somebody

Ch        You still wouldn't go through the menu bar and see what each of the tools did, and you know because you can hover over it, or you wouldn't open them up and just play with it

M         I might, but I would probably ask somebody

Ch        Would you read somethihg
M         I would read, yeah.  I would read the help things

Questions:

1. How does Ch push for questions, when M was very vague in answers?

2. Does M's disinterest in the interview effect Ch's questioning>

3. In what ways does M explain more in excerpt 2, rather than one word answers in except 2?