Syntax Observation 1
Syntax Language Observation
Kryschiana Pharr
Special Education 462
Caron Mellblom-Nishioka
Spring 2021
Syntax Observation 2
Syntax Language Observation
Student Information: Yoda, a Star Wars Character whose age is undefined. Yoda lives a Jedi
Master with unparalleled abilities that enable him to communicate with the Force. Yoda is a tiny
man with green skin that uses a brown robe.
Observation Setting:
Outside, & Natural Environment.
Incorrect use:
Yoda comes out and states that " Away put your weapon." Yoda means no harm.
Yoda replies to Skywalker. " Looking? Found someone you have, I would say" Then
Yoda continues, " Help you I can yess, mhhhmmm.”
Yoda reveals to Skywalker, "Well, of course, I know him. Me, he is!"
Yoda talked to the little boy in the movie with blond hair and asked him, " how feel you?"
The little boy stated that he was cold. Yoda continues, " afraid are you?"
Yoda continues speaking to the young boy and says, " see-through you, we can.” The boy
responds, saying he misses his mom, then Yoda replies, “Afraid to lose her, I think.”
Yoda tells Qui-Gon, “ Correct you were, Qui-Gon.”
Yoda asks Qui-Gon, “Master Qui-Gon more to say have you?”
Correct Use:
Yoda states to the group, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger.
Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
Syntax Observation 3
Yoda replies to the council, “The very Republic is threatened.”
When Yoda met Skywalker and said, "Ohhh, Jedi master, Yoda...you seek Yoda!" Yoda
tells Anakin, “A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. I sense much
fear in you.”
Yoda says, “Our own council will keep on who is ready. More to learn,”
Yoda states, “ Young Skywalker's fate will be decided later.”
While in council, Yoda says, “With this Naboo queen, you must stay, Qui-Gon. Protect
her.”
Syntax Observation 4
Analysis & Suggestions
During class discussion, while watching the movie, I could tell that Yoda has issues with
syntax. Consequently, to provide Yoda with the correct sentence structure, I recommend that
Yoda's parents show better syntactic skills. According to Cunningham, Zibulsky (year), exposure
to storybook language can significantly influence children's syntactic development. I want to
suggest improving Yoda's syntax problem by reading books every day to learn how to speak
correctly. Another suggestion would be to correct Yoda every time he uses poor syntax to fix it
when explaining how syntax is being shown," The ordering of words and parts of terms
governed by the rules of syntax" (Martin, Miller, pg. 5, 2014). Furthermore, the syntax is made
of three parts: the subject, verb, and topic in even a sentence.
While watching the movie, Yoda states," Looking? Found someone you have, I would
say" this sentence does not have complete order, and it does show some syntax improving in the
making. Yoda is 900 years old and has yet to develop a five-year-old might by mastering
grammatical rules for syntax. "By the age of 5, the majority of children have mastered many of
the rules of grammar and have a wide vocabulary and can make themselves understood to a
range of people in their variety of situations" (Martin, Miller, pg. 7, 2014). According to
Cognitive Psychology, "we find more incredible syntactic growth over a year of preschool in
classes where teachers' speech is more syntactically complex. The implications of our findings
for the understanding of the sources of syntactic development are discussed. This strategy could
improve a child's syntax language if the teacher is syntactically complex.
Syntax Observation 5
Reference
Cunningham, Anne, and Jamie Zibulsky. Welcome to Book Smart, [Link]/.
Miller, Jim. “An Introduction to English Syntax.” Edinburgh University Press, 15 Apr.
2AD, 1:58.
Huttenlocher, Janellen, et al. “Language Input and Child Syntax.” Cognitive Psychology,
Academic Press, 2 Nov. 2002,
[Link]/science/article/abs/pii/S0010028502005005?via%3Dihub.
