ABSTRACT
Looking at the way they use language and their own experiences of language can be a very interesting and valuable investigative project for children. It focuses attention on their knowledge about how language is related to personal identity and how it establishes and maintains relationships. It creates opportunities for children to talk about the processes of reading, writing, speaking and listening; to think about how their abilities in these three language modes were acquired and developed; and to reflect on their competence in these areas now. This involves developing an understanding of idiolect – the characteristic style of speech of an individual and includes the personal and idiosyncratic features of their language, such as the way they pronounce words, the particular expressions they use, the mannerisms they have in speaking. The word comes from the Greek idio meaning private and lect, as in dialect, meaning speech. It is a useful linguistic term because it recognises that no two people ever speak exactly the same. They may have the same dialect, accent, they may even come from the same family, but the way they use language will have features which make it unique to them.
