Project 2

Assignment 4

Minjung Kim
G01020921

Language Analysis
In this paper, I will try to analyze the language of the article Perspectives of
High Tech Augmentative and Alternative Communication Users With Cerebral Palsy at
the Post-Secondary Level by Chung. et al. (2012). The analysis will consist of 4 parts:
1) Level of formality / informality
2) Use of specialized vocabulary
3) Verb tense (finite / non-finite), independent / dependent clauses
4) Summary
Regarding the level of formality/informality of language, overall, this article has
high formality. Although several informal words were used such as we pronoun (9
times), negative verbs such as did not (5 times) and can not (once), the authors tried to
use formal language throughout the article. For example, the article does not contain
informal factors such as contractions, etc., and so forth, and so on, and you pronoun at
all. The reason that the authors used we pronoun seems to be in the methodological
feature. They used we pronoun because they are the main agents of interviewing
people, collecting data in the process of drawing results of their research.
The mid-position of adverbs is seen in the article (8 times). For example, she puts
every effort forward to make her presentation more clearly understood by the audience
(p. 53). The authors properly used active voice and passive voice in the article.
Throughout the paper, all the expressions were not wordy but very clear and concise to
read and understand.
Due to the characteristic of the article, the authors used a lot of specialized
vocabularies. For example, CP is Cerebral Palsy, AAC is Augmentative and Alternative

Project 2
Assignment 4

Minjung Kim
G01020921

Communication, and Pathfinder / Light Writer / Touch Talker / Delta Talker / Symbol
board / Alphabet board / Cannon Communicator / EZkeys / Word board / Liberator /
Bliss symbol board / DynaVox are defferent kinds of AAC devices. According to
Chung. et al. (2012)., all the participants with Cerebral Palsy at the post-secondary level
used those kinds of AAC devices for work and communication with others.
In several parts, the authors used conjunctions such as but, and to use multiple
finite verbs. For example, Some researchers interviewed AAC users, but the interview
questions were both structured and semi structured and thus the analysis and
conclusion were more semi-qualitative as opposed to fully qualitative (p. 44). On the
other hand, various form of non-finite verbs are seen in the article. For example, in the
sentence Researchers seeking to access the perspectives of AAC users (p. 44),
seeking is non-finite verb in a reduced adjective clause. In the sentence Three of the
participants criticize the quality of the voices programmed on AAC devices (p. 48),
programmed is a non-finite ed verb also in a reduced dependent clause. In the
sentence While interviewing him (p.53), interviewing is a non-finite verb in
reduced adverb clause. As seen in the article, non-finite verbs were used to reduce
wordiness such as from who are seeking to seeking and from we are interviewing to
interviewing.
Many independent clauses and dependent clauses were used in the article. For
example, in the sentence When he wanted to say no, he took his left hand and shook
front side to side (p. 44), the first sentence is a dependent clause which can not stand
alone, and the second sentence is an independent clause which can stand alone. For
another example, in the sentence She uses her natural speech when speaking in
Korean, even though she sometimes has a hard time speaking, especially when she is
2

Project 2
Assignment 4

Minjung Kim
G01020921

nervous and excited (p. 50), the first sentence with underline is independent clause and
the second sentence with double underline is a dependent clause. Also, in the second
sentence, there are two dependent clauses between comma. In the second sentence, midposition adverb (sometimes) is also seen.
Overall, the authors used very clear and concise words to convey the findings
of their research on Perspectives of High Tech Augmentative and Alternative
Communication Users With Cerebral Palsy at the Post-Secondary Level. The authors
entire language use is in high level of formality even though they used we pronoun
and negative verbs several times. The article gave me in-depth understanding about
various challenges of AAC users in detail in their everyday life thus I became greatly
interested in AAC and Assistive Technology for the people who need them.