Language & Development- FINAL (Week 4)

Kerry Phillips

Amelia Bedelia & Literal Misunderstandings

The childrens book Amelia Bedelia, written by Peggy Parish, is the first story of a series that follows a
melia Bedelia starts
very literal-minded housekeeper with a talent for making lemon meringue pies. The book A
out as we see that Amelia is ready for her first day of a new job, and the homeowners, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers,
are not able to stay and assist or guide her through their large fancy house and her list of chores. Amelia
starts out by wanting to do something nice and thoughtful for her employers, by making them one of her
famous lemon pies, so she sets off into the kitchen. Then, Amelia Bedelia, takes a look at her to-do list, which
is just the beginning of a lot of mishaps.

The first task on Amelias list was to change the towels, to which she didnt understand because she
thought to herself, these towels are very nice. Why change them(Parish, p.17). Amelia thought about what
directions she was left from her boss, and remembered that Mrs. Rogers emphasized she must do just what
the list told her (p.18). So, she changes the towels by finding some scissors and by cutting them up. Next
on her to-do list is to dust the furniture (p.20), however, it is clear that this is a foreign concept to Amelia when
she says, at my house we undust the furniture, but to each his own way! Amelia takes an interesting
approach to this task, and finds some dusting powder to cover the furniture with. A less harmful
misunderstanding comes next, when Amelia interprets her chore of draw the drapes when the sun comes in
(p.25) as actually drawing a picture of the drapes. The mayhem continues down the list, as she is next
supposed to put the lights out when you finish in the living room! (p.28). Amelia carefully considers the
meaning of this task before deciding exactly what to do, and on page 31 an illustration shows Amelia hanging
the light bulbs on a clothes line outside!

After checking on her lemon pie, Amelia is back to her list of chores. While in the kitchen, she learns
that she is meant to do some dinner preparations. The list says to measure two cups of rice, which Amelia did
by scooping two cups of rice and then using a measuring tape to find the height. At first, it seems that though
this is a strange way to measure food, it might actually work. However, after measuring the height of the rice,
Amelia poured the rice back into the container. The next developments in dinner, involving steak and a
chicken, are quite humorous. Amelia is meant to trim the fat and dress the chicken, so she grabs some
ribbons, lace, and fabric and does exactly as the list said, just as Mrs. Rogers ordered!

The Rogers arrive home shortly after this, and are perplexed to find their light bulbs hanging on a line
outside. When they ask Amelia about it, she seems unsure about their displeasure and thinks its because the
lights are still outside. She says, it didnt say to bring them back in. Oh, I do hope they didnt get aired too
long(p.47). Following this encounter, the Rogers are taken on a tour around the house to see what Amelia had
done with her list of chores. Mrs. Rogers did not seem pleased to see the curtains still open, which may fade
her fancy furniture, or amused by Amelias crayon drawing of her drapes. She did not seem pleased to find the
furniture was covered in white powder from Amelias dusting job. Mr. Rogers was not pleased when he
attempted to wash his hands with a towel that had a large hole cut through the middle of it, and Mrs. Rogers
cried when she saw them.

Mrs. Rogers seems to try to refocus and direct her attention to finishing dinner preparations. When she
asks for the measured rice, shes perplexed to hear that Amelia put it back in the container but remembered
that it measured four and a half inches(p.55). Nor did she seem content with the steak in her fridge that was
trimmed in ribbon and lace, or the chicken wrapped in a box wearing a pair of socks and lederhosen. On
page 60, the Rogers are both at the end of their wits, and appear to be extremely angry. But just at the
moment Mrs. Rogers had planned to fire Amelia, Mr. Rogers fed her the most delicious treat and she could no
longer be angry. Amelias lemon meringue pie was such a pleasant surprise, that Mr. and Mrs. Rogers had
forgotten all about firing Amelia. They loved her pie so much that they decided it would be better to keep her
around and make sure to learn to speak to her in a way that she would understand. So, on page 62, Mrs.
Rogers learned to say undust the furniture, unlight the lights, close the drapes, and things like that.

The chart below shows the phrases that caused Amelia some trouble. Included in the chart is the page
number the phrase can be found on, the phrase, the literal meaning of the phrase, what Amelia interpreted the
phrase to mean she must do, the implied meaning or intended meaning of Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, and what the
Rogers family expected to be done given the phrase.

AMELIA-isms

Page: Phrase: Literal Meaning: AMELIA DID? Implied meaning: AMELIA

SHOULD HAVE?

16 Change the towels Change (verb): make Cut up the towels, Change (verb): takeor Replaced the towels
orbecomedifferent so that they useanotherinsteadof with different ones
appeared different. instead.

20 Dust the furniture. Dust (noun): fine,dry Poured dusting Dust (verb): remove Removed the dust
powderconsistingof powder on the thedustfromthe from the furniture.
tinyparticles furniture. surfaceof
(something)bywiping
orbrushingit

25 Draw the drapes Draw (verb): produce Drew a picture of Draw (verb): pullor Pull the drapes
(apictureor the drapes on drag,soastomakeit closed.
diagram)bymaking paper. followbehind
linesandmarks,
especiallywithapen
orpencil,onpaper.

28 Put the lights out Out Take the light bulbs Out (synonym for Turned off the lights.
(adverb/preposition): outside. off/adverb):soastobe
Movingorappearing removed,
 tomoveawayfroma disconnected,or
particularplace. separated.
Outside.

34 Measure two cups of Measure (verb): Used a tape Measure (verb): Used the appropriate
rice ascertainthesize, measure to ascertainthesize, measuring tools
amount,ordegreeof determine the amount,ordegreeof (cups for measuring
(something)byusing height in inches of (something)byusing volume-used in
aninstrumentor the two cups of rice. aninstrumentor cooking) to measure
devicemarkedin devicemarkedin the rice.
standardunits standardunits

38 Trim the fat Trim (verb): Wrapped the steak Trim (verb): Cut off the fatty
decorate fat with ribbons and make(something) exterior of the steak
(something),typically lace. neatoroftherequired meat.
withcontrasting sizeorformbycutting
itemsorpiecesof awayirregularor
material unwantedparts.

38 Dress the chicken Dress (verb): Sewed an outfit Dress (verb): Prepare the chicken
putonone'sclothes (lederhosen and treatorprepare for cooking and
socks) for the (something)ina eating.
chicken. certainway.

Amelia Bedelia is great childrens book that is humorous and allows children to see the importance of
context and multiple meanings. I remember learning to read with these books, and finding Amelia Bedelia to
be such a funny literary character. I learned a lot through Amelias misinterpretations about multiple meaning
words and how communication is tricky and requires listening and thinking. It is fun to evaluate a story that
meant so much to me as a child and apply it to what I am learning now about language development and
language learners. It is easy to assume that a child that does not speak fluent English may make the same
mistakes Amelia makes. As language learners, students dont always have a complete grasp on the definitions
and implications that come along with vocabulary and language, and even if a student does understand one
definition, it may not be applicable to the situation. For example, draw in the context of drapes is very
different than asking someone to draw a picture. I believe that these literal, and more simplistic, definitions are
the first definitions students would know when learning new vocabulary. The literal definitions lack metaphor or
allegory and are easier to teach and understand than figurative language, because they dont require analysis
or discovery of a hidden meaning. It is important to understand the complexities of our English words and
phrases because as John McWhorter states in The Power of Babel our language is, so shot through with
foreign loanwords on all levels that there is no language whose basic vocabulary is mostly akin to ours (p.99).

The complexity and figurative nature of the phrases used on Amelias to-do list are what caused her to
misunderstand Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. It would be natural for someone to describe these interpretations as
mistakes, however, H. Douglas Brown, author of Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, says
mistakes must be carefully distinguished from errors of a second language learner, idiosyncrasies in the
language of the learner that are direct manifestations of a system within which a learner is operating at the
time (p.249). What Brown is saying is that Amelia (assuming we can call her a language learner) was not
making mistakes, but making errors because she was in the position of learning. Brown says that an error,
reflects the competence of the learner(p.249), so we can definitely say that Amelia is a learner. Brown also
discusses Cross-Linguistic Influence (CLI) and I believe this is what impacted some of Amelias choices. After
reading that she was meant to dust the furniture, Amelia connected to her personal experiences and
mentions, at my house we undust the furniture(p.20). Brown says that we all recognize the significant role
that prior experience plays in any learning act(p.257), which emphasizes why Amelia recalled her personal
experiences to establish understanding of the task at hand.

As an educator, understanding where language learners may develop errors is important, but it is
imperative we examine how to address these errors. Brown discusses Error Treatment, and states, While it is
important to accentuate the positive in learners journeys to success, and not to become obsessed with error,
transforming difficulty into success always seems to hinge on how learners perceive their own ability, how they
process feedback around them, and how they manage to make their errors work for them and not against
them (p.267). This is important because it reminds me as an educator to look at challenges as areas of
growth, reframe things to be more positive for my students. It helps me to remember to not only focus on the
errors, but to celebrate the small wins and any growth. It also shifts my perspective on giving feedback, to
making sure that my students are equipped and ready to receive constructive feedback. Brown taught me a lot
about how self-efficacy can impact a students growth and language learning development, so it is important to
create a learning environment that students thrive in.

The learning environment is especially important when considering that students will naturally make
errors, mistakes, need to collaborate, communicate, give and receive feedback. All of these can impact a
students self-esteem, and creating the right culture that celebrates diversity of abilities and focuses only on
growth is important. This is important because it relates to McCaffertys analysis of language learning and
Vygotskys research on Zones of Proximal Development. What McCafferty ultimately proved is, the ZPD is not
so much a place as it is an activity...that can lead to both learning and transformation for all involved (2002).
Which emphasizes the importance of providing students many opportunities to engage and interact with each
other, so that they can construct meaning and learn from language-model peers. McCafferty also mentions,
the identities of learners and their interactions make a critical difference (2002). Providing this type of
interactive and collaborative environment, combined with a strong sense of students multiple intelligence
levels, linguistic history, and learning modalities will help students to make the greatest gains possible. I
believe that a classroom teacher has the ultimate responsibility of creating a learning environment that is
conducive to the identities of all learners and fosters communication and collaborative interactions, which will
ultimately support the development of all learners, and especially second language learners.
Work Cited:

Brown, D. H. (2014). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Allyn & Bacon.

McWhorter, J. H. (2001). The Power of Babel: A natural history of language. New York: Times Books.

Mccafferty, S. G. (2002). Gesture and Creating Zones of Proximal Development for Second Language
Learning. The Modern Language Journal,86(2), 192-203. doi:10.1111/1540-4781.00144

Parish, H., & Avril, L. (2015). Amelia Bedelia. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.