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16 Monaliza Hernandez Mamac

Cameron: (18) what?
Mother: (19) you would have run back to mummy (20) crying really loudly

(21) shouting (22) and you didn’t do that (23) you acted like a big boy
Cameron: (24) yes
Mother: (25) you got hurt (26) so you cried (27) because you were hurt
Cameron: (28) yeah
Mother: (29) and then after a little while you stopped crying
Cameron: (30) yes
Mother: (31) that’s what big boys do

Mother: (32) yeah
(Hasan, 2002, p. 541)

Example 1 demonstrates a mother-child dialogue. The mother is informing Cameron about
the qualities of a “big boy”. The mother elaborates what constitutes a braveness and explains
how Cameron’s behaviour an exemplification of it. The occurrence of semantically complex
discourses as shown above is less likely in the dominated class (example 2).

Example 2 LAP mother

Pete: (1) can I play with (? )?
Mother: (2) no
Pete: (3) oh why not?
Mother: (4) no
Pete: (5) oh (PETE CRIES)
(Hasan, 2002, p. 541)

In contrast with example 1, the mother in example 2 provides adequate but minimal
response to Pete without elaboration. Pete tried to ask for an elaboration from his mother (3),
however, the mother rejected the attempt (4). Hasan (2002) emphasises that LAP discourses
“signify that the mothers view the child as an extension of themselves, similar to them in essential
ways… their children too display reciprocal regard, and a similar orientation toward their mother”
(p. 546). Contrastingly, discourses with “emphasis on individuation, on precision, and explicitly
conveyed information occurred more frequently in HAP mother’s and HAP children’s discourse”
(Hasan, 2002; Hasan 1989). Individuation, precision, and explicitly conveyed information are
characteristics of discourses in academic contexts. HAP children’s cognitive framework used to

process specialised concepts is established early on through semiotically complex discourses
they are exposed to at home. The exposure HAP children to these kinds of discourses at home
make them more advantageous in formal schooling over their LAP counterparts.
Knowledge production in higher education and highly specialised fields relies greatly in
vertical knowledge. In terms of active learning approach, studies have shown that active learning