Analysis of Verbal Content in Contemporary Cartoons at Different Linguistic Levels

Analysis of Verbal Content in Contemporary Cartoons at Different Linguistic Levels

Mikulec , Alenka
Vuić, Božica

Contemporary times are characterised by the processes of globalization, rapid production and fluctuation of diverse information and technological advances, especially in the media, and it is the young people, teenagers and primary school children who are most likely to quickly accept these changes. Innovations in the development of media significantly affect children's socialization processes and communication, particularly since the introduction to the media begins already in their homes with the aesthetic and critical reflection of the media continuing in primary school as part of the teaching content of both Croatian and English language courses (Croatian National Educational Standard, 2006). In addition, different language interference may also be observed in these multi-directional communication processes. Given the strong influence of Anglo-American culture and English language in personal and public communication, English language indisputably affects even the linguistic expression of the young school-age population. Furthermore, since children today mainly grow up surrounded by numerous and diverse media, of which cartoons are considered the most widespread, their speech development is greatly affected by the language of the cartoons. The aim of the survey, conducted on a sample of 135 pupils from 8-11 years of age, has been to examine the exposure of young primary school children to specific media content, i.e., cartoons and video/computer games. Research results show that most of the surveyed population spend more than two hours a day watching television programme, and as many as 87.3% love watching cartoons. Therefore, this paper analyses the language (translation from English into Croatian) of selected cartoons created by different animation studios on the phonetic, semantic and morphosyntactic level, also pointing to their potential positive and negative effects on the development of linguistic competence in both Croatian and English language among the target population.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2012-05

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