Hamilton's Towing

Price: 
$10.00
Delivery Method: 

In this video clip, Devon (blond) receives a business call while he is busy getting his hair cut, so Jared (brunette) helps out by answering the ringing telephone. Watch how the children deal with the language requirements of this modern device, the telephone. We see them hold the phone to their chest to mute the reception on the other end. We see them calculate how long it should take a pretend conversant to answer a question. We see their use of intonation to mark formal versus informal tones as appropriate to the pragmatics of the conversation. We hear them identify themselves and explain the local situation because they understand the listener's blind perspective.

The children also comment on the social expectations of roles according to gender. As the video clip begins, Jared (off camera) can be heard saying, “No, no, no...” to Devon. Devon looks toward Jared and says, “I’m gonna get it blow dried.” Jared tilts his head back to look up at Devon and says, “You’re not.” Devon replies by saying, “I’m gonna get my haircut.” Jared says, “You’re getting your haircut? You’re not a girl. Aw, Devon. (pauses) You’re not a girl, Devon. You’re not a girl.”

Also notice how Devon demonstrates his understanding of emotion as he protests against "Two calls in one day". Devon knows that expectations from others may at times cause a person to experience frustration and feel, ""They're making me mad".

Length of stand-alone video clip: 3 minutes 26 seconds

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Keywords: Fives, Replica Toy, Emotion, Mind of Other, Gender Roles, Communication, Language, Pretense