‘You’ll need help from your adult assistant’: Readership accommodation in children’s recipes
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Marie-Louise Brunner
Marie-Louise Brunner is head of the intercultural communication and further education program at Trier University of Applied Sciences, as well as a doctoral researcher in English Linguistics at Saarland University, Germany. She currently investigates the negotiation of intercultural communication in English as a Lingua Franca Skype conversations. Her research interests include discourse analysis, pragmatics, and intercultural communication. As partner at Teaching Solutions Corporation, she works as a consultant on intercultural/educational issues. Address for correspondence: Language and Communication (UW/UR), Trier University of Applied Sciences, Environmental Campus Birkenfeld, PO Box 13 80, 55761 Birkenfeld, Germany.
Abstract
This article investigates how children’s recipes are adapted structurally and linguistically for their young readership. It is based on comparative data, using 24 children’s and 24 adults’ versions of the same recipes, and additional online and printed children’s recipes as reference. Even though recipes have been researched extensively, research on recipes for children in particular is rare. Based on general research on facilitation methods in recipe writing, the article analyzes how children, as the target readership, are accommodated in the analyzed recipes and how they differ from recipes intended for adults. Findings suggest that children’s recipes often have an appealing title, are more detailed and clearer, and use visual support. There is a tendency to reduce presuppositions and include additional advice. However, they seem less consistent than adult recipes and, in contrast to the general trend for accommodation, often use technical terminology without further explanations. The request for an adult helper distinguishes children’s from adults’ recipes and serves as a differentiating feature. These findings indicate that children’s recipes are adapted to the particular context and needs of a young and inexperienced audience.
About the author
Marie-Louise Brunner is head of the intercultural communication and further education program at Trier University of Applied Sciences, as well as a doctoral researcher in English Linguistics at Saarland University, Germany. She currently investigates the negotiation of intercultural communication in English as a Lingua Franca Skype conversations. Her research interests include discourse analysis, pragmatics, and intercultural communication. As partner at Teaching Solutions Corporation, she works as a consultant on intercultural/educational issues. Address for correspondence: Language and Communication (UW/UR), Trier University of Applied Sciences, Environmental Campus Birkenfeld, PO Box 13 80, 55761 Birkenfeld, Germany.
Appendix
Kraft Corpus:
Brunner, Marie-Louise. 2012. Kraft Corpus. (Print-out recipes from www.kraftrecipes.com. Kids & Ideas. Your Kids. Kids can cook.) http://www.kraftrecipes.com/yourkids/kids-can-cook.aspx (accessed September 17, 2012) [no author, no publishing year]
Children’s Cookbooks:
Ibbs, Katharine. 2004. Children’s cookbook. Delicious step-by-step recipes. London: Dorling Kindersley.
Karmel, Annabel. 2005. Children’s first cookbook. Have fun in the kitchen! London: Dorling Kindersley.
Patchett, Fiona. 2009. The Usborne children’s book of baking. Over 40 simple recipes that everyone can bake, 2nd edn London: Usborne.
Smart, Denise. 2008. Cookbook for girls. Fabulous food for gorgeous girls. London: Dorling Kindersley.
Wilkes, Angela & Jane Suthering. 1997. Children’s quick & easy cookbook. London: Dorling Kindersley.
Children’s Online Recipes:
BBC Good Food. Cooking with kids: Spaghetti & meatballs with hidden veg sauce. 2012. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2451637/cooking-with-kids-spaghetti-and-meatballs-with-hid (accessed November 30, 2012) [no author]
Bird, Fiona. 2009. Channel 4. Kid’s pizza recipe. http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/cooking-with-kids/kids-pizza-recipe (accessed November 30, 2012)
Franco, Silvana. 2008. Channel 4. Marshmallow and honeycomb sandwiches. http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/marshmallow-and-honeycomb-sandwiches-recipe (accessed December 2, 2012)
KidsHealth from Nemours. Blueberry Pancakes. http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/recipes/blueberry_pancakes.html#cat20229 (accessed November 30, 2012) [no author, no publishing year]
Kidspot kitchen. Gingerbread men recipe. http://www.kidspot.com.au/best-recipes/Kids-cooking+5/Gingerbread-men-recipe+2993.htm (accessed December 2, 2012) [no author, no publishing year]
Mama Mirabelle’s home movies. My savanna cookbook. Banana-Pear Caterpillar. http://pbskids.org/mamamirabelle/cookbook_recipe_01.html (accessed November 30, 2012) [no author, no publishing year]
Spoonful. Rainy day yellow cake. http://spoonful.com/recipes/rainy-day-yellow-cake (accessed November 30, 2012) [no author, no publishing year]
Weinstein, Bruce & Mark Scarbrough. Spoonful. BLT pizza. http://spoonful.com/recipes/blt-pizza (accessed November 30, 2012) [no publishing year]
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© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Announcement
- ‘You’ll need help from your adult assistant’: Readership accommodation in children’s recipes
- Being an ‘older parent’: Chrononormativity and practices of stage of life categorisation
- Linguistic strategies prompting interactions in recipes from Mandarin Chinese food blogs
- Sequential organization of hinting in online task-oriented L2 interaction
- A corpus-based study on the functions of antonym co-occurrences in spoken Chinese
- “May I tell you something?”: When questions do not anticipate responses
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Announcement
- ‘You’ll need help from your adult assistant’: Readership accommodation in children’s recipes
- Being an ‘older parent’: Chrononormativity and practices of stage of life categorisation
- Linguistic strategies prompting interactions in recipes from Mandarin Chinese food blogs
- Sequential organization of hinting in online task-oriented L2 interaction
- A corpus-based study on the functions of antonym co-occurrences in spoken Chinese
- “May I tell you something?”: When questions do not anticipate responses
