Language can validate sexism

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/vanessa-whiteside/gender-equality-tech-industry_b_8654390.html

Although this article is not primarily about language and gender, some points made are very much applicable.

A caption which recently appeared on a New Yorker cartoon which depicted a group of men working on their laptops and playing ping-pong said "I'll do what everybody else does - sell this start-up just before we have to hire a female employee". This is an example of how 'banter' and 'humour' can validate sexism and reinforce sexist attitudes in a wider society.

The article also discusses how stereotypes associated with words can affect people in a more significant way than perhaps many people notice. For example, Sapna Cheryan - a psychology professor at the University of Washtington - discovered girls are usually less likely to take up tech-related subjects in school because they had pre-conceived ideas that tech was for geeks, a word often bounded around negatively. By not taking tech-related subjects in school, they are then unlikely, or unable, to take up careers in this field - their whole lives could have, perhaps, been affected by the language they were exposed to during their time at school.

Paper 2 - Questions with guidance and advice

Questions: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-77012-SQP.PDF

Commentary: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-77012-COM.PDF

Student response: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-77012-CEX.PDF

Bristol University Grammar Guide

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/index.htm

a) Handy for revision
b) Structure

• punctuation
• discourse and graphology
• form, purpose, audience
• syntax – simple, compound, complex;  main and subordinate clauses;  spoken language = utterance, written language = sentences; functions of syntax: imperative, interrogative, exclamative, declarative

c) Lexis

• Semantics
• Pragmatics
• Field-specific lexis

d) Essays/exam responses

e) Grammar and lexis
f) Form, purpose, audience
g) Handy for revision

English is weird

This shows how the pronunciation of specific words can alter the meaning of them in the English language. When homonyms and homographs are used in the same sentence, you begin to realise how weird the English language really is!

Dear Ms Morgan: in grammar there isn’t always one right answer

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/nov/03/morgan-grammar-test-right-answer-spag-english-spelling-punctuation-grammar

What does your emoji usage say about you?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/11962871/What-does-your-emoji-usage-say-about-you.html

This article discusses how emoji use varies around the world and what your emoji use says about you. It discusses whether or not emoji is becoming a language of its own and suggests that the interpretations of a single emoji would have to narrow before this would be possible.

Language and Identity

Standard English - formal register, language of power, expected in professional environments - signifies status, perhaps an indicator of social class, language of academia

Slang - informal language

Dialect - words, phrases and grammatical structures dependent on your region

Taboo - offensive, inappropriate, unacceptable language, including swearing

Technology influenced words and phrases - words that are normally associated with technology, e.g. "lol", "FaceTime" etc

Neologisms - coinage, new words - e.g. Oxford English Dictionary add words all the time; recent additions include "bestie", "selfie" and "emoji"

Occupational register - often associated with standard English, based on a shared understanding

Received pronunciation - 'correct', prestigious accent, formal, language of power

Regional accent - the way you pronounce certain words based on where you're from, multiple accents for each individual - accent may vary based on contextual features

Language and Identity

"One of the most fundamental ways we have of establishing our identity, and of shaping other peoples' views of who we are, is through the use of language" ~ Joanna Thornborrow (2004)

Andrew Moore - Universal Teacher

http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/

AQA English Language Specimen Papers and Mark Schemes

http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/as-and-a-level/english-language-7701-7702/assessment-resources

Sample exam papers and mark schemes for AQA English Language A-Level.

"Femvertising"

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/oct/12/femvertising-branded-feminism

Article about advertising aimed at women and feminists.

Transcript Analysis

Conversation at College, outside by the fountain.

A: what did you do last weekend?
B: I started my new job
A: what was it like?
B: I was on the tills (2) *name of speaker A* what did you do on the weekend?
A: umm my brother went to uni on Sunday (.) we went down Southampton and then yeah basically
B: greaaaat
C: I was working all day on Saturday and then that was about it
D: umm I was doing homework all weekend (.) didn't really
B: yeah umm I had my first driving lesson as well
A: how was that?
B: that was really good actually yeah (.) I can't wait to be able to drive (.) yeah
A: umm what else did I do (3) I had dance on Saturday
C: how was dance?
A: great (.) getting ready for competitions and performances (.) yeah


Analysis
Phatic talk -  sticks to safe topics, to avoid disagreement and controversial topics; this is a positive politeness strategy
Chaining of adjacency pairs - conversation follows expected pattern of adjacency pairs to prevent awkwardness
Dispreferred response - although this response is relevant, it does not follow the expected pattern of this adjacency pair
Dialect - this is geographical specific lexis, as Southampton is south of Bristol
Back-channeling - this shows support to the other speakers and prevents an awkward silence
Preferred response - allows the expected chaining of adjacency pairs to continue
Grice's maxim of quantity - flouted by speakers C and D who do not talk as much, especially when compared to the other speakers
Fillers - key feature of spoken language, not present in written language, could suggest the speakers are nervous or hesitant, perhaps uncomfortable Utterance tails off, incomplete, differs to written mode
Overlaps/interruptions - no one overlaps or interrupts the other speakers, possibly suggesting the group don't know each other very well

Brown and Levinson

Linguists Brown and Levinson put forward ideas about politeness, suggesting that people have positive face needs and negative face needs.

Positive face needs are wanting to be liked and approved of in our exchanges with others. Due to positive face needs, people use positive politeness strategies, which may include:

• paying attention
• seeking agreement (safe topics)
• pretend agreement (white lies, hedging)
• using humour
• using appropriate address terms
• compliments

Negative face needs are having to deal with difficult conversations in tactful ways. People use negative politeness strategies to deal with negative face needs and these may include:

• being indirect
• questioning and hedging
• being apologetic
• giving deference (reducing your own status)

Spontaneous Speech Terminology Quiz

1) 'A pattern of speech in which one utterance is followed by an appropriate linked response' - is the definition of the term:

• Adjacency pairs

2) Explain the term 'side-sequencing':

• Side sequencing is when Grice's maxim of relevance is flouted and the conversation goes off-topic

3) Give an example of a 'tag-question':

• "isn't it?"

4) Give three terms that are examples of non-fluency features:

• hesitation
• false starts
• repetition

5) Explain the term 'phatic language and give two examples of 'phatic' language:

• Phatic language is small talk such as
• "how are you?
• "nice weather we're having"

6) Non-verbal aspects of speech or 'paralinguistic features' such as 'fillers' can help reveal a speaker;s attitudes and feelings. Name two other non-verbal aspects of speech:

• gestures
• facial expressions

7) 'elp me orf this 'orse' is an example of phonetic spelling which means the spelling of words to represent how they are pronounced

8) List Grice's maxims and briefly state what each one refers to:

• quantity - too much/too little
• quality - truth
• relevance - on topic
• manner - clear communication

9) Grice was interested in suggesting what helps to create flowing conversation

10)When analysing spontaneous speech we do not refer to 'sentences' but:

• utterances

11) Brown and Levinson put forward some theories about politeness. Name four positive politeness strategies we might employ if we want to be liked?

• paying attention
• pretend agreement
• compliments

Features of Spoken Language Test

1) "Three men in a pub" and "Goin' to the party?" are examples of

• elision
• dialect
• ellipsis

2) "er", "um" and "you know" are examples of

• prosodic features
• fillers
• tag questions

3) Idiolect is

• the language of fools
• an individually distinctive style of speaking
• a collective idiomatic phrase

4) "sort of", "like", "and so on", "or whatever" and "kind of thing" are examples of

• vague language
• voiced pauses
• accent

5) "Back-channelling" is

• repeating the other talker's words
• an intrusive medical procedure
• listener feedback signalling support or understanding

6) "Deixis" is

• words which point to something 'outside' the text
• a word which signals a change of subject
• often misspellt

7) Pitch, pace, stress and rhythm are examples of

• paralinguistic features
• accent
• prosodic features

8) "gonna", "gimme" and "loadsa" are examples of

• synonyms
• elision
• phatic talk

9) "We was going down the road" and "He didn't know nothing" are examples of

• non-standard grammar
• poor English
• transactional language

10) Hesitation, repetition and false starts are examples of

• paralinguistic features
• interactional language
• non-fluency features

11) Question-answer and greeting-return are examples of

• paralinguistic features
• transactional language
• adjacency pairs

12) Phatic talk is

• stressed or highly intonated words
• conversation with a derious topic
• small talk

13) "It's OK here, isn't it?" and "That's cheap, don't you think?" are examples of

• sibilance
• tag questions
• ellipsis

14) Gestures and facial expressions are examples of

• prosodic features
• paralinguistic features
• hypercorrection

15) "Anyway", "so" and "next thing" are examples of

• discourse markers
• unvoiced pauses
• colloquial language

16) Pragmatics is the study of 

• conversations involving the request for goods or services
• dialect terms
• what a speaker means rather than simply the words they say

17) Rather than use the term 'sentences' in describing a stretch of spoken language, we should say

• turn taking
• utterance
• discourse marker

Functional Categories of Spontaneous Conversation

• Transactional - getting something done
• Expressive - giving expression to feelings
• Instructional - giving information about how to do something
• Phatic - socialising through "small talk"
• Referential - conveying factual knowledge

Few discourses fit neatly into just one function category.

Accent Levelling

http://www.panmacmillan.com/book/bencrystal/yousaypotato

• There is accent leveling across the country due to geographical movement, usually for employment.
• There is no 1 accent.
• Accent is potentially influenced by social class

Grice's Maxims of Conversation

• Adjacency pairs are small units of spoken language that follow an expected pattern
• preferred and dispreferred responses
• chaining of adjacency pairs help the expected flow of conversation

• quantity - too much/too little
• quality - truth
• relevance - on/off topic - off topic referred to as side sequences
• manner - clear communication

Grice's Maxims are only important when they're flouted.

Spoken Language

Conventions of Transcripts

• Pauses - can be various lengths
• micropauses (equivalent of a comma)
• timed pauses
• Utterances - like sentences but are in spoken language
• don't start with capital letters
• Intonation - rising, falling or flat
• Names - replaced with 'A', 'B' etc to preserve confidentiality of speakers
• Interruptions and overlaps - if someone begins talking while someone is already talking, a slash is used to show when second speaker starts
• if first people stops speaking, it's an interruption
• if both continue to speak, it's an overlap
• Paralinguistic features - body language, actions and tone of voice
• can be indicated in square brackets

RSA Animate

https://www.thersa.org/discover/videos/rsa-animate/

Txting is Killing Language. JK!!! - John McWhorter

https://www.ted.com/talks/john_mcwhorter_txtng_is_killing_language_jk

"If language was around for 24 hours, writing came along at 11:07pm"

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/23-phrases-Bristol-understand/story-26058369-detail/story.html

Steven Pinker - What Our Language Habits Reveal

https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_language_and_thought

 

• language change:
• descriptive attitudes - you can't discriminate against words, all language is vital
• prescriptive attitudes - only one way, standard English is the only thing that should be used
• descriptivism/prescriptivism

• language is a window onto human nature:
• language emerges from human minds interacting with one another
• visible in unstoppable language changes
• slang&jargon, historical change, dialect divergence, language formation

• communication model:
• sender - message - receiver

• euphemistic language to talk about topics that are hard to discuss

• social, historical and cultural context

TED Talks

https://www.ted.com/talks

Form, Purpose, Audience

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/31/neither-mr-mrs-or-ms-but-mx
Form: newspaper article (broadsheet)
Purpose: to educate
Audience: people interested in topical issues


http://www.4music.com/news/news/youll-never-guess-why-gandalf-says-hes-not-taylor-swifts-squad
Form: web article
Purpose: to entertain
Audience: teenagers, mostly female


http://www.lazybeescripts.co.uk/Scripts/script.aspx?iSS=1800
Form: play script
Purpose: to entertain
Audience: theatre/drama enthusiasts


http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23524610-one?from_search=true&search_version=service
Form: review
Purpose: to inform and entertain
Audience: teenagers, fans of literature

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkjW9PZBRfk
Form: video
Purpose: to educate and raise awareness
Audience: people interested in topical issues, feminists

Glossary

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14SM_abvURid2SpUdB-u56Qwz3FdE9h4GeTILmSKfukY/edit?usp=sharing

Terminology

Lexis - words; meaning at word and phrase level

Grammar - the structure and rules around which language and sentences are constructed

Phonology - the sounds we use within language to create certain effexts (e.g. rhythm, rhyme, intonation, stress and pauses)

Pragmatics - how we know what language means in different contexts ('reading between the lines')

Discourse - how longer texts are organised; the way texts create identities for individuals, groups or institutions

Graphology - how the textual design can contribute to meaning; including fonts, colours, emojis etc

Register - the variation of language in terms of audience, purpose and context

Mode - how language varies according the the channel of communication

Idiolect - an individual's unique way of expressing themselves; influenced by their personality, belief systems and social experiences

Sociolect - ways of a social group expressing themselves, e.g. generalising the way teenagers talk

Dialect - variations of word choice and grammatical structures based on the area someone lives

Technology Effects

Is technology ruining the English language? Or are the effects minor?
http://www.alphr.com/life-culture/1001443/wow-so-language-very-technology-much-changing

Frameworks

• Phonetics, phonology and prosodics:
• sounds and effects
• Graphology:
• textual design and appearance
• Lexis and semantics:
• words and meanings
• Grammar, including morphology:
• structural patterns
• Pragmatics:
• context and meaning
• Discourse:
• genres, modes and contexts

 

Article Summary/Comparison

All raait! It's a new black-white lingo
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/article209405.ece

This article discussed the multi-ethnic dialect that has been emerging. First identified in east London, the dialect has started to be used in other multicultural cities by a number of people, mostly teenagers. The article states that the dialect will continually become more popular until it eventually becomes mainstream, seeing as it is viewed as 'cool and fashionable'. Many people are also using it as a way to bridge social and cultural gaps between ethnicities.

The article also tells us about a London school who are correcting their students' language use if it is not considered to be standard English. This could viewed as an attempt to eradicate slang from society and raises questions such as: do individuals have the right to correct another's dialect? Or is this simply telling the person that their dialect is inferior when in reality society should be trying to promote equality?

 

 

 

From the mouths of teens

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/from-the-mouths-of-teens-422688.html

 

This article focuses more on the dialect itself as opposed to the people who use it and the areas it is present in. It gives 'translations' of some slang terms which have emerged as part of the multi-ethnic dialect, which is referred to as MLE (Multicultural London English) in this article.

In a similar way to the previous article, this one mentions the origin of the dialect (with influences including Jamaican, Afro-Caribbean, Indian, West African and Australian). It also states that the dialect is used by teenagers with a range of ethnic backgrounds including Arab, South American, Ghanaian, Portuguese and white Anglo-Saxon – again suggesting that teenagers use the dialect as a way of creating equality and a sense of identity between a number of cultures and ethnicities.

 

 

Grammar/Punctuation Test

http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/quiz/2013/feb/04/grammar-punctuation-quiz-test

Course Specification

http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/as-and-a-level/english-language-7701-7702/specification-at-a-glance