Morning everyone,
We're still ploughing on with our work on directed writing (arguably the hardest task you'll have to do across the two papers) and today I'd like you to focus on the theme of language & occupation.
You have all been given a sheet with 9 relevant theories for language and occupation. You absolutely do not have to know or include all of these theories, but have 2 or 3 ready to go. Today do a bit of research on these theories and make some notes on your blog.
Then for your directed writing task, read this article up to the line 'does she live where people work?'. Write an opinionated article about the use of work language in other contexts (for example, how do you think people should talk to their bosses/vice versa? Or should their be different conversational rules at work than at home etc.)
We will carry on with this tomorrow if we don't finish, but make sure you've at least done the research on the theories today.
Wednesday 27 April 2016
Monday 25 April 2016
Gender revision - a different perspective
When preparing for a language and gender discursive essay, you all know to make sure you cover the three Ds. But additionally, you can find something to dispute these theories, helping you explore both sides of the argument.
Read this article taken from an extract of a book by linguist Deborah Cameron - here she disputes the difference and deficit theories. Read and study this for a different perspective on gendered language, and go on to explore Cameron's other writings on this topic.
Good luck in your ongoing revision - remember to do some wider reading to help broaden your horizons and expand you knowledge, you may find a really excellent article that you can extract ideas from. Do this for all the Paper 2 topics!
Read this article taken from an extract of a book by linguist Deborah Cameron - here she disputes the difference and deficit theories. Read and study this for a different perspective on gendered language, and go on to explore Cameron's other writings on this topic.
Good luck in your ongoing revision - remember to do some wider reading to help broaden your horizons and expand you knowledge, you may find a really excellent article that you can extract ideas from. Do this for all the Paper 2 topics!
Friday 15 April 2016
Work in my absence 18th April
Afternoon everyone,
I am in moderation all day today so am unable to be in the lesson with you. I would like you to continue with some work in my absence. Once you have completed the task, please email me to let me know you have done it - I won't be able to mark you present until I have evidence that you have completed the task.
Today, I would like you to push on with the directed writing task on Paper 2. Now that we have covered (mostly) everything we need to cover in class to do with gender, social class and accent and dialect, you have a wealth of topics to draw inspiration from when doing your directed writing. In the exam, you will be given the topic, but you will be able to choose who and what you are writing for, so the style is up to you.
It is useful to think about the directed writing task as a creative alternative to a discursive essay. Discursive skills involve marshalling points and presenting them in a coherent form. The focus of Paper 2 Section B on language debates will mean that your writing will have the purpose of conveying opinions and arguing a case. Essentially, the task will always require you to present opinions and views and positions to a non-specialist audience. The form specified won’t always be an opinion article, but it will always be an opinion-based piece.
Part of your job in the Directed Writing task is to explain linguistic concepts to a non-specialist audience.
This means that
a) you need linguistic ideas to explain and
b) you need to develop a way of making them clear and intelligible to your readers.
In practice, this means you will need to do the following:
Examples of Audiences
Some useful models of opinion-based writing include serious newspaper features such as The Independent’s Voices, more light-hearted features such as The Guardian’s Modern Tribes or Mind Your Language and other articles and editorials in a wide range of publications. Think Huffington Post/Cosmo/Daily Mail. The choices are almost endless, so it's important to do your research before the exam so you can get a true understanding of the styles of different publications. The style and of a Daily Mail article for example will be very different from The Guardian, and you need to specify in the exam who/what you are writing for.
Exemplar for Inspiration
Click here to look at a Section B example question and click here read the exemplar directed writing response on the exam board website. Scroll down until you get to section B. Read the response carefully, looking at the notes from the examiner on the side. This is the kind of response you should be aiming for.
Task
Post to your blog when you are finished, and please email me to let me know you have completed the tasks
Today I would like you to research a number of opinion based sections for different publications. Aim for 5. For each one, make a note of the style of the writing and any characteristics that stand out, this could be narrative voice, use of techniques or emotive language, or it could stand out because it lacks these.
When you have done this, choose your publication and write the opening paragraph and 3 subsequent paragraphs in response to the following question:
Write an opinion article in which you discuss your opinion on the differences between the language used by men and women.
I am in moderation all day today so am unable to be in the lesson with you. I would like you to continue with some work in my absence. Once you have completed the task, please email me to let me know you have done it - I won't be able to mark you present until I have evidence that you have completed the task.
Today, I would like you to push on with the directed writing task on Paper 2. Now that we have covered (mostly) everything we need to cover in class to do with gender, social class and accent and dialect, you have a wealth of topics to draw inspiration from when doing your directed writing. In the exam, you will be given the topic, but you will be able to choose who and what you are writing for, so the style is up to you.
It is useful to think about the directed writing task as a creative alternative to a discursive essay. Discursive skills involve marshalling points and presenting them in a coherent form. The focus of Paper 2 Section B on language debates will mean that your writing will have the purpose of conveying opinions and arguing a case. Essentially, the task will always require you to present opinions and views and positions to a non-specialist audience. The form specified won’t always be an opinion article, but it will always be an opinion-based piece.
Part of your job in the Directed Writing task is to explain linguistic concepts to a non-specialist audience.
This means that
a) you need linguistic ideas to explain and
b) you need to develop a way of making them clear and intelligible to your readers.
In practice, this means you will need to do the following:
- explain who people are and why you are quoting them or referring to them
- give a clear explanation of a technical term (and show an example of it in use)
- untangle different ideas and make them more straightforward for your audience
- present different arguments and identify where they are coming from
- show an overview of issues from which you can then select relevant examples
- demonstrate language practices in use with examples that your readers will understand
- show your own line of argument and guide your readers through the topic
Some useful models of opinion-based writing include serious newspaper features such as The Independent’s Voices, more light-hearted features such as The Guardian’s Modern Tribes or Mind Your Language and other articles and editorials in a wide range of publications. Think Huffington Post/Cosmo/Daily Mail. The choices are almost endless, so it's important to do your research before the exam so you can get a true understanding of the styles of different publications. The style and of a Daily Mail article for example will be very different from The Guardian, and you need to specify in the exam who/what you are writing for.
Exemplar for Inspiration
Click here to look at a Section B example question and click here read the exemplar directed writing response on the exam board website. Scroll down until you get to section B. Read the response carefully, looking at the notes from the examiner on the side. This is the kind of response you should be aiming for.
Task
Post to your blog when you are finished, and please email me to let me know you have completed the tasks
Today I would like you to research a number of opinion based sections for different publications. Aim for 5. For each one, make a note of the style of the writing and any characteristics that stand out, this could be narrative voice, use of techniques or emotive language, or it could stand out because it lacks these.
When you have done this, choose your publication and write the opening paragraph and 3 subsequent paragraphs in response to the following question:
Write an opinion article in which you discuss your opinion on the differences between the language used by men and women.
Can't understand your man? He could be speaking 'Menglish' (but here's how you can be fluent too)
- Men and women can't communicate because they speak different languages
- But women can learn to understand their partners says relationship coach
- Men aren't mind-readers but you can talk in a certain way so that they listen
If you've often thought that you and your partner seem to be speaking completely different languages, then you might be right.
Now British relationship coach Julie-Anne Shapiro has used the word 'Menglish' to illustrate how differently the sexes think and hear things.
She claims that men and women do have their own unique languages which sometimes make it feel as if they are on different planets.
But rather than just continuing feeling as if you are banging your head against a brick wall, she suggests ten steps which will help you perfect your 'Menglish'.
Thursday 14 April 2016
Grices Maxims, Politeness and Face Theory
Hi everyone,
Below is the PowerPoint we went through in class today. Please use it for revision and to re-cap what we have learned.
Click here for the PowerPoint
Below is the PowerPoint we went through in class today. Please use it for revision and to re-cap what we have learned.
Click here for the PowerPoint
Tuesday 12 April 2016
A2 Language 12/4/16
Morning A2 and welcome back. I hope you all had a nice break and managed to get some revision in.
Your mocks are fast approaching, less than 2 weeks to go! So today you can do some blog work and Cambridge Elevate work to re-familiarize yourself with Language Change before we go into revision mode.
First: Please read the post on my blog dated Thursday 24th March. This was our last lesson of the term. If you weren't here or you haven't finished this work, please do so now.
Next, do some revision on 17th century texts and their conventions. You may well get a text from as far back as the 17th century in your exam, so you need to be prepared to discuss it. Use Cambridge Elevate to go through the topics for some ideas on how to approach these kinds of texts. I have a past paper with a 17th Century text to help you,
For context, below is a list of the topics you chose from when you did the presentations a few months ago. It is really worth exploring all of them, so start working your way through and make a few notes on your blogs:
Your mocks are fast approaching, less than 2 weeks to go! So today you can do some blog work and Cambridge Elevate work to re-familiarize yourself with Language Change before we go into revision mode.
First: Please read the post on my blog dated Thursday 24th March. This was our last lesson of the term. If you weren't here or you haven't finished this work, please do so now.
Next, do some revision on 17th century texts and their conventions. You may well get a text from as far back as the 17th century in your exam, so you need to be prepared to discuss it. Use Cambridge Elevate to go through the topics for some ideas on how to approach these kinds of texts. I have a past paper with a 17th Century text to help you,
For context, below is a list of the topics you chose from when you did the presentations a few months ago. It is really worth exploring all of them, so start working your way through and make a few notes on your blogs:
Here are the list of topics:
- Dictionaries from 1700's to today
- Grammar guides 1700s to today
- Prescriptive attitudes through time (examples)
- What is prescriptivism? Use Jean Aitchison's metaphors
- Fairclough's informalisation with some examples of real texts
- Standardisation
- The Great Vowel Shift
- Shakespeare's impact on language - then and now (why is English suited to acquiring coinages?)
- The effect of social media on language change
- Textisms then and now
- Pidgins and creoles
- World Englishes and English as a lingua granca
- Political correctness
- Why do words get invented and become obsolete (incremental and decremental change)?
- Reasons for language change summary
- Examples of words that have changed using different terminology and relating to reasons for language change.
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