Morning all,
Firstly can you spend some time updating the essay plan for Accent & Dialect that you started last week - we will be doing this essay in timed conditions after Xmas so ensure you're well prepared, remember wider reading is absolutely key to these discursive essays.
Then, because we are now focusing on coursework, you need to find at least 2 style models to help you develop your original writing.
Please see the Intro to Coursework PPT from Monday to refresh your memory of the Original Writing task.
What is a 'style model'?
A style model is a text of the same genre of the text you want to produce, however it cannot be on the same topic. For example, if you decide to write an opinion article on Brexit, your style model must also be an opinion article, but it can't be on Brexit.
The aim of the style model is for you to annotate and demonstrate you can take ideas from the genre conventions and apply them to your own work to ensure your original piece is as authentic as possible. Additionally in your accompanying commentary, you will need to refer to your style model and explain your choices of language/form/structure etc.
Style model guidelines
You may already have an idea of the purpose/genre that you wish to write for, so you can focus on that when choosing style models.
OR
You may not yet be sure about the purpose/genre that you wish to write for, so you can collect a wide range of different style models.
They should be an appropriate length and topic, and should be of a high quality.
Whichever you choose, you must print out your style model(s) and bring them to tomorrow's lesson (colour is preferable but not absolutely necessary) where you will be annotating them and answering a list of questions I'll provide you with tomorrow.
Use your research time wisely, if you want to find a few different style models for a few different tasks, that's fine. If you have any questions let me know.
Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Wednesday, 12 December 2018
Accent & Dialect PPTs
Please see below for the accent and dialect PPTs we've been through in class and a few extras:
Intro to Geographical Varieties of English
Cockney Rhyming Slang
MLE, Paul Kerswill and Gary Ives
Attitudes - Trudgill, Giles and Accommodation Theory
The rest of the resources have been given to you as paper copies, or are on my blog.
Intro to Geographical Varieties of English
Cockney Rhyming Slang
MLE, Paul Kerswill and Gary Ives
Attitudes - Trudgill, Giles and Accommodation Theory
The rest of the resources have been given to you as paper copies, or are on my blog.
Accent & Dialect Essay Planning
Morning all,
First, we will listen to this Word of Mouth Podcast by Michael Rosen about accents and dialects. Word of Mouth is an excellent weekly podcast all about the English language, I really recommend listening to it and the entire back catalog is available on BBC iPlayer, and it's great for wider reading (we'll be listening to it a lot in our second year). You'll need an iPlayer account to listen but this won't take you long to create and it is free. Take some notes whilst we're listening.
Next, if you didn't finish last week's task (below) then compete this now.
Finally, when we come back after Xmas we will be doing a timed essay on accent & dialect in class for the question below. With this in mind, please mindmap and plan how you would respond to this question (remember it's a discursive essay, so theory and wider reading are key):
Evaluate the idea that some accents and dialects are viewed more favourably than others
Any questions let me know.
First, we will listen to this Word of Mouth Podcast by Michael Rosen about accents and dialects. Word of Mouth is an excellent weekly podcast all about the English language, I really recommend listening to it and the entire back catalog is available on BBC iPlayer, and it's great for wider reading (we'll be listening to it a lot in our second year). You'll need an iPlayer account to listen but this won't take you long to create and it is free. Take some notes whilst we're listening.
Next, if you didn't finish last week's task (below) then compete this now.
Finally, when we come back after Xmas we will be doing a timed essay on accent & dialect in class for the question below. With this in mind, please mindmap and plan how you would respond to this question (remember it's a discursive essay, so theory and wider reading are key):
Evaluate the idea that some accents and dialects are viewed more favourably than others
Any questions let me know.
Tuesday, 4 December 2018
Regional Variations: Changing London Dialects
Hi all,
Firstly if you were absent on Monday, please ensure you have a copy of the booklet. Work through the booklet, ensuring you are confident in the following:
1. Accent variations and the 'foot/strut split'
2. Syllables, monopthongs and diphthongs
3. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and its symbols and corresponding sounds (writing your name using the symbols is a good task for this)
4. William Labov's Martha's Vineyard theory
Task 1:
Write up the summary of the article on Cockney rhyming slang on your blogs.
Task 2: Multicultural London English/ Multicultural Urban British English
The fall in usage of Cockney rhyming slang has left a space for 'newer' dialects to flourish, some of which are also strongly associated with the ways that speakers want to project a sense of identity.. One of the key factors to these emerging variations of English is migration, with many of the new dialects associated with particular cultural groups, such as those with a Caribbean or Asian background. Often, aspects of a native tongue are mixed with Standard English to create new dialects. Bradford Asian English and Multicultural London English are just 2 examples.
Read this article by Bristol author Nikesh Shukla about his experience of MLE whilst living in London, and then answer these questions:
1. What does Nikesh Shukla believe has happened to Cockney rhyming slang?
2. What does he believe has replaced rhyming slang?
3. What reasons does he give for this?
4. What are the origins of MLE?
Task 3 - Paul Kerswill
Read this article on rhyming slang and MLE. Paul Kerswill is a linguist you need to know, so summarise his ideas (there may be some overlap with the Shukla article, but don't worry about this as it's good to get differing perspectives):
1. What are the main linguistic elements of MLE? Give some exaples
2. What has it developed from?
3. Why do people use it?
4. How can you relate this to William Labov? Write a short paragraph explaining how Labov's findings on Martha's Vineyard in 1961 apply here.
It's really important that you get all of this work finished, so if you don't get it all done in class then it needs to be done for homework ASAP.
Any issues, let me know!
The fall in usage of Cockney rhyming slang has left a space for 'newer' dialects to flourish, some of which are also strongly associated with the ways that speakers want to project a sense of identity.. One of the key factors to these emerging variations of English is migration, with many of the new dialects associated with particular cultural groups, such as those with a Caribbean or Asian background. Often, aspects of a native tongue are mixed with Standard English to create new dialects. Bradford Asian English and Multicultural London English are just 2 examples.
Read this article by Bristol author Nikesh Shukla about his experience of MLE whilst living in London, and then answer these questions:
1. What does Nikesh Shukla believe has happened to Cockney rhyming slang?
2. What does he believe has replaced rhyming slang?
3. What reasons does he give for this?
4. What are the origins of MLE?
Task 3 - Paul Kerswill
Read this article on rhyming slang and MLE. Paul Kerswill is a linguist you need to know, so summarise his ideas (there may be some overlap with the Shukla article, but don't worry about this as it's good to get differing perspectives):
1. What are the main linguistic elements of MLE? Give some exaples
2. What has it developed from?
3. Why do people use it?
4. How can you relate this to William Labov? Write a short paragraph explaining how Labov's findings on Martha's Vineyard in 1961 apply here.
It's really important that you get all of this work finished, so if you don't get it all done in class then it needs to be done for homework ASAP.
Any issues, let me know!
Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Writing an Opinion Article
Hi all,
Now that you know all of the theories (linked in PPTs in previous posts if you need reminding, and all of the relevant theory is laid out in you booklets) you're going to have another go at writing opinion articles today. This one I am going to take in and mark and you'll have a week to finish it off (make sure you print it out).
First of all, read this article from the Guardian. Do a very quick analysis of key features you think would be good to ‘steal’ from this article, e.g. controversial headline. Click here for a few more ideas. Click here for a few more features, and to see my example of a gender opinion article.
This is a task which you will need to do in your second Language exam. You will be given 2 articles, linked by topic, discussing some aspect of language. Your job will be to write an article which responds to the two you have read, and apply your knowledge of theory for a non-specialist audience (see my example for how to do this effectively i.e. my reference to Deborah Tannen).
Some examples of effective headlines
You will do well in the opinion article part of the course if you read lots of opinion articles and relevant news stories yourself. Make a start on this by reading the opinion articles at the back of your gender booklets.
Any questions, let me know!
Links to relevant PPT:
Problems with Lakoff & Dominance
Tannen
Cameron & Hyde
Now that you know all of the theories (linked in PPTs in previous posts if you need reminding, and all of the relevant theory is laid out in you booklets) you're going to have another go at writing opinion articles today. This one I am going to take in and mark and you'll have a week to finish it off (make sure you print it out).
First of all, read this article from the Guardian. Do a very quick analysis of key features you think would be good to ‘steal’ from this article, e.g. controversial headline. Click here for a few more ideas. Click here for a few more features, and to see my example of a gender opinion article.
This is a task which you will need to do in your second Language exam. You will be given 2 articles, linked by topic, discussing some aspect of language. Your job will be to write an article which responds to the two you have read, and apply your knowledge of theory for a non-specialist audience (see my example for how to do this effectively i.e. my reference to Deborah Tannen).
Some examples of effective headlines
You will do well in the opinion article part of the course if you read lots of opinion articles and relevant news stories yourself. Make a start on this by reading the opinion articles at the back of your gender booklets.
Any questions, let me know!
Links to relevant PPT:
Problems with Lakoff & Dominance
Tannen
Cameron & Hyde
Wednesday, 14 November 2018
Language and Gender - Research
Morning all,
Today you will be conducting some research and using/interpreting data to help you plan a response to a language and gender question. Please read everything carefully; it may seem like really complex work, but if you know the theories we looked at on Monday, you'll have no real issues.
Click here to access the PowerPoint from Monday, and use your booklets to remind yourself of Robin Lakoff's work.
Task 1
Click here to research Pamela Fishman's response to Robin Lakoff's Deficit Model, and Jenny Cheshire's study, and make notes. There is space in your booklet to do this.
Task 2
Use the data below to write 6 statements. This is your interpretation and analysis of the raw data.
I.e. 'on average men have more terms per meeting than women' or 'Woman D has more turns than Man D.'
Task 3
How can each of the theorists we have looked at be applied to this data, or the statement? Does the data prove or disprove that particular theorist?
- O'Barr & Atkins
- Geoffrey Beattie
- Zimmerman & West
- Pamela Fishman
- Robin Lakoff
- Dale Spender
Task 4:
Which 3 theorists would be most relevant when talking about this below. Explain why.
Challenge Task
This may seem like complex work, however it is really easy to use theories in a language essay and apply them to linguistic analysis. You will always get a text or question which has really obvious links to gender and identifies some sort of stereotype. You can discuss the theories when there is a stereotype, and also when there is a challenge to stereotype. Read the paragraph below which is taken from a gender essay about this data. Use this paragraph to write your own:
"When looking at the data in Table 1, it is clear to see that there are some differences between the men and women at the meeting in terms of how many and how long their turns are. This would certainly fit with Lakoffs ideas about difference between the sexes. However, there are also interesting figures that suggest that it’s not as simple as saying that all men get more and longer turns than women. For example, Woman D gets 20.5 average turns per meeting which is more than two of the men. Also, while Woman D is clearly interrupted most in the data, Men F,G and H are interrupted frequently too, suggesting that it might not just be gender that is a factor here. The Dominance theory focuses more on men’s speech rather than women’s and how they are different. The dominance model found that men interrupted and dominated conversations more than women and this is a sign of dominance over women. However looking at the results in the table, the figures may prove otherwise. Given that the men did the most interrupting helps to support the dominance theory, but when we see that the men were also most interrupted on average then it seems as though the men are just interrupting each other rather than interrupting the women and showing dominance over them."
Lots of work to do today, so if you have any questions, let me know!
Thursday, 8 November 2018
Language & Gender - The Pronoun
Morning all,
As discussed, please read these links and summarise them on your blogs:
The Independent - HSBC Trans-neutral titles
Deborah Cameron - The Pronoun is Political
As discussed, please read these links and summarise them on your blogs:
The Independent - HSBC Trans-neutral titles
Deborah Cameron - The Pronoun is Political
Wednesday, 24 October 2018
Language & Gender Intro: Is Your Brain Male or Female?
Morning all,
Today you will be planning and writing an article in response to the documentary we watched on Monday on male and female brains.
Using the notes you took on Monday, create a headline and write your opinion on the topic, using evidence from the documentary and your own opinions. Remember to set it out as an article and develop a line of argument.
Resources:
Link to the documentary for recap
Link to the Guardian's opinion pages - use these articles as style models on how to present your work and the kind of language used. Remember to write a headline!
Link to an article in the New Scientist - 'Scans prove there's no such thing as a male or female brain' - use this as a counterpoint
Any issues let me know!
Today you will be planning and writing an article in response to the documentary we watched on Monday on male and female brains.
Using the notes you took on Monday, create a headline and write your opinion on the topic, using evidence from the documentary and your own opinions. Remember to set it out as an article and develop a line of argument.
Resources:
Link to the documentary for recap
Link to the Guardian's opinion pages - use these articles as style models on how to present your work and the kind of language used. Remember to write a headline!
Link to an article in the New Scientist - 'Scans prove there's no such thing as a male or female brain' - use this as a counterpoint
Any issues let me know!
Wednesday, 17 October 2018
Meanings & Reps Round Up
Morning all,
Today you'll be combining your meanings & representations analysis skills with your understanding of political leanings of UK publications.
Choose 1 of the articles that you analysed at the start of the year which covered an issue you are interested in i.e. veganism, environmental issues, marriage equality or LGBT issues etc. and read through it carefully to try and ascertain whether it is from a liberal or conservative perspective. Newspapers are clearly preferable here but you can do this with magazines.
Quickly GRAMPS and annotate the text and write an M&R paragraph.
Next try to find an article on the same topic, however from the opposite perspective (i.e. if your article is liberal, find one which is conservative).
Again, GRAMPS, annotate and write a paragraph.
Finally, write a comparative paragraph of the two articles.
This is practise and revision, so you can do all of this on your blog.
Any problems let me know!
Today you'll be combining your meanings & representations analysis skills with your understanding of political leanings of UK publications.
Choose 1 of the articles that you analysed at the start of the year which covered an issue you are interested in i.e. veganism, environmental issues, marriage equality or LGBT issues etc. and read through it carefully to try and ascertain whether it is from a liberal or conservative perspective. Newspapers are clearly preferable here but you can do this with magazines.
Quickly GRAMPS and annotate the text and write an M&R paragraph.
Next try to find an article on the same topic, however from the opposite perspective (i.e. if your article is liberal, find one which is conservative).
Again, GRAMPS, annotate and write a paragraph.
Finally, write a comparative paragraph of the two articles.
This is practise and revision, so you can do all of this on your blog.
Any problems let me know!
Wednesday, 10 October 2018
Meanings & Representations Continued
Morning all
Firstly can you ensure that all your essays for Mirror Money and Mumsnet are completed and handed in by the end of the lesson, and a reminder that your comparison essay is due in today. Take some time now to complete this; the PPT from Monday's lesson is posted below.
We are continuing with the meanings & representations approach, and will be looking at the same, sensitive topic presented in two different newspapers from opposite sides of the political spectrum. This is in part so we can begin to recognise newspaper bias, since we will be looking at a lot of articles over the course of our study.
Read through the two articles and then complete the following task before you start to GRAMPS them:
click this link to access the Political Compass quiz. There are questions here on society and the economy, so answer them as best you can. This is simply an exercise which will tell you where you are on the political spectrum and it will help you to recognise your own bias!
After this, focus on the Guardian article; GRAMPS it and annotate it as closely as possible (it is a long article so this will take a while).
Once you have completed this, show me your annotations and I'll give you the extension task.
Any issues let me know!
Firstly can you ensure that all your essays for Mirror Money and Mumsnet are completed and handed in by the end of the lesson, and a reminder that your comparison essay is due in today. Take some time now to complete this; the PPT from Monday's lesson is posted below.
We are continuing with the meanings & representations approach, and will be looking at the same, sensitive topic presented in two different newspapers from opposite sides of the political spectrum. This is in part so we can begin to recognise newspaper bias, since we will be looking at a lot of articles over the course of our study.
Read through the two articles and then complete the following task before you start to GRAMPS them:
click this link to access the Political Compass quiz. There are questions here on society and the economy, so answer them as best you can. This is simply an exercise which will tell you where you are on the political spectrum and it will help you to recognise your own bias!
After this, focus on the Guardian article; GRAMPS it and annotate it as closely as possible (it is a long article so this will take a while).
Once you have completed this, show me your annotations and I'll give you the extension task.
Any issues let me know!
Monday, 8 October 2018
Today's Lesson
Afternoon everyone,
For your homework and revision, here is today's lesson PPT.
See you Wednesday, and a reminder that I'll be taking in your Q3 comparative responses in Wenesday's lesson.
For your homework and revision, here is today's lesson PPT.
See you Wednesday, and a reminder that I'll be taking in your Q3 comparative responses in Wenesday's lesson.
Thursday, 4 October 2018
Meanings and Representations PPTs
Hi all,
Please see below the PPTs from this week's study of the meanings & representations analytical approach. Read over these if there's anything you're still unsure of. Next week we will start looking at how to write the comparative response. Please finish your analyses of Texts A & B over the weekend ready to hand in on Monday.
Meanings and Reps Intro & Mumsnet
Mirror Money Intro
Mirror Money & Mark Scheme
Please see below the PPTs from this week's study of the meanings & representations analytical approach. Read over these if there's anything you're still unsure of. Next week we will start looking at how to write the comparative response. Please finish your analyses of Texts A & B over the weekend ready to hand in on Monday.
Meanings and Reps Intro & Mumsnet
Mirror Money Intro
Mirror Money & Mark Scheme
Monday, 1 October 2018
Post-It Questions
Hi everyone,
In the list below I've provided a definition for the elements of the course people aren't quite confident on based on your Post-Its from Thursday's lesson. Hope this helps!
In the list below I've provided a definition for the elements of the course people aren't quite confident on based on your Post-Its from Thursday's lesson. Hope this helps!
- Parenthesis - This is a word or a phrase that is inserted into a sentence or passage, and the sentence would be grammatically correct and complete without it. It's usually marked by brackets, dashes or commas. Basically, it refers to the phrase which is in brackets.
- Colloquialisms - This is the term for slang, informal language and dialectal words.
- Lexical field - This refers to a group of words in a text which all relate to one particular word or subject. For example, the Mumsnet text we are looking at in class has a lexical field of proms.
- Discourse structure - This is the term used to describe the way in which an entire text is organised (i.e. how its parts are assembled). For example: a question and answer format; problem – solution structure; narrative structure; adjacency pairs in a spoken interaction.
- Discourse markers - This refers to words, phrases or clauses that help to organise what we say or write (e.g. OK, So, “As I was saying…, However, In Addition, Subsequently” etc.).
- Pre-modified noun phrase - This refers to an adjective coming before a noun in a noun phrase. As soon as we modify a noun, it becomes a 'noun phrase'. A noun phrase usually begins with a determiner ('a' or 'the') and usually has the noun as the most important word. The usual word order in English implies that an adjective should go infront of the noun, as in 'The brown dog' etc. This is known as pre-modification. But we can post-modify noun phrases too, e.g. 'The dog, which is brown, ran down the street.
- Grammar - This term refers to sentence structure, function and word order (syntax) and verb tense. Any time you analyse these things, you are analysing the grammar of the text.
- Pragmatics - This refers to language in use and the contexts in which it is used and the inferences a reader makes from a text. It refers to what the author is implying, and not directly saying, and what prior knowledge and understanding the reader would need in order to understand the text and its meaning. It also refers to: the implied meanings of words, utterances and speech acts in their specific contexts, how attitudes, values and ideologies can be signalled through language choices, how language is used to enact and reflect relationships between people, aspects of culturally-based routines that are founded on shared assumptions and tradition
- Semantics - This refers to the meanings of words and the relationships between them. It can be applies to entire texts or single words. For example, 'destination' and 'last stop' technically mean the same thing, but semantically they have subtle differences in meaning.
- Lexis - Very simple, lexis means words and vocabulary!
Wednesday, 26 September 2018
Computer Room Lesson 2
Morning all,
Today I want you to read through your Ode to the Hoody essays and the comments that I have made.
On reflection, please type up your essays onto your blog, ensuring that you are making the corrections identified in the comments. Remember to follow the Point-Evidence-Explanation-Develop structure in your paragraphs.
After this, type up your text message analysis paragraphs you wrote on Monday, ensuring that there are some comments referencing John McWhorter's TED Talk to hit AO2. Click here to access Monday's PPT with a link to the TED Talk.
Please also revisit your notes from the induction period (as tomorrow is our last induction lesson before we start exam topics properly) and ensure you are confident with your understanding of how we approach texts with a linguistic focus.
If/when you finish this, let me know and I'll give you the extension task.
Today I want you to read through your Ode to the Hoody essays and the comments that I have made.
On reflection, please type up your essays onto your blog, ensuring that you are making the corrections identified in the comments. Remember to follow the Point-Evidence-Explanation-Develop structure in your paragraphs.
After this, type up your text message analysis paragraphs you wrote on Monday, ensuring that there are some comments referencing John McWhorter's TED Talk to hit AO2. Click here to access Monday's PPT with a link to the TED Talk.
Please also revisit your notes from the induction period (as tomorrow is our last induction lesson before we start exam topics properly) and ensure you are confident with your understanding of how we approach texts with a linguistic focus.
If/when you finish this, let me know and I'll give you the extension task.
Wednesday, 19 September 2018
1st Computer Room Lesson 19th September
Morning everyone,
Welcome to our first computer room lesson. We will be in here every Wednesday completing work set on this blog and doing research when we start our sociolinguistic topics. Please complete all computer work on your blog, and ensure your blog is always up to date.
2 tasks to complete today. Firstly if you haven't emailed me the link to your blog please do this now as a matter of urgency. Send the email to cal@stbrn.ac.uk . Then:
1. Please ensure that your transition task is all completed, along with the challenge task of writing a PEE response to one of your articles. If you haven't done this, use today's lesson to complete it. If you already have completed this, revisit your PEE with the linguistic and analytical skills you have learned over the past 2 weeks - what improvements can you make to your writing on reflection? Add in some GRAMPS commentary, discussion of frameworks, ensure you are using the word classes and make sure your terminology is specific.
2. Next week we will be starting to think about the use of language in social groups, and tomorrow in class we will be watching a documentary on language & identity. With this in mind, I want you to think about how our language use contributes to the identities we construct for ourselves, and your 'linguistic fingerprint'. We will be beginning with some discussion about accents and dialects and the prejudices that come with this.
Write a PEE paragraph on each article below, discussing how the author presents ideas about attitudes to accents.
An article on 'accentism', with a focus on the Brummie accent
An article about trainee teachers being told to modify and change their accents
Any issues let me know!
Welcome to our first computer room lesson. We will be in here every Wednesday completing work set on this blog and doing research when we start our sociolinguistic topics. Please complete all computer work on your blog, and ensure your blog is always up to date.
2 tasks to complete today. Firstly if you haven't emailed me the link to your blog please do this now as a matter of urgency. Send the email to cal@stbrn.ac.uk . Then:
1. Please ensure that your transition task is all completed, along with the challenge task of writing a PEE response to one of your articles. If you haven't done this, use today's lesson to complete it. If you already have completed this, revisit your PEE with the linguistic and analytical skills you have learned over the past 2 weeks - what improvements can you make to your writing on reflection? Add in some GRAMPS commentary, discussion of frameworks, ensure you are using the word classes and make sure your terminology is specific.
2. Next week we will be starting to think about the use of language in social groups, and tomorrow in class we will be watching a documentary on language & identity. With this in mind, I want you to think about how our language use contributes to the identities we construct for ourselves, and your 'linguistic fingerprint'. We will be beginning with some discussion about accents and dialects and the prejudices that come with this.
Write a PEE paragraph on each article below, discussing how the author presents ideas about attitudes to accents.
An article on 'accentism', with a focus on the Brummie accent
An article about trainee teachers being told to modify and change their accents
Any issues let me know!
Wednesday, 12 September 2018
First week of lessons - PPTs
Afternoon everyone,
I hope we've all recovered from our whistlestop tour through Grammar this morning!
As promised, here are the PowerPoints from our first 4 lessons so far. Please read over them and make sure your notes are detailed. (click the links to access)
As a reminder, your Ode To Hoody initial analyses are due tomorrow.
See you tomorrow
Claudia
Lesson 1 - Intro
Lesson 2 - Frameworks
Lesson 3 - Extended Analysis
Lesson 4 - Word Classes
I hope we've all recovered from our whistlestop tour through Grammar this morning!
As promised, here are the PowerPoints from our first 4 lessons so far. Please read over them and make sure your notes are detailed. (click the links to access)
As a reminder, your Ode To Hoody initial analyses are due tomorrow.
See you tomorrow
Claudia
Lesson 1 - Intro
Lesson 2 - Frameworks
Lesson 3 - Extended Analysis
Lesson 4 - Word Classes
Tuesday, 4 September 2018
Welcome to my new Year 1 Language Class!
Hi everybody,
Welcome to St Brendan's, welcome to English Language, and welcome to my Language Blog!
This blog will be an incredibly useful resource to support your study of English Language. Check this blog regularly to find homework tasks, lesson resources and revision materials, as I update weekly with all of these important things. I will be asking you to use your own blogs you created as part of your transition tasks in a similar way - you will be uploading notes, completing homework tasks and recording your research on your blog so it's all there for you to reflect on when it comes to revision.
The first post on your blog should be your transition task. If this is not completed, please do so before our next lesson. Click here to download the transition task if you can't find it.
Please sign in to blogger now and comment below this post with the URL of your blog. It should be something like 'claudialanguageblog'. Please also email me at cal@stbrn.ac.uk with your blog URL a with the subject line 'Link to my English Blog' and sign the email off with your name.
I hope you enjoy the course!
Claudia
Welcome to St Brendan's, welcome to English Language, and welcome to my Language Blog!
This blog will be an incredibly useful resource to support your study of English Language. Check this blog regularly to find homework tasks, lesson resources and revision materials, as I update weekly with all of these important things. I will be asking you to use your own blogs you created as part of your transition tasks in a similar way - you will be uploading notes, completing homework tasks and recording your research on your blog so it's all there for you to reflect on when it comes to revision.
The first post on your blog should be your transition task. If this is not completed, please do so before our next lesson. Click here to download the transition task if you can't find it.
Please sign in to blogger now and comment below this post with the URL of your blog. It should be something like 'claudialanguageblog'. Please also email me at cal@stbrn.ac.uk with your blog URL a with the subject line 'Link to my English Blog' and sign the email off with your name.
I hope you enjoy the course!
Claudia
Monday, 21 May 2018
Language Change Revsion
Please see this revision resource for Language Change - thank you to Hajra for finding this!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sjeMkyrOGbwak9DOG9g4OMoJfmx5HrGV/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sjeMkyrOGbwak9DOG9g4OMoJfmx5HrGV/view?usp=sharing
Guardian article on interruptions - potentially good for Gender
See below and make notes - some good updated commentary in relation to the Dominance model:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/may/18/why-do-people-interrupt-it-depends-on-whom-youre-talking-to
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/may/18/why-do-people-interrupt-it-depends-on-whom-youre-talking-to
Language & Gender - Full Mark Essay
Hi everyone, please see the link below. This is a response to the gender question I set and we planned last week in class which has been awarded 30 out of 30. Look at the structure and the content and retain for your notes and revision:
Gender discursive essay - full mark response
Gender discursive essay - full mark response
Thursday, 10 May 2018
Language Theory Revision Checklist
Hi everyone,
Please access this link for a comprehensive checklist for language theories. This is a great document and includes theories we haven't covered as well as the ones we have, so will be very useful for your revision.
Please access this link for a comprehensive checklist for language theories. This is a great document and includes theories we haven't covered as well as the ones we have, so will be very useful for your revision.
Monday, 30 April 2018
Extensive terminology table
Click the link below to access an extensive terminology table. Bear in mind that this is for Language & Lit, so there will be some terminology relating to poetry and drama that won't be useful, but the majority is excellent, so just use your judgement:
https://www.slideshare.net/BCALevels/alevel-english-glossary
https://www.slideshare.net/BCALevels/alevel-english-glossary
Code-switching article - useful for sociolect
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/31/i-dont-code-switch-to-hide-my-identity-i-code-switch-to-celebrate-it
Monday, 16 April 2018
Revision - 'Word of Mouth' & practice essay
Morning all
Today I want you to choose a Word of Mouth episode to listen to from the archives - click here to access. There are 147 episodes available but make sure you choose an episode that is relevant to our study; something like the episode on Slang will be useful whereas Pub Names not so much.
As you are listening, use this sheet (make your own copy) to make specific and detailed notes so that you are able to use what you have learned as quotes in your essay in the exam.
Once you have finished, continue working on the three essay titles I shared with you last week. A reminder that although these are voluntary essays, this will be one of the last opportunities for me to mark your work so if you want to make improvements between now and the exam I suggest you think about handing in at least one.
Enjoy the podcast (choose a good one!) and let me know if you have any questions.
23rd April Update:
I have pooled some of the discursive essay questions together so you can turn your Word of Mouth notes into analytical paragraphs. Click here to access.
Today I want you to choose a Word of Mouth episode to listen to from the archives - click here to access. There are 147 episodes available but make sure you choose an episode that is relevant to our study; something like the episode on Slang will be useful whereas Pub Names not so much.
As you are listening, use this sheet (make your own copy) to make specific and detailed notes so that you are able to use what you have learned as quotes in your essay in the exam.
Once you have finished, continue working on the three essay titles I shared with you last week. A reminder that although these are voluntary essays, this will be one of the last opportunities for me to mark your work so if you want to make improvements between now and the exam I suggest you think about handing in at least one.
Enjoy the podcast (choose a good one!) and let me know if you have any questions.
23rd April Update:
I have pooled some of the discursive essay questions together so you can turn your Word of Mouth notes into analytical paragraphs. Click here to access.
Thursday, 12 April 2018
Thursday 12th April - Sociolect
Morning all,
Today I want you to focus on re-capping what you know about accent, dialect and sociolect in order to plan a response to one of these discursive questions (Paper 2 Q1):
Today I want you to focus on re-capping what you know about accent, dialect and sociolect in order to plan a response to one of these discursive questions (Paper 2 Q1):
- Evaluate the idea that the language of different social groups can, over time, lead to significant language change.
- Evaluate the idea that different social groups develop very different vocabularies, often unique to their sociolect.
- Evaluate the idea that the language of social groups can be affected by changes in technology.
Use my blog, any relevant TED Talks we have watched, the textbook your own notes and the following posts from Dan Clayton's blog to help you plan your response:
Once you have planned your points, start writing your essay in the discursive style required for this question. Refer back to your mock exams if you need help.
Thursday, 22 March 2018
Easter Homework - Paper 2 Section B
Here is the link to your homework for the Easter holidays - you need to complete both of the Paper 2 Section B questions on Accent and Dialect (the comparative analysis and the opinion article).
This is due Wednesday 11th April which is our first lesson back after Easter.
This is due Wednesday 11th April which is our first lesson back after Easter.
Thursday, 22 February 2018
Language Exam Papers & Questions
Hi all,
Please see attached the document which outlines each paper, questions and the assessment objectives for your exams. Use this to inform your revision and prepare for the mocks.
Please see attached the document which outlines each paper, questions and the assessment objectives for your exams. Use this to inform your revision and prepare for the mocks.
Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Paper 2, Question 1 Revision
Morning all,
We are doing some paper 2 revision today, specifically question 1. We've done a lot of work on the article analysis and comparison question, but that's only one question on the paper and you have 2 others to complete - the opinion article and the discursive essay.
Q1 of your paper 2 will be the discursive essay. My group will remember that we did a lot of work on how to approach a discursive essay last year and what makes this different to an analytical essay that you will do in the meanings and representations questions, for example.
For this task you will be given a choice of 2 statements. No data or prompt, just the statements, which could be on anything from language and gender to occupation to social groups/social class to language change. The questions will look like this (click here).
Your job is to construct an essay which seeks to explore this statement, using everything you know about the topic, focusing mostly on theories and studies. You are marked out of 30 for this question: 10 marks for AO1 (written expression and terminology) and 20 marks for AO2 (language concepts and theories).
Click here to see a B grade response to the gender discursive question. This is the style that you should be seeking to emulate, however since this is a high B grade, there is still room for improvement, specifically in the clarity of the written expression which is not always consistent, and the lack of specific examples in the discussion of theory.
Your task today is to get into pairs and plan a discursive response to the following question:
'Evaluate the idea that language change can be controlled and directed.'
Start by mindmapping everything you know about the topic of language change, including the argument of descriptivism vs prescriptivism, terminology, theories/theorists, articles you have read (look back through my blog at the wider reading post), documentaries, TED talks, context and anything else you can think of. This will give you a good foundation of what things you could include and refer to.
You then need to work together to write the essay, which is due in tomorrow without fail. To put this in perspective: in the real exam you allocate 45 minutes to complete this task - I am giving you today and tomorrow, which is 3 hours not including homework.
Usethe exemplar essay above as an example, but please be aware that it needs improvement. The best 2 essays will be typed up and given out as exemplars to use for your revision.
Any questions, let me know. Enjoy!
We are doing some paper 2 revision today, specifically question 1. We've done a lot of work on the article analysis and comparison question, but that's only one question on the paper and you have 2 others to complete - the opinion article and the discursive essay.
Q1 of your paper 2 will be the discursive essay. My group will remember that we did a lot of work on how to approach a discursive essay last year and what makes this different to an analytical essay that you will do in the meanings and representations questions, for example.
For this task you will be given a choice of 2 statements. No data or prompt, just the statements, which could be on anything from language and gender to occupation to social groups/social class to language change. The questions will look like this (click here).
Your job is to construct an essay which seeks to explore this statement, using everything you know about the topic, focusing mostly on theories and studies. You are marked out of 30 for this question: 10 marks for AO1 (written expression and terminology) and 20 marks for AO2 (language concepts and theories).
Click here to see a B grade response to the gender discursive question. This is the style that you should be seeking to emulate, however since this is a high B grade, there is still room for improvement, specifically in the clarity of the written expression which is not always consistent, and the lack of specific examples in the discussion of theory.
Your task today is to get into pairs and plan a discursive response to the following question:
'Evaluate the idea that language change can be controlled and directed.'
Start by mindmapping everything you know about the topic of language change, including the argument of descriptivism vs prescriptivism, terminology, theories/theorists, articles you have read (look back through my blog at the wider reading post), documentaries, TED talks, context and anything else you can think of. This will give you a good foundation of what things you could include and refer to.
You then need to work together to write the essay, which is due in tomorrow without fail. To put this in perspective: in the real exam you allocate 45 minutes to complete this task - I am giving you today and tomorrow, which is 3 hours not including homework.
Usethe exemplar essay above as an example, but please be aware that it needs improvement. The best 2 essays will be typed up and given out as exemplars to use for your revision.
Any questions, let me know. Enjoy!
Monday, 29 January 2018
Monday 29th Jan
Morning all
Please continue working on your investigations. You need to address all the comments I made on your drafts last week, and you need to write a conclusion (see last week's blog post).
As I mentioned last week, I cannot take in and mark another draft. However if you want to send me a paragraph here and there, I can give you minimal feedback on this.
A reminder that the final deadline for the investigation is MONDAY 19TH FEBRUARY.
Please continue working on your investigations. You need to address all the comments I made on your drafts last week, and you need to write a conclusion (see last week's blog post).
As I mentioned last week, I cannot take in and mark another draft. However if you want to send me a paragraph here and there, I can give you minimal feedback on this.
A reminder that the final deadline for the investigation is MONDAY 19TH FEBRUARY.
Sunday, 21 January 2018
Investigation feedback and final deadline
Morning all
You'll all have your marked drafts of your investigation back today. As you are only entitled to one draft, you now need to work on all feedback given (some of you only handed in 300-700 words, so you have a lot of catching up to do) and ensure that it is all completed and up to scratch.
The final piece that is missing is the conclusion in which you evaluate your findings and decide whether or not these have proven your hypothesis. Some general advice:
Conclusion/Evaluation:
Final deadline for the finished investigation: FIRST MONDAY BACK AFTER HALF TERM
You'll all have your marked drafts of your investigation back today. As you are only entitled to one draft, you now need to work on all feedback given (some of you only handed in 300-700 words, so you have a lot of catching up to do) and ensure that it is all completed and up to scratch.
The final piece that is missing is the conclusion in which you evaluate your findings and decide whether or not these have proven your hypothesis. Some general advice:
Conclusion/Evaluation:
- check it is tentative and that you have mentioned problems with generalisability, reliability etc despite your careful methodology
- link back to quantified data and theory to evaluate how far your hypothesis is supported (tentatively!)
- contextualise speculatively considering any contact that might have affected the data e.g. age, dialect, social group etc.
- what would you need to make a more effective investigation? e.g. more data, more focussed hypothesis, another section/technique etc.
- don't be self-critical but do be evaluative of the investigation
Final deadline for the finished investigation: FIRST MONDAY BACK AFTER HALF TERM
Friday, 12 January 2018
ESSENTIAL wider reading & research: Jean Aitchison's metaphors & British linguistic and historical timeline
Hi everyone,
Attached are the resources from our last 2 lessons, and a number of wider reading materials that I've gathered for you. As I mentioned in a previous lesson, as A2 students it is an expectation that you don't just simply stick to the syllabus and regurgitate everything that is presented to you in your lessons; at this point you should be using our lessons as a starting point and then doing your own research to fully understand the topic. In order to excel and get good grades (not just top i.e. A*-B, but certainly C grades) you need to demonstrate a clear degree of critical and independent thinking. Language change is a huge topic that we can't really even scratch the surface of in class, so the onus here is 100% on you to fill in the gaps.
Firstly, here is a link to Jean Aitchison's 'Language Web' lectures on Radio 4. We listened to the first lecture in the series which can be found here (and here is a link to the transcript so you can read along and take quotes). They are each only 30 minutes long and are an excellent resource for context, but also just to learn more about the language you are studying and I recommend you listen to all of them.
You copied down the historical and linguistic timeline for the UK from the textbook last lesson, so here is a link to a fantastic interactive timeline on the same topic from the British Library website, and here is a link to a PowerPoint which provides a detailed account of the history and development of the English language. Please use these resources to flesh out your timelines.
Please click here to find an eMagazine article on prescriptivism vs descriptivism. If you need to login to access, copy and paste the credentials below:
Username: stbren
Password: eMag16*
When you are logged in, take some time to explore the website for articles like this one which details the importance of context for language change, and not just on language change but CLA and all the AS topics.
Please make a point of ensuring you do at least 1 hour of dedicated wider reading and research for English every week as part of your study and revision. Those of you that do will see your confidence and understanding of the subject noticeably increase, and if you can see it, so will the examiner!
Attached are the resources from our last 2 lessons, and a number of wider reading materials that I've gathered for you. As I mentioned in a previous lesson, as A2 students it is an expectation that you don't just simply stick to the syllabus and regurgitate everything that is presented to you in your lessons; at this point you should be using our lessons as a starting point and then doing your own research to fully understand the topic. In order to excel and get good grades (not just top i.e. A*-B, but certainly C grades) you need to demonstrate a clear degree of critical and independent thinking. Language change is a huge topic that we can't really even scratch the surface of in class, so the onus here is 100% on you to fill in the gaps.
Firstly, here is a link to Jean Aitchison's 'Language Web' lectures on Radio 4. We listened to the first lecture in the series which can be found here (and here is a link to the transcript so you can read along and take quotes). They are each only 30 minutes long and are an excellent resource for context, but also just to learn more about the language you are studying and I recommend you listen to all of them.
You copied down the historical and linguistic timeline for the UK from the textbook last lesson, so here is a link to a fantastic interactive timeline on the same topic from the British Library website, and here is a link to a PowerPoint which provides a detailed account of the history and development of the English language. Please use these resources to flesh out your timelines.
Please click here to find an eMagazine article on prescriptivism vs descriptivism. If you need to login to access, copy and paste the credentials below:
Username: stbren
Password: eMag16*
When you are logged in, take some time to explore the website for articles like this one which details the importance of context for language change, and not just on language change but CLA and all the AS topics.
Please make a point of ensuring you do at least 1 hour of dedicated wider reading and research for English every week as part of your study and revision. Those of you that do will see your confidence and understanding of the subject noticeably increase, and if you can see it, so will the examiner!
Monday, 8 January 2018
Language Change - Writing an Opinion Article
Morning all,
Today you will be writing your opinion articles on Language Change using the ideas presented in 'Word of the Year' (click to access) and using some of the terminology from the PowerPoint I went through on Thursday (click to access). You have the whole lesson to write this article so I am expecting one from everyone by the end of the lesson.
This is essentially a version of the task you will need to do on Paper 2 of your A Level exam which may focus on the topic of language change. Below are some materials to support you in this task:
Links to the question paper (it is the last question on the paper) and the link to the second supporting article that you can take ideas from:
Question Paper
Second Article
And a link to 2 student responses with commentary from the examiners - one response is around a D and the other a B, so look at the differences between the two. (look for Question 4 in this document)
Student Responses
Any issues, let me know.
Today you will be writing your opinion articles on Language Change using the ideas presented in 'Word of the Year' (click to access) and using some of the terminology from the PowerPoint I went through on Thursday (click to access). You have the whole lesson to write this article so I am expecting one from everyone by the end of the lesson.
This is essentially a version of the task you will need to do on Paper 2 of your A Level exam which may focus on the topic of language change. Below are some materials to support you in this task:
Links to the question paper (it is the last question on the paper) and the link to the second supporting article that you can take ideas from:
Question Paper
Second Article
And a link to 2 student responses with commentary from the examiners - one response is around a D and the other a B, so look at the differences between the two. (look for Question 4 in this document)
Student Responses
Any issues, let me know.
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