Additional Terms

Hello all,

As I mentioned in today's lesson, even if you studied languge for a decade you'd still never learn all the terminology we can apply to written and spoken texts.

You all have a fairly comprehensive terminology booklet, but there are some terms you may need which are missing.

To add more terminology to your analysis, click here to access some extra terms (some may be repeated). For homework, choose 5 terms from this extras sheet and find them in the article, and then provide some analysis of why the author has chosen to use them.

On Wednesday we will be going through tups and techniques on how to write a good linguistic analysis.

Have a good week!

Claudia

Computer room lesson - Stephen Fry 'Planet Word' write up

Morning all,

There's a few tasks I'd like you all to be getting on with today, so there should be no one with nothing to do.

Before you start I am missing homework from the following people and this needs to be handed in immediately:

Megan
Mahad
Cameron
Lucy

Storm and Alice, you were absent when the work was set so please come and see me and I can talk you through the task.

Could everyone also leave a comment underneath this post with your blog URL, and I'd like you all to add each other to your reading lists. This way you can follow each other!

On Monday as a follow up to the Stephen Fry documentary on swearing, I asked you to gather some data from the conversations you have had over the past few days, and record down any instances of swearing. The data I asked for was as follows:

• What was the conversation about?
• Who swore? Was it a friend or family member?
• What swear word did they use?
• How many times did they swear
• What emotion were they trying to convey?

With this info in mind, complete the following tasks:

1. Create a titled 'Why do we Swear?' Summarise in your own words what you learned from the documentary, and discuss your own swearing habits and your views on swearing as a linguistic construct. A few hundred words will be fine.  
2. Then you should record what you found by listening more attentively to your conversations, for example did you notice that your friends or family swear often or infrequently? Essentially you need to answer the five questions in the bullet points.
3. Write up a paragraph or two on the subject of swearing - does it offend you? On Monday I asked you this: is there any word that offends you more than others? Why?

This all ties in to the topics we are exploring on, Language, the Individual and Society and Language Diversity.

Tomorrow we will be starting to look at linguistic terminology - this is absolutely essential to your study of language, so spend some time this evening reading the booklet and familiarising yourself with some of the terms.

Word Classes and Grammar Frameworks - Building up analysis

Morning everyone,

Today you will be starting to use the grammar frameworks and word classes we have covered in the last few lessons to look at a text critically and build up analytical paragraphs. We will be using the 'Ode to a Hoody' text that we've annotated in class, so if you don't have one of these please come and see me before you begin.

Firstly, scroll back through my recent posts to find the PowerPoints on the frameworks and word classes to re-familiarise yourself with the content. If you missed Thursday or Monday's lesson this is essential and you must read the PowerPoints before starting.

Today's Task

Using GRAMPS, the grammar frameworks and word classes, write an analysis of 'Ode to a Hoody'.

In order to do this successfully you may want to first spend some time annotating the text and making notes so that you have the foundations for writing paragraphs.

You may also want to give each paragraph a framework to focus on, for example your introductory paragraph could discuss the GRAMPS of the text, and then each paragraph following could focus on a different framework. Remember to discuss the word classes in each paragraph, for example how the use of dynamic verbs suit the GRAMPS.

When finished, email me your paragraphs as a word document and then post them on your blogs.

Any confusion, come and see me.

Claudia

Word Classes

Hi everyone,

Excellent work in our lesson on word classes today. There was a lot of information to digest and the notes I saw from you in class looked excellent - a very good start to the academic year! For those of you who were absent (and those of you who were not, but still want a refresher) follow the link below to the PowerPoint we went through in class and make sure you read through this before Wednesday's lesson:

Word Classes PowerPoint

You will also need a copy of thee 'Ode to a Hoody' article we used as we are going to begin analysing this through the frameworks and word classes on Wednesday. Those of you who were present, keep looking through the article and identifying the different word classes. If you missed Today's lesson, please come and see me in B16 before Wednesday to pick up a copy.

See you all on Wednesday in C7!

Claudia

Grammar Frameworks

Hi everyone,

Here is the PowerPoint from yesterday's lesson. Use this to revise and get to grips with the frameworks.

If you are struggling with your homework, send me an email and I will try to gt back to you before Monday.

Have a good weekend!

Claudia

Welcome to my new Year 1 Language class!

Hi everyone,

Welcome to my English Language Blog! I will update this blog frequently with interesting articles and resources which will help your study of this amazing subject. I will be asking you to update your blogs too, as this will be a great addition to your notes, and computer room lessons will be posted to the blog also.

You all should have created a blog as your summer task, but if you haven't you need to make one now. Follow these instructions:

Go to blogger.com and enter your Gmail details. If you don't have Gmail, make an account now (this will also be useful when we use Google Docs in class). Keep a note of your Gmail address and password!

Make your blog, and then everyone needs to send me the URL via email to cal@stbrn.ac.uk

Your URL should be something like 'claudiaslanguageblog.blogspot.com'. If you have something different to this, let me know.

Then you have one or two tasks to do:

1. If you have not completed your summer task, you can do this now. Click here to access the task.
2. Type up your notes from your discussion earlier in the lesson about your Linguistic Fingerprint. What is it about your language use that makes you unique and what little quirks do you have when you talk?

Happy reading and happy writing!

Claudia

Goodbye and Good Luck to my AS Class

Hi everyone,

It has been a pleasure to teach you all this year and I wish you good luck for your A2 year of English Language. Best of luck with your AS results!

Attached below is an electronic copy of the summer task you'll need to complete and hand in for Emma during your first lesson back after the holidays. Most of you have started this and so you should be able to complete it fairl easily.

For anyone who was absent, please read through the task and complete.

Summer Task

Commentary Support Framework Sheet

Enjoy your summer and your A2 year!

Claudia