Language & Occupation

Morning all

You will be completing some writing tasks today. Please look back through the two PowerPoints relating to language & occupation and complete the following tasks - some of these will be continuations of what we did on Thursday and Monday. Complete them on Google docs and share your work with me at claudiaalgieri23@gmail.com

1. Write an analysis of the kitchen staff transcript which focuses both on close linguistic analysis and how this transcript applies to John Swales' theory of discourse communities. (Minimum 500 words)

2. Add on two paragraphs in which you compare and contrast the language between those in different positions of power within the transcript. 

3. Read through the Drew & Heritage 'Talk at Work' theory, and add in 2 paragraphs in which you discuss how this theory applies to the kitchen transcript.

I am expecting thorough and detailed work in the form of PEE paragraphs. Those who do not complete the amount of work expected will be in supervised study this week to catch up.

Language & Occupation - Discourse Communties

Click here to access the PowerPoint for Lang & Occupation and to re-cap John Swales' discourse communities. Use the PPT and click here to access another resource to add to your notes and to ensure you understand the concept.

Additionally, click here to re-cap the Drew & Heritage 'Talk at Work' theory.

Accent, Dialect, Social Class & Sociolect

Morning all,

Today I want you to re-cap what we did on Monday to ensure you fully understand it, and then do some wider research tasks through TED Talks (and I'm going to get you set up on TED Ed, more on this in a bit).

Firstly, click here to access Monday's PowerPoint. Read over your notes and ensure you you understand the concepts and the different studies. Research them online if you need more info.

Next, complete the writing task we started on Monday on your blogs. No more than 3-4 paragraphs.

When you have done that, watch this TED Talk on Sociolinguistics andthen summarise on your blogs, with a few points on how this relates to the theories and studies we looked at on Monday.

The last task you need to do is to sign up for Ted Ed by following this link . Once you make an account, I can then send you links to relevant TED talks with accompanying questions, which you can complete either on your phone or in our computer room lessons.

When you have signed up, follow this link and watch the video, "Does Grammar Matter?".
Then complete the 'Think' questions - ensure you complete all of these as the responses will be sent directly back to me and I want them in before the end of the lesson. Anyone who does not complete these will be in supervised study. Then, read through the 'Dig Deeper' material, and finally read through the 'Discuss' section. When you have read through 'Discuss', write the questions on your blog and develop a short response (1 or 2 paragraphs) based on your own ideas and the responses already on the page.

This should take up the whole lesson, and then tomorrow we will be starting Language & Occupation.

Any issues, come see me.

Original Writing Coursework - Annotated style model and rough draft

Morning all

You have lots to do today as I am expecting two tasks to be handed in at the end of tomorrow's lesson.

Firstly, as you should have gotten started with your draft over half term, I would like your Google Doc updated with at least 500 words of your original writing. If you have not done this, you need to work on it today.

Secondly I would like you to hand in an annotated style model with at least 2 paragraphs of analysis of the techniques the writer uses to suit the GRAMPS, and one paragraph explaining how you intend to use and adapt some of these techniques in your own writing. The style model should be a hard copy with your own hand-written annotations, and the analysis needs to be shared with me on Google docs.

These two tasks will allow me to see your starting point with your coursework and will give me some ideas on what we need to do to develop your writing, and the style model will show me how you intend to draw ideas and inspiration from other authors.

This deadline is non-negotiable. Anyone who does not share at least 500 words of their coursework (this was your half term task anyway, so this should be no problem) and their analysis of their style model with accompanying annotated style model by the end of tomorrow's lesson, will be scheduled for supervised study in the LRC during one of their free periods.

Anyone who thinks they will have an issue meeting this deadline and needs to be considered for extenuating circumstances needs to see me today ASAP.

Original Writing Coursework - Finding a Style Model

As we discussed on Monday, we are starting your first piece of coursework, Original Writing, which is worth 10% of your final A Level. The second piece is the language investigation which we won't be starting until the summer.

You will need to produce one piece of original writing (with a commentary) based on one of the following three areas:
• the power of persuasion
• the power of storytelling
• the power of information

The topic choice is down to you (in discussion with me) but you must have looked at a range of style models and chosen one to comment on in more detail as part of your commentary. Again, you will do some of this in class, but it is a good idea to think about the kind of thing you can write and might enjoy doing. Some suggestions for original writing tasks might be:

The power of persuasion
• A piece of investigative journalism.
• A speech delivered on a controversial topic.
• A letter to an MP.

The power of storytelling
• A short story.
• An extract from a biography.
• A dramatic monologue.

The power of information
• A piece of travel journalism.
• A blog focusing on social issues.
• A piece of local history.

Each folder submitted should contain:
• a piece of original writing
• an annotated style model
• a reflective commentary references (paper and web-based)

Style Models

Your final coursework folder should include a text which you have found and annotated and adapted ideas from. The text should be in the same genre as the text you will write, but it cannot be the same subject. For example, if you are writing an opinion article about Brexit, your style model will also be an opinion article, but the subject should not be political. Your final piece and your commentary should clearly demonstrate that you have studied and adapted the conventions of the style model into your own work.

It is not sufficient to simply read a style model. The key objective is to consider and explore the process that the writer may have gone through to produce the final text. Start by using GRAMPS on the text. Once you have understood the approach and aims of the writer, you can evaluate the overall success of the text after you have analysed the various methods that have been used to fulfill the required purpose.



What you can do now

Read and write. Find stories, articles and speeches to read. Practise writing in different styles. Use the time in class for Directed Writing tasks as part of the exam components to experiment with form, style and voice. This is one of the few areas on any A level that allows you to write what you like.

Accent & Dialect - Introductory Wider Reading

Accent and Dialect is one of the topics that could appear in Paper 2 in your A Level exam, in either Section A - Diversity and Change or Section B - Language Discourses. As we will not be dedicating  a lot of time to this topic, it's important that you undertake wider reading independently, and have some case studies/theory/articles ready to go for a discursive essay if you decide to answer this question. I've added lots of links below for this topic; they're all really excellent and relevant for your work on this theory-based exam paper.


As you have done (and should be continuing to do!) with Language and Gender, read these links and summarise them on your blogs:

• What's happening to regional accents and dialects? Some interesting articles based on the work of David Britain and others involved in the English Dialect app. Here's one from 'The i' about the findings of the survey, another one from the Telegraph on the same topic and another from The Guardian offering an opinion piece on 'dialect levelling'.
• Attitudes to accents  - if you listen to this Thinking Allowed episode from about 14 minutes in, you get a good discussion between Paul Kerswill and Alec Berrata about attitudes to regional accent and dialect in the teaching profession and more widely.
• " You don't sound like a professor" - a recent article on prejudices about regional accents and the class assumptions made about them. And here's one on a similar theme about northern accents (mistakenly) signalling social class and why that might be.
• Here's Susie Dent on UK accents as "spoken birthmarks"
• And here's a really excellent edition of Word of Mouth called Accents Will Happen which is full of good stuff about how accent and dialect are part of our identities as user of language. Interesting in terms of code-switching, performance and identity, which are all top-band theories and concepts.

You will need to read, listen to and summarise ALL of these, and if you do you will have an excellent basis for a discursive essay on Accent & Dialect. However, you don't have to do them all today.

Writing a Discursive Essay

Morning all,

Hopefully now you have a better insight into what is required of you when being asked to write a discursive essay. Essentially, you need to use the data provided or even just the question as a springboard, and then bring in relevant ideas from your wider reading to inform the rest of your response.

Keep looking back over the exemplar essay we read on Monday. Although this is a perfectly fine response and would achieve a C/B borderline, we have done enough reading and studying both in and out of class to make some great improvements on this essay.

For those of you who don't have a copy or have forgotten to bring it, follow this link to the PPT used on Monday.

Today I want you to continue to draft this essay; we made a great start on Monday so this shouldn't be difficult. Remember:

• Cherry pick the best bits from the exemplar response to adapt and use in your own answer. 
• Read the examiners comments at the side and at the end of the response and think about the advice they are giving.
• USE THE DATA! Don't neglect the source materials you have infront of you; make sure you analyse it as this is great way to open up the discussion.
• Talk about theory and don't be afraid to dispute it
• Make sure that any claim you make has some kind of evidence to support it
• Be tentative in making points/anaylsis, for example, "It could be suggested..."/"Linguists have argued"/"This could imply..." etc.
• Bring in ideas from the 'Women in the Boardroom' article, and any other wider reading you have done (see articles below)
• Remember - this is a language essay so you'll still need to include linguistics.

This is a great opportunity to develop your writing skills so make sure you are using PEE throughout. If you have any questions or are stuck on anything, please follow this link to the Padlet page I've set up for this lesson and post your question (you can do it anonymously) so others can benefit from the feedback.

Enjoy!