Coursework - Finding a Style Model

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.

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.

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.

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!

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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

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!

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