Articles - The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/nov/28/step-away-from-your-phone-the-new-rules-of-conversation

• Step away from your phone: the new rules of conversation
• “phubbing”. According to Sherry Turkle, the American sociologist of digital life, this involves maintaining eye contact with one person while text-messaging another.
• Turkle’s thesis, in short, rings troublingly true: we’re more connected than ever, yet we talk – really talk – less and less

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/nov/28/how-to-talk-to-anyone-the-experts-guide

• How to talk to anyone: the experts' guide
• It can help to make your questions more specific
• Try to meet your child’s emotions, rather than telling them how to feel
• Teenagers often respond better if you’re doing something alongside a conversation, so they don’t have to give you a lot of eye contact
• Using a bit of humour can help to defuse the tension
• “The roof is an introduction”, which means that if you’re in the same place, you always have something in common.
• It’s becoming more common for children to feel in competition with their parents

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2015/nov/28/the-conversation-that-changed-my-life

• Eight writers on the conversation that changed their life

The 3 Ds

Deficit

-Robin Lackoff (1975)

-women use many techniques in their speech that are deficient to men's speech. These include:

• fillers
• hedges
• intensifiers
• hyper-correct grammar
• tag questions
• super-polite forms
• apologise more
• speak less frequently
• avoid coarse language or expletives
• indirect requests
• speak in italics

-Jenny Cheshire (1982)

-Boys use more non-standard forms than girls.

-Pamela Fishman (1983)

-Tag questions- Lackoff claimed they represent uncertainty, Fishman says they are used to initiate conversation

-She refers to setting the agenda as the 'conversational shitwork' and says men are reluctant to do this as they perceive to be the dominant role 

Dominance

-Zimmerman & West (1975)

-men dominate a conversation by using more interruptions

-Deborah Cameron (1995)

-challenges views, says that women do in fact challenge each other

Difference

-Deborah Tannen (1990)

-Men and women speak very differently in conversation, six contrasts to show this difference:

• Status vs. support
• independence vs. intimacy
• advice vs. understanding
• information vs. feelings
• orders vs. proposals
• conflict vs. compromise

-Janet Hyde (2005)

-proposed a 'gender similarities hypothesis'

-"substantially more similarities than differences...and where there are differences, they are due to other contextual factors for example education, occupation etc."

-argument

What language barrier? - The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/01/gender.books

• The most successful exponents of this formula, such as Deborah Tannen, author of You Just Don't Understand, and John Gray, author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, have topped the bestseller lists on both sides of the Atlantic.
• The idea that men and women "speak different languages" has itself become a dogma, treated not as a hypothesis to be investigated or as a claim to be adjudicated, but as an unquestioned article of faith

Example papers

http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-77012-SQP.PDF
http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-77012-COM.PDF
http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-77012-CEX.PDF

Bristol Uni guide to grammar

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/index.htm

1. Handy for revision
2. Punctuation - structure (paragraphs, style, graphology, morphology, discourse, FPA, syntax/ utterances, functions of syntax- imperative, command, interrogative, explanative, declarative)
3. Common confusions  (figurative language, lexis, register, semantics, pragmatics)
4. Exam responses (PEE)
5. Other pitfalls and problems (conjunctions, split infinitives, grammar, lexis)
6. Style (FPA)
7. Handy for revision

1. The colon
   To introduce an idea or a list
   The Semicolon
   If you are going to use a semicolon to connect two clauses, it is very important that the two clauses are both independent. That means that each clause has to be able to stand alone and make complete sense without the other. If either one cannot stand alone, a semi-colon cannot be used. They also need to be about  related topics.
   The comma
   To separate the elements in a list of three or more items
   Before certain conjunctions
   To separate introductory elements in a sentence
   To separate parenthetical (aside) elements in a sentence
   To separate direct speech or quoted elements from the rest of the sentence
   Commas are used to separate elements in a sentence that express contrast
   Commas are used for typographical reasons to separate dates and years, towns and counties etc
   Commas are used to separate several adjectives
2. Common confusions
   Who/Whom?
   This seems to cause some problems but can be easily sorted out. Essentially, who is a subject pronoun and should be used to replace the subject of the verb. Whom is an object pronoun and should be used either to replace the object of a verb, or to follow a preposition.
   Less/fewer?
   Less is used with things/material that cannot be counted or separated into individual parts. Fewer is used with discrete things that can be separated or counted. CDs, sausages, cows, people etc. can be counted. By far the most common mistake is to use 'less' when 'fewer' is needed.
   Affect/ effect?
   Affect - is a verb meaning to have an influence on
   Effect - is a noun meaning a cause of change brought about by an agent.

 E. Split infinitives.

The infinitive of a verb is the form given in the dictionary where no specific subject is indicated. In English it is always characterised by the word 'to' e.g. to work, to pay, to eat, to find, to inhabit, to bribe. A 'split infinitive' occurs when the 'to' is separated from its verb by other words. The most famous split infinitive comes at the beginning of every episode of Star Trek, when the crew's continuing mission is announced as: "to boldly go" (rather than "to go boldly").

English is weird

Dear Ms Morgan: in grammar there isn’t always one right answer - The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/nov/03/morgan-grammar-test-right-answer-spag-english-spelling-punctuation-grammar

English language too 'overpowering'? - The Guardian

http://opinion.inquirer.net/89303/english-language-too-overpowering

"English-speaking natives in Korea are highly respected that companies pay them higher salaries than non-English-speaking locals who have graduated from good universities."
"Learning English is healthy because it connects nations to many parts of the world, but it will not be good if it “overwhelms” the other languages"

Features of spoken language

1. Ellipses- omission of part of a word
2. "Er", "um", "you know" are examples of fillers
3. Idiolect- an individually distinctive style of speaking
4. "sort of", "like" are examples of voiced pauses
5. Back channeling- listener feedback signalling support and understanding
6. Deixis- words which point to something outside of the text
7. pitch, pace, stress and rhythm are examples of prosodic features
8. "gonna", "gimme" are examples of elision
9. "We was going down the road" and "he didn't know nothing" are examples of non-standard grammar
10. hesitation, repetition and false starts are examples are examples of non-fluency features
11. Adjacency pairs- Question-answer pairs and greeting-greeting pairs
12. Phatic talk- small talk
13. "It's okay here, isn't it?" is an example of a tag question
14. Gestures and facial expression are examples of paralinguistic features
15. "Anyway", "So" are likely to be examples of discourse markers
16. Pragmatics is the study of- what a speaker means rather than simply the words they say
17. Rather than using the term sentence in describing spoken language we use the word- utterance

Language and identity notes

Standard English
- considered to have most prestige
- formal register, language of power
- expected in school and work, proffesional
- suggestion of class

Dialect 
- lexical features or variations in grammar
- specific to the area

Taboo
- deemed to be offensive
- swear words
- usual feature of conversation in social groups

Technology influenced words and phrases
- words normally found in written forms
- e.g lol, cba, tweets, texts
- used in social groups

Neologisms
- new words
- coinage
- e.g selfie, emoji
- influence of media

Occupational register
- jargon
- largely based on shared understanding

Received pronunciation
- 'correct' way of speaking'
- language of power
- expected of lawyers, news readers etc.

Regional accent
- the way you pronounce certain words depending on where you live
multi accents

Slang
- considered informal

Joanna Thornborrow

'One of the most fundamental ways we have of establishing our identity, and of shaping other people's views of who we are, is through our language'

Andrew Moore

http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/lang/occupation.htm

Language and occupation:

 

-The forms and functions of talk; registers and styles of writing; historical and contemporary changes, where appropriate. In particular, they should examine:
everyday functions and activities (e.g. the role of interpersonal language)
discourse features.


in an explicit sense as those kinds of activity that we can name (job interview, team briefing, disciplinary tribunal, conference, marriage ceremony) or n a looser descriptive sense (discussing a problem, telling a manager about an incident, asking an expert for guidance). e.g communicating information, requesting help, onfirming arrangements,instructing employees or colleagues to do something, making things happen or enacting them 

-Occupations develop their own special language features, and use those of the common language in novel or distinctive ways.

Language interactions may occur between or among thosewithin a given occupation, or between those inside and those outside (customers, clients, the “general public”). This distinction will affect significantly a speaker's (or writer's) language choices.

 

-Some uses are exclusive, because they shut out people who do not know them. This happens when doctors share a common lexicon. e.g ECG, CAT-Scan

 

-You should also look at how speech interactions reveal hierarchies, and changing attitudes to these.

 

-Phatic tokens- These are ways of showing status by orienting comments to oneself, to the other, or to the general or prevailing situation (in England this is usually the weather).

Brown and Levinson: positive and negative face

The linguists Brown and Gevinson put forward some ideas about politeness. They identify what the term positive and negative face needs.

Positive face needs refers to the assumption that we want to be liked and approved in our dealings with others. As a result of positive face needs, we use positive politeness strategies. Brown and Levinson suggested these might include:

• Paying attention
• seeking agreement (safe topics)
• pretend agreement (white lies, hedges)
• use humour
• use appropriate address terms
• compliments

Negative face needs refers to the assumption that we deal with difficult conversational strategies in a tactful way. As a result of negative face needs, we use negative politeness strategies. Brown and Levinson suggest these might include:

• Being indirect
• questioning and hedging
• being apologetic 
• giving deference (reducing your own status)

Specimen papers and mark schemes

http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/as-and-a-level/english-language-7701-7702/assessment-resources

:Femvertising - The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/oct/12/femvertising-branded-feminism

Erin McKean: Go ahead, make up new words!

https://www.ted.com/talks/erin_mckean_go_ahead_make_up_new_words

"I'm a lexicographer. I make dictionaries. And my job as a lexicographer is to try to put all the words possible into the dictionary. My job is not to decide what a word is; that is your job...Words are great. We should have more of them. I want you to make as many new words as possible. And I'm going to tell you six ways that you can use to make new words in English."

1. "Steal them from other languages" Borrowing
2. "squishing two English words together" Compounding (e.g heartbroken)
3. "kind of like compounding, but instead you use so much force when you squish the words together that some parts fall off." Blend words (e.g brunch)
4. "You can also make words by changing how they operate. You take a word that acts as one part of speech, and you change it into another part of speech. Functional shift
5. "You can take a word and you can kind of squish it down a little bit." Back formation (e.g editor to edit)
6. "Another way to make words in English is to take the first letters of something and squish them together." abbreviation (e.g National Aeronautics and Space Administration becomes NASA.)

Transcript

David Crystal Sunday Brunch: You Say Potato

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ybrai

Talking about the website they have created http://www.panmacmillan.com/book/bencrystal/yousaypotato where people from all over the word record themselves saying 'potato' to show the diverse range of accents and their book, 'an authoritative, entertaining book, about our accents and what they say about us'. 

Steve Pinker: Language as a window into human nature

https://www.thersa.org/discover/videos/rsa-animate/2011/02/rsa-animate---language-as-a-window-into-human-nature/

Steven Pinker: What our language habits reveal

https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_language_and_thought/transcript?language=en

"that language, rather, emerges from human minds interacting from one another. And this is visible in the unstoppable change in language --the fact that by the time the Academy finishes their dictionary, it will already be well out of date."

"We see it in the constant appearance of slang and jargon, of the historical change in languages, in divergence of dialects and the formation of new languages. So language is not so much a creator or shaper of human nature, so much as a window onto human nature."

"Second conclusion is that the ability to conceive of a given event in two different ways, such as "cause something to go to someone" and "causing someone to have something,"...Just to give you a few examples: "ending a pregnancy" versus "killing a fetus;" "a ball of cells" versus "an unborn child;" "invading Iraq" versus "liberating Iraq;"

Text 5-Instructions

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1997/classic-victoria-sandwich
Form- Recipe/instructions
Purpose- To inform people how to make a cake
Audience- Anyone that bakes

Text 4-Transcript

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33646542
Form-Transcript of an interview (including video)
Purpose- To entertain/inform
Audience- Everyone

Text 3-Tabloid article

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Angry-unions-claim-South-Gloucestershire-school/story-27795236-detail/story.html
Form- Tabloid article
Purpose- To inform about recent strikes
Audience- Everyone

Text 2-Review

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_age_of_adaline/
Form- Review
Purpose- To critique the film so people know whether they should watch it or not
Audience- Film audience (PG-13)

Text 1-Broadsheet article

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/16/first-trailer-for-disney-live-action-jungle-book-remake-mowgli
Form- Broadsheet Article (and video)
Purpose-To inform people about the new film
Audience- Film lovers/educated readers

'8 pronunciation errors that made the English language what it is today' - The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/11/pronunciation-errors-english-language

'English language is changing faster than ever' - The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/may/01/icymi-english-language-is-changing-faster-than-ever-says-expert

Frameworks

 Phonology, phonetics and prosodic

Speech sounds and effects

Graphology

Visual aspects of textual design including form, purpose, and audience

Semantics

word meaning.

Grammar, including morphology

Structural patterns and shapes of English language. Phrase and word level.

Pragmatics

Contextual aspects of language use/meaning.

Discourse

Extended stretches of communication occurring in different genres, modes and contexts. Writing authoritatively about a topic.
Lexis
Word-choice. Meaning at word and phrase level
Register
How language varies in reaction to audience, purpose and context
Mode
How language may vary according of the channel of communication (speech, writing, and mixed modes)
Idiolect
The unique way one person expresses themselves due to their personality, belief systems, social experience etc.
Sociolect
The way of expressing themselves that a social group have in common
Dialect
The variation in word choice and grammatical structure due to where someone lives.

 

'All raait! it's a new black-white lingo' article summary

Summary

The article identifies that people, irrelevant of their ethnic backgrounds are creating 'a new kind of English' that they all understand based around 'slang'. This language allows people from all over England to interact with each other and not feel like outsiders purely based on their background. An interesting point that the article picks up on is that the main reason this language becoming so popular is because teenagers see it as 'fashionable' and 'cool' possibly because it is being used by people they look up to such as Dizzie Rascal and is use in the media. Despite the fact that this new multi-ethnic-dialect has many positive feedback, some concerns have arisen over whether this language will affect their school grades particularly in essay and debate based subjects as it is not seen as acceptable in these circumstances.

'Why we swear' - Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2625581/Swearing-emotional-creative-language-say-researchers-claim-GOOD-you.html

Grammar and punctuation test

http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/quiz/2013/feb/04/grammar-punctuation-quiz-test

English Language specification

http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/as-and-a-level/english-language-b-2705/spec-at-a-glance

'From the mouths of teens' - Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/from-the-mouths-of-teens-422688.html

Summary

This news article is trying to comprehend what some inner city slang means and highlighting its increased use today. The use of Gus, a 13 year old boy who "wastes no time in decoding it" just emphasises how these words have become so commonly used in everyday English that is becoming normal to know what they mean. Similarly to the 'All raait! It's a new black-white lingo' article it picks up on the fact or reducing social divide by bringing people of different ethnic backgrounds and allowing them to communicate but also that there is a time and a place for this kind of language.

-"English is one of the most dynamically protean(versatile) of all languages."