Class Work for 29/09/15

Find two online articles from different papers on the same current news story (e.g. the refugee crisis) and blog links to both and PEE analysis of how they use language to present ideas in similar and different ways.

Subject: Japan v South Africa Rugby World Cup upset.

Article 1: Japan beat South Africa in greatest Rugby World Cup shock ever - The Guardian

Article 2: Banzai! Underdogs Japan set Rugby World Cup alight with outstanding last-minute 34-32 victory against South Africa - Daily Mail




One similarity between the two articles is the use of emotive language to describe the match.              In The Guardian, examples of this include: "more than gallant; from start to finish they were utterly sensational", "out of a clear blue English sky came a thunderbolt to eclipse anything the Rugby World Cup has ever seen.", and "Cue pandemonium".
In The Daily Mail, some examples are: "Pulsating, sun-drenched stadium", and "stunning their illustrious opponents with a marvellous blend of committed, creative rugby".
The inclusion of this emotive language adds to the atmosphere that both articles are attempting to convey.




Another similarity is the inclusion of various game-related statistics. For example, number of tries, conversions etc. This serves to inform the reader as to the intricacies of the game that was played, offering them a better understanding of the event.




A difference between the two is the amount of pictures.
In The Guardian article, there is only one picture, at the head of the article.
However, in the Daily Mail article, there are twenty pictures, and comparatively less actual text.
In the case of the Guardian, I believe this is the case due to the content of the text in the article being descriptive enough to warrant a lack of pictures.
As for the Daily Mail, due to the comparative lack of relevant text, pictures are required to convey the spectacle in a more efficient way than could be provided by the text alone.

Class Work for 28/09/15

Find and photocopy/print out three poems that relate to any issues in Language e.g. accent/dialect in Tom Leonard's 'The Six O'Clock News' or speaking in a second language in Sujata Bhatt's 'Search for my Tongue'. Write down a list of features/conventions of these poems. Plan and write one about language. Bring all this work to next lesson.



Three Poems that relate to issues in language: 

'Six O'Clock News' by Tom Leonard

'Search For My Tongue' by Sujata Bhatt

'Languages' by Carl Sandberg


List of Features and Conventions

'Six O'Clock News'

• Talks about societal attitudes to language, particularly how people perceive and judge others based on accent.
• At points, it ridicules the Glaswegian dialect in which it is written, this is ironic because it is written in that dialect. 
• It's main message is that people tend not to trust things said by people with particular accents and dialects, in this case Glaswegian Scottish, an issue that is often raised.

'Search For My Tongue'

• Discusses the experience of slowly forgetting your native language when forced to speak a foreign tongue.
• Talks about the difficulty of maintaining a level of proficiency in both mother and foreign tongues and how you can never 'truly' forget your native language.
• Uses metaphors of flowers and unstoppable growth to describe the strength of your foreign tongue.

'Languages'

• Talks about how and why languages change over time
• Uses metaphors of a river and a mountain, among others to convey the growth and adaptation of a language
• Uses hieroglyphics as an example of how language can fade, be forgotten and eventually die.

Write a Poem about Language

Language of the Tube

Fin Wilson

Step on at Oxford Circus

Short ride.

Destination Piccadilly.

Despite this,

Melting pot of tongues.

Mixed, matched.

English,

Bengali,

Punjab,

Arabic,

Cantonese.

All alight together,

as one.

The daily grind commences. 

Article - How Language is Changing

"Language Evolving Faster Than Ever" Claim Specialists

In recent times, you may have noticed a multitude of new words cropping up in everyday speech, particularly among the younger generations. This emergence of new linguistic terms is believed to have been spurred on by the digital age. With so many different ways for people to communicate with each other, it is no surprise to see 'text talk', or similar abbreviations making their way into everyday speech, along with completely new terms that have surfaced. Ever since mobile phones, with their old character limits, were popularized from the early 2000's onward, text language has been in everyday use for many people. However, in recent times, these text language terms have been slowly making their way into real life speech, particularly among the younger generations.

Alongside this, we can observe a rise in completely new terms being created and used frequently in everyday speech. Terms such as 'bae' and 'fleek' have become almost commonplace among the youth of today. In a recent study, it was revealed that 86% of the parents surveyed felt that teenagers spoke an entirely different language.

This sentiment is creating an interesting gap between the younger and older generations, seeing that as soon as they come to understand the current terms in use, they are replaced with new ones, it is not clear whether or not this gap will be closed any time soon. Perhaps the most significant case of a term falling out of favour among the youth is 'LOL', or 'lol'. After gaining huge amounts of use in the early 2010's, it has recently become obsolete among younger generations, being replaced with the less cryptic 'haha' and 'hehe'. In a recent study it was recently revealed that only a paltry 1.9% of the users included used it. The average age of these users was 28.
Another method of conveying laughter or amusement is coming to prominence, in the form of the emoji, which garnered a 33.7% usage rate in the same study.

Another interesting development in the English Language is the misuse of certain terms leading to complete alterations in their Oxford definitions. The most prolific case of this is the misuse of the term 'Literally'. While this is by no means limited to the younger generations it is frequent among them. It has escalated to the point where the Oxford Dictionary altered the definition of Literally to include use as an alternative to the term 'figuratively'.

With this, and many other developments it is easy to see why many people are having trouble keeping up with the ever-changing English Language.


Bibliography
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/may/01/icymi-english-language-is-changing-faster-than-ever-says-expert
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/10/young-people-decide-theres-not-much-to-lol-about

Written Text With Elements of Spoken Language

The example of written text with elements of spoken language I found was:
The Coca Cola campaign's slogan: "Share a Coke With _____"
This example is in the form of packaging/advertisement.

In this example, the 'spoken elements' used are the 'friendly' sounding "Share a Coke With" phrase and the inclusion of personalisation. The phrase: "Share a Coke With" gives off a sense of friendship or closeness, seeing as you usually share things with your friends and people close to you. This gives the impression that the Coca Cola company is a friend of yours. This notion is furthered by the inclusion of a personalised name-bearing bottle.

The spoken elements were used to create a sense of closeness and familiarity between the company and customer. It also functions as a 'viral marketing' campaign, helping to boost sales and inspire brand loyalty.

How Diversity in Spoken Language is Being Valued (or De-Valued)

In the article we were presented with (which can be found here), we learned about a 'new' multi-ethnic dialect that has recently risen to popularity in urban areas. It has been cited to include influences of Cockney, Jamaican Creole and Bengali.

In this article: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/oct/18/census-2011-england-wales-diversity-languages-map (last accessed 15th September),
we learn about one of the main reasons for such a dialect becoming so prominent. In the 2011 census data we can see how many different languages are spoken in urban areas. Helpful diagrams are included for cities such as: London and Manchester, as well as larger areas such as: the North West and Yorkshire. Very informative, definitely worth a read.

In this article: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/02/britain-accent-sound-foreign-snobs (last accessed 15th September),
Erica Buist, an 'accent coach', writes about her experiences with her clients, and the stories behind why they have decided to go 'accent coaching'. She discusses the attitudes held by some members of the public and employers towards people with foreign accents, revealing some interesting internalized bigotry within the world of work and society itself. An interesting read, for certain.

In this article: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/200-languages-manchester-revealed-as-most-linguistically-diverse-city-in-western-europe-8760225.html (last accessed 15th September),
Jonathan Brown writes on the revelation that, with 200 spoken languages, is the most linguistically diverse and dense city in Western Europe, if not the world. In the article, he discusses the effects that this diversity could inflict upon trade and economy in Manchester, with new business ventures opening up as more multilingual staff are employed.

Attitudes Towards Language

In class, we discussed words we liked and disliked. From the information gathered, we are able to glean some patterns.

We organised the words recorded into four categories: Taboo Words, Non-Standard uses of words, Food and Adjectives.

People, on the whole, tended to show dislike towards taboo words, such as: 'shag', 'c**t' & 'Slut'. This could be due to the fact that these words are used in a predominantly negative fashion. This would lead most people to view them as such, resulting in a high amount of 'dislikes'

Conversely, the most 'liked' group of words were adjectives, like: 'Amazing', 'Lush' & 'Sanguine'. I believe that these words were so popular is because they all carry relatively positive connotations, making them more appealing to people.