Mini Saga

Death on the Promenade

Splat.

The noise resonated across the promenade.

Everyone turned and stared.

Shock. Horror. Sympathy?

The crowd came to a stop.

Everything was still, for a few seconds.

Then they moved on, turning away.

“don’t worry” says mother

“we’ll go and get another one”

They head to the ice cream van.

Class Work for 14/06/2016

Title: The Dialects of England
Author: Peter Trudgill
Year First Published: 1990
Place Published: -
Publisher: Blackwell Oxford + Cabridge

The use of non-standard English;
Differences such as 
I did it / I done it
A man that I know / A man what I know
He doesn't want any / He don't want any
She isn't coming / She ain't coming
We saw him / We seen him

Proposed Test:
Survey or conversation observation

Trudgill, Peter. The Dialects Of England. Print.

Class Work for 26/04/2016

Task: Write an opinion article about the use of work language in other contexts
Intended Audience: Readers of The Guardian 'Comment is Free' section

How Using Work Language At Home Can Help You Get Ahead

Think bringing work-speak home will hold you back? In fact, it's quite the opposite, and here's why:

It is often said that work language should stay in the workplace, and that it has negative influence on those it is used frequently around at home, particularly children.
In a recent Guardian article, I must admit, a very good point for this case was made. The article focused on the use of working language in a children's care home. The article included a poignant interview with a young girl in care. This girl said that, in her care home environment, the use of professional terms such as; 'On shift', 'Risk Assessment' and 'LAC Review' were commonplace, and that this made it difficult for her to consider the environment a 'home'. In the face of this, I must concede, it is impossible to deny the negative effects that being surrounded by such language would have on a child in the care system, or any child for that matter. However, it is important that, as with all language, we take work-place language into context.
In the case presented in the article, it is clear that the use of workplace language was severely detrimental to the happiness and well-being of the child, and especially around people as vulnerable as those in care. In situations like this, people should look at the context and potential consequences of using language like this, and decide against it. However, just because it is not appropriate in one particular context doesn't mean that it's wrong in all situations!



The reason i'm arguing for the use of work language at home is due to personal experience. For me, the pursuit of knowledge is something that has played a key role in almost all aspects of my life. As pretentious as that may sound, I don't mean my goal is to become an academic genius or anything like that, but as they say: 'knowing is half the battle' and knowing as much as possible, no matter how trivial is something I take great joy in. It is probably because of this that I have always taken great interest in the details of my parents work (they are a nurse and a substance misuse counselor, respectively) and have learned a lot of, technically useless, but fascinating language and other information.
To me, this can only be a good thing. Why would you not want to broaden your range of vocabulary and knowledge? For this purpose, I support the use of work language in the home. However, I acknowledge that the use of said language should be considered based on situational context because, as stated in the referenced article, using cold, detached and impersonal care system language in an environment with such vulnerable individuals present is invariably a bad thing.
To conclude, I do not think this wonderful and varied language should be kept strictly within the discourse communities from whence it came, and that it should be shared with anyone with an interest!

Gender Speech

Audience: centre-left politically aligned



Topic: Undervaluation/mistreatment of women in the workplace/professional environments

Points to make:
'Mansplaining', Harassment, employment prospects, pay(?), undervaluation of knowledge/experience


---




When you think of a large company or corporation, what comes to mind? Most people would think of a high-rise building, office cubicles and an army of suit-clad staff. However, a lot of people would envisage the majority of these staff to be men. Why is it that whenever we think of a white-collar worker we see this popular image of a clean, well-presented man in a suit, when in actual fact many women work in such environments?




There are several reason such an image is so widely believed. One such reason is that up until a few generations ago, the workforce really was made up almost entirely of men. After the world wars, when the value of a female-inclusive workforce was realised, this became an archaic, outdated idea.
Another reason that this image persists is due to media portrayal. We see it everywhere. On television shows and in films, on adverts everywhere and elsewhere besides. It is not surprising that so many people have this image ingrained in their minds after being bombarded with it for so long.






Despite the relative equality on the office floor that we see nowadays, something that still causes much controversy is the inequality in the management and upper ranks of these kinds of jobs.
On executive boards worldwide, women hold only 12% of seats. With such an underrepresentation of women in these powerful position it can be difficult to see how their best interests will be represented fairly and effectively.




Another issue faced daily by women in the workplace is known as 'mansplaining', the act whereupon a man presumes that a woman has little or no knowledge on a certain subject or topic and goes on to explain it the woman, often leaving the recipient feeling patronised. Examples of this include: females who happen to be IT technicians being told how to do their jobs by unaware male workers with far less expertise in the field, and a male worker explaining, in great detail, the intricacies of the structure of the United Nations, while unaware that the woman has just as much  knowledge on the subject as him. This stems from ideas proposed by language theorists such as Lakoff, who believe that women's language was 'deficient'.
As an extension of this concept, for example, if a senior member of management was asking for a member of staff with an advanced knowledge of how a particular administrative system works. Say there were two prime candidates for this task, one male and one female. The female however, is more experienced with the system than the male. Historically, despite this, the man would've been picked, unless the woman had made it very clear that she was the true expert in the situation. This happens in many fields and occupations, especially those considered 'male' jobs or tasks, when in fact, it is just as viable to consider that a female is more than suitable for the task.




In spite of all this, things are improving. With more women CEO's than ever before, and the skills and abilities of women being more and more recognised things are looking bright for the future of gender equality in the workplace.

AS Lang Holiday Homework

Audience: Centre-Left Politically inclined individuals (Readers of blogs such as: Crooked Timbers and The Daily Howler and perhaps The Guardian)

Gender Neutral Pronouns - Are 'They' the Future?

In today's society, gender politics are as prominent an issue as they have been at any other time in history, if not more so than in the past. If you spend any amount of time, particularly on the internet, and have come across any gender-related circles or sites, you'll more than likely be familiar with the large amount of people that are campaigning for gender-specific, and gender-neutral pronouns. While there have been people campaigning for the recognition various alternative attitudes to gender for a very long time, these points of view are becoming more and more prominent in recent years, with the rise of the internet offering a platform for many people to express their views on the matter and interact with like-minded people. One of the issues at the forefront of this movement is to do with the acknowledgement of various pronouns that could be used to refer to people of 'alternative' genders.

Now, in terms of coming up with a pronoun for use by gender-neutral individuals, there are several ways in which you could view this issue.
On one hand, from a socially progressive viewpoint, it is easy to see where the supporters of this movement are coming from. You could say that it is hard for people like you or me, who have always applied to the standard gender binary, to understand what it might be like to not have an applicable pronoun which could be used to describe you. Most of us have more than likely never even considered anything other than he or she as something needed in everyday language. I'm sure it isn't a particularly pleasant feeling to be an individual uncomfortable with how they are being referred to in every day life, but having never experienced such a thing, I can only imagine.
Another viewpoint from which you could support the creation of a gender-neutral pronoun is from a linguistic perspective, for those who wish to add a new dimension of accuracy to their writing, and to simultaneously include gender-neutral concepts and people. From this angle, many people would be content to use 'them/they' to refer to a gender neutral individual, however this, from a language perspective, feels grammatically odd when saying something such as 'Riley thought they would be late'.

Because of these two stances, and various others besides, people have taken it upon themselves to campaign for recognition of various gender-neutral alternatives.
Some examples of these proposed alternatives include:

• 'Ze' (e.g. 'Ze is over there', 'I called zir/zem')
• 'Xe' (e.g. 'Xe is over there', 'I called xem')
• 'Ve' (e.g. 'Ve is over there', 'I called vem')

These alternative pronouns are just some that have been proposed for many, many years now. With the internet helping them become more popular in the modern age than ever before, these words are certainly picking up in terms of use in wider society. However, despite the blatant demand for a pronoun to be officially recognized, the Oxford Dictionary (as of April 2016) has yet to add such an alternative to its dictionary. This seems interesting to me. The Oxford Dictionary adds new words and such to its ranks four times a year. In the most recent addition, March 2016, words such as 'antrin' (an adjective of Scottish origin meaning 'strange' or 'rare') and kilig (a Tagalog verb meaning to 'experience shivers and pangs from strong emotions, such as fear or desire') were added. While I have no doubt that someone will find use for these words, surely there is a much clearer demand for gender-neutral pronouns to be officially recognized.

Now, from where I stand, I can certainly see the need for words such as these to be recognized for these groups of people, and grammatical accuracy. However, most words introduced are small, niche terms that the majority of us wouldn't ever come across in our everyday lives and use of language. The same cannot really be said for adding a new set of pronouns altogether. Younger generations are certainly better at adapting to rapid changes in the world around them, with language being no exception, despite this, I do question the viability of immediately phasing in such a large term into everyday use. This would be harder, i'm sure, for the older generations to incorporate, having been set in their ways for so long in terms of language. The fact that most people would be content to use 'they', myself included, is due to the fact that alternative pronouns are not something that many people would need to use on a regular basis. This would make it hard, no matter how many times people are told, to incorporate them regularly and consistently. It is well known that Transgender individuals often feel very uncomfortable when being referred to as the wrong pronoun, and i'm sure that gender-neutral individuals feel much the same. After all, the reason we have gone so long without a gender-neutral pronoun is due to the fact that the English language in particular is very binary, and things 'in the middle' are often uncertainly or broadly defined, gender being no different. It is for this reason that, with both wider societal reception of change, and the thoughts and feeling of individuals affected that I will, and would personally encourage, the use of the 'they/them' set of pronouns. This eliminates the requirement to educate society, and every non-native speaker a whole new set of pronouns and while grammatical issues will no doubt occur, it is a mere matter of subtly skirting around them to adapt. Some would argue that I have no right to tell people this, to represent gender-neutral individuals in such a way, and perhaps they may be right. That said, this is opinion is mine, and very well may be mine alone, if that is the case, then so be it. 

Online Textbook Work Notes - For 8/3/16

Textbook Notes

13.5.1 - Symbolic Representations

Symbols are commonly used to simplify and represent various things in real life.

Example given: Olympic Logo
The five different coloured rings of the logo represent the five main inhabited regions of the world. The interlinked rings stand for the unity and friendship associated with the Olympics.

It could be said that words and phrases are symbols in the same way as the Olympic logo. Words & phrases can be used to represent or stand for anything we can experience or imagine.

Activity 11
Discussing how logos represent their organisations

FedEx Logo:
FedEx is a delivery/courier service that operates internationally on a large scale.
Their logo is particularly famous because it contains a notoriously hidden arrow in between the E and the X, this use of negative space to create a hidden image has made it one of the most acclaimed logos in recent history.
The arrow represents the delivery service that they provide.
The vibrant colours of the logo are certainly eyecatching.

Evian Logo:
Evian is a brand of mineral water.
The name itself is a reference to the source of the water; Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva.
The source of the water is also referenced in the white background and blue mountains, which are clearly meant to represent the Swiss alps, from which the water Evian uses flows.

13.5.2 - Representations 

Representation can just be name-calling, which can be displayed anywhere, from children's playgrounds to politicians in debate.
In a Mail on Sunday article in 2014, David Rose displayed his skepticism towards claims in reference to climate change. He did so by representing issues and people in a pejorative manner.
Using phrases such as: 'The great green con', 'green zealots', 'climate enforcers', 'alarmist climate science', 'climate McCarthyism'.
The strongest, and most interesting accusation comes from the word 'McCarthyism' This term is in reference to the period of time in American History when the concept of Witch-Hunting Communists was  a popular one, where thousands of people were punished for holding certain views. This claim suggests that the climate change researchers are doing the same towards those who oppose them.
Put simply, representation is all to do with how things are described. This can apply to a wide spectrum of things, but different things come from different ways of thinking about and interpreting them.

13.5.3 - Representation of Concepts

Class Work for 01/03/2016 - Fairtrade Fortnight Text Analysis

a) ActionAid Teaching Resource

• Identify the GRAPE and select some key conventions/techniques that relate to the GRAPE

G - The genre of this text is webpage. It is for a charity, and has downloadable educational resources for use by teachers.

R - This text would be received through use of the ActionAid website.

A - The audience of this text would be teachers or other people who would wish to educate others about fairtrade.

P - The purpose of this webpage is to advertise the educational resources available, as well as to inform, in a way, any visitor to the website about the work that they do for Fairtrade and other charitable causes

E - The expectations of this text would be to be professional, easy to navigate, yet informative.

b) Daily Mail Article

G - The genre of this text is an online article

R - This article would be received through the Daily Mail website

A - The main audience for this text would be Daily Mail readers, but it could also attract attention from any people who are interested in the effectiveness of the Fairtrade scheme.

P - The purpose of the article is to inform people, particularly of the alleged ineffectiveness of the Fairtrade scheme

E - As a Daily Mail article, there is a certain expectation that people have as to the content of the article. Qualities often attributed to Daily Mail articles include: Controversial, Inflammatory, Polarising and Sensational.

Analysis of a)

This text, an ActionAid webpage, showcases various educational resources available for download to be used as a learning tool. This text would be received by any reader through the ActionAid website. The intended audience for this text would likely be teachers or other educational professional, who would wish to educate their students about the work that this charity does. The purpose of this text is to allow any interested party to download the educational resources displayed on the site.
Most people who encounter this text would expect it to be in a very formal address, and to impart all the necessary information about the cause being advertised.


Analysis of b)


The second text is an online article from the Daily Mail, covering an investigation that claims to show how Fairtrade farms are perhaps not as ethical as you might think. This would be received through the Daily Mail website, and the main audience to which it would be targeted is Daily Mail readers. However, it definitely has a secondary audience of people who are interested in the Fairtrade movement and the ethics behind it. This article serves to inform people of the alleged ineffectiveness of the Fairtrade movement, and as it comes from the Daily Mail, there is a certain expectation held by anyone who reads it, as there are certain qualities that are often attributed to content produced by the Daily Mail.


Comparison of the Two Texts


The two texts are different from the outset, while both of them are online texts, the ActionAid text is a webpage, with downloadable content, whereas the Daily Mail text is an online article. The fact that they are both online does offer them some sense of similarity, but the genres of the texts themselves are too different to be likened in most ways. That said, due to that fact, the way that they could be received is almost identical, as you'd either have to receive a link to the page/article, or go through the respective website yourself to encounter either text. There are similarities too, in the potential audiences for these texts: the ActionAid page is geared towards people who wish to educate others on the cause supported by the charity, and the Daily Mail article is explicitly intended for Daily Mail readers. Despite these two very different main audiences, they both share a minor audience; those interested in the Fairtrade scheme. Both texts could be encountered by someone interested in the workings of the scheme, as they are both covering the topic. The purposes do not share much similarity on the surface; with the ActionAid page serving as more of a portal to obtaining other downloadable resources, and the Daily Mail article being used to inform the reader as to the alleged unethical nature of the Fairtrade scheme. However, as with their audiences, they share a sub-purpose, which is to educate. Both texts, either directly or indirectly, seek to teach the reader something new about the Fairtrade movement, and while these might be two different sides of the story, they are still related at the core of the matter.
To close, the expectations of the texts are very different in most ways. The ActionAid page would be expected to support the Fairtrade cause, and to present its information in a professional, easy to navigate, yet informative manner, and the Daily Mail article has attached to it the stigma and characteristics classically attached to any content produced by the newspaper (including attributes such as: sensationalist, controversial, inflammatory and polarising. Both texts seem to fulfil at least some of these expectations.

Transcription Analysis

Transcription Analysis


This conversation involved us discussing either our own jobs, or the jobs of our parents, and the responsibilities entailed within the jobs.


At the opening of my first turn speaking, I present myself as a form of agenda-setter:
"I'll talk about my parents(.)"
I said this in response to being asked what I wished to talk about.
This shows that I am comfortable enough in my speech to choose a topic and talk about it independently.




Junior: "What else am I supposed to say?"
Callum: "What would you like/"
Fin (Me): "/What responsibilities do you have?"


The most prominent point to make on that passage would be the interruption performed by myself. This interruption was not done with the intention of deliberately silencing or overriding the previous speaker. It is merely a result of the two of us attempting to answer the same question at the same time. This is a prime example of latched conversation and how it can effect the environment of a particular conversation.




Junior: "I have to sell stuff to customers and work on the tills(.)/"
Fin (Me): "/What about your parents?"
Junior: "My parents?"


This exchange again shows my tendency to interrupt, especially to push forward new ideas or ask questions. This is a good example of 'Bald Face' and its straightforward tendencies, often appearing to show little regard for niceties to get to the point quicker, however I had no intention to do so in a negative or rude way.


Fin (Me): "Who's next?"
I said this after a short pause in conversation created by the previous speaker finishing. This again shows my tendency to spur the conversation on and set agendas, even if I'm not doing so directly or explicitly.


(After a short exchange)
Fin (Me): "Alright, Fin (.) you go next"
Fin C: "Uhm (.) Okay"
After my previous attempts at getting the conversation back on track fail, I tried again. This time, to greater effect, this time getting a response by using a more 'bald-face' direct way of addressing the issue, directly referencing the person who I thought should continue the conversation

Holiday Homework Task - Gender Representation

Mccoy's 'Man Crisps' Advertisement

In this advert, the Mccoy's band of crisps are billed as being 'man crisps'. This seems to have been a decision made in an attempt to up their sales among those who consider themselves 'manly' men, as the accompanying television adverts all took place in stereotypically 'manly' situations (at a pub, etc). Another way this advertisement supports a set ideal of 'male' characteristics is through the 'masculine' graphology. The darker colours and large, bold font putting forward the popular idea of masculine strength and dominance.

Schliff Beer Advertisement - 1952

This 1950's beer advertisement is sadly not atypical of the time. It represents the woman as unintelligent, or unpractical, as she appears to have burned the food. Her husband then 'reassures' her by telling her not to worry as she 'didn't burn the beer'. This, interestingly, could be seen as a parallel to another popular female stereotype; that women 'belong in the kitchen'. While this advert was probably intended to be taken with a pinch of salt, and a sense of humour in mind, it still raises interesting points in the way of gender representation.

Bic 'for Her' Pens

Recently, Bic put out a line of pens designed specifically for women. This seems like a particularly prominent example of exploitation of gender in marketing. In terms of something as menial as a pen, there had, up until the release of these, never really been anything in the way of pens 'for her', which would indicate that such a thing is unnecessary and doesn't really need to exist. This line of pens is 'geared' towards woman based on it's ergonomic structure supposedly being better fitted to women's hands. It also furthers the idea of stereotypically 'female' colours such as pink and purple.

Class Work for 18/01/16 - Research Points on Language & Gender

Deborah Cameron's discursive approach to gender
I was unable to find any articles that focused primarily on anything called the 'discursive' approach, let alone any associated with Cameron's work and research.
What I do already know about the discursive approach is that it covers the idea that we are able to 'do' gender, in terms of how we use and perceive language. To paraphrase: 'Your genes don't determine your jeans'. Unlike the other three models (Dominance, Deficit & Difference) this model doesn't bring much new information to the table, it instead serves as a sort of counter, or compliment, to some of the other theories, in that it says that while there are inherent differences between the language of men and women, this does not mean that each gender is strictly bound to using only characteristics that apply inherently to them. Which is to say, that women are not exempt from using the theoretically 'male' language technique of interruptions.


John Gray's popular book: 'Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus'
John Gray is an American relationship counselor, lecturer and author. In 1992, his book: 'Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus' was published. This bestselling book, which sold over 50 million copies, became a slight cultural phenomenon after its release, with the author going on to release subsequent: 'books, recordings, seminars, theme vacations, a one man Broadway show, TV sitcom, workout videos, podcast, men's and ladies' apparel lines, fragrances, travel guides and even his-and-hers salad dressings.'
The book follows the idea that the most common relationship problems between men and women are a result of 'fundamental psychological differences between the sexes'
The main points covered in the concept of this book include:

• Language and communication matters more to women than it does to men.
• The goals using language of men tend to form around completing objectives or other tasks. However women's goals in language are more inter-personally focused.
• Women are more verbally skilled than men.
• Men have a competitive use of language and women have a cooperative use of language.
• Women talk about feelings, people and relationships, whereas men talk about concrete facts and material things.
• There tends to be miscommunication between women and men as a result of these parallels.  

Beattie's challenge to Zimmerman and West

The main piece of supporting research for the Dominance theory is Zimmerman and West's Interruption study, the evidence gleaned from which suggests that in mixed-sex conversations, men interrupt more frequently than women. The research states that in 11 recorded conversations between men and women, men interrupted 46 times, and women only twice.

Geoffrey Beattie, of Sheffield University disputed this research. Recreating the experiment, Beattie claims to have recorded 10 hours of conversation, and 557 interruptions. Beattie found that women and men interrupted with about equal frequency (men 34.1 / women 33.8). This seems to directly disprove the research and conclusion of Zimmerman and West.

Mary Beard's ideas about women's voices not being valued

Classic scholar Mary Beard puts forward how women aren't perceived to be as powerful as men. She believes this to have become the case as a result of the prioritization of male voices and opinions over the ages, leading to the deeply ingrained patriarchal attitude held today. She says that, as a society, when we hear a female voice "we don't hear a voice that connotes authority; or rather we haven't learned how to hear authority in it". 

The effect of written and computer-mediated forms on gendered language

Studies have indicated that gender related stereotypical patterns have been shown to exist within virtual environments, just as they exist in the real world. 

In support of Lakoff's theories, males appeared to use more authoritative statements while online, whereas females appeared to use more collaborative language.

Bibliography

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_Are_from_Mars,_Women_Are_from_Venus

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/14/mary-beard-vocal-women-treated-freakish-androgynes

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED490640.pdf

Language Representation Analysis Task

For the task set by Halla, I chose to analyse a poem written by my Grandfather, Geoff Sutton. (which, along with some of his other poetry, can be found here: https://leopardpoetry.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/featured-poet-geoff-sutton/)
------------------------------------------------------------
ALWAYS ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
Geoff Sutton (circa 2012)


I was looking through the window
To see what I could see
But all I saw were my two eyes
Staring back at me
Always on the outside looking in


I wandered through the wild wood
I was looking for my home
I saw you walk together
You saw me walk alone
Darkly on the outside looking in


When I saw the lighted windows
Of any homely place
They pulled the blind down as I passed
They wanted to hide the face
Of someone on the outside looking in


I went on to the sea’s side
I was searching for you there
But all I found were mermaids
Plaiting bladderwrack in their hair
Sadly on the outside looking in


I met a former lover
She said I’ve lost your name
But I know exactly where you are
You’re really just the same
You’re always on the outside looking in


I’ve been strolling through the spaces
Where people used to be
And soon I balanced the me in you
Against the you in me
So inside mirrored outside outside in


The dead live on inside us
I hear them every day
We echo each other word for word
But they haven’t much to say
They’re only on the outside looking in
----------------------------------------------------


As I see it, this poem is a reflection of the poet on several aspects of his life, ultimately determining that the feels detached, or separate from the reality that everyone else around him experiences. It also has romantic themes, or rather, themes concerning the loss of romance, reflection on old relationships, or the loss of loved ones by other means.
The first indication of the themes of this poem come in the title; 'Always on the Outside Looking In'.
The phrase itself shows how the writer feels, that he is not a part of the world that everyone else is, as if he is stood outside a window, looking in on it, unable to attain what he sees. The fact that this line, or a variation of it, is repeated at the end of each stanza shows that the writer is well aware of this, and that it haunts him in practically everything he does.

In the first stanza, the reflective nature of the poem is directly established using a literal reflection that the write sees upon looking through the window. 'But all I saw were my two eyes // Staring back at me'.
The word 'Always' used at the head of the last line shows the infinite nature of the writer's loneliness.

The second stanza has the speaker wandering through a 'wild wood' looking for his home. This may be more symbolic than literal in that the speaker may be searching for somewhere he can be considered 'inside', as opposed to being perpetually 'outside' as he is shown to be throughout.
The 'you' mentioned by the speaker seems, in the wider context of the poem, to be in reference to a past lover. This is furthered by the line 'I saw you walk together // You saw me walk alone'. The term 'together' could be seen as being a reference to a new romantic relationship. Another interpretation of this 'you', could be that of a 'lost' or deceased loved one, or perhaps even multiple people, I personally favour this interpretation.

The third stanza shows that the speaker is an outcast, and is shunned by those around him. 'They wanted to hide the face // Of someone on the outside looking in'.

In the fourth stanza, the speaker 'went to the sea's side // I was searching for you there'. This shows the lengths the speaker is willing to go to to find the unspecified 'you' mentioned throughout the poem.

The next stanza covers the speaker's encounter with a 'former lover', who say's that they have 'lost' the speaker's name. This shows that the speaker's separation reaches such an extent that even a former lover has forgotten his name.

The penultimate stanza has the speaker say: 'I've been strolling through the spaces // Where people used to be'. I see these 'spaces' as the emptiness left when a person moves on, or passes on. The following two lines: 'And soon I balanced the me in you // Against the you in me' could be interpreted as dealing with feelings and memories towards someone you've lost.

The final stanza is, for me, what clarifies the theme of the poem, as well as the state of the 'you' mentioned throughout. The line 'The dead live on inside us' when coupled with the second and third lines of the previous stanza lead me to believe that the 'you' the speaker refers to throughout the poem is a deceased loved one. The second line; 'I hear them everyday' shows that the loss of this person has severely affected the speaker to the point where it is something he thinks about everyday. The next two lines are very profound: 'We echo each other word for word // But they don't have much to say'. This, to me, seems to say that when we think of people we have lost, they are only really echoes of what we are thinking about them, and that because they are gone, they can never again truly speak independently for themselves again. The closing line comparing the dead to the way he has described himself throughout the poem makes me think that the speaker sees himself as 'dead' to the world. I get this impression because, in using this phrase in reference to the dead, he makes it seem as he too is 'on the outside looking in' and has no influence or presence in the reality most people experience.

Attitudes to Accents - Article

My article will be targeted towards Mail readers.

"Disguise Your Accent" Says Darth Vader Actor
Could your accent be preventing you from getting a job?

Judging people based on their accent is nothing new. We've all made silly, unfounded judgement about others based on the way they speak, even if we know it's wrong. In an age where it is so stigmatised to judge or treat anyone differently based on their race, sex, or appearance, especially in the employment process, then why is it that the same stigma isn't attached to accents?
According to an ITV/Comres study 28% of Britons feel 'discriminated against' due to their accents.
To complement this worrying statistic, a report by the legal firm Peninsular has revealed that a staggering 80% admit to making discriminatory decisions based on accent. With such a wealth of statistics backing up this claim, which accents are most affected?
With accents such as RP (Received Pronunciation) and Estuary English being most favourable, classically 'rougher' accents such as the Birmingham and Liverpool accents, which are widely received as hostile, unfriendly or even unintelligent.
When put on paper, in black & white, like this, the idea that it's so widely accepted that it is not a problem to discriminate based on accent seems abhorrent, yet it is still considered fine.
There is currently no legislation in place to prevent discrimination based on accent, as there is with factors such as race and gender.
While discrimination based on these characteristics may seem much worse, surely accent is just as influential. After all, everyone has one!

Nowadays it is not uncommon to see (or rather, hear) people actively attempting to soften, or altogether change, their accents in order to seem more appealing. This doesn't just go for the job market, but in general social situations. We would surely see a problem if we lived in an age where people were overtly ashamed of their race, so why should we allow it with accent, which is just as much a part of our identity as anything else?

This problem spreads throughout all industries, even high-profile jobs such as acting. When auditions were being held for the new Star Wars film in Bristol we spoke to David Prowse, the local legend best known for playing Darth Vader in the original trilogy. Shockingly, his advice to any aspiring cast member was to "disguise" their accents if they wanted any chance at a role.
So, with even the famous required to change their accents to make it, it may seem as though there is little hope for accents in the future, but that remains to be seen. In an almost subconscious response to the dilution of accents in modern times, many regional accents are making a serious resurgence, in what seems like an act of defiance against this discrimination.
Although it is still unclear, it should be interesting to see where this train of thought as a society takes us.
More importantly, what do you, the people with the accents think?

Accent & Dialect Research Task - 'Trudgill's 1974 Norwich study of the effect of class on accent'

What is it?
This study was carried out by sociolinguist academic Peter Trudgill in 1974.
The study involved Trudgill studying speech in Norwich in order to find out how and why people's way of speaking varied. He based his study on the independent variables of the gender and class of the subjects.

Who was studied?
Trudgill used zone sampling when conducting this study. He took ten speakers from the five electoral wards of Norwich, as well as ten children from two different schools. He focused on age and class sampling, with sixty subjects in total.

Results
The most commonly cited result of Trudgill's study is in probably his findings in relation to the usage of the suffix -ng.
In standard English, words ending in the consonant '-ng' such as: walking and talking, end with a 'Velar nasal' (the common -ng sound) However, Trudgill found that in Norwich these words are often pronounced as if there was just an '-n' on the end. For example: "walkin' and talkin'"

Trudgill notes that this feature is by no means exclusive to Norwich:
"Nearly everywhere in the Eng-speaking world we find this alternation between higher-class/formal ng and lower class/informal n. It goes back to the fact that in Old English (and later) there were two forms, a gerund ending in -ing (walking is good for you) and a present participle ending in -end (he was walking). The -end form was the ancestor of -n' and -ing(obviously) of -ing."

Trudgill then goes on to talk about how the two variations merged, 'fairly recently' he says, within the last 300 years.

Trudgill made several notable conclusions from his research. These include:

1. In all social classes, people were more likely to say walking when they were speaking carefully.
2. Walkin' type forms had a higher proportion in the lower classes.
3. the non-standard -in forms appeared much more often in men than in women, a trend that stayed true through all of the social classes.
4. When asked, women tended to say that they thought they had been using the standard -ing more often than they actually did.
5. Conversely, when asked, men said the opposite.

 

Trudgill's figures for social class and sex differences in the use of the standard -ing form in Norwich when people used a formal style of speaking are as follows:

Bibliography
Peter Trudgill's 1974 The Social Differentiation of English in Norwich
http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/research/norwich.html
https://prezi.com/qfd-eiu5zf51/peter-trudgill-and-the-norwich-study-1974/
https://aggslanguage.wordpress.com/4-4-%E2%80%93-the-basic-variation-theorists-%E2%80%93-labov-trudgill-cheshire-millroy-bernstein/

Paragraph Re-Draft

In the transcript, the barrister uses proper nouns frequently, referring to others by name. An example of this language is: 'according to you Mr Neil (.) this ill feeling (.) this grudge on Mr peterson's'. The use of proper nouns over pronouns such as 'him', or 'his', serve to portray the barrister in a more formal and intimidating light. To accentuate this representation, the barrister repeats the proper nouns on multiple occasions. Doing this, particularly referring to Mr Neil by his name serves to create a sense of tension between the two, as well as putting Mr Neil under more pressure to answer satisfactorily. This is of particular importance because the transcript takes place in a courtroom during a case. This means that this sense of pressure would be more potent and important due to the relevancy of the context. It is also presumable that the audience of this transcript (the judge, jury and anyone sitting in on the case), would understand the scene and feel the effects of this pressure and tension first-hand.

Hospital Text PEE Paragraph Homework

Write 3 PEE paragraphs in response to the hospital car park text. Analyse how the text uses language to create meanings and representations.

In the text, a commanding and authoritative tone is used. This makes the clear the importance of the text, indicating that it must be followed. An example of this is 'Do not park in this car park unless you agree to the Terms and Conditions in full.' The imperative phrase 'do not' makes it very clear that the request should be obeyed, and that consequences will follow should you choose to avoid doing so. Another phrase used to similar effect is: 'Vehicles must not park in a time controlled zone beyond the permissible period.' As in the first phrase, the imperative 'must not' is very commanding and would likely ensure that the reader takes it more seriously. On the whole, this mass-inclusion of imperative and authoritative phrases serves to provide the text with a seriousness befitting of it's purpose, which is achieved to good effect.

As well as 'bossy' imperative phrases, the text does use several softer and more persuasive phrases, some of which include mitigated imperatives. One such phrase is: 'Permitted vehicles, please display your permits at all times and park in designated parking areas applicable to your permit.' The inclusion of the word 'please' makes the phrase seem almost optional. However, the reader knows that if they do not comply, they will face the parking charge detailed at the bottom of the text, making it, for all intensive purposes, an out-and-out imperative. Another mitigated imperative is: 'By failing to comply with the above terms of use you agree to pay a Parking Charge Notice of £60.' The use of the term 'you agree to' does little to hide the warning that if you breach the terms, you will be forced to pay the fine.

The inclusion of short, simple sentences such as: 'Controlled parking area.' show, in simple terms, the overall concept of the car park, telling the reader immediately that it is such an area, allowing them, without reading the whole of the text, to infer that it is a car park which you will have to pay to use. The next sentence is equally concise: 'This car park area is monitored 24 hours a day.' This too, conveys the sentiment & message of the parking company in a simple and easy to digest way. This use of short, simple sentences serves to deliver important information to the reader in an efficient way as possible.

 

Language & Occupation Research Task - Veterinary Surgeon

The special lexis used by vets covers many individual topics.
The topics we are covering include:

• Diseases, Illnesses and Symptoms
• Animal Anatomy
• Equipment 
• Names of Procedures

Diseases, Illnesses and Symptoms

In Dogs:
Parvo (Parvovirus Infection)
an infectious disease, most commonly found in dogs. It attacks the immune system of the dog, eventually killing the dog.
Lyme Disease
an infectious disease, caused by bacteria transmitted through ticks, it can spread to humans.
Demodicosis
also known as 'demodectic mange', this disease is caused by a build-up of mites on the dogs fur

In Cats:
Feline Infectious Peritonitis
an incurable, fatal disease in cats that takes over white blood cells causing a deadly inflammatory reaction.
Feline Immunodeficiency Virus
a lentivirus that affects up to 2.5% - 4.4% of cats worldwide, it is not typically fatal.

Veterinary Procedures

Sialoadenectomy
The surgical excision of the salivary gland

Hypophysectomy
The removal of the pituitary gland, usually used to treat tumors.

Laminectomy
The surgical removal of the lamina; the part of the vertebra that covers your spinal canal. This surgery can be used to relieve pressure on the spinal column and connected nerves.

How does your occupational group communicate with members of the public who are customers or clients?

When talking to their clients, veterinary surgeons tend not to dumb down their specialist language, as it is important that the clients understand what exactly is happening to their pets. Despite this, they may also offer the client a more 'basic' explanation. In some cases, especially when informing an owner that their pet may have to be put down, they might talk to the client slowly and with empathy.

Describe the occupational register of this group, with examples.
In the workplace, vets would be likely to talk professionally, especially when in medical or surgery situations, where they would use the correct terms for the situation. However, perhaps when consoling a customer, they may use more personal, passionate terms.

Sources

http://www.petmd.com/veterinaryterms

Jennifer Lawrence - Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co-Stars?

What are the important contextual features of this text?

The context of this piece is as follows:
Following a hacking scandal, Sony had a lot of sensitive information leaked. This included the respective wages earned by each of the actors that starred in a certain film. It was subsequently revealed that the female stars, notably Jennifer Lawrence (of 'Hunger Games' fame) were being paid substantially less than their male counterparts. This led to Lawrence herself posting an update to Facebook detailing her thoughts on the matter. The entire scenario was accentuated by the multitude of recent claims of a 'gender pay gap', making it one of the most hotly debated discussions concerning gender equality in recent years.

Comment on the 'male' and 'female' language features in this text. What is their effect on the reader?

In direct opposition to Robin Lakoff's 'Deficit' model of gendered speech, Lawrence uses aspects of what would be considered both 'male' and 'female' speech.
In terms of 'female' language features, Lawrence uses the brunt of them at the start of her article. For example, she can be seen to use Emotional language such as 'excited'. She also uses several 'empty adjectives' like 'adorable', albeit slightly ironically or sardonically. Due to the very slight presence of this 'female' speech, it has very little effect on the reader, since they don't really get the chance to process or interpret it before it is gone. However, after that she abandons all of the so-say 'female sensibilities' and descends into what would be heavily considered 'male' linguistic territory.
 Examples of this can be found in her noticeably 'direct' manner of speech. This is shown through the use of imperatives/directives. She also features swearing heavily in her text, a feature Lakoff would interpret as being indicative of 'male' speech tendencies. She also speaks with what could be interpreted as a more 'dominant' tone, a staple of Lakoff's theory of Deficit. The inclusion of these 'male' linguistic features gives the piece a very commanding and serious tone, and makes it really stand out, when you remember from who the text is coming.

Do you agree with her conclusion? Justify your answer making reference to the language and gender theories we have looked at in class.

In terms of language, she makes a good point. It is indeed the case that when men are forceful or even aggressive in their efforts to achieve something, it often works, and they are often praised for it, whereas these attributes are seen as detrimental when used by a woman.

While I in no way subscribe to the belief that women should be paid less for the same work, I do not agree with the conclusion to which Jennifer Lawrence has arrived. While, on the face of it, it may indeed seem that Jennifer Lawrence (recently named Hollywood's highest paid actress) was paid about half of what her male co-stars earned, that conclusion has been reached due to distorted figure taken out of context.
For her role in American Hustle Lawrence received $1.25 million, plus $250,000 in deferred compensation, as well as seven points in profit participation.
If you take the information at face value, it could seem outrageous that her male co-stars Christian Bale, and Bradley Cooper received $2.5 million each, with nine points.
However this is not the truth. While Jennifer Lawrence worked for 19 days for her $1.25 million, Bale & Cooper worked at least 45 days each for their double in pay.
When broken down, Lawrence actually earned $65 thousand per day of work, whereas Bale & Cooper both earned $55 thousand per day, meaning that in fact, Lawrence earned more for her time worked.
As has been demonstrated, it is easy enough to distort these figures to make it appear as if Lawrence was being criminally underpaid for her role, in comparison to her co-stars, that simply isn't the case.
In a revelation of, perhaps, cruel irony, for her starring role in the film Passengers, Lawrence was paid an estimated $5 million to £7 million more than her male co-star, Chris Pratt.
With such high figures being thrown around, the entire situation does beg the question:
'Aren't all stars, male, female, or whatever, absurdly overpaid?'

Article - How Are Dialects Changing?

Just What is 'Bidialectalism', and Just How Does it Affect You?

A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of the language's speakers. This includes the usage of slang and the accent with which the speaker talks. Dialects are often regional, however, there are also dialects specific to certain social circles called a 'sociolect'. Another type of dialect is the form of a language spoken by a particular ethnic group in the language, this is an 'ethnolect'.

Everybody, despite what they might believe, is part of a dialect. Be it regional, social or ethnic, everybody can relate to being part of a dialect. As such, it is easy for everybody to relate to the idea of a set dialect that can be easily noticed or recognised. Some people may find solace in being part of such a distinguished group of people, so it may alarm them that dialects are changing over time. Don't believe me? I don't blame you, it seems almost hard to believe that something as well established as say, the cockney dialect, could be changing over time. Linguists (those who study language) have noticed this, and there are many examples and theories to explain this change.

One explanation of such a change is the existence of 'bidialectalism', the ability to speak with two accents or dialects. Researchers have found this transient dialectal tendency to be most prominent among the middle classes, who often mingle with wide ranges of people and backgrounds, and are effectively influenced by those they live around. For example, growing up in London, and then moving to Newcastle has been known to cause people to fuse the two accents, creating a hybrid, or speak the two entirely separately.

Researchers at the University of Newcastle have come to the conclusion that bidialectalism is almost always performed by the subconscious part of the brain. They say that this is due to the subconscious desire to adapt to your surroundings whenever you are put into a new environment. As such, if you pay attention, you may find yourself changing your accent slightly when talking to people from other regions, with other dialects.

This even occurs to me! When visiting my mother's family in the northern-midlands, I find myself adding slight aspects of their regional accent into my own. This has resulted, for me, in a rather neutral dialect, which is neither here-nor-there. However, researchers say that bidialectalism is a phenomenon mostly reserved for the middle-class. They say this not due to some biological difference between the classes, but do back it up rather convincingly. They say that the upper classes are less likely to experience this due to the fact that they, for the most part, do not possess particularly noticeable regional accents, instead choosing to speak a variety of received pronunciation. They say that people in the working class generally possess stronger regional accents, and as they are less likely to move around the country, they are usually surrounded by people with the same dialect as them, causing no need to change.

The research these linguists are conducting has even reached the point where they feel able to 'forecast' the future potential changes in certain dialects. For example, Dr. Hall of the University of Newcastle believes that within the next 30 years, the North-East accent very well may have become a part of a general 'Northern' accent. This is what is known as 'Dialectal Dilution'.

That said, I see nothing to worry about when it comes to bidialectalism. Everything evolves and changes over time, mostly for the better, so why should language and dialect be any different? I for one, look forward to seeing how both my own, and general dialects change in the years to come.

TED Talk Notes

Talk #1: Murray Gell-Mann - The Ancestor of Language
https://www.ted.com/talks/murray_gell_mann_on_the_ancestor_of_language#t-16309

Topic: Distant relationships between human languages

Notes:
The theory of common ancestry,  when it comes to language, is not a widely believed theory among linguists
The talker believes that language goes beyond this theoretical 'common ancestor', before things such as cave paintings, which he believes could not have been created without modern language.

Talk #2: Erin McKean: Go Ahead, Make Up New Words
https://www.ted.com/talks/erin_mckean_go_ahead_make_up_new_words#t-397119

Topic: Creation of new words, Specifically in the English Language.

Notes:
The speaker talks about the fact that people are discouraged from creating new words, and how this is contradictory to how we are usually taught to be (meaning, creative, inventive etc). She implores the listener to embrace new words, and even take a hand in creating some.

She then goes on to talk about the different ways new words can be created:
The first, is 'borrowing' words from other languages and adopting them directly into our own. She cites the word 'ninja' from Japanese as an example for this.
Another method by which new words can be formed is by 'Compounding' Which is combining to pre-existing words to form a new word. She uses the words "Heartbroken", "Bookworm" and "Sandcastle" to demonstrate a compound.
The next way detailed in the video is called 'Functional Shift'. This is where the meaning of a word is adapted to fit a different situation/context. An example used for this is: the word 'commercial' while originally being an adjective, has become a noun in modern American English.
The final way she shares on how to create new words is 'Blending'. This, similarly to compounding, is a way of combining two words, however blending does so more vigorously. Examples of blending include: "Brunch" and "Motel"

Talk #3: Daniel H. Cohen: For Argument's Sake
https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_h_cohen_for_argument_s_sake#t-28019

Topic: Why Do We Argue?

Notes:
The speaker explores the concept of academic argument, why we argue, and what effect losing an argument has.
He states three 'models' of academic argument
Argument as War
Argument as Proof
Argument as Performance
He says that, of the three, the dominant is 'Argument as War'. He says that it shapes how we talk and think about arguments, as well as how we conduct our own arguments.
The talker points out that when we talk about arguments, we often use militaristic terms. He states that: "We want 'strong' arguments, 'killer' arguments."

The speaker suggests that this 'adversarial' way of addressing argument is 'deforming' the way we think about argument. He says it makes us value tactics over substance, that it magnifies the 'us vs them' aspect, and that the only foreseeable outcomes are 'glorious victory', or 'abject defeat'.
He says that this way of thinking removes the concepts of Deliberation, Negotiation, Compromise and Collaboration from arguing.
He finishes by saying that arguments run through this way of thinking never really 'get anywhere'. More often than not, they end in stalemate, or backtracking or proverbial 'dead-ends'.

Class Work for 20/10/2015

(1) What do you notice about the use of proper nouns and/or pronouns in referring to people and events concerned 

It is made clear, throughout the transcript , that the conversation is decidedly formal in nature. This is highlighted by the frequent use of the pronoun 'Mr.' when referring to the two men involved. The constant use of 'Mr Neil' and 'Mr Peterson' inspires a sense of unease in the defendant, Mr Neil, by way of strict formality. In addition to this, the personal pronouns 'I' and 'You' are used often, making the person to which they refer feel singled out, and pressured.

(2) Which parts of the dialogue seem prepared, or part of the courtroom conventions, and which seem spontaneous?

One of the 'planned' sections of the transcript was he barrister's opening speech, which served the courtroom purpose of outlining the facts of the case. It can be assumed that this was done in order to clarify the details of the case to all present (jury, judge etc)

An example of a spontaneous section of the transcript is where the barrister makes a claim about Mr Neil, regarding his previous involvement with the police. This ad hominem was said on the spur of the moment, to surprise, or startle, Mr Neil. It is clear that this has been achieved. The fact that Mr Neil reacted by laughing, a reaction not usually seen in court, shows the spontaneous nature of the statement. 

(3) Who seem to have the most power in the dialogue and why?

It is made very clear throughout that, befitting his role, the barrister commands a considerable amount of power over Mr Neil.

One quote that shows this is: "is that right? what happened to this gate?". This set of two questions shows the comfort that the barrister has in questioning Mr Neil. His indication of disbelief in the first question "is that right?" shows that he is comfortable in his superiority over Mr Neil and the fact that he suspects him of being wrong.