A2 lesson 8/9/14 (media text and grammar issues)

Splendids,

*edit* I will be talking you through your coursework tomorrow and may not have time to get to this! I know we started late too so you can finish this for Friday, if you haven't got a chance tonight. Plus, if you are struggling to find an article, one off my blog or off the Guardian's Language RSS feed (on the sidebar of my blog) might fit the bill...


please send me your blog URLs as a matter of urgency, and I will email you all the list asap, so you can follow one another's blogs - very important as we share ideas throughout the year, especially about coursework. AS soon as I send you the list, please 'add' the blogs to your reading list on the Blogger dashboard.

Think about the key areas that your investigation might cover (Gender, Power, Language Change, CLA or other topics like Language and Occupation, Technology etc.). Find a text about language in one of those areas that you are interested in. It should not be aimed at Language specialists, but could be for any other type of reader, e.g. broadsheet readers, parents, police officers, forum users etc. Its main purpose should be 'to inform'.

This is the kind of text you should write for your media text, so it could provide you with a style model, if it is good enough. You can use as many style models as you like as none of them go into the folder - the work must speak for itself. Print and annotate it to show how information about language can be communicated to non-specialists.

What is the APF/GAP?
What is it about language that the writer is informing the reader of?
What techniques are used?
What register?
What conventions? (Does the text use any unfamiliar words for the target audience and how does the writer get around that? How does it simplify difficult concepts?)
How do the features of the text suit the APF/GAP?

Bring this to next lesson and we will discuss some of the issues raised.

For those working on grammar issues, can I recommend the 'Exercises' on the American site Grammar Bytes (especially for comma splicing) and the Bristol University grammar support.

http://www.chompchomp.com/menu.htm
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_41.htm