A good summary of dominance issues in speech (Language and Gender)

An interesting and accessible summary of key issues. Research further so you can apply these concepts in the exam (AS and A2).

A beautiful piece displaying influential power: 'I Stand Quietly'

This parent's perspective on her child with autism comes across very strongly through a range of influential techniques. But that's just an excuse to post it on my blog because it made me cry and I wanted it to reach others.

Lush article on onomatopeia

This article from the Guardian Language section takes a lighthearted trip through different language's onomatopoeic words. What do you say dogs 'say'? What about chickens? What do guinea pigs say? Are words coined with any regard to onomatopoeia? Angelica - how did you create/pick the words you used in your investigation to be paired with real words by the participants? Was onomatopoeia involved?

Is there a universal rhythm like a universal grammar (Chomsky)?

There are some really interesting clips embedded in this piece from the Guardian Language section this week. And some interesting findings.

Fantastic LC resource! 25 maps that explain English

These '25 maps that explain English' are sooooo useful for learning some key issues and some sparkling facts (I wouldn't worry too much about how reliable they are as it is pretty general). It is from an American perspective and the maps/graphs/links later on are more interesting/useful so stick with it and come back several times rather than trying to take it all in at once. But get it in your brains!

AS computer room lesson Mon 9th March

Clevernesses,

using the text (legal transcript) from last lesson, write a plan, overview and two PEE paragraphs and post all of these to your blog.

Then visit other people's blogs and read their work and my feedback, leaving comments on the work and/or the feedback. I will be checking that everyone has made at least one comment by Friday.

h/w/ for Friday: post an explanation of a term or theory (in your own words) and use a quote to explore how that term/theory allows us to say something interesting about the language used in the quote (remember the context/GAP).

Please note my post on the Opening Lines quiz.

Opening lines quiz on Moodle

Have a go! Prize draw next Thursday! Please don't cheat - use your nouse and stimulate the brain cells.

Here's how:

Go to your Moodle home page, click on the World Book Day image and scroll down to the pale blue bookmark titled Opening Lines Quiz to submit your entry (it is personalised so I can't link to it).

Best of luck!

Ooh - controversial decisions on what to include and delete from the Oxford Junior Dictionary

What do you think about this?

Prescriptive attitude to current language uses

This is what Alastair Stewart decrees about helicoptering etc. What do you think?

A2 research lesson 03/03/15

Efficientnesses,

today you will winkle out some good stuff on a variety of topics to inform us on in Friday's lesson via a short Powerpoint presentation. You can work in pairs or on your own.

Remember to keep slides short and be able to sasy more than you have written - slides should be limited to prompts, facts and quotes.

Choose a topic from the list below and let me know; if it hasn't already been taken, start researching and creating a few slides. You have this lesson and any time you spend on it before Friday - I expect you to be well-informed and polished. If I see anyone faffing with what it looks like for more than 5 minutes, you will be in big trouble. Turn it into a more detailed blog post for Tuesday.

Topics:

• Dictionaries from 1700s to today
• Grammar guides 1700s to today
• Prescriptive attitudes through time (examples)
• What is prescriptivism? and Jean Aitchison's metaphors e.g. crumbling castle - use your own examples
• Fairclough's informalisation (and some examples from real texts, not quotes you found)
• Standardisation (focussed on the 1700s - overview)
• The Great Vowel Shift
• Shakespeare's impact on language - then and now (why is English suited to acquiring coinages?)
• The effect of social media on language change
• Textisms then and now
• Pidgins and creoles
• World Englishes and English as a lingua franca
• Political correctness
• Why do words get invented and become obsolete (incremental and decremental change)?
• Reasons for language change summary
• Examples of words that have changed using different terminology and relating to reasons for LC