A2 coursework deadline

Christmasses,

the deadline for the full folder is Friday 19th February.

the full folder contains:

• Contents page with page references for everything including the appendices
• Title page with word count for the investigation
• Investigation divided into the sub-sections (you can combine conclusion and evaluation if you wish)
• Investigation appendices including bibliography (Harvard referenced), clean (anonymised) data, permission slips etc.
• Media text topsheet stating audience, purposes, form and word-count
• Media text
• Media text bibliography

Just chip away at it and it all seems a lot more manageable - this is a much later deadline than last year but don't be last-minute about it; make sure you have finished in time for re-reads and re-drafts. It should be absolutely your best work.

Conversations

Here is a useful range of texts - the first three are about conversations and the subsequent texts are edited conversations between famous people. Use terminology and theories to apply to them all! Good stuff! (Thanks to Joe who sent me these!)

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

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

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

4.       http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/nov/28/conversation-brian-eno-yanis-varoufakis-interview

5.       http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/nov/28/conversation-chris-hadfield-randall-munroe-interview

7.       http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/nov/28/conversation-jeanette-winterson-marlon-james-interview

Clear investigation language

This investigation (not coursework, funded research) shows how you can present your ideas in an academic manner.

A2 computer room lesson

Deadlinesses - er that doesn't work - it looks like you're deadly not on a deadline! Metaphorically deadly with your analytical precision...

don't forget I am doing a stretch an challenge meeting tomorrow at 12.30 and again at 1.15 in B6 - if you are aiming for an A or A*, come along to discuss what I will be offering and get involved in shaping the programme.

Peer feedback on your analyses:

• Is the throughline clear from title to theory to hypothesis to data table to analysis structure?
• Are there good discourse markers to link the sections and guide the reader, especially using evaluative language e.g. "significant"?
• Does the analysis relate to theory and to the hypothesis?
• Are there plenty of terms used - are there places there could be more?
• Is there a range of theory/concepts?
• Is there a good use of quantified data?
• Anything else to think about?

Print out by the end of the lesson and then work on your media text.

Prescriptive and descriptive attitudes - a good intro to Language Change

Log in to emagazine using the logon and the password (in caps) on our Moodle page and then use this link or search "bilious pigeon"  (I kid you not!) within emagazine. Please comment if you can't get to it and I will fix it. Thanks.

Dore vs Halliday's functions of language - CLA

Here's a good table for contrasting the two sets of classifications.

Transactional vs interactional talk (good terminology to use)

Here's a link to a clear explanation of these terms - easy and useful terminology.

A really clear grammar site - About.com

This is a great site for in-depth clarification of grammar points - use their search bar.

Quick and Dirty Tips with Grammar Girl

Browse or search this site for clear and helpful grammar points both basic and more subtle!

The Full English - highly recommended!

Here is a marvellous website by the marvellous (he used to work here) Tim Shortis. Go and have a browse because there are lots of differnt topics and interactive activities! Super lush!

MLE Multicultural London English Telegraph article (Accent/dialect and Language Change topics)

Some of you (AS) may have seen this article from 2011 but it is useful as it covers terms you should since have come across about dialect levelling, ethnicity (ethnolect) and prescriptive attitudes towards language variety (e.g. schools banning non-standard variants in corridors as well as in essays). For A2, it's very useful for Language Change as it explores the kind of synchronic change (change at a moment in time - in this case, now) that our language is undergoing.

A2 analysis lesson 7/12/15

Quantifyings,

find something in your data to count (if you have already done your quantifying, great!) and see what your initial findings point to - can you narrow it down any further by couning hyponyms of what you initially counted e.g. interrogatives is a hypernym of the hyponyms tag, rhetorical, open and closed questions (and maybe even cloaked imperatives!)?

Are means, modes, medians and the range useful to know?

What about outlying figures (possible anomalies)? How big an effect do they have on your findings (find out by calculating without them as well as with them - include both sets of figures if quantifying without them is revealing)? How far do each set of findings support your hypothesis?

Be prepared to discuss this with me as I come around to support you. I will want to know what you are quantifying and why and any preliminary results you have obtained and how they relate to theory.

Ask me for help as necessary!

Does accent affect our perceptions of what is said?

Here's a Guardian article by Gary Nunn where he talks about the change in perspective on non-RP accents. Be prepared to look some words up but it is a useful piece and this is a great area for research on how language is changing now (synchronic language change).