Response to an article

Teacher ‘told to sound less northern’ after southern Ofsted inspection’ - How can you possibly tell someone to sound ‘less northern?’ How can you define what ‘less northern’ actually is? You can’t. You cannot, in my opinion, physically tell a member of staff that they have to tone down their northern accent. As if teaching wasn’t stressful enough, that poor teacher would then have to go into every single lesson, feeling on edge that the accent in which she has and cannot help just simply isn’t ‘suitable.’ Somebody’s accent does not in any way, shape or form affect their dialect; this teacher for all we know could be the best in her field. The way in which she pronounces word should not in any way, shape or form affect this. One thing that is particularly staggering though is the fact that she’s actually teaching in a northern school. Therefore, how can you justify that she should speak ‘less northern?’ It just doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever.

Picture this: your average English school with teachers who speak in clear English accents. Suddenly, a teacher turns up who speaks with a Welsh accent, or perhaps even an Indian accent. Surely this would be classed as racism if you told them to speak ‘more British?’ That school would probably have the media hounded outside their building demanding why such a request was even made. You cannot dispute that this is unfortunately true. What happened to the common belief that everyone should embrace people’s differences? Instead of victimising people based on their regional way of speaking, it should be encouraged to promote and protect these accents. No one should feel like they should speak differently just because of a few seemingly insignificant opinions. I find it unbelievable that Ofsted have gone to this school to write a report on it yet how a teacher speaks instead of their teaching performance has been considered. It’s utterly ridiculous and the school should not sit back about this.

What I think people fail to remember is that accent and dialect are two different things. It would be a different matter if this particular teacher was frequently using taboo words and phrases/words not appropriate for the classroom but this isn’t the issue. If it was the issue, Ofsted would have had every right to comment on this. What the teachings are saying, rather than the accent in which they deliver it is much more important.

As for banning regional phrases for pupils in some schools, I think this is an outrageous thing to do. Children/teenagers have enough pressures and stresses when they enter the school building, let alone feeling anxious that they can’t say certain words and phrases. I don’t see how it can be said that certain regional phrases can damage their prospects. Typically, you would expect the vast majority of people to use slang around their friends and if this isn’t the case, everyone knows at least someone who uses slang. Surely, if regional phrases are being banned in certain schools for damaging prospects, then use of slang should be banned too. Of course you cannot physically stop slang from being used; in the same way it should be impossible to ban regional phrases. They’re wherever you go. “It’s about getting them ready for job interviews” what a lot of nonsense. If you were going into a serious job interview, you shouldn’t feel the need to use regional phrases anyway, as it is a formal scenario. What schools need to be emphasising to their students is how to actually prepare for interviews instead of saying that banning regional phrases is going to help them. Theoretically, wouldn’t you agree that schools are opting for the easy option out? ‘Oh yes, we can ban regional phrases and this will help our students in future job interviews!’ Instead of ‘we’ll run sessions for those interested to work on how they should conduct and speak in a formal interview scenario.’

The chances are, you’ll travel somewhere new in the country in the foreseeable future and during this experience you will come across a whole range of phrases that you perhaps have never even heard of. Why can this not be seen as expanding your vocabulary rather than it being stigmatised as a negative prospect?

Clichéd as it may sound, I am a firm believer that people’s differences, including differences in accent should be embraced. No one should be made to feel differently because of the way their mouth happens to shape words. That would be like judging someone because their walk is slightly different or that their hair colour is branching slightly out from the usual browns, blondes or gingers. If everyone spoke in the same way, wouldn’t life be lacking in variety?

Eckert and Cheshire/Research Task

Eckert and Cheshire

 

In every school there are always going to be distinct groups. Eckert studied two high school groups in America; the jocks and the burnouts. In the UK, there is not so much focus on the specific groups, they are often just classed as ‘friendship groups’. However having said this, you often do get the sporting groups, whether this be football or cricket or rugby etc. The members of these groups tend to be close to one another as they have to build up teamwork when they are playing and this therefore helps develop friendships. Typically, as these friendships develop, you would expect members of the group to pick up on each other’s language choices and this may be reflected in the way they later go on to speak. For example, a phrase that one member of the group may use could then go on to be a phrase that an entire group go on to use. All of this goes for the other friendship groups, whether they be a large girl group, a smaller girl group, ‘nerds’, a mixed friendship group etc. Linking this in to Cheshire’s studies, she showed that girls who didn’t have positive attitudes towards fighting and swearing etc. tended to speak using correct grammar against those who did have a positive attitude towards those things: they spoke using more incorrect grammar. This could link in with friendship groups and their overall attitude towards school; for example, stereotypically you would expect those groups who didn’t care about school or showed a negative attitude towards it to not focus so much on their grammar against those who are studious and willing to work. As a general note, I think that when surrounded by the peers in your friendship group you would tend to use more colloquial language because these are the people you feel the most comfortable around and therefore you don’t pay as much attention to the actual words you are saying.

 

Research Task

• Accent only relates to pronunciation and intonation rather than grammar and vocabulary.
• Listeners can make judgements on peoples’ intelligence and warmth purely by listening to a recorded accented speech.
• Engagement with TV programmes seems to have an influence on young’s people speech
• When analysing tweets, it was found that women use more pronouns and use terms involving emotions.
• It was also found that swearwords and taboo words  were more commonly used by men whereas women choose milder terms

Accent and Dialect

Accent and Dialogue

 

Dialect: specific variety of English that differs from other varieties in three specific ways: lexis, grammar and phonology. English dialects might be different but all speakers within the English speaking world can still generally understand them.

 

Accent: refers only to the differences in the sound patterns of a specific dialect.

Scouse Terms:

• Abar - The correct way to pronounce the word "about"*
• Arlarse (often shortened to Aarlee,  Auld-arse, Owlarse or even Old Arse)
• Auld - "Old" (pronounced "Arld")
• Baltic - Extremely cold weather
• Belter - The Scouse word for "Fantastic!".
• Bevvy - Beverage, alcoholic drink
• Bifter - A cigarette. Also in the phrase "Giving it the bifters", meaning "To do something really well".
• Bills - Underpants
• Bird - A girl. "Me bird" means "my wife". Often pronounced as "beard"
• The Bizzies - The local constabulary. The 5-0.
• Boss! - "Very good stuff!"
  Geordie Terms:
  Ma: Mother.
  Mam: Mother. The preferred northern term for Mum (or for Americans Mom).
  Mac: Make, especially in the Sunderland area.
  Mac' N' Tac: Alternative term for a native of Sunderland. See Mackem.
  Mackem: A native of Sunderland Probably referring to shipbuilders - 'We mackem, ye tackem' For a full explanation view this page on Sunderland mackems.
  Mags: Magpies - a Sunderland football club supporters' term for a Newcastle United fan.
  Man: Frequently used as a form of address. Divvent dee that man, howay man - even when talking to a woman.
  Me: My.

Spoken Speech Analysis

Person 1: when you saw him (.) I mean he was well made up /

Person 2: just thinking of Danny (.) innit

Person 1: yeah (.) that’s what I was gonna say she (.) he suddenly walked in and said are you ready and she said I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready and he comes in (.) he’s got this long wig his face is all made up (2) dress and well (.) it was hilarious cos he’s bald headed and he’s nothing to look at you know /

Person 2: yeah

Person 1: (laughs) and so Sandra said to me yesterday oh did you see that Friday she said wasn’t it funny (.) so she said I couldn’t handle it she said if (.) if Terry suddenly (laughs) said to me /

Person 2: (laughs)

Person 1: (laughs and continues sentence where she left off) I like dressing as a woman she said mind you he’d never be able to get his legs in my knickers (laughs, speaks louder)

Person 2: (laughs) she’s funny Sandra

Person 1: and we were in hysterics (3) when Danny said would she go in and see him /

Person 2: yeah and he’d dressed up

Person 1: and she said oh it was horrible (.) it was horrific but /

Person 2: you know who we’re talking about don’t you

Person 3: what

Person 2: well you wouldn’t say it (.) you know Amanda and Mel we had told you their Dad used to (.) cross dress /

Person 3: no way /

Person 2: he did seriously he asked Keeley’s mum to go in once and have a look at him dressed up seriously /

Person 1: he said would you come and see me dressed up /

Person 3: that’s so weird

Person 1: (laughing and continuing where left off) and see if you think it’s alright for me to go out like it

Analysis of spoken speech

The majority of the conversation is between my mum and nan, with my sister joining in later on. As the conversation is between family members, the register is low. There is clear use of elision on multiple instances which reinforces the sense of informality. Two examples are ‘gonna’ and ‘innit’. ‘Innit’ is a word commonly used by people in the younger generation, however the fact my mum used it conveys that it was probably said to save time. Liaison, along with elision is something else my nan used; she pronounced bald-headed as ‘bald-eded’ – this could’ve been used to avoid a hiatus between the words and helps the syllables to run together more smoothly. My nan appears to be speaking in a narrative tone in the beginning as she is talking for an extensive period. Two of Grice’s Maxims were put into practise here: quantity as she was giving an appropriate amount of detail and relevance as the topic was cross-dressing shown on the telly. Cross-dressing itself is mentioned, which could be considered a form dysphemistic language as it doesn’t attempt to disguise what could be considered a sensitive topic. Turn taking is not something greatly evident throughout the conversation as the members appear to bounce off of each other/interrupt where necessary; however having said this, it is clear my nan is the more dominant as she speaks quicker whilst trying to get across her points. It is also relevant to note that she speaks the most. She tends to speak in the same tone throughout the conversation however when she is about to laugh, intonation-wise, her voice gets more high-pitched. It is clear that my nan speaks rather quickly due to the lack of pauses; although there are pauses, for how much she speaks, you would expect there to be more.

Back challenging is used in particular by my mum. Whilst my nan is speaking, she often contributes a ‘yeah’ to the conversation to show that she is following what she is saying and that she is engaged. Non-fluency features, as expected, appear in the conversation. There is one instance where my nan is explaining what her friend was saying, and “she said” is mentioned three times. It interrupts the flow of talk however it doesn’t mean to say that she is not making herself clear as my mum laughs in response. Often my mum interrupts the flow of my nan speaking but having said this, these interruptions often show that she is an active listener because it is encouraging the speaker to continue with what they were saying. It is evident that my mum and nan are close to one another as my mum is allowing my nan to speak a great deal without the need for clear turn-taking between them; often when close to someone, in a conversation sometimes one person speaks for a long time whereas the other person chips in occasionally to show that they are engaged in what is being said.

Referential language is a huge feature throughout this conversation. My nan is providing my mum with information and in turn, she is additionally using expressive language as she is highlighting her attitudes and feelings, for example, she found something ‘hilarious’. Furthermore, the use of laughter in-between her speech shows that it is a particularly humorous topic. Towards the end of the conversation, my sister is included. Here is where turn taking is slightly more noted; for example, my mum uses the conversational marker: “you know who we’re talking about don’t you?” and this tag question encourages my sister to respond. Intonation is clearly used by my sister when she responds with ‘no way’ – her pitch gets higher which reflects a sense of shock. My nan’s dominance in the conversation is shown by the fact that she also interrupts when my mum is talking to finish what she was going to say. Although this conversation was unprepared, it supports the fact that there will always be someone/multiple people who dominate the conversation. 

Conversational Analysis

The conversation is set out as a statement, with person A clearly being a policeman and person B being an eye-witness. It is obvious that Person A is a policeman because of the use of interrogatives (this makes him appear authoritative) and Person B is responding to the tag questions. The policeman uses formal lexis (high register) which also contributes to his authoritative nature whereas the witness responds with everyday lexis. There is a standout use of taboo/colloquial language with his response too; there is an instance where he says ‘bloody great crash’. This low register juxtaposes with the high register used by the policeman and furthermore, the response to tag questions helps guide turn taking and emphasises the use of transactional language. The entire purpose of the conversation is based upon transactional language – the policeman needs to find out information and is doing so by using plenty of interrogatives.

Non-fluency features are common in the responses Person B is giving. There is evident use of pauses, where the witness may be thinking and/or nervous and there is use of an ‘er.’ It interrupts the flow of talk as Speaker B is considering what he is saying before he speaks. The use of adjacency pairs (question and answer) also helps with the structure of the conversation; the policeman asks the questions and this sets up the witness to respond. It is evident that the policeman has entire authority throughout the conversation because he has the ability to change the direction of the conversation. We may also get a sense that the witness isn’t particularly intelligent as he uses incorrect grammar: ‘them shops’ when it should be ‘those shops’. Something as subtle as this can allow the policeman to make assumptions of the eye witness. There is also a weakened force by the use of hedging: ‘he must have had it’; there is a sense of uncertainty which in turn alters his manner. It makes the reply seem vaguer and the policeman may doubt what he is saying. The interrogatives also have second person pronouns: ‘you’ which shows the importance of the transactional language – the policeman cannot find out what has gone on without the witness giving any information he knows.

Analysis for Student Report

The purpose of the text is to inform, specifically informing the students about an agreement between the college and themselves. Therefore, the audience is students, however parents would be considered as the secondary audience. There is a formal and serious tone throughout the entire text and this is presented in the form of an agreement/contract.

 

Graphology is shown by the use of bullet points. Not only does this make the points more concise, but it enables the points to be briefed and shortened. Pragmatically, this may have been done because it’s an assumption made that students may not want to read a huge amount of information, so the target audience is being considered. Secondly, there is underlining of one sentence and it’s also in capitals. Because the sentence is underlined and capitalised it shows that this has to be read, whereas perhaps the previous block of text had been overlooked. Bold text has also been used; it makes those parts of the text stand out but in addition to this, it could be signifying that the statements in bold are what the college previously had issues with. Also, at the bottom of the contract is a form that is required to be filled out. This makes the agreement seem formal, professional and emphasises the importance of the agreement.

 

There is a semantic field of education evident throughout the piece of text. Words such as ‘education’ ‘teaching’ ‘homework’ ‘students’ ‘staff’ ‘projects’ and ‘assignments’ all come under this semantic field. Without the use of this semantic field, the entire agreement would lose its meaning. The general lexis used in the agreement is formal; it has to be formal as the type of document is talking about a serious topic.  However having said this, there is not a great use of complex vocabulary as all students of all abilities have to understand the agreement.

 

Grammatically, there is an obvious use of pronouns, in particular second person pronouns such as ‘you’ and ‘your’. Despite the agreement being aimed at all of the students in the school, the use of these pronouns makes it seem as if it was written simply for you and you only. This in turn makes the college seem supportive and there for your every need. Furthermore, at the beginning of the second passage, there is use of a first person pronoun.  ‘I, the student’; the college are making sure you are fully aware that the following bullet points are your responsibility. There is a repetitive use of noun phrases too, one example being ‘a genuine concern’. The use of the noun ‘genuine’ shows again that the college is caring and the concern isn’t just a token gesture. Similarly, another noun phrase used is ‘careful and comprehensive advice’; this demonstrates that the advice is thought out and not rushed, and once again it’s not just something that the school do because they feel they have to. Respect is a noun that is also repeated throughout the second half of the agreement; it emphasises the importance of respect. Although respect has a meaning, people often define it in varying ways which makes it an effective word choice.

 

 

Connotations

Connotations

Girl

-          Innocence

-          Youth

-          Girly things (e.g. the colour pink)

Woman

-          Slightly older ‘girl’ – perhaps married and envision them working in the home

-          Generalised term, not as generalised as being female however as a woman is often associated with being of an age probably older than 18/19

-          Think of age

Lady

-          Posh, considered to receive and gain a lot of respect

-          Perhaps of a high class

-          Sophistication

-          Think of experience

 

Female

-          Very generalised term and can mean a female of any age

-          Can be seen as an equivalent to ‘woman’

Laddette

-           Informal term – think of disorderly behaviour, sense of irresponsibility

-          Don’t think about their actions, think they’re better than everyone else, perhaps seen as ‘cool’. 

 

 

House

-          Where people live, a place of residence

-          Think of families but perhaps even a place where people meet for a particular activity (e.g. house of prayer)

Home

-          Sense of belonging, cosiness, family

-          Permanent – the house is yours

-          Could perhaps be related to sport (i.e. a home game)

Property

-          Belongs to you – it is yours

-          Possessions – things you own

 

Place

-          Very broad term and could refer to a lot of things – particular position, point, location

-          A ‘portion’ of space – for example a place at the dinner table

-          A place can bring good and bad memories

Abode

-          Place where you stay

-          Simply where someone is living

 

Euphemisms

Euphemisms

 

1.      ‘To powder one’s nose’

-          Going to the toilet – mostly used by women

-          Sometimes means ‘to do drugs’

 

Using the first example, it’s quite an old-fashioned term however it is seen as a polite/humorous way of letting people know you’re going to the toilet. The women’s toilets often used to be called ‘the powder room’. Seen as ladylike

 

2.      ‘Vertically challenged’

-          Not tall in height

-          Short

 

This is a more polite way of saying someone is small in height – the intention is to not offend. If you heard someone say ‘oh they’re vertically challenged’ it is slightly less offensive than saying ‘oh they’re short.’

 

3.      ‘To let someone go’

-          They have been sacked/fired

 

Most people word ‘you are fired’ in a more polite and less harsh way such as ‘we have to let you go’. It sounds a lot nicer, despite the fact that the meaning is still the same.

 

Analysis

Once upon a time, in a land faraway, lived a Prince who wanted to seize the day.

Clip clop went the horse’s hooves on the ground and through the forest he galloped around.

On his head he wore a crown, and round his body was a red royal gown.

He just didn’t have the time to sort his hair, he could find a Princess but he thought this was rare

In true love he had never believed, but surely someday it would be achieved.

 

Sound symbolism: Lexical onomatopoeia: ‘clip clop’ – helps to create a more vivid image and it provides a lot of emphasis. It makes the paragraph seem more expressive

Foregrounding sounds: alliteration (consonance): ‘horse’s hooves’ – focuses the reader’s attention to this particular line. It helps with the rhythm of the poem and also creates mood.

Sibilance: ‘surely someday’ – creates a soft tone to the paragraph and as it’s towards the end of the passage, it concludes the sense of atmosphere and feeling.

Liaison: ‘he just’ becomes ‘he juss’ – it helps the words run together more smoothly and avoids a hiatus between the words.

Grammar Notes

Grammar

Nouns
‘A word used to identify any class of people, places or things’ (naming word)

Common: concrete and abstract. Preceded by the word ‘the’

Concrete: something we can see, hear, smell, taste and touch.

Abstract: concept or idea

Proper: unique individuals, events or places

Collective: group of things/people

Noun phrases

Whenever you modify a noun this becomes a noun phrase.

Plane crash

A horrific plane crash!

The most horrific plane crash!

How do nouns make a difference to a piece of writing?

-Lexical cohesion

-Paint a picture/describe

-Create an emotional response

Adjectives

Words or phrases that modify or describe nouns or pronouns.

-Describing words

-Function: evaluative, emotive, descriptive

-Comparative and superlative (exaggerate)

Verbs

Base form of verbs: (main and auxiliary)

Infinitive (to sing, to think)

Main: (action taking place: sing, jump, gave)

Auxiliary: primary and modal(give extra info about main verb – can affect meaning)

Primary: (do, have and be)

Modal: deontic and epistemic (can, could, will, would, must, may, might, shall, should)

Imperative: command

Verb phrases: built around a head word (main verb) and modal auxiliaries can be placed along a continuum to show degrees of strength towards commitment.

Present tense: base form and ‘s’ inflection (sings)

Past tense: base form and ‘ed’ inflection (jumped) (sing=sang)

Future tense: modal auxiliary: will or shall + base form (will sing)

‘ing’ can be used for all three.

Active and passive voice

‘Ahmed kicked the ball’ (focus is on Ahmed) = Active

‘The ball was kicked by Ahmed’ (focus has changed) = passive

Active:

-Actor/agency  responsible for carrying out the verb phrase is placed in subject position (usually at the start)

Passive:

- Don’t know the subject

-Don’t want to talk about the subject

-Subject not the focus

Clauses and Voice

If you modify a verb, you create a

verb phrase. = adverb/auxiliary verb

Clauses: words from phrases, phrases

form large structure called clauses.

Includes: subject, verb, object.

Coordinated clauses: two clauses

joined together by using a

conjunction (and, but, furthermore,

etc)

Must make sense on their own if you

remove the conjunction.

Subordinate clause: Main clause

followed by phrases that only make

sense when linked to the main clause