Language change

Development and use of words:

pictures:
the showing of a film in a cinema; always with the and in plural (British usage). First cited 1915.
cinema:
short for cinema hall; a building in which films are shown. First cited 1914.
movies:
the screening of motion pictures in a cinema; always with the and in plural (originally North American usage). First cited 1914.



parlour:
main family living room or room reserved for entertaining guests; sitting room; ‘best’ room. First cited 1448.
drawing room:
room reserved for the reception of company and to which ladies withdraw from the dining room after dinner. First cited 1642.
sitting room:
room used for sitting in. First cited 1771.
living room:
room set aside for ordinary social use. First cited 1825.
lounge:the drawing room of a private house. First cited 1881.
front room:
a room situated at the front of a house, esp. a sitting-room kept as the ‘best’ room in the house. First cited 1922.


court:

to pay amorous attention to, to seek to gain the affections of, to woo (with a view to marriage); now only homely or poetic use. First cited 1580.
go out with:

no entry in OED.
date:

 to make or have an arrangement to meet someone; specifically to do so in the context of romantic attachment (originally colloquial US usage). First cited 1902

Tom Transcript analysis. . .

Both text A and text B show Tom learning with the aid of his care givers.
For example there are several uses of modelling and repetition of the adult pronunciation of utterances, ''''it make noises'' to ''it makes noises'' and ''dad bike'' to ''dad's bike''. We see that this is an effective method of teaching as Tom repeats ''dad's bike'' several times throughout the conversation. This is then reinforced toward the end of text A using positive reinforcement, according to B F Skinner's operant conditioning theory this will enhance the childs learning as they are rewarded with attention when doing something the correct way. In this instance Tom's dad says ''my bike'' as a form of confirmation after Tom repeats dad's bike several times.
Negative reinforcement is also used when tom calls his own bike ''dad's bike'' this appears to be an example of over-extension as he has just learnt this he calls all resembling items ''dad's bike'', Tom's mum uses negative language to correct him as she recognises this ''you're not on dad's bike(.)you're on dad's bike'', The response he gives is an example of a coordinating conjunction, ''I am on dad's bike but I not on dad's bike'' the use of the coordinating conjunction shows that Tom is in the telegraphic stage of speech. Halliday's imaginative function also applies to this utterance as it reveals to us that he is aware that it is not his fathers bike but that in fact he is using his imagination in play pretending he is on his fathers bike.
Text B also uses Skinner's positive reinforcement as Tom's mum vocally reinforces his actions, ''fantastic'' ''well done''. In this transcript Tom shows his development in language as he uses overextension when trying to ask his mother a question ''is these drawing cartoon network cup of tea mum'' this is used as he is trying to ask what is on the cup but does not know how to form the utterance so he overextends the words ''cartoon network'' as it is the most familiar description at this stage of his development.

Methodology . . .

Deborah Tannen 

Analyse male and female language and compare it to the difference model and the points:

Status vs. support Independence vs. intimacy Advice vs. understanding Information vs. feelings Orders vs. proposals Conflict vs. compromise

Also think about  report talk and rapport talk:

Women-

Talk too much
Speak in private contexts
Build relations
Overlap
Speak symmetrically

Men-

Get more air time
Speak in public
Negotiate status/avoid failure
Speak one at a time
Speak asymmetrically

Converse on the same topic with males and females and analyse how they fit the contrast points.
Alternatively analyse a mixed sex conversation and assess under the same criteria.

Ethicality:

To ensure it is an ethical test I will inform participants that I will be recording their language and ask for permission.

Fair test:

To ensure it's a fair test I will think about how not all participants are the same, to make sure it is fair I will also calculate averages. Think about comparability, same age ect

Use: newsnight, a discussion programme, 12-15 mins total, several samples (eg two pairs two groups mixed sex) , (if recording own prepare a stimulous eg photo)

Mixed Sex Conversations . . .

Lakoff discussed in her book 'language and womans place' that the language we use is gender specific, she described some features of womens speech as uncertainty features.

Lakoff's uncertainty features:

- Hedging/hedges - shows uncertainty and lack of authority ''sort of'' 

- Super polite forms - ''if you dont mind please could you''

- Hyper correct grammar and pronunciation- women avoid using ''aint'' or double negatives

- Tag questions- ''im coming too, alright?'' Women seek approval 

- Speaking in italics – women use exaggerated intonation or stress for emphasis, expresses uncertainty e.g. ‘I am very frustrated with you’

- Empty adjectives - Robin Lakoff claims that if a man uses these terms he appears more feminine as it damages his masculine prestige e.g. ‘divine, lovely, adorable, delightful and sweetie’

- Use of implication- Lakoff claimed women use this because they do not feel the authority to give orders e.g. ‘it’s cold in here, isn’t it’ instead of ‘shut the window’

- Special lexicon- Lakoff states that such words are trivial and evidence of the fact that women have been allowed control over unimportant things e.g. blue based purple women would say ‘lilac’ or ‘violet’

- Questions in declarative statements- women raise the pitch of their voice at the end of statements expressing uncertainty e.g. ‘Dinner’s in half an hour?’

Hypothesis:


Women will use more uncertainty features than men in a mixed gender conversation according to Robin Lakoffs ideas

Converstion used in analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsXNxEl7CN0

This conversation consists of one female and two male participants.

Girl: I don't think the dress code is wrong entirely the dress codes fine (.) i think its (.) just completely normal and sane to have a dress code because obviously its a public school and some people do decide to wear very tiny clothing and it just like it makes some people uncomfortable

/jump cut in video/

Girl: if its violating the dress code then everybody as a whole is just uncomfortable by that exposing that's fine its just part of the dress code (.) but the fact that the dress code makes it a sexual thing and it objectifies the girls in our school and i say girls (.) we are teenagers we are not (.) women who (.) you know (.) there's a very big difference between women being objectified and girls being objectified because girls here are as (stuttering) young as fourteen and they're being made in to sexual objects which i think is a very big problem(.) and so the dress code being a dress code is fine because it's party of society to have regulations (.) thats just what people do (unaudable) that's what they should be doing but its just the way they go about it and its kinda what it represents because when i think of the dress code i dont think of baggy pants or i can see your boxers go pull up your pants i think of girls getting dress coded for their midrift showing which i think is also a controversial issue because for me midrift is not a sexual thing at all its just your stomach  and if its really hot (unaudable) and you know its style these days thats what they wear they wear high wasted with the (.) little shirts (.) and i dont think theres anything sexual about it (stuttering) if its like an extremely low cut top and youre wearing really really short shorts youre presenting yourself like that and its obvious i understand that the administration have to take it into account (.) but its just that the overall dress code represents the sexual objectification of girls 
/jump cut in video/
Boy 1: Well because girls like tend to wear the well violate the rules more often/
Boy 2 : But you know like sagging like sagging like uhh (.) she said i mean like its (.) but its not showing skin thats the thing(2)
Girl: Its showing your under garments
Boy 2 : Yeah but um(.) a lot(.) a lot of the dress code for females especially is because theres (.) theres just to much skin exposure(.) and (1) i think thats the reason why guys dont get included in the school dress code (2) because yeah i mean(2) (stuttering) guys the max they can do is wear a tank top or wear like (.) one of those chubby shorts like (.) and thats it thats the thing
Boy1: [laughter]

From this text the hypothesis has been proven wrong, thus disproving Lakoffs uncertainty features according to the book 'Language And Womans Place'
During this video the female participant does not use hyper correct grammar through out as she uses slang such as ''kinda''. However she does speak using italics when she says ''really really short shorts'' with the exaggeration on the word really both times. Also going against the theory is the use of hedges by the male participants in the discussion, ''like'' was the most commonly used.

Harvard Reference Notes . . .

Book1 

'How Children Think And Learn' by David Wood 1988 
1st edition Published by The Open University

Bernstein's Restricted and Elaborated codes
To test the codes one group of children/ teens from the same class and see if they stick to the same code


Book2

'Language And Power' by Norman Fairclough 1989
2nd edition Published by Routledge

In face to face discourse they adapt their language and keep adapting throughout an encounter

Book3

'The Dialects Of England' by Peter Trudgill 1990
1st edition Published by Blackwell Oxford 

Trudgill discusses standard and non standard forms of English

Non standard forms such as
I done it
A man what I know
He don't want none
She aint coming
We seen him

Standard forms such as
I did it
A man that I know
He doesnt want any
She isnt coming
We saw him

Class work 10/05/16

Q1 Analyse how text A uses language to create meanings and representations.


The genre of text A is a webpage. This webpage is very interactive and has an interface which allows users to answer questions for polls and to view results of polls easily. The text would've been received via email or recommendation or perhaps searching for YouGov in an internet browser. The audience of this text would be someone who is interested in politics and wants to find out the response to a specific poll or and individual who wants to take part in a poll.The primary purpose of this text is to gather information in the form of running polls. The secondary purpose is to inform by uploading the results of previous polls. The expectations the audience would have of this text is that it would be an easy to use site, this is met via the simplistic design and interactive features.

At the top of the text the interrogative ''What would you like to do?'' instantly invites the reader to the website, giving them power by asking for their input. This technique is clever as it makes the reader feel in control of the way the website runs. The interactivity of the website adds to this by allowing the audience to control which aspects of the website they view. This text portrays a negative face (according to Brown and Levinson's face models) this means it enhances and meets our wish to have the freedom to do what we want and to have independence. Below the interrogative there are two imperatives ''take part'' ''see results'', this contradicts the interrogative at the top of the webpage as these are seemingly forceful added to by the graphology of this part of the text being in all caps.

Q2

The genre of the text is an online article, this particular article is by BBC News. This text would have been received by email, recommendation or found through a search on an internet search engine. The intended audience for this text would be someone who is interested in politics and is looking to find out which political party has taken over Bristol in the form of an elected mayor. The primary purpose of this text is to inform, this text would inform the audience about political agenda in Bristol. The secondary purpose would be to entertain, this is achieved through the use of images and links to other articles. The expectations of the reader would be that since this is a BBC article it would be factual and user friendly.

Q3

Text A and text B are both political texts, however Text B is more bias as it only covers one party and one event. The YouGov website explores several aspects of politics and various events, the BBC article covers the election of mayor in Bristol and focuses on the Labour party.

The graphology in the texts is the most noticeable initial aspect of the two. Text A has a modern layout in terms of colours and the way that when you scroll down the page a small red dot points out your location on the site.This text also has a  red 'join' button at the top of the webpage, the colour chosen means that the button stands out from the rest of the page, enhancing the fact that YouGov want more members. Text B is less modern and has a more traditional BBC feel with the red banner and logo, and relatively generic layout for a news paper/ BBC webpage. The more informal language and modern layout of Text A would appeal to a younger audience, this combined with the words ''Take part'' encourages the younger audience to join in where they would usually feel out of place, especially when talking about politics.