Zusammenfassung der Ressource
English Language
- Concepts and Contexts
- Context= what, where, who, when, why?
- Concepts:
- technology
- dialect
- sociolect
- Idiolect
- power
- gender
- age
- occupation
- standard/non- standard
- Language Frameworks
- Grammar
- system of rules on how words and sentences are constructed
- Register and Mode
- the level of formality in a discourse
- Pragmatics
- sometimes called language in use looks at social conventions, context, personality and relationships influence on the choices people make about language
- Phonology
- the study of sounds in english
- how their pronounced and how their combined to make words
- Semantics
- study of meaning created through words and phrases
- Subject
- what the discourse is about, lexical choices
- Varieties of English
- Accent and Dialect
- English words can be pronounced in different ways
- the differnet patterns of pronounciation are accents
- can be affected by a speakers regional or social background
- accents refer to how you say words, not the words themselves
- dialect= variations in language, has its own distinctive features
- refers to specific words not just how you say them
- to describe language from a specific geographical region
- Slang
- informal vocab and non-standard words
- different purposes
- often inventive and creative
- two main purposes are to be rebellious or entertaining
- Standard English and RP (Recieved Pronounciation)
- Sociolect and Idiolect
- sociolect=language of social groups
- idiolect= the word choices people make
- how they form sentences
- unique to an individual like a fingerprint
- a unique combination of influences
- Language in Social Contexts
- Language and the Media
- media can be biased
- newspaper reports often show bias through the writers word choice
- can show prejudice towards social groups
- children's media lang
- = distinctive
- this is through:
- lexis, grammar and punctuation
- Lexis= small, repeated, simple, informal
- grammar= address audience (third person)
- punctuation= simple punctuation, upbeat
- ... uses exclamation marks
- ... includes and engages audience
- Taboloid newspapers have clear viewpoints, use straightforward language
- Broadsheets aimed at professional, mainly middle class readers
- Language and Power
- Political language, legal language, education, business
- political: repetition, first person, rhetorical questions
- legal: has its own lexis called jargon, syntax=complex
- education: teachers use imperatives, students use indirect questions
- business: power structure similar to education in schools
- hierarchical structure- subordinate, superior, team leader, chief executive
- Language and Technology
- mobile phones= massive impact on langauge ( e.g- shorthand) acronyms (LOL), numbers for words (2- to) imcomplete clauses (home safe. speak soon) phonetic spelling (coz- because)
- the internet has affected language too
- dependant on context- one business letter to another may be formal and use standard english whereas friends on a chatroom may use text speech and informal english
- new technology has created new words and meanings (e.g- affixation, compounding, clipping, blending and conversion)
- compounding- combining separate words
- blending- parts of two words combined
- conversion- a existing word changes its grammatical function
- clipping- shortened word becomes its own word
- Language and Occupational groups
- different occupations have their own sociolect
- occupational language varies depending on form and function
- informative discourse
- persuasive discourse
- instructional discourse
- transactional discourse
- Language and Gender
- ON THEORISTS MINDMAP
- Adverts
- designed to persuade
- when reviewing adverts look at: subject matter, purpose, form, target audience and the hook
- subject matter= adverts will focus on a product, service or cause
- purpose= designed to persuade to buy a product or service, support a charity or join a campaign
- form= comes in various different forms (e.g- newspapers and magazines, leaflets)
- target audience= could be broad (e.g- food shoppers, drivers) or specific (boys who like skateboarding)
- hook= the device advertisers use to get the audience's attention- it could be visual, verbal or musical
- Spoken Language
- Spoken Language
- two main purposes: 1. to convey meaning (explain something, give orders, instructions) 2. to demonstrate attitudes and values
- content depends on context
- functions in different ways: Interactional, Referential, Expressive, Transactional, Phatic
- Interactional= to develop relationships between speakers, it is informal speech has a social function
- Referential= provides information, used to refer to objects, the speaker assumes knowledge from the listener
- Expressive= highlights emotions and attitudes
- Transactional= getting information or making a deal, driven by needs and wants
- Phatic= used for social purposes, innitiating a conversation, small talk
- Speech Features
- can be prepared or spontaneous
- prepared= done in advance, specific demographic, formal, preformed/delivered, maintain interest of listeners
- spontaneous = on the spot, informal, shared with those known by speaker, in response to another speaker
- Conversation and Turn-taking
- openings, reponses, adjacency pairs, signalling closure= happen in all conversations
- some features depend on individual speakers
- switching and turn taking, tag questions, tppic shifts, feedback
- Written Language
- Ideology and Representation
- values and morals evident in texts
- texts can show prejudice and bias
- a writer may also show their attitudes and explicictly- e.g journalists
- may draw on personal experience
- Influenced by environment, evident in their characters, narrator the themes and issues
- language choice can influence reader- texts are often manipulated to create certain emotions or reactions in the reader
- Purpose
- what the writer is trying to achieve
- persuade,instruct,inform,entertain
- persuade= first person, emotive adjectives, evidence
- instruct= chonological/ numbered sections, bullets, headings,imperitives, second person
- inform= clear structure, simple language, specialist terms, third person, serious tone-opinion/comments
- entertain= sophisticated language, extensive vocab, figurative lang,complex structure, varied sentence types
- Audience
- listener or reader
- how they're addressed- formal/ informal, direct/indirect
- known audience= the writer uses personal pronouns, emotive language, prime demographic they target writing at
- unknown=doesn't acknowledge reader directly writes in 3rd person, no personal emotions evident, fairly formal text
- To figure out the intended audience of a text look at the style, content, lexis, tone and formality
- style ( formal= older audience, informal= younger)
- content ( general topic= broad audience, specific= smaller audience)
- lexis ( complex, specialist, technical)
- tone ( serious tone= mature, interested audience)
- formality ( reports, articles= formal, emails=informal and friendly, know the person or group
- Genre
- the kind of language it is
- e.g- instruction booklet, advert, casual conversation between friends
- written text formats
- letters
- postcards
- text messages
- recepies
- Spoken text formats
- answer phone message
- interview
- lesson
- radio show
- Literary Texts
- part of the entertainment field aim to:
- entertain or amuse
- affect readers emotions
- describe the atmosphere
- examine the personality of a character
- influence how the reader looks at the world
- 3 main types of literary texts:
- prose- novels, stories, bio's
- poetry- vary in content, structure, style and intention
- plays- consist of dialogue between characters or monologue talking directly to the audience