All of the theories below should be revised, so that they can be applied to a variety of different texts in your Section B essay.
Norman Fairclough:
Said - "Every use of language is a use of power. Every use of discourse is a negotiation of power."
Came up with - Features of dominance: Who leads? Set topic? Interrupts? Comments on what is said? Talks most?
Came up with the concept - Symmetrical and Asymmentrical conversations. Most conversation are ASYMMETRICAL
Came up with - Influential and Instrumental power
Paul Grice:
Came up with - Graice's Maxims (which, if flouted, will disrupt a conversation) Quality, Quantity, Manner, Relation.
Flouting these maxims can either be a sign that a person is losing power or asserting power depending on the context.
Erving Goffman:
Came up with - Politeness/Face theory
Said - "Face is the image that we present of ourselves to others"
Said - "Face is a persona we present in convesation. It changes from situation to situation."
Said - "Face is maintained by the AUDIENCE not the speaker. This is achieved by the LISTNER accepting the face presented to them by the SPEAKER, and generally being sensitive towards them."
Brown and Levinson:
Came up with - Positive and Negative Face
Said - "We meet the face needs of others through positive and negative politeness.
Came up with - Face threatening acts
Sinclair and Coulthard (Classroom Discourse):
Came up with - Three types of Teacher Talk: Informative (The capital of France is Paris.), Elicitation (What is the Capital of France?), Directive (I want you to mark the Capital of France on your maps). If the teacher does not use a variety, it could display limited power/effectiveness in their teaching.
Came up with - Exchange Structure Theory: Move 1 (Initiation/Ask Question), Move 2 (Response), Move 3 (Feedback or Evaluative Comment) - If this is not happening, it could be an indication the teacher is losing power/ being interrupted.
Came up with - Two Part Exchange model - (Similar to adjacency pairs really) - Question/Answer, Inform/Acknowledge, Intro/Greeting. If this is not happening, could reflect a breakdown in power.
Robin Lakoff (Language and Woman's Place)
Observed - Women generally display patterns of speech: Use empty adjectives, use hedges, speak less, apologise more frequently, use super-polite language, avoid swearing, use tag-questions, use hyper-correct grammar, use indirect requests. Generally appear weaker than men.
O'Barr and Atkins (Courtroom Discourse)
Updated Lakoff's observations - by studying courtroom transcripts.
Observed - What Lakoff saw as 'Women's Talk' is actually just how EVERYONE talks when in a position of less power. Lakoff only observed this in women as she did not study women in powerful positions.
Wednesday, 13 February 2019
1B - Walkthrough
The Basics
Remember - 1/3 on the extract, 2/3 on your own wider knowledge
This exam is TWO HOURS long, and contains two sections.
Section A - Spoken Language Analysis
Section B - Language Issues
The section are EQUALLY WEIGHTED (60 marks per section), so you should spend roughly half of the time you are given on each text. You MAY feel you can devote 5 more minutes to section A, as it requires more reading and planning.
Section B - What to expect
You will be given a CHOICE of THREE questions. You MUST ensure that you only answer ONE, which will take the form of a 6-9 paragraph essay. You do not need an introduction
You have been preparing for this section of the exam by studying a variety of concepts:
Standard and Non-Standard English
Appropriateness of English use in a certain situation
Regional Dialect
Attitudes towards non-standard variations of English
Received Pronunciation
The crossover between spoken and written English.
Language and Power
Status in a particular situation
Conversation Analysis
Power in the media
Political Language
Legal Language
Language in advertising
Language and Situation
Formal and informal contexts (convergence, divergence, formality, code-switching)
Participants and purpose
Politeness
Face Theory
Political Correctness
Other Englishes
There will be a question on at least TWO of the above topics. If you are lucky, there will be a question on each of them. You MAY need to read the keywords of each question to identify which area the question relates to.
Each question will provide you with a short extract. This may be somebody's opinion, a short transcript, or a cutting from a complete text. Whatever the question is, it will ALWAYS ask you to use the extract as a starting point to answer the question, and then use your wider knowledge to finish your essay.
You should aim to answer this question on a 1 third vs 2 thirds basis. No more than 2-3 paragraphs on the extract, and then around 5-7 on your wider knowledge.
This section should be EXTREMELY accessible for you, if you put in the hours with your wider reading. To a certain extent, you should be able to prepare for around 5-6 eventualities, and then just write what you have prepared once you identify a relevant question.
DO NOT ANSWER ON CHILD LANGUAGE ACQUISITION OR ANYTHING TO DO WITH HOW CHILDREN USE LANGUAGE.
I will go into more detail about how to answer this question in a separate blog post.
Remember - 1/3 on the extract, 2/3 on your own wider knowledge
This exam is TWO HOURS long, and contains two sections.
Section A - Spoken Language Analysis
Section B - Language Issues
The section are EQUALLY WEIGHTED (60 marks per section), so you should spend roughly half of the time you are given on each text. You MAY feel you can devote 5 more minutes to section A, as it requires more reading and planning.
Section B - What to expect
You will be given a CHOICE of THREE questions. You MUST ensure that you only answer ONE, which will take the form of a 6-9 paragraph essay. You do not need an introduction
You have been preparing for this section of the exam by studying a variety of concepts:
Standard and Non-Standard English
Appropriateness of English use in a certain situation
Regional Dialect
Attitudes towards non-standard variations of English
Received Pronunciation
The crossover between spoken and written English.
Language and Power
Status in a particular situation
Conversation Analysis
Power in the media
Political Language
Legal Language
Language in advertising
Language and Situation
Formal and informal contexts (convergence, divergence, formality, code-switching)
Participants and purpose
Politeness
Face Theory
Political Correctness
Other Englishes
There will be a question on at least TWO of the above topics. If you are lucky, there will be a question on each of them. You MAY need to read the keywords of each question to identify which area the question relates to.
Each question will provide you with a short extract. This may be somebody's opinion, a short transcript, or a cutting from a complete text. Whatever the question is, it will ALWAYS ask you to use the extract as a starting point to answer the question, and then use your wider knowledge to finish your essay.
You should aim to answer this question on a 1 third vs 2 thirds basis. No more than 2-3 paragraphs on the extract, and then around 5-7 on your wider knowledge.
This section should be EXTREMELY accessible for you, if you put in the hours with your wider reading. To a certain extent, you should be able to prepare for around 5-6 eventualities, and then just write what you have prepared once you identify a relevant question.
DO NOT ANSWER ON CHILD LANGUAGE ACQUISITION OR ANYTHING TO DO WITH HOW CHILDREN USE LANGUAGE.
I will go into more detail about how to answer this question in a separate blog post.
1A - Walkthrough
The BasicsThis exam is TWO HOURS long, and contains two sections.
Section A - Spoken Language Analysis
Section B - Language Issues
The section are EQUALLY WEIGHTED (60 marks per section), so you should spend roughly half of the time you are given on each text. You MAY feel you can devote 5 more minutes to section A, as it requires more reading and planning.
Section A - What to expect
KEY WORDS - Roles, Power, Attitudes
You will almost certainly be given TWO spoken transcripts from the same genre or related genres. The question will be rather general and will usually just ask you to analyse the spoken language of each text, as examples of that genre. So, you will need to make judgements about where it is taking place, who is speaking and who is listening. Once you identify these factors, you will be able to make points about whether or not the communication flows the way you would expect it to.
The texts WILL contain specific spoken language features such as non-fluency features, power struggles, politeness features etc. You should aim to analyse SPECIFIC spoken features where possible, though you normal linguistic terminology is relevant throughout.
Essentially, the examiner wants you to do the following things:
*Introduce and analyse each text EQUALLY, making CLOSE ANALYSIS of each text.
*Point out what is actually going on in the text by making a variety of points about Roles, Power, Attitudes and relating these to the context.
*Make close and valid comparisons between the texts analysing specific differences you are able to identify, and explaining this via context, speaker, listener etc.
Amount:
Obviously, your aim is to write as much QUALITY analysis as possible, shared equally amongst the texts. I would aim to make a MINIMUM of SEVEN individual points per text (14 in total). Remember, however, not every paragraph needs to be long and sprawling (although some might be longer than others). Some might just be extremely concise, based on one specific word or phrase, whilst others may need separate pieces of evidence to support them. Essentially, each PG should take you around 4 minutes to write, so you might want to practice writing individual paragraphs as part of your preparation.
Things to remember and watch out for:
*Timings. If you are spending too long on a point, wrap it up and move on. Variety is essential.
*Balance. If you have gone over the half way point and are still on Text A, wrap it up and move on. An equal analytical balance is essential.
*Theories. Whilst we can not guarantee which of these will be relevant, it is possible you will need to mention Power, Grice's Maxims, Face, Politeness etc and relate this to context. (eg, identify a politeness feature and explain why the context has made this happen)
*Anomalies. Remember, a transcript won't always pan out the way you expect it to. Sometimes you are looking for points which are odd or surprising. (eg, it is totally inappropriate for someone to commit a FTA here - this is not what we would expect in this context.)
*Pragmatics. Always use PLENTY of terms per PG. However, don't just list term after term. Identify the important ones, and analyse closely any words or phrases which are interesting or significant in this context.
For example - "You rebel scum are no match for the power of the Dark Side."
Don't analyse like this, "The second person pronoun, premodifying adjective, colloquial noun, conjunction, negated abstract noun, preposition, definite article, abstract noun and proper noun show that the Emperor is confident of his army's might."
Instead, focus on pragmatics, "Within the statement, the colloquial noun 'scum' connotes the Emperor's hatred of the plural noun 'rebels', whereas the abstract noun 'power' implies a lack of hope for them. Interestingly, the adjective 'Dark' implies that he knows he is a bad guy, but doesn't care.
Section A - Spoken Language Analysis
Section B - Language Issues
The section are EQUALLY WEIGHTED (60 marks per section), so you should spend roughly half of the time you are given on each text. You MAY feel you can devote 5 more minutes to section A, as it requires more reading and planning.
Section A - What to expect
KEY WORDS - Roles, Power, Attitudes
You will almost certainly be given TWO spoken transcripts from the same genre or related genres. The question will be rather general and will usually just ask you to analyse the spoken language of each text, as examples of that genre. So, you will need to make judgements about where it is taking place, who is speaking and who is listening. Once you identify these factors, you will be able to make points about whether or not the communication flows the way you would expect it to.
The texts WILL contain specific spoken language features such as non-fluency features, power struggles, politeness features etc. You should aim to analyse SPECIFIC spoken features where possible, though you normal linguistic terminology is relevant throughout.
Essentially, the examiner wants you to do the following things:
*Introduce and analyse each text EQUALLY, making CLOSE ANALYSIS of each text.
*Point out what is actually going on in the text by making a variety of points about Roles, Power, Attitudes and relating these to the context.
*Make close and valid comparisons between the texts analysing specific differences you are able to identify, and explaining this via context, speaker, listener etc.
Amount:
Obviously, your aim is to write as much QUALITY analysis as possible, shared equally amongst the texts. I would aim to make a MINIMUM of SEVEN individual points per text (14 in total). Remember, however, not every paragraph needs to be long and sprawling (although some might be longer than others). Some might just be extremely concise, based on one specific word or phrase, whilst others may need separate pieces of evidence to support them. Essentially, each PG should take you around 4 minutes to write, so you might want to practice writing individual paragraphs as part of your preparation.
Things to remember and watch out for:
*Timings. If you are spending too long on a point, wrap it up and move on. Variety is essential.
*Balance. If you have gone over the half way point and are still on Text A, wrap it up and move on. An equal analytical balance is essential.
*Theories. Whilst we can not guarantee which of these will be relevant, it is possible you will need to mention Power, Grice's Maxims, Face, Politeness etc and relate this to context. (eg, identify a politeness feature and explain why the context has made this happen)
*Anomalies. Remember, a transcript won't always pan out the way you expect it to. Sometimes you are looking for points which are odd or surprising. (eg, it is totally inappropriate for someone to commit a FTA here - this is not what we would expect in this context.)
*Pragmatics. Always use PLENTY of terms per PG. However, don't just list term after term. Identify the important ones, and analyse closely any words or phrases which are interesting or significant in this context.
For example - "You rebel scum are no match for the power of the Dark Side."
Don't analyse like this, "The second person pronoun, premodifying adjective, colloquial noun, conjunction, negated abstract noun, preposition, definite article, abstract noun and proper noun show that the Emperor is confident of his army's might."
Instead, focus on pragmatics, "Within the statement, the colloquial noun 'scum' connotes the Emperor's hatred of the plural noun 'rebels', whereas the abstract noun 'power' implies a lack of hope for them. Interestingly, the adjective 'Dark' implies that he knows he is a bad guy, but doesn't care.
Welcome to the blog!
Hey you!
You all now have your very own revision blog. I will be adding pretty much everything you need to know to this blog.
DO NOT use this as your primary revision method. You have been taught EVERYTHING you need to know in class, and so your well organised FOLDERS are the main place to revise course content.
That said, I hope this is a useful resource for you. I will be uploading many things that I have used on previous blogs, so don't get offended if you see that I've used stuff before.
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