lecturers: lisa bhatti and barbara jennion
TRANSCRIPT
Lecturers: Lisa Bhatti and Barbara Jennion
Studying the English language is like people-watching. There are lots of clues to someone’s
age, gender, occupation and even clues to where our language originates from.
The course is a mix of textual analysis, opinionated writing and creative writing.
You will study a variety of texts relating to the English language
and people’s use of it. This will include looking at topics like
language & gender, occupation and various social groups. You
will look at how diverse English use is in speech, writing and
that hybrid of both: social media & text speak. You will study
how people from different cultures & backgrounds use English.
You will also take a look backwards, to the history of the
English language and how humans (children) learn to speak,
read & write language. You will study the style of texts and be
able to create your own. You will also be able to create your
own opinions on people’s language use.
What’s not to love? Or “wotz nt 2 <3?” Or “It is to be belov’d, is it not?”
Or “ya feel me, bro?” YOLO innit?
A little bit about Lisa A little bit about Barbara
Email:
I studied my undergraduate degree in English Language and Linguistics in York. During my studies, I spent a semester in Spain and completed my Level 1 in British Sign Language. I went on to undertake my PGCE in Lifelong Learning at the University of Huddersfield. My favourite areas of English are:
o Phonetics and Phonology o Accent and Dialect o Textual Analysis
I studied the following A Levels: English Language and Literature French Theatre Studies I have also completed my CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).
I have been teaching at Wakefield College since early 2015.
From: Widnes, Cheshire
Loves: reading (obviously);
laughing (obviously);
thinking (obviously); writing
about what I’m thinking;
great conversation;
debating; finding out about
different people and
cultures; nature of all forms:
animals, plants, water, planets & stars; politics;
theatre, cinema & concerts; and always -
kindness
Hates: Maths. End of.
Email: [email protected]
Qualifications post GCCE: A Levels: English Language & Literature
Philosophy
Psychology
Degrees: • English Language and Literature BA (Hons) from
University of Liverpool
• M Dip in Victorian Literature from University of
Liverpool
• PGCE Post 16 from John Moore’s University,
Liverpool
I have been teaching since 2002 and have been
working at Wakefield College since 2014.
As Lisa is on the final part of Maternity Leave,
please contact me if you have any questions on
the activities below or about anything else. You
are not intruding and it would be nice to make
contact with you. I’m here for you in these very
strange times and it will be ok. We’re prepared for
all scenarios and you CAN do this. Lisa and I are
very passionate teachers and you’re in safe
hands.
Slang Research
TASK: Find out about the slang use in your household or with people on
Houseparty/telephone/other online group chats. In English Language, you will study the work of many researchers. These people carry out tests that help them to make conclusions about some aspect of language and the people
who use it. So this is what you are going to do. You will become a Language Researcher!
What is ‘slang’? www.dictionary.com says:
noun
A specialized dictionary covering the words, phrases, and idioms that reflect the least formal speech of a language. These terms are often metaphorical and playful, and are likely to be evanescent as the spoken language changes from one generation to another. Much slang
belongs to specific groups, as the jargon of a particular class, profession, or age group. Some is vulgar. Some slang terms have staying power as slang, but others make a transition into common informal speech, and then into the standard language. An online slang dictionary provides immediate information about the meaning and history of a queried term and its appropriateness or lack of appropriateness in a range of social and professional circumstances.
Research 1: Dictionary search: what do the following words mean?
• Idiom
• Evanescent
• Standard English (language)
Slang comes and goes like fashion, so the type of slang a 16 year old uses isn’t the
slang a 50 year old uses, which isn’t the slang an 80 year old uses …
Some slang belongs to what we call ‘in-group speak’ e.g. the slang used by Paramedics, which are often very metaphorical and could be seen as insulting by outsiders. (There is a theory that those professions that work with life and death often use slang as a way of making light of very emotional or troubling situations.) In this sense, slang is a ‘survival tool’ to get through a difficult day. People who work in call centres, who deal with difficult, insulting and complaining customers may well have their own slang in order to cope and show solidarity with each other to get through their difficult day.
Other slang is just simply a lively way of finding new ways to say old things. Humans are like that ☺ So, as a researcher, you need to copy the chart out below by hand onto paper or type it up on a Word document exactly as you see it below (give yourself gaps for writing answers.)
Research 2: Slang Quiz: A linguistic investigation into differences of slang use between age
ranges. Man, this is lit! Here are the steps:
1) Try to get a wide age range of
people to take the quiz (ages in
research 3). The best way would
be to get exactly the same number
of people in each age range, but
that might not be possible while
you’re in Lockdown. Do what you
can ☺
2) To instruct the people taking
part in your questionnaire, ask
them to write their age and
numbers 1 – 20 down for their
answers and don’t forget to ask
them to write Y or N at the end of
each answer to let you know if
they use or have used the word.
(Only give answers at the end so
they don’t influence each other.)
3) Collect each person’s answers in
(if they’re not in your house, either
ask them to take photos of their answers and send to you or speak to you on the
phone/group chat).
We hope you have fun with your family/friends doing the ‘quiz’. You might even have a giggle at some of their answers ☺
The Slang Questions and Answers (A) ONLY GIVE ANSWERS AND EXAMPLES AT THE END – ask them to put Y or N if they have
used/do use each word
Q1 Airy-fairy A: lacking in strength / afraid (Some of your participants may have their own definition for this e.g. ‘a bit girly/fussy’ etc. which is still correct) e.g. “Don’t’ be so airy-fairy and take the bin out dressed in drag!”
Q2 All fur coat and no knickers A: for something/ someone that has a sophisticated appearance but no substance underneath. e.g. “Look at her buying the most expensive toilet rolls. She’s all fur coat and no knickers.”
Q3 Antwacky A: old fashioned/out of date e.g. “You shouldn’t have shaved your own hair – you look like an antwacky 1920s prisoner!”
Q4 Bloomin’ (often pronounced “blimmin’” or “blummin’”) A: to intensify a noun e.g. If I eat one more bloomin’ chocolate, I’ll burst!” (your participants might find it difficult to explain)
Q5 Bagsy A: to choose something esp. in competition to choose it first e.g. ‘bagsy the last slice of bread!”
Q6 Bants A: abbreviation of ‘banter’ – to tease light-heartedly (not intending to cause offense) e.g. “We can have good bants on Houseparty”
Q7 Barney A: an argument e.g. ‘There was a right barney in the queue for ASDA yesterday. ’
Q8 Chillax A: a blend of ‘chill’ and ‘relax’ e.g. “Hey, stop fighting over the last toilet roll in the shop. Chillax!”
Q9 Codswallop A: something that is a load of rubbish/a lie e.g. What Trump thinks about self-isolation and global warming. Fake news!
Q10 The dolly dancers Or just ‘the dancers’ A: the stairs e.g. “Come on, you can’t play on Houseparty all night! Up the dolly dancers!”
Q11 Laik or Laiking (often pronounced ‘leck/lecking’) A: play or playing (a Yorkshire term) e.g. “Are you laiking out today?” / “No, I’m self-isolating.” / “I meant on Houseparty!”
Q12 Like the clappers A: to go fast/quickly e.g. “The sale of toilet rolls is going like the clappers”
Q13 Lit A: has been used for ‘drunk’ but in very modern, urban slang, it mainly means ‘excellent/great/exciting’ e.g. “People coming together on Thursdays to clap the NHS & Key workers is lit!”
Q14 My bad A: admitting a mistake/or a fault e.g. “I used the last of the toilet paper. Oops. My bad.”
Q15 Pogged A: full up on food (a West Yorkshire term) e.g. “I’m pogged on pasta!”
Q16 Puddled A: confused, a bit mad or daft e.g. “I’m going puddled. I could swear I put the last toilet roll in my shopping trolley … and now it’s gone …”
Q17 Sad sack A: a pathetic or miserable person e.g. “Why don’t you join in the clapping on Thursdays, ya sad sack!”
Q18 Undercrackers A: underpants e.g. “Anyone else not changed their undercrackers for a week?”
Q19 Wet Nellie A: weak-minded e.g. “Upload that video of yourself taking the bins out dressed as Yoda, ya wet Nellie!”
Q20 What’s the crack? A: what’s the news? What’s happening? E.g. “What’s the crack with Trump and injecting disinfectant??”
Research 3: Number crunching: Once you have collected your
participants’ answers, arrange them in age groups and number them. So for example, if you have 8 participants altogether with 2 in each age group it will look like the chart below. You know what age group your participants belong to and how many are in that group so draw up your own chart.
Number given to participant and their age range
How many did they get right out of 20?
How many use or have used words from the list in each age group?
Age 10-19
P1 P2
Age 20s &30s
P3 P4
Age 40s & 50s
P5 P6
Age 60s +
P7 P8
Research 4: Working with your collected results: You now need to do a tally
count of the responses to help you to answer the following questions:
1. Which age group got the most slang terms correct?
2. Which age group got the least slang terms correct?
I wonder what the reasons might be for your answers. What do you think they are? E.g. why do you think a particular age group range got the most answers correct/least answers correct?
Research 5: summarise what your findings suggest about slang and its use:
a) Which do you find funny or lively and why?
b) Which ones are metaphors?
c) Do you think students who are in primary school now will use the current slang
terms when they reach 6th form age? Explain your answer.
And part 6: The Big Question: some people do not like it
when they hear slang because they feel it’s too casual and more difficult to understand than Standard English. Slang can alienate people who have never heard of these words and phrases. They also argue that there are much better words than slang terms to choose and they think slangs ‘ruins’ the beautiful English language. What are your thoughts on all of these points? Give your answer in a nice, fluent paragraph. You might want to think of the pros and cons to slang before giving your answer. You might fall somewhere between pros and cons, depending on your thoughts on particular slang terms.
This is the end of your linguistic research on slang More good introductory work next pages. You’re welcome ☺
Part 7: Synonyms and Levels of Formality
The English language, as we’ve seen, is very lively. There are many synonyms we have that cross the whole spectrum of formality – from very informal to highly formal. Copy or print out the synonym chart below and fill in the gaps. If you know more than one word or phrase in the same category, put them all down. Discuss them with your family/friends if you get a bit stuck. If you’re really stuck, you can search for synonyms on: https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/dictionary
Very informal / slang / dysphemism (means an insulting/negative word)
Fairly informal Not insulting/ controversial, but casual / cute
neutral Fairly formal / polite
very formal/ technical/ medical / law term
lass woman
Died/dead
In prison incarcerated
The bizzies/pigs
Police
Part 8 next page …
Part 8: how well can you read slight differences in language and express your ideas about them? On the next two pages are two modern magazine covers: one aimed at women (Women’s Health) and one aimed at men (Men’s Health). You would expect with today’s push for gender equality and the fact that they are the male and female equivalent of each other, that there would be no difference in the language, right? Mmm. It’s your job to find out…
Please complete the activities on the next page
Do a dictionary search on www.dictionary.com for what word class/parts of speech and meaning is for the words listed below is e.g.
Quote from Women’s Health Word class/part of speech e.g. Commit Verb
Lose
rebuild
trick
coolest
Quote from Men’s Health Word class/part of speech Strength/ grit/ rage
kill
fighting
Tougher/stronger/smarter
Big/broad
At GCSE, you should know what ‘connotations’ means. It’s similar to ‘what the language suggests’. Look it up if you’re not sure. Looking at the words above, is there a difference between the connotations of language in Women’s Health and Men’s Health?? Summarise what the different connotations are.
Women’s Health connotations are: (clue – they are much more varied than Men’s Health) Men’s Health connotations are:
What assumptions do producers of magazines like these make about what men want versus what women want regarding ‘health’? Should they stay like this or should they change? Explain your answer.
This is the end of the activities. We wanted to give you something different to GCSE to see
how you handle new challenges. We also want you to start asking questions about
language use. Bring a curious mind in September and you should enjoy the subject – and
think English Language is the GOAT!!
The word
class is a verb
Here’s some information we give out at Open Evenings
A quick outline of your course
A Level Exam 1: (2.5 hours) Language, the Individual & Society (40%) Section A – Textual Variations and Representations:
• One essay analysing a modern text (25 marks)
• One essay analysing an older text on the same topic as 1st text (25 marks) • One essay comparing the two texts with each other (20 marks)
Section B – Children’s Language Development • One essay arguing about a statement given regarding how children acquire speaking, reading
and writing skills. You write one essay out of a choice of two statements and a text to form arguments from. (30 marks)
Exam 2: (2.5 hours) Language Diversity & Change (40%) Section A – Diversity & Change
• One evaluative essay (discussing & arguing your points) from a choice of two questions on either diverse aspects of the English language or on how English has changed (30 marks)
Section B – Language Discourses You are given two texts on a related topic (diverse aspects or on language change)
• One essay analysing the texts (40 marks) • One creative writing piece related to the topic in the two texts (30 marks)
Component 3: Coursework – Language in Action (20%) • A personal investigation that explores language use on a topic of your choosing (with guidance
from your teacher) (2,000 words)
• Original Writing & Commentary (creative writing of your choice and analyse the techniques you chose to make it effective) (1500 words)
Exams: Mocks January and Spring – official exams in the Summer of Year 2