Clip Analysis

Clip analysis: Robert Winston

• Young children do not comprehend what is going on around them
• Before they're in the one word stage, a child will rely on pointing and miming to get their point across
• “Words are the focal point of language” and is “Infinitely flexible”
• The voice box/ Larynx drops at a rate of 3cm per year.
• The high position of the larynx at the earl development stage of a child allows for a child not to choke whilst suckling
• Babies use a different part of the brain, which allows them to absorb information.
• We have to link 30 muscles in order to voice the simplest sounds.
• At the age of 18 months, a child adapts awareness of surroundings.
• After this stage, a child will learn upwards of 10 new words a day
• A child is a “Sponge for language which has an instructive map for language”
• irregular verbs confuse children, is why they cant comprehend that the past tense of 'run' is 'ran', instead they use 'runned' as it fits the regular form
• They apply the logical rule at the start, the exceptions need to be taught to a child
• Children fail to recognise themselves in a mirror as they lack self awareness and also struggle to separate the persons, I, me and my
• A child cleverly uses tantrums in order to get what they want

1671 recipe notes

1671 recipe notes

 

Register- Formal

Audience- People looking to make a banquet/ prestigious festival piece

Mode- Recipe

Purpose- Inform

Genre- Cooking

Tone- formal tone

 

• Orthographic features- Lots of spelling of words that have lost a letter over time “binde” has now dropped the ‘e’ and is now spelled “bind”
  • Binde = non-standard, the extended ‘e’ has now been dropped off over time
  • Whence = once-, the consonant cluster “wh” has been deleted and replaced with a “woh” sound
  • The piece conforms to the upper and lower case conventions of a pre-1800’s piece. Many examples are that the nouns are capitalised examples being: “Castle” “Charger” “Frogs and Birds”
  • The ‘s’ is extended and written using the archaic, non-standard form. However when capitalised, the standard form of ‘S’ is used. The phrase “course paste” looks more like “courfe pafte,” to a modern reader it is difficult to read.

Phrases used in this piece have semantically shifted into new meanings, due to technological advances, the word “charger” now has relation to electrical appliances, and it is no longer used in relation to cooking.

 

 

• Graphological features- Some basic patterns at the top of the page, this relates to technology at this period of time, there was no technology to show what the meal being written about looks like.
   

• There is a lack of white space on the page and the typeface size is very small which makes the piece difficult to read.

• The semi colon is used frequently to break up sentences. This is to indicate the next process required in making the recipe. Despite the sequenced list discourse being the same in modern and archaic texts, the use of the semi colon is not used in modern cooking, it has instead been replaced with bullet points or bulleted numbers.
   
   

'Broken homes' comment

 

I agree with this article to a certain extent, I feel that a dysfunctional family could have detrimental effects on how a child learns as most of what they learn is from their parents. Children are more likely to mimic a parent rather than a stranger or teacher they’ve met for the first time. So if a child has not been given any guidance on the correct use of language, they will not have a base for them to start developing their acquisition of language. In the news recently there has been word of Teresa May looking to introduce more grammar schools in the UK, a school which requires termly payments, there is as little as a 10% chance of attending a private school if you’re working class. Pragmatically, private schools offer better education, have a heritage of prioritising education and achieving better grades than state schools. However I disagree that private schooling achieves those aims effectively as state schools are becoming increasingly competitive in terms of grades. The article states that children of dysfunctional families “Never caught up on education and tended to become drug addicts.” I disagreed with this statement as felt that not all children from dysfunctional families give up on education, some that have had a tough life are willing to work hard as they don’t want to end up with a dysfunctional family of their own when they are older.

Opinion Article: Harrassment in the workplace

English Essay: Is the English language inherently sexist?

English Essay: Is the English language inherently sexist?

 

The English language is forever adapting, especially in recent times due to the development of technology. However one argument remains, is the English language inherently sexist. Studies from linguist Muriel Schutz suggest that there are varying amounts of semantic degradation between men and women. Within her studies words with reference to women have more negative connotations compared to the male equivalent. For example, the word “bachelor” since the early 13^th century, this term has referred to man who is noble, strong willed or refers to man who is never married. On the other hand, the introduction of a female equivalent wasn’t introduced until the early 20^th century. Before then, the term bachelor had connotations for women but was obscure and very rarely used, this is due to the patriarchal society of the early 13^th century which degraded women.

Muriel Schutz studied lexical shifts within words, words which had one meaning but over time have gone on to mean the opposite. An example of this is the word “Slapper.” The word was used in 1888 to describe someone who aided the making of pottery, someone who were to slap the clay onto the wheel in order for it to be used. However due to lexical shifts, the word now makes reference to a women who is sexually promiscuous. The derogatory term is regionally used within East London and Essex, which is known for occupying those of white, working class men. This suggests that derogatory terms towards women have been invented from the collective of a certain male population.

Deborah Cameron, another linguist studied the appropriation associated with how men and women speak. The social expectations for women are a lot harsher than what they are for men. Phrases such as “act more ladylike” and “man up” have very contrasting connotations. Although both of these conform to standard stereotypes, women are often told to “man up” if they are showing signs of weakness as men are seen to be strong both physically and mentally. It is unheard of for a man to be told to “woman up.” Cameron expresses the opinion that women and men speak different languages. Cameron’s book, the myth of mars, exemplifies that difference in the way we speak is not entirely environmental. Men are born with a certain way in speech whereas women are born with another. This could be an explanation towards men expressing that they cannot understand when women speak. However the English language in which men and women speak is not entirely hereditary. Environmental factors such as where you live, people you hang around with and occupation. In pre-victorian times, girls were given etiquette and speaking lessons in order to become a “lady.” This was seen as a social norm as women were expected to behave in one way and men another.

Additionally, I recently listened to a podcast from an Australian radio show expressing this topic. The host Roly Sussex argued that mansplaining is a term when a man feels the need to explain a word to a woman which they already know the meaning and understanding of. Sussex goes onto explain that there is no symmetrical term for women, the word womansplaining does not exist within the oxford dictionary with no logical explanation why. His studies suggest that there are over 580 words within the oxford dictionary that begin with the prefix ‘man’. Some people suggest that only some of those words actually start with the gender term of man, words such as ‘Manufacture’ do not count as they are derived from the Latin term ‘Manus.’ However, the unmarked term ‘manable’ which has been used within the English language since 1627 describes a woman who is suitable of appearance or age to be wed. This term could be seen as inherently sexist as there is no phrase for a man who shares the same characteristics. This shows the English language stereotypes towards women as it expresses that every woman aspires to be married. Furthermore, the term degrades women in the fact that the term states that women have to look ‘manable’ in order to become a wife.

Sweden have attempted to rectify any problems concerning gender neutral lexis by inventing a gender neutral pronoun. The term 'hen' has been created baring in mind the term 'Han' for a man and 'Hon' for a woman. This has been ground-breaking for Swedish transgender's as it has partially eliminated doubts about their acceptance into society. but would this work in the UK. Many theorists still believe that using 'man' as a collective phrase is adequate enough but in my opinion I feel we do need to find a gender neutral equivalent. This could be the start of the recognition women need to have in society. Every day women are becoming more and more influential within the world and indeed political power, for example in American politics, Hilary Clinton is a favourite to win the presidential election. Our patriarchal society is slowly becoming more even but that doesn't hide the fact the language we use is sexist.

Gender linguists research

Muriel Schulz: pieced together an essay that explained semantic degrodation within sexes. Schulz' investigation showed that there were more negative connotations with words that had associations with women compared to those with men. his study was followed up by Julie Stanley, she recorded various negative connotations that were aimed towards individual sexes and extended this to prove how lexis has shifted between positive and negative through identifying their collocations. Her research states that women do not have the ability to shift out of negative space. 

Deborah Cameron: Studies show that wherever and whenever the matter has been investigated, men and women face normative expectations about the appropriate mode of speech for their gender. Women's verbal conduct is important in many cultures; women have been instructed in the proper ways of talking just as they have been instructed in the proper ways of dressing, in the use of cosmetics, and in other “feminine” kinds of behaviour. This acceptance of a “proper” speech style, Cameron describes as “verbal hygiene”. This has been the influence for phrases such as "Be more ladylike" as the previous social norms conformed women to be like this.


Cameron does not condemn verbal hygiene, as misguided. She finds specific examples of verbal hygiene in the regulation of '"style" by editors, the teaching of English grammar in schools, politically correct language and the advice to women on how they can speak more effectively. In each case Deborah Cameron claims that verbal hygiene is a way to make sense of language, and that it also represents a symbolic attempt to impose order on the social world.

Sara Mills: investigated the various lexical pairs and how they are lexical asymmetric to one another. She also did further research in the correlation between femininity and politeness and masculinity and impoliteness. Her research considered whether that politeness and manners were hereditary or through the form of environmental factors such as friendship groups and living area. 

Questionnaire

 

Questionnaire

Name: ____________________________________________

 

Gender:                                                              Age (yrs) (Circle correct age Bracket):

Male O

Female O

Prefer not to say O

 

Do you work?

Part time O

Full time O

Student O

Unemployed O

Prefer not to say O

 

Would you say that modern day English language is affected by the countries current multicultural society? If yes, please state below your opinion.

 

 

Does your accent and dialect change when talking to certain people? If yes, in which way?

Would you make a judgement on a person’s personality, solely on their accent? Please state why/why not.

Would you say that speaking in Standard English gives you an advantage when it comes to employment?  State your opinion below.

 

In your opinion, is it negative or positive that national television broadcasters speak using Received Pronunciation?

 

Would you say that television broadcasters are an accurate representation of the country as a whole in terms of how the majority of the country speak, or not?

 

If for instance a presenter with a scouse accent were to broadcast nationally, would you take a higher or lower interest in the national news?

 

Do feel that British people are mocked for having a “posh” accent. State your opinion below.