How was it for you? Coursework Investigation Recording

Well... I haven’t actually done a recording yet as such. However this is not my fault, as getting hold of two fifteen year old boys that are in and out all of the time, is proving to be a difficult task.

I have managed to get hold of them long enough to ask permission to do the recording, as I have with the person for my second.  It’s all fine and dandy on their side of the task, they’re up for it.

Where I’m looking to now, is to using physical gestures in order to ‘lure’ them into doing the recording!

Possible A2 coursework investigation...

My initial thought for an investigation was to analyse the way a teenager speaks with a person of a similar age compared to a conversation with an adult.

The way I could do this is record my 15 year old brother speaking with his friend, and then speaking with our mum. I think this would be interesting as it shows the way he may change his intonation when talking (speaking more deeply with his friend), changing the style he speaks (pace and phrasing) and the words he uses and how (diverging from slang/swear words and changes in his accent).

I find this interesting because I already notice the changes in the way he talks and I know this is a common denominator amongst most teenagers.

 I did think of investigating teenagers speaking and then a group of adults but I think it would be more interesting by just using the same person in two different contexts as it clearly shows the changes that automatically appear. :))

Response to dictionary research and presentations and YouTube clip...

I thought the most interesting part of our dictionary research is how dictionaries have actually evolved like evolution over time. The way each dictionary served a different purpose and how the content changed each time is fascinating. I also find it interesting how the content for each dictionary was collected, e.g. with volunteers scouring through literature or listening to people on the street. I would have thought that the reception of each dictionary would be the same; however the case was that some were thought of as better than others, therefore it lead to some being better known and popular than others. Which I think is why, nowadays, we do not really know much about previous dictionaries.

The YouTube clip was interesting as well as quite confusing. The main arguments i picked up were about how American English has basically fallen apart, which I think is untrue because it’s not as if people are talking completely in slang or text speak. Another debate i picked up on was the idea that Descriptivists are lead by the more unintelligent sector of America, which i think it’s slightly true but also a bit ruthless to say. I think the way Descriptivists work is less academically challenging and does sort of state the obvious. On the other hand, we still do need the plain and simple descriptions of words to be able to use them.

Interesting conversation on tele...

Whilst watching a daytime chat show, I found a particular topic of their conversation interesting. They were discussing an issue in the papers that said that Selfridges in Manchester has told their works they have to speak more ‘formal’ and reduce their Northern twang, by doing so they’ve banned words such as ‘hiya’ and ‘cheers’ to be replaced by words such as ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’.

There were two separate sides to the argument on the show. One side was in favour of Selfridges as they argued that when they are ‘up North’ they think the Northern accent is difficult to understand, therefore adapting a more formal style of English would be more understandable; especially with foreign visitors. Also, they said that as Selfridges is an up market shop, they should be allowed to pursue a formal representation to collide with their image. Similarly they said that informalities are increasing due to the influence of technology and America, and there is a time and place for informality but not in the workplace.

The other side of the argument said that the dialect used by employers doesn’t represent the strengths of their service, therefore the way they speak shouldn’t matter. Also they thought that a more standard formal accent is intimidating, (as if they would feel they are unworthy to enter the shop wearing dirty trainers.) Also they said that if the shop is based in Manchester than having employees speaking with a Manchester accent shows identity of the shop, and taking this away takes away the friendliness and familiarity of the shop.

In my opinion i agree with both views. I think that going into a shop in a different region I’d expect the staff to speak with an accent, as it does show identity and emphasises the difference from home. However accents are sometimes misunderstood or misinterpreted and reducing the regional ‘twang’ does make people easier to understand, especially in a more upper class shop.  :):)

Old-fashioned sexist adverts, hmm...

We looked at a variety of ‘Old-fashioned’ adverts, each displaying particular angles of sexism; towards women of course. The language used emphasises the weakness of women and the dependability on their husbands. The adverts put women into a bad perspective and almost make a reader feel sorry for them. They suggest that all women are like this and add even more to the stereotypical woman. For me, if I saw an advert with this particular style of humour, it would put me off buying the product, never mind selling it to me!

ACADEMY OF ENGLISH: who cares?

Discussing expert and personal views on the so called ‘controversy’.

By Catherine Crocker for 'The Times'



Logo for the Queen's English Society- the people that power our debate.



France, Italy and Spain get over 101 days of sun a year, compared to our 70. You don’t see complaints and debates on that, so why the huge fuss about the Academy of English?

It’s been 2 years since the Queen’s English Society website was launched: and nothing has been done about it. Surely this is enough information to prove that nobody is interested. There are already homemade gangs of ‘nit-pickers’ and ‘pedants’ who feel the need to display their disgust about the use of English, without scaring people off with a society!

I mean, this controversy provoked a best-selling book on punctuation. Is that really how sad our society is?

Arguments have been brought to our attention that the prevalence of English is making it more vulnerable to abuse than any other language. This suggests that one minute we complain that China and the US are overruling us, then the next, complaining our predominance is corrupting us. Somehow I can’t get my head around this. Texting is also an issue apparently. The use of ‘textese’ as it’s called, is causing disastrous effects on our literacy. Technological advances are inevitable in today’s age, its only logic that the use of language is going to change with this.

Where on the other hand we’re being told that words are the most important way to express thoughts, and if they are restricted it constrains free-thinkers. As well as the issue of, if we enforce a limit on the English we use, which English do we go back to - Shakespearean? Anglo-Saxon?  Each of these types of English has had an impact on the one we use today, so how do we choose which is the ‘proper’. Maybe ask the Anti-Queen’s English society, it seems they’ve had more input and support by readers and literary experts.

Jonathan Swift wrote a letter in 1712 expressing his desire for an academy of English. It shows the debate has been ongoing for nearly 300 years and we’ve had no progress. ‘Correct English’ was as hard to define then, as it is now. Isn’t it time these doctrinaires gave up? In 1985 ‘bad’ English was casually linked to crime by Lord Tebbit, that’s worse than the accent prejudices!

Jean Atchison talked about the 3 views on English language. The ‘crumbling castle’ view is the most prominent to me. It treats English like a beautiful preserved building with gargoyles and summits. However the view suggests that English was gradually assembles until it found a point of maximum magnificence in the past, but where’s this year English was at its perfection? John Simon said language should be treated like ‘parks, national forests, monuments, and public utilities ... available for properly respectful use but not for defacement or destruction.’ And that’s an expert.

In my opinion, the idea of an Academy of English sounds enticing for someone with an interest in English like myself. We can’t rely on the unreliable Microsoft to correct our mistakes all the time, and what we perceive as ‘proper’ English is important - even if we just know it but don’t use it. But when you look deeper into the possibilities and realities of our language, its difficult define ‘proper’, it’s difficult to make people listen, and most of all it’s difficult to enforce!

The first academy, the L'Académie française was set up in 1635, and the latest was the Reale Academia d'Italia in 1943. If the Academy of English is going to be set up, i think we’re a bit behind schedule.

Initial thoughts on Queen's English Society...

• Firstly I love the idea of an Academy of English to preserve our language.
• English is so widely used and well known; and the fact that other languages are protected but ours isn't doesn't seem right.
• I think the Academy of English is good because it promotes better use of English and caters for the common mistakes regarding grammar and punctuation.
• Many people are already 'Pedants' and 'nit-pickers' and emphasise the 'proper' way to write and speak English, so surely they should do something about it.
• We can't take advantage of technological advances and rely on the unreliable Microsoft to correct our language mistakes.

:):)

Received Pronunciation research...

RP is the instantly recognisable ‘typically British" accent which does not give any clues about where the speaker comes from regionally however can give away a lot about a person’s education or social class. The dialect spoken by people is Standard English. RP was chosen in 1922 to represent the BBC and become the ‘BBC accent’ because it was deemed more easily understood by Britons as well as foreign people, it would also reduce any alienation that may occur if a regional accent was used. I believe this is fair because I think RP is the most recognisable of British accents and is very clear and pronounced and it certainly stands out amongst the American accent in American films! It’s surprising that although RP is the most obviously British that only 2% of the population actually speak it, which is weird considering most people relate British accents to RP. For example in American programmes when people put on an English accent they do sway it more towards that of RP. However, evidence showed that RP has died out over time and local accents have become more prominent which I suppose is inevitable. Also nowadays RP is related to social class and education which I think is similar to the Birmingham accent issue as it’s not really fair to make judgements on people by the way that they speak. Personally, I have a positive attitude towards RP as I think it sounds ‘proper’ and intelligent, I believe it would be nice if it was an accent spoken more widely in Britain.:):)

How the Anglo-Saxons influenced our language today...

In what we know as the Sothern part of England, over 1000 years ago, Anglo-Saxon was the dominant language spoken. The Anglo Saxons preferred to use their own tongue rather than Celtic language. When Christian missionaries arrived in 597 they brought a wide Latin vocabulary with them. This meant they produced manuscripts such as the bible. The missionaries modified the Latin alphabet to suit old English and added extra symbols. There was no standard spelling system so they spelt words the way they sounded in different parts of the country, this is how old English dialects formed.

The Anglo-Saxon alphabet includes letters that are the same as ours, however there are a few missed out and 3 extra letters added on. This is a copy of their alphabet- a b c d e f g h i l m n o p r s t u w x y þ ð æ. When Anglo-Saxon was written down, there was no difference between upper and lower case letters and although it was not indicated in the spelling, they had two types of vowels- long and short. Also, although the Monks that wrote Anglo-Saxon manuscripts used the Irish alphabet, many of the letters featured would be recognisable today. Similar to today, there was no set way in which Anglo-Saxon words should be pronounced therefore the pronunciation varied across the country. Anglo-Saxon language had 7 vowels compared to our 5, the vowels were pronounced similar to that of most European countries however it varies from our English. Diphthongs were used which are vowels that have another sound that’s been modified to sound like another vowel, it sounds complicated however it was done smoothly so that the words only had 1 syllable. Consonants were mainly pronounced the same way in which they are today. There are many religious words we use that were made during this period such as angel, bishop, chalice, deacon, font, martyr, Mass and candle, along with some everyday words like cucumber, cheese, cup, elephant, fever, giant, history, kettle, kitchen, laurel, lentil, noon, oyster, paper, plant, purple, street and wine. Similarly, there are some Anglo-Saxon words that may be recognisable and similar to our language such as hwær- where, cese- cheese, wifman- woman, gast- day, and grene- green.

It is there easy to conclude that the Anglo-Saxon period set a clear base for our language to develop, with many of the patterns and words seeming familiar to us now. :):)

When I discovered research on the Birmingham accent...

To be honest, I’ve never really thought about the accents people have when they speak. I can never really distinguish one from another anyway, so really they all blend into one to me! When I did my research on people’s perceptions of the Birmingham or ‘Brummie’ accent, I was shocked to find so many different prejudices and judgments on just the way a persons voice sounds. Negative is a popular phrase that pops in to mind when considering my research; each new idea or survey I found seemed to have a different bad approach to the accent.

The Birmingham accent makes people sound less clever apparently, according to Bath Spa Uni. Tell me this, how exactly can a persons accent give any indication about their intelligence? It can’t, that’s how. The Birmingham accent is the least ‘cool’. Well what exactly is ‘cool’? Fair enough ‘Coolbrands’ have surveyed 2,000 people, but is using the term ‘cool’ really an effective word? However at least the Brummies have one lot of research to be proud of, they're the funniest when telling a joke, says the 

University of Aberdeen, I suppose that's a consolation prize.

If people are narrow minded enough to join in with this labelling frenzy and judge people by their accent then yes, I’m sure people with a Birmingham accent will be disadvantaged when it comes to job interviews, meetings ect. Which I suppose is only their loss as they could be dismissing extremely able people with huge potentials on the grounds that their accent says something negative about their person, when it doesn’t.

In my opinion, accents don’t matter. Accents represent where you come from, your surroundings and the people around you, not your intelligence or capability! It’s what’s in the inside that counts. :):)