Language Changing Quicker Than Ever

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3063455/English-language-changing-fast-words-majority-not-understand.html

 This article shows how quickly our English language is currently changing with most parents not understanding what their children are saying. Most children nowadays rely on emoji's to express what they are trying to say and are using words that their parents have never even heard of. Once older people catch up on the new words in the language, they are not used any more and completely new words are being used, so how are the older generation supposed to catch up on the language the youth of today is using? 

Example Of Accent

Accent is potentially influenced by social class and where you grow up. In this video Terry, a Bristolian, explains how people from Bristol say phrases in different ways compared to other parts of the country. This can be seen as an exaggeration of the accent and dialect or it can be seen as an exact replica. 

David Crystal: You Say Potato

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ybrai

This video is of David Crystal talking about accent. Accent levelling is happening across the country due to people moving across the country e.g. movement for employment. 

However, it is obvious there is no one accent across the country as David Crystal does suggest there is bi-dialect ism.  

Steven Pinker: What Our Language Habits Reveal

https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_language_and_thought

Class Notes

• Language Change: Descriptive attitudes towards language/Prescriptive attitudes towards language
• Descriptivism/Prescriptivism
• Standard English has to be kept somehow
• Language is a window onto Human Nature 
• Language emerges from human minds interacting with one another
• Visible in unstoppable change in language- Slang & Jargon, historical change, dialect divergence, language formation
• Communication model- Sender, Message, Receiver 
• Euphemistic language used to dodge topics not wanting to speak about
• Context means everything- Social, Historical and Cultural 

Ted Talks

https://www.ted.com/talks?page=2&q=language&sort=newest

This link will take you directly to Ted Talks language searched lectures. 

Variations of FPA

FPA: Form, Purpose, Audience 

• http://www.nme.com/reviews/the-weeknd/16229 

Form: Music review 

Purpose: To review The Weekends new album and hear someone else's opinion on it.  

Audience: People who are intrested in music, the band or want to learn about the music. 

Evidence:

Such moments eclipse Tesfaye’s clever gothic flair and, by extension, are at total odds with the pop packaging of this record. He may have softened his edge, upped the production and pulled in the stars, but The Weeknd remains an outsider.

• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3236581/Student-lost-leg-Alton-Towers-crash-says-relief-limb-amputated-days-pain-six-operations.html

Form: A recent newspaper article 

Purpose: to inform people of the latest goings on in the case of the Smiler ride at Thorpe Park

Audience:  Some who reads the newspaper or wants to keep up to date with the story.

• http://www.vogue.com/13336962/oscar-de-la-renta-spring-2016-runway-news/ 

Form: A magazine article from a fashion/beauty magazine

Purpose: inform readers of the latest trends and celebrity happenings

Audience: people who want to keep up to date with the latest fashion and celebrity trends. 

Evidence:

She might be wearing a floral print, but Peter Copping’s muse at Oscar de la Renta this season is no wallflower. From the lacy cocktail dresses to the breathtaking gowns, get the lowdown on Copping’s latest here.

• http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/me_and_earl_and_the_dying_girl/

Form: Film review

Purpose: To hear someones opinion on the film and what it is briefly about

Audience: People who are thinking about going to see the film and would like an opinion on what it is like. 

• http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Fault-in-Our-Stars,-The.html

Form: A script from a film

Purpose: To entertain the viewer/listener

Audience: The actor/actress performing the part 

Evidence:

HAZEL (V.O.)

           On the one hand, you can sugar coat

           - the way they do in movies and

          - "Perfect" Hazel and "Perfect" Gus sit on a BENCH

           romance novels.

          She rests her head on his shoulder.

          overlooking an incredible seascape in some foreign country.

Social Media Taking Over English Language?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11574196/new-forms-of-social-media-terms-which-parents-do-not-understand.html

I have recently read the article above which explains how 'text talk' is being used all over social media and therefore is slowly changing the English language. For people who are not aware of these new words and abbreviations it can be very confusing. 

In the article it states that " 86 per cent of all British parents think teenagers speak an entirely different language on social media and mobile messaging." Could this mean that when this younger generation grows older the English language will have completely changed, or will 'text talk' eventually become outdated like the article suggest has already happened with certain phrases. The article also includes a little quiz to test your knowledge on these abbreviations and phrases, some more obvious than others. 

It also speaks about how we are now using a photographic way of communication, mainly emoticons, and claims that maybe in the future these icons will take over the 'text talk' language. 

Frameworks/ Language levels

Frame work/ Linguistic level


Lexis: Word-choice. Meaning at word and phrase level. 

Grammar: How the language is built i.e the structure and rules which underpin how we form sentences 

Phonology: How we organise the sounds of our language to produce certain effects including rhythm, rhyme, intonation, stress and pauses ect.

Pragmatics: How we know what language means when it is used in a specific context, sometimes described as 'reading between the lines' 

Discourse: (i) how longer stretches of text are organised (cohesion- how it holds together e.g. use of discourse markers) (ii) the way texts create identities for particular individuals, groups or institutions e.g. the discourse of law, politics, the media. 

Graphology: How the design of a text can contribute to meaning including use of fonts, graphics, colours ect. 

Terminology

• Adjective: Descriptive word
• Noun: Names, Places and People 
• Adverb: Words to describe a verb
• Verb: Doing word
• Simile: As/Like
• Personification: Giving an inanimate object human qualities  
• fillers: Umm
• Metaphor: Saying something is something
• Onomatopoeia: Words that sound like sounds 
• Personification: Like pathetic fallacy 
• Pathetic fallacy: Where the weather relate to the mood
• Rhetorical question: No answer to the question needed
• Jargon: Subject specific language
• Triple: 3 words to describe
• Hyperbole: Over Exaggerating 
• punctuation: !?;:.
• Dialect: The language used
• Accent: How the words sound
• Clause: Part of punctuation 
• Alliteration: Beginning with same letter or sound
• repetition: Repeating 
• Active verb: When you know the subject

Frame Works

• Graphology: Visual aspects such as form, purpose, audience, font and punctuation e.g. Google changing its font. 

• Lexis and semantics: Words and meanings e.g. vocabulary of English

•   Grammar including morphology: Patterns and shapes of sentences e.g. clauses, phrases, words and sentences. 

• Pragmatics: Context/Meaning, types of meanings

• Discourse: Communication, how it looks e.g. genre, modes and context 

• Phonetics, Phonology and Prosodics: Speech, sounds and effects e.g. onomatopoeia, alliteration and volume

Replacing Languages

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/article209405.ece

This article, which was written in 2005, explains how there is now a different dialect which teenagers use to include "different ethnic groups to communicate across the racial divide."

It is stated in the article that research has been completed to back this up. Using a small group of 32 teenagers between the ages of 16-18, the researches found that all students spoke in the same dialect no matter of their background. However, the new language has created some concerns, such as the way students write in their written exams and therefore it has been banned from one school in south London. 

This new language has shown that this new dialect may be replacing older, traditional dialect such as Cockney. 

Change In Language

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/from-the-mouths-of-teens-422688.html

This article is based on how people's, mainly the younger generation's, dialect and accent has changed. The article begins with a small group of people having a conversation on a bus which the listener doesn't really understand, the conversation is later translated by a school boy who says this language is used by teenagers to look cool. 

The language used is due to multiculturalism and therefore becomes an easier language for all ethnic and social backgrounds to understand. A good quote in this article is " The message is that people are beginning to sound the same regardless of their colour or ethnic background." This shows that this language is now becoming the norm to most people no matter where they originate from. 

Grammar Test

http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/quiz/2013/feb/04/grammar-punctuation-quiz-test

The Government has designed this quiz for year 6's, (11 year old) to check their grammar, spelling and punctuation level. So take the quiz and find out your level in these areas of English Language. 

AQA Specification A-level

http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/as-and-a-level/english-language-a-2700

This link will send you to the AQA exam board website where you can read the about the A-level and what it consists of. It also has some past papers and mark schemes to help along with the course.