Six O'Clock News - by Tom Leonard
This poem uses regional dialect to convey that people judge people and discriminate (not allow to talk in their regional accent on national news) because of an accent they have and the region they come from. The spellings of the words used show the effect that accent has on the language we speak. The poem also explains that people may tend to disbelieve what people say or even disregard what they think if they have a strong regional accent or if they use regional dialect.
Issues of language - Gajanan Mishra
This poem is based around the fact that learning different languages is a real challenge, especially learning the English language. This can relate to the next poem...
English pronunciation -
This poem relates to how different words with exactly the same spelling or ending of the word e.g. tear (from an eye) and tear (rip your trousers) are pronounced, which shows the sheer difficulty of anyone learning the English language such as foreigners or young children.
My poem -
People ask why the English language is so difficult
so let me tell you why.
Words said so differently,
yet have the same spelling incidentally.
Tear and tear, steak and streak
How can newcomers cope?
With the language frequently changing
there is so much false hope.
Tuesday, 29 September 2015
Tuesday, 22 September 2015
How the English language is changing over time
How the English language is changing over time
Unsurprisingly, the English language is being revolutionized from what it originally was, with the increasingly frequent formality of younger generations having access to technology and social media, which seems has made a substantial influence on the growth of slang and informal language being a recurrent factor in their day to day vocabulary.
With the world of technology advancing and an increasing number of people using social media and instant messaging, a growing patois seems to be looming over users, brainwashing them into using this new language brimming with slang and non-formal English. With the teenage generation being the guilty party everyone seems to be blaming for what some people are calling a 'catastrophe' because of the decline of how the English language is valued, over 85% of parents of teenage social media users claim that it seems their children use a completely different language when on the online world, consequently feeling bewildered at the language used.
Many slang words such as 'bae' and acronyms such as 'ICYMI' (in case you missed it) are unheard of for the older generations, whereas other acronyms such as 'yolo' and 'lol' have been heard of, suggesting that the use of these are really sweeping over Britain because of instant messaging and social media sites, as adults have even come across certain acronyms.
Even football pundits speaking on television or the whole world to see have been guilty of falling into a trap of using non-standard English. Jamie Redknapp has previously used the word literally a number of times, for example, "he had to cut back inside on to his left, because he literally doesn't have a right foot". For a man who isn't classed as the younger generation anymore, and the fact that he appears on tv to a wide audience frequently indicates that he should know what standard English to use, but the world of social media (which a lot of celebrities use) and the advancing world of technology has impacted on him.
Unsurprisingly, the English language is being revolutionized from what it originally was, with the increasingly frequent formality of younger generations having access to technology and social media, which seems has made a substantial influence on the growth of slang and informal language being a recurrent factor in their day to day vocabulary.
With the world of technology advancing and an increasing number of people using social media and instant messaging, a growing patois seems to be looming over users, brainwashing them into using this new language brimming with slang and non-formal English. With the teenage generation being the guilty party everyone seems to be blaming for what some people are calling a 'catastrophe' because of the decline of how the English language is valued, over 85% of parents of teenage social media users claim that it seems their children use a completely different language when on the online world, consequently feeling bewildered at the language used.
Many slang words such as 'bae' and acronyms such as 'ICYMI' (in case you missed it) are unheard of for the older generations, whereas other acronyms such as 'yolo' and 'lol' have been heard of, suggesting that the use of these are really sweeping over Britain because of instant messaging and social media sites, as adults have even come across certain acronyms.
Even football pundits speaking on television or the whole world to see have been guilty of falling into a trap of using non-standard English. Jamie Redknapp has previously used the word literally a number of times, for example, "he had to cut back inside on to his left, because he literally doesn't have a right foot". For a man who isn't classed as the younger generation anymore, and the fact that he appears on tv to a wide audience frequently indicates that he should know what standard English to use, but the world of social media (which a lot of celebrities use) and the advancing world of technology has impacted on him.
Thursday, 17 September 2015
Spoken text in written text
From findings over the past few days, I was able to find numerous companies that use slogans with spoken elements included in them.
One example is a McDonalds slogan, " i'm lovin' it ". Firstly, this shows that they are confident in their products, as they presume that people will be thinking the same as their slogan that they are "lovin' it". The feature of leaving out the g at the end of what should be 'loving' adds a spoken element; McDonalds may have included this to sound like a customer who is talking to their friends, saying that they are enjoying the food.
Burger King's slogan " Have it your way " uses direct address to really engage with the text reader, adding the feature of spoken text as it sounds as if they are talking to its potential customers. This slogan also gives away the fact that they are advertising the wide range of food they have to offer, as customers can have it 'their way', meaning they can choose and change anything thy want; this combines good advertising with the effect of spoken text in written text.
" You're better off at Asda " is a slogan that Asda adopts; straight away there are features of spoken text due to the apostrophe instead of a space and an 'a', allowing them to show "you're". This may be used to sound like a person recommending Asda to a friend. Furthermore, this shows that Asda are confident, as they are trying to lure people away from using rival supermarkets by stating they would be 'better off' at Asda, be it better off in terms of money or products on offer.
From other class discussions and rounding up different examples from different companies, conclusions were made that many companies use synthetic personalisation to try and persuade the text reader that they know them personally, for example L'Oreal using " You're worth it "; this shows that they are communicating with their target audience through spoken text, relating to them to think that they are 'worth it' and will entice them to go to the shop and potentially buy products. This is similar with Coca Cola who on their bottles presented, " Share a coke with..." and then a name at the end. If a person had a name on a bottle, they may feel that they have a connection with Coca Cola, and may want to buy a bottle to keep.
One example is a McDonalds slogan, " i'm lovin' it ". Firstly, this shows that they are confident in their products, as they presume that people will be thinking the same as their slogan that they are "lovin' it". The feature of leaving out the g at the end of what should be 'loving' adds a spoken element; McDonalds may have included this to sound like a customer who is talking to their friends, saying that they are enjoying the food.
Burger King's slogan " Have it your way " uses direct address to really engage with the text reader, adding the feature of spoken text as it sounds as if they are talking to its potential customers. This slogan also gives away the fact that they are advertising the wide range of food they have to offer, as customers can have it 'their way', meaning they can choose and change anything thy want; this combines good advertising with the effect of spoken text in written text.
" You're better off at Asda " is a slogan that Asda adopts; straight away there are features of spoken text due to the apostrophe instead of a space and an 'a', allowing them to show "you're". This may be used to sound like a person recommending Asda to a friend. Furthermore, this shows that Asda are confident, as they are trying to lure people away from using rival supermarkets by stating they would be 'better off' at Asda, be it better off in terms of money or products on offer.
From other class discussions and rounding up different examples from different companies, conclusions were made that many companies use synthetic personalisation to try and persuade the text reader that they know them personally, for example L'Oreal using " You're worth it "; this shows that they are communicating with their target audience through spoken text, relating to them to think that they are 'worth it' and will entice them to go to the shop and potentially buy products. This is similar with Coca Cola who on their bottles presented, " Share a coke with..." and then a name at the end. If a person had a name on a bottle, they may feel that they have a connection with Coca Cola, and may want to buy a bottle to keep.
How English language is being valued or devalued
http://hallaslanguageblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/as-language-computer-room-lesson-150915.html
The article in this blog is interesting, as it analyses the new 'language' that is sweeping across London and possibly to come other areas of the country. This langauge is a new multi-ethnic dialogue that stretches language from Cockney to Bengali; this is possibly devaluing the original English language, as new slang words are becoming the normality in spoken language, for example some of the words in this article are 'nang' translating to good and 'creps' for trainers. Speech like this may have evolved as people (or the Londoners who originated this type of language) want to stand out from the rest in their own unique way, and feel that is their way of allowing themselves to be more comfortbale in the way the talk and communicate.
“We’re not trying to devalue patois, we’re trying to teach the kids that there is a time and a place for it.” This quote from a head teacher of a school shows that they are not happy with the constant use of patois that is sweeping over Britain.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/13/literally-broken-english-language-definition
This article is very intriguing, as straight away it catches your eye from the title of the article, containing the word 'literally' - but in its misused manner, something we have discussed in class and is featured in my previous blog. From them using it as a title, it shows just how much they believe that the English language is changing, and in their words, 'broken', due to the frequent occurrence of people misusing words. Although many may think that this started quite recently, it came as a shock to me to find out that the misuse of 'literally' (most probably the catalyst for all other misuses of different words) started in 1827.
Despite that fact, this generation as a whole have contributed to the demise of the English language (in my opinion) through the constant wrong application of words, such as 'literally'.
Texting and instant messaging is another factor that contributes towards the decline of the English language and how it is constantly changing. When texting and instant messaging over various social media sites, users want to talk and get their thoughts across as quickly as possible, thus why a lot of non-standard English is used such as abbreviations (lol) and slang. This then gets transferred to being used in spoken language,changing young teenagers and younger people's perception of the English language, and how much some people value it.
The article in this blog is interesting, as it analyses the new 'language' that is sweeping across London and possibly to come other areas of the country. This langauge is a new multi-ethnic dialogue that stretches language from Cockney to Bengali; this is possibly devaluing the original English language, as new slang words are becoming the normality in spoken language, for example some of the words in this article are 'nang' translating to good and 'creps' for trainers. Speech like this may have evolved as people (or the Londoners who originated this type of language) want to stand out from the rest in their own unique way, and feel that is their way of allowing themselves to be more comfortbale in the way the talk and communicate.
“We’re not trying to devalue patois, we’re trying to teach the kids that there is a time and a place for it.” This quote from a head teacher of a school shows that they are not happy with the constant use of patois that is sweeping over Britain.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/13/literally-broken-english-language-definition
This article is very intriguing, as straight away it catches your eye from the title of the article, containing the word 'literally' - but in its misused manner, something we have discussed in class and is featured in my previous blog. From them using it as a title, it shows just how much they believe that the English language is changing, and in their words, 'broken', due to the frequent occurrence of people misusing words. Although many may think that this started quite recently, it came as a shock to me to find out that the misuse of 'literally' (most probably the catalyst for all other misuses of different words) started in 1827.
Despite that fact, this generation as a whole have contributed to the demise of the English language (in my opinion) through the constant wrong application of words, such as 'literally'.
Texting and instant messaging is another factor that contributes towards the decline of the English language and how it is constantly changing. When texting and instant messaging over various social media sites, users want to talk and get their thoughts across as quickly as possible, thus why a lot of non-standard English is used such as abbreviations (lol) and slang. This then gets transferred to being used in spoken language,changing young teenagers and younger people's perception of the English language, and how much some people value it.
Sunday, 13 September 2015
Class findings of liked and disliked words
Taboo words
Clunge - liked
Be***nd - liked
Shag - disliked
C*nt - disliked
Slut - disliked
From this we can tell that most taboo words are disliked, understandably due to the nature of the words, which some people may take offence to or generally dislike.
Non standard uses
Literally - disliked
Like - disliked
Sweat - disliked
Trust - disliked
Mint - disliked
As shown above, from the class discussions, every word that is misused in non standard uses is disliked; this could be because, as an english language class, we expect words to be used in their correct meanings, therefore disliking and possibly getting annoyed at words like the ones above which are regularly used in non standard uses.
Adjectives
Amazing - liked
Lush - liked
Naive - liked
Inconvenient- liked
Peng - disliked
Sanguine - liked
Moist - disliked
Apart from the odd few words which could be classed as slang adjectives and not real ones (peng), the majority of adjectives spoke about in class were liked.
Food
Nugget - disliked
Gravy - disliked
Asparagus - disliked
Honey - liked
Sprout - disliked
For some apparent reason, the majority of the words in the food category discussed in class were disliked, with 'honey' being the only liked word. This may be because of people's unique tastes in foods and liking or disliking the taste, therefore gaining a disliked for the word.
Clunge - liked
Be***nd - liked
Shag - disliked
C*nt - disliked
Slut - disliked
From this we can tell that most taboo words are disliked, understandably due to the nature of the words, which some people may take offence to or generally dislike.
Non standard uses
Literally - disliked
Like - disliked
Sweat - disliked
Trust - disliked
Mint - disliked
As shown above, from the class discussions, every word that is misused in non standard uses is disliked; this could be because, as an english language class, we expect words to be used in their correct meanings, therefore disliking and possibly getting annoyed at words like the ones above which are regularly used in non standard uses.
Adjectives
Amazing - liked
Lush - liked
Naive - liked
Inconvenient- liked
Peng - disliked
Sanguine - liked
Moist - disliked
Apart from the odd few words which could be classed as slang adjectives and not real ones (peng), the majority of adjectives spoke about in class were liked.
Food
Nugget - disliked
Gravy - disliked
Asparagus - disliked
Honey - liked
Sprout - disliked
For some apparent reason, the majority of the words in the food category discussed in class were disliked, with 'honey' being the only liked word. This may be because of people's unique tastes in foods and liking or disliking the taste, therefore gaining a disliked for the word.
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