Accent Opinion Article - Bristol Facts

-First ever chocolate bar made in Broadmead in 1847
-Ribena invented in Bristol
-Home to John Cabot; set sail on the Matthew in search for discovery of new land - discovered mainland America
-European Green Capital in 2015




Bristol; the European Green Capital, the inventors of the first ever chocolate bar and of course the home city to Russell Howard and Banksy. I'm from Bristol, and all people associate me and my fellow Bristolians with farmers -- possibly due to our very predominant 'alright me lover' 'cheers drive' and 'gert lush' vocabulary.

Language and Gender Essay

Language and gender is an ever increasing hot topic for linguists to study. The main debate when considering language and gender is the 3D's theory; Dominance, Deficit and Difference. The dominance theory is one in which females are seen as the subordinate group, who's difference in language is the possible effect of male power; not only in language but also society - we live in a patriarchal society, one run by mainly men. The deficit approach is similar to the dominance approach in a sense that males have power over females - it refers to the male language as the norm and females as the deficient group. The difference theory is one in which males and females are from different 'sub-cultures' as they have been told to do so since childhood. The question really is, do males and females speak differently? If yes, why they do? And are the differences biologically or socially determined?


                                  
                                     EXPLAIN STIMULUS AND LINK TO THEORIES
















The dominance theory is one where females are seen as the subordinate group, who's difference in their use of language is the effect of patriarchy (male power). Dale Spender in her book 'Man Made Language' (1980) refers to male language as the norm and expresses her own idea of patriarchal order. She states that 'it is very hard to challenge this power system, as the way we think of the world is part of and reinforced this male power'. Zimmerman and West (1983) also explored the dominance theory - their conclusion was based on a short study of mixed-sex conversations where they found that men interrupted more than women; (LINK TO STIMULUS?) They go on to state that males dominate conversations and their tendency to do so is the effect of our patriarchal society that we live in today. They state that the reason that men tend to interrupt is to gain this power.


However, Geoffrey Beattie (another linguist) challenges what Zimmerman and West stated as he found that interruptions don't necessarily mean dominance and power. He said that interruptions come from other factors such as interest and involvement in conversation.


The deficit theory was explored by Robin Lakoff. In her book 'Language and Women's Place' (1975) she came up with a list of basic assumptions which she believed constructed the female language. Amongst these assumptions, she says that women tend to use tag questions, hedges, super-polite forms and apologise much more than men. One of the most controversial assumptions Lakoff stated was that women tend to speak less frequently. But doesn't how often we speak, have more to do with our personality traits than our gender? (LINK TO STIMULUS?) Pamela Fishman in her book 'The Work Women Do' (1990) challenges Lakoff's findings. She states that women ask questions; not because of their personality weaknesses but to show a sign of involvement; 'questions are conversation attributes'. Fishman says that women ask questions because of the power of these, and not because of their personality weaknesses.




Deborah Tannen explores the difference theory. In her book 'You Just Don't Understand' (1990) she released a series of six contrasts which she believed explained the differences between male and female language. For example, one of these contrasts was Advice VS Understanding. This suggests that to many men a complaint is a challenge to find a solution and they like to show off with their knowledge whereas women like to sympathise and relate. Another contrast is Conflict VS Compromise. This suggests that men like to compete for power in conversation, whereas women like to avoid conflict all together and come to an understanding. (LINK TO STIMULUS?)



Furthermore, Deborah Cameron (1995) also explores the difference theory. She expresses her own idea of 'verbal hygiene' and states that no matter what 'males and females have normative expectations for the mode of speech for their gender, and in different circumstances and situations, they will always fall back on it'. This is perhaps why men feel as though they need to have power? Because they are expected and pressured through society to do so?


In conclusion, it is clear to see that there is no right or wrong answer when coming to a decision why men and women speak differently, or if they do indeed at all. Along with the linguists I have mentioned , there are also some linguists who believe that the differences present in our language aren't to do with our gender. Janet Hyde for example, who is a more contemporary linguist, states that 'where there are differences, they are due to other contextual factors, such as age, occupation, education...' (COME TO CONCLUSION WITH STIMULUS - LINK TO THEORIES) Again, we have to ask the question are the differences in the way that males and females speak due to biological or social factors?

Steven Pinker Quotes

“Syntax is complex, but the complexity is there for a reason. For our thoughts are surely even more complex, and we are limited by a mouth that can pronounce a single word at a time.”
― Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language    


“Humans are so innately hardwired for language that they can no more suppress their ability to learn and use language than they can suppress the instinct to pull a hand back from a hot surface.”
― Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language


“The very concept of imitation is suspect to begin with (if children are general imitators, why don’t they imitate their parents’ habit of sitting quietly in airplanes?),”
― Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language    


“Syntax is complex, but the complexity is there for a reason. For our thoughts are surely even more complex, and we are limited by a mouth that can pronounce a single word at a time.” ― Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language

Steven Fry Quotes

http://www.stephenfry.com/2008/11/dont-mind-your-language%E2%80%A6/


-“Language is the universal whore that I must make into a virgin"
-"My language is my language and it is a piece of who I am"

Paper 2 - OPINION BASED ARTICLE - Things to include

-Be specific about audience e.g. broadsheet? tabloid? age? educated? middle-class?
-In first paragraph address audience
-1st person perspective, 2nd person address
-Rhetorical questions - assumed agreement .e.g 'you know what it's like to...'
-Intro needs to sum up opinion
-Second paragraph refer to stimulus text - show own opinion on it (make it up if needs be//use quotes from text)
-Third paragraph - provide theories, names and quotes
-Fourth paragraph - perhaps offer critique to the theories - relate to present times
-Conclusion us discourse markers

Throughout use similes, metaphors, humour and rhetorical questions to keep the reader interested!!

Paper 2 - LANGUAGE AND GENDER - Essay Plan

Paragraph 1-
-INTRO - Increasing hot topic/main debate - 3D's
-Dominance - females = subordinate, difference in language effect of male power (language and society;patriarchal)
-Deficit - similar ^^ male language = norm and females are deficient
-Difference - males and females from different 'sub-cultures' - told to do so since childhood
-Finish with rhetorical questions e.g. 'biological or social?'

Paragraph 2-

-LINK TO STIMULUS MATERIAL

Paragraph 3-
-DOMINANCE - explain as intro
-Dale Spender - 'Man Made Language' 1980, male language = norm own idea of patriarchal order; states that it is 'very hard to challenge this power system, as the way we think of the world is part of and reinforces this male power'
-Zimmerman and West 1983 - conclusion based on a study of mixed-sex conversations where men interrupted more (link to stimulus?) males dominate conversations and this creates patriarchal society - men want to gain power

Paragraph 4-
-Geoffrey Beattie challenges Zimmerman and West and states that interruptions don't necessarily mean dominance - they can be strung from other factors such as interest and involvement

Paragraph 5-
-DEFICIT - Robin Lakoff 1975 in her book 'Language and Women's Place' - list of assumptions that constructs female language - women tend to use more tag questions, hedges, super polite forms and apologise more - most controversial = women speak less frequently - doesn't how often we speak have more to do with our personality traits rather than simply our gender? #
-Pamela Fishman 1990 'Work Women Do' challenges Lakoff 'Women ask questions, not because of their personality weaknesses but to show a sign of involvement, questions are conversation attributes' and Fishman says that women ask questions because of the power of these and not because of their personality weaknesses

Paragraph 6-
-DIFFERENCE - Deborah Cameron 1990 - 6 contrasts; e.g. Advice VS Understanding - suggests men like to come to a solution to a problem and impress with their knowledge whereas women like to sympathise and relate - e.g. Conflict VS Agreement - men compete for power in conversation (dominate) whereas women like to avoid conflict wherever possible (perhaps link to stimulus?)
-Deborah Cameron 1995 'males and females have normative expectations for their gender, and in different circumstances and situations, they will always fall back on it' - rhetorical questions e.g. 'Perhaps this is why men feel pressured to be powerful in all aspects of life'

Paragraph 7-
-CONC - no right or wrong answer
- Janet Hyde - more contemporary suggests that 'where there are differences, they are due to other contextual factors such as age, occupation, education...'
-Come to a conclusion of the stimulus and link to theories spoken about
-End with the same rhetorical questions as intro

Mock Answer - Paper 1 - Textual Variations and Representations

Analyse how Text A uses language to create meanings and representations. (25 marks)

 

Text A is an online forum for ‘Mumsnet’ on the topic of school proms. We can see this as the logo is presented at the top left hand corner and the title of the forum reads ‘…school proms – aaargh!’. This suggests that the forum may be one in which the participants are against school proms, highlighted in the use of the negative non-standard lexis ‘aaargh!’. The forums purpose is for mums to seek reassurance from other mums that what they think/are doing is the right thing. The website is aimed at parents, highlighted in the websites moto ‘By parents, for parents’ however, mostly for women as the name of the site makes clear – ‘Mumsnet’.

Firstly, we can see that the users of the site use informal language, for example, she starts by saying ‘Okay, I admit’. This brings quite a chatty and friendly tone to the forum as it is if she is speaking it, not writing it. The verb used, ‘admit’ suggests that the user knows the topic she is writing about could possibly create some debate as, if you are ‘admitting’ something it usually means that you don’t really want to express it or tell anyone about it. The user ‘Woolleyideas’ also in her first argument uses a range of field-specific lexis, such as ‘school’, ‘limo’ and ‘disco’. These all make it clear what she is writing about and show that it is all relevant which gives the other users a conversation which is then easier to reply to.

Furthermore, the user ‘Woolleyideas’ also users a range of rhetorical questions. This is a typically female feature of speech, as it perhaps shows she is looking for reassurance from the other users. For example, ‘What sane parent would want to pay an entry fee to go to a ‘prom fair’?’ Not only does this show that the user is seeking reassurance but it also highlights how much she cares for her children as she uses the auxiliary verb ‘would’ before ‘want’ in the interrogative. This shows that women ‘want’ to do the right things for their children and one of the ways they seek reassurance that they are doing so through this website.

Following on from this, the user also uses the interrogative ‘Who are those sort of parents who think this sort of expenditure…?’ The determiner ‘these’ almost shows that the user is categorising these parents in a bad way. This therefore creates some debate with those parents who do in fact think that it is okay – what the user is saying could be seen as quite rude to other users on the site.

Further on in the forum, another user ‘Muckycarpet’ replies with ‘It’s one night they’ll never forget, Don’t be a grump!’. This shows that perhaps a debate was in fact created. The exclamatory sentence with the use of the noun ‘grump’ could then offend the user ‘Woolleyideas’ however she then quickly says after ‘Although the helicopter is way OTT!’ The use of the discourse marker ‘although’ takes away the fact that she is disagreeing with her and after which she uses the acronym ‘OTT’ which makes what she is saying more informal and quite friendly. The use of the acronym ‘OTT’ could be seen as the sociolect of teenagers; perhaps showing also that mums try and fit in with their children and maybe want wish to be younger again.

Throughout the forum, it is clear to see that the users use non-standard English and that they’re quite laid back with the language that they choose to use. For example, they’ve used slang such as ‘max’ and ‘naff’ – again highlighting the friendly tone of the site. Also, throughout the site, the users use adjacency pairs; creating a sense of conversation and cooperation from the women – again a typical female feature. The use of the adjacency pairs also suggests that the site is a hybrid of spoken written language.

Overall, it is clear to see that the website is a place in which mums seek reassurance that they are doing the right things for their children. As well as this, with the use of acronyms such as ‘OTT’ and ‘DD’ is suggests that the one ways parents (but mums especially) try to be good parents is through trying to fit in by using the sociolect of teenage speak. The time phrase ‘back in the day’ highlights that the women perhaps wish to be young again and also suggests that the users on the site have a sense of community – as they are all in the same place and have most experienced the same things.

Analyse how Text B uses language to create meanings and representations. (25 marks)

 

Text B is an article for a tabloid newspaper ‘The Mirror’ – highlighted with the logo in the top left hand corner. It is discussing how young boys are starting to care more and spend more money on their school proms, suggested in the title ‘Boys now spending almost as much as girls on their prom outfits’. The purpose of the article is to discuss the issues surrounding this and also to entertain those who read it. The audience is perhaps of the families of young boys and also the young boys themselves. The families would also perhaps be of the middle-class as the article talks about the proms being perhaps too expensive.

 

Firstly, the article states ‘image-conscious teenage lads are going for a slick, groomed look’. The adjective ‘image-conscious’ used to describe young boys suggests that young boys are becoming more aware of what they look like, just as much as teenage girls. The boys are also looking up to role models, such as Daniel Craig highlighted in the image situated in the left of the article. The noun phrase ‘teenage-lads’ is an example of sociolect. The noun ‘lads’ is one in which young boys use – perhaps suggesting that the article is also aimed at them, as it would be relatable for that group.

 

Role models such as Daniel Craig aren’t the only thing that is influencing young teenage boys. The adjective ‘American-style’ suggests that teenagers are getting influences from American films and TV programmes. In America, they are very extravagant with their proms, perhaps making young boys in the UK feel as though that is what proms should be like. Following on from this,the articles states that ‘boys are kitting themselves out with cufflinks, cumberlands, and silk hankies’. This suggests that to boys, perhaps it is becoming a competition of ‘who can look the best at prom?’ It only takes one person to get these things and everyone else will start to have desires of having these luxuries also.

 

Furthermore, the article uses field-specific lexis throughout, such as ‘makeover’, ‘tuxedos’ and ‘spray tans’. This use of language creates a real stereotype of what comes to mind when people think of prom nowadays. However, they usually think more of girls when they think of proms –as boys didn’t really used to care. However the use of statistics in this article suggests that this is changing. After this, the article states the fact that ‘boys are spending on average £385 on the school prom, compared to girls who blow £467.25’. The verb ‘blow’ highlights how much money teenagers are spending. It almost has negative connotations and suggests that maybe proms are becoming too extreme and unnecessary. The fact that the article expresses this view also highlights the audience of the article – perhaps middle-class.

 

Overall, the article is written to discuss the reasons why boys are becoming more worried about looking their best for school prom. It expresses it in an informal register - shown through the use of slang such as ‘glam’ - which is also more relatable for the audience as well as describing proms nowadays ‘too expensive’. 

 

Compare and contrast Text A and Text B, showing ways in which they are similar and

different in their language use. (20 marks)

Text A and text B have many similarities and differences. Text A is a forum about school proms, mostly aimed at mums, whereas Text B is an article discussing why ‘teenage-lads’ are becoming more ‘image-conscious’ and are beginning to care more about what they look like at their school proms, which is mostly aimed at middle-class families with teenage boys.

Both articles have negative views on proms as a whole. In both texts they suggest that proms are too expensive and suggest that the amount of money that parent’s feel they need to spend on proms is quite ridiculous. For example, in text A, the user ‘Woolleyideas’ uses the interrogative ‘What sort of parent would want to pay an entry fee?’ and texts B states that ‘girls blow £467.25’. The adjective ‘blow’ suggests that this amount of money is unnecessary. Both of these are examples of the texts expressing or complaining that school proms as too expensive – highlighting that both texts are aimed at parents; the ones who will be paying for it.

Furthermore, text A is set out in adjacency pairs as it is an online forum, whereas text B is an article. Text A features women seeking reassurance from other mums that what they are doing is the right thing and text B is there to slightly entertain the readers – as well as to discuss. In text A the users reply to each other, for example when the user webwiz says ‘Prom fair :O’ and the user Woolleyideas replies with ‘Yep, prom fair… bit like a wedding fayre but for your precious teens’. This creates a friendly tone to the website and creates quite a chatty, laidback register, as well as this it shows that the website is used as a hybrid for spoken written language. Unlike text A, text B is set out more of an article. Although slightly informal, it is set out in a very formal way – it has a very specific structure.