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.

Language Articles

How new words are born? - Andy Bodle
http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2016/feb/04/english-neologisms-new-words
'English speakers already have over a million words at our disposal – so why are we adding 1,000 new ones a year to the lexicon? And how?'


Form: An article written for the language section for the Guardian Broadsheet Newspaper
Purpose: To entertain as well as inform readers about how and why so many new words are created and printed into the dictionary each year
Audience: The older generations - perhaps around 40+


This article is one in which discusses reasons why we (the English) continuously seem to create new words and it also explains how we create these 'new' words - which is by one of the 13 mechanisms; Derivation, Back formation, Compounding, Repurposing, Conversion, Eponyms, Abbreviations, Loanwords, Onomatopeia, Reduplication, Nonce words, Error or Portmanteaus. The article then goes on to explain briefly that how in the past, some now English words have actually come from other languages such as French and Dutch.





It's what you have to say, not how you say it - Gary Nunn
http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2015/nov/27/its-what-you-have-to-say-not-how-you-say-it
'In an age of linguistic equality, you don’t need to betray your origins or change your accent to be eloquent'



How speech and language determine success in the workplace - Judith Baxter
http://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2013/jun/03/speech-language-determine-success-workplace
'Do you alter your speech patterns depending on the company you keep? Research shows that women who can speak like men in the boardroom will be more successful at work'


We deride them as ‘migrants’. Why not call them people? - David Marsh
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/28/migrants-people-refugees-humanity
'The term is badly tarnished after years of abuse by those who seek to strip refugees of their humanity'

Terminology

http://www.slideshare.net/BCALevels/alevel-english-glossary

Language and Gender Revision

Robin Lakoff (1975) and the deficit model
The influence of Robin Lakoff's Language and Woman's Place on the study of language and gender is undeniable. In Twenty Years After Language and Woman's Place, the original text's editor Mary Bucholtz offers a reminder that the work was, at the time of publication, ‘met with widespread criticism’. In the introduction to the book, Lakoff admits: ‘It is my impression, though I do not have precise statistical evidence’. This is evidenced in her use of language in the book; there are no statistics but phrases such as ‘many men’, ‘men tend to’. Despite this, Bucholtz argues that ‘it launched a far reaching program of research on language and gender whose effects we still feel today’. What is very clear is that Lakoff's work is still often quoted today and its list of the main features of female speech remains an integral part of language and gender discussion:

1. 1Hedges: Phrases like ‘sort of’, ‘kind of’, ‘it seems like’
2. 2Empty adjectives: ‘divine’, ‘adorable’, ‘gorgeous’
3. 3Super-polite forms: ‘Would you mind …’, ‘Is it Ok if …?’
4. 4Apologise more: ‘I'm sorry, but I think that …’
5. 5Speak less frequently
6. 6Avoid coarse language or expletives
7. 7Tag questions: ‘You don't mind eating this, do you?’
8. 8Hyper-correct grammar and pronunciation: Use of prestige grammar and clear articulation
9. 9Indirect requests: ‘I'm so thirsty.’ – really asking for a drink
10. 10Speak in italics: Use tone to emphasis certain words, e.g., ‘so’, ‘very’, ‘quite’.

Lakoff's research can be seen as representative of the ‘deficit approach’ or ‘deficit model’ to language and gender. The deficit approach is attributed to Otto Jespersen who, in 1922, argued that male language forms were the ‘norm’ and the language of others (including women) were ‘deficient’. Looking at the list of main female features, it is perhaps apparent why Lakoff sees the language of women to be weaker – indirect requests and the use of apologetic forms do suggest women's language to be less powerful than that of males. Perhaps the use of tag questions or intensifiers may not necessarily be seen as a weaker form. However, Lakoff did see female language to be deficient.

Deborah Tannen and the difference model 
Deborah Tannen was originally a student of Robin Lakoff and her book You Just Don't Understandwas published in 1990. She is an advocate of the difference model (the theory that men and women do speak differently): ‘The desire to affirm that women are equal has made some scholars reluctant to show that they are different. There are gender differences in ways of speaking, and we need to identify and understand them.’ Tannen represents male and female language use in a series of six contrasts to show this difference:

• Status vs Support: Men use language to show power and dominance in conversations; women are more likely to use language choices that support and agree with others.
• Independence vs Intimacy: Men will use language to show they do not need to rely on others; women will prefer to use language as a way of connecting with others and maintaining closeness.
• Advice vs Understanding: Men are more likely to offer solutions to a problem through their language choices; women will show empathy and understanding to a given situation.
• Information vs Feelings: Similar to Tannen's Advice vs Understanding concept, men are far more likely to be factual in their language choices; women, in contrast, will use language choices that are less factual and stem from a more emotional viewpoint.
• Orders vs Proposals: In conversations, men are far more likely to be direct in their language using imperatives to command others; women will avoid such a commanding tone and be more suggestive in their language choices (for example, a man may say ‘Close that window it's cold’ whereas the woman is more likely to say ‘Isn't it cold in here?’ suggesting the window needs to be closed).
• Conflict vs Compromise: Men are more likely to use language to argue a point; women will use language to avoid such conflict and are far more likely to negotiate with others to try and find a solution or compromise.

The difference model certainly offers an alternative view to the deficit model discussed earlier. Tannen is not the only advocate of this theory. Others have also researched how men and women use different strategies and language features in their speech. It is different from the dominance approach – language is not used by men to be dominant although it is different (see Table 15G).

Table 15G

The difference model research
Jennifer Coates (1989)	Coates argues that girls and boys tend to belong to same-sex friendship groups when growing up and subsequently develop different styles of speaking. Coates theorises that female language is cooperative in single-sex conversations. She views tag questions and modality as characteristics that help to make women's talk supportive and cooperative.
Jane Pilkington (1992)	Pilkington found that women in same sex conversations were collaborative and used positive politeness strategies. She found that men in same sex talk were a lot less collaborative, less complimentary and less supportive than women.

New exclamation mark rules – proof that The Man wants to penalise enthusiasm!

http://www.theguardian.com/education/shortcuts/2016/mar/07/new-exclamation-mark-rules-proof-the-government-wants-to-penalise-enthusiasm
New guidelines from the Department for Education suggest that primary school children should only use ‘!’ in sentences starting with ‘what’ or ‘how’. How strange!

Ikea Article and Forum (One Paragraph Analysis)

Ikea Guardian Article-Throughout this article, it is clear to see that the writer uses a huge range of hyperboles. For example in the title, 'Come on, Ikea, stop trying to put the hell in healthy'. The hyperbole here is shown through the noun phrase 'hell in healthy', which he is clearly over exaggerating to create a sense of humour. The abstract noun 'hell' has many bad connotations such as fire, death and evil; which people wouldn't hear together with 'healthy' very often. As well as this at the beginning of this utterance, the writer uses the phrase 'come on', this is an example of hybrid language and creates a sense of chattiness to the article, which makes it more entertaining for the readers.

Ikea Review Forum-

Furthermore, in this article the user 'Nicholas H' says 'The wife coaxed me shopping with the promise of the breakfast at IKEA'. The fact that he uses the determiner 'the' in front of the noun suggests that his wife is an object. The noun 'wife', people would often link to many positive connotations such as loving and caring. However here, it almost sounds like she means nothing to the user - it isn't at all personal. If the man was being personal he would have said 'my wife'; which sounds more polite and respectful. The determiner 'my' in front of the noun perhaps sounds like he is proud to call her that and he is proud that she is his, the determiner 'the' however, which is what the user used to describe her, almost suggests that she belongs to him, which can come across as quite rude and arrogant. Despite all this however, the fact that the user uses this type of language may just highlight the fact that the website is quite informal and it is just there for people to give advice to one another - as some might say, it is just a little bit of banter; which creates a friendly and humorous vibe to the forum.

Most Muslim Coverage is 'Negative'?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7495384.stm
Dr Paul Mason, a member of the team, said the team looked at three areas. They carried out a statistical analysis looking at types of stories and the way Muslims were described and the language used, the photographs used alongside the stories and they analysed the types of case studies used.

He said: "We looked at both nouns and adjectives and he way in which British Muslims were described.
"And we found the highest proportion of nouns used were about things like extremism, suicide bombers, militancy, radicalism - which accounted for over 35% of the adjectives used about British Muslims - fanatic, fundamentalist - those kinds of languages were used.