17th century text analysis

This text is a recipe from the 17th century, pragmatically, the audience would be the woman of the household as she would be incharge of the family's meals. This recipe is from a book, it is fairly formal as it was written for the use of a book. The discourse structure is a sequenced list for both the whole text and the recipes in their singular entity, the recipes are listed off numerically showing there is a structured order and shows the difference between the separate recipes.

Graphologically, all the titles for each paragraph are in italics, this indicates the content of the recipe and allows the housewife to understand what it is that she is making, as there is no pictures this is the only indication of what the end product will be, this was the main indication of the time period due to the lack of technology, enabling photographs to be taken and printed into the recipe books. Each recipe begins with a space, this makes it clear that there is a new recipe to be followed. Within the text the 's' are written as 'f', at the time this was the way 's's were standardised this way. Another example of the change of standardisation in the written form of letters is the written from of 'w', within the text it is written as two 'v', this is a representation of the change over time as we have merged this two singular letters to cause a new standardisation of the letter 'w'.

The lexis is within the semantic field of food and cooking as this is a book with a wide range of recipes. Within the text there are lexis which have undergone a semantic shift into a negative field, ie the second recipe uses the ingredient 'Mutton', during this time period it would have been taking for its literal meaning of a meat, however over time the lexis has shifted in to negative space and is used to describe a woman who is old that is dressed like a tart in the phrase 'mutton dressed as lamb', this shows that over the time period it has taken negative connotations to change its meaning. The lexical choice of  'Calves feet'  represents the transiation of language and culture over time, this dish is no longer a part of the British palette, this may be due to a wider range of flavour accessible to us via trade and globalisation.

Grammatically, there are many features within the text that show the transition and transformation of language over time. As this text is from the 17th century grammar rules were few, therefore those who were able to write wrote as they wished. This is shown in the irregular capitalisation of nouns within the text. For example, 'Spinage' 'Mutton' 'beef-suet', the first two examples are capitalised in the text whereas the last example is not even though it is a noun, this shows the lack of rules within language and grammar of the time.The text is full of imperative and declarative sentences as it is a recipe, which is a list of instructions which are to be followed in order to get the correct end result.

broken homes article

‘Broken homes damage brains of infant children’

After reading an article which revolves around the minds of neglected and undeveloped minds I agree with the fact that it is the fault of the parents that do not care and develop their own children’s minds. I believe that it is the parent’s responsibility to stimulate their child’s mental development and prepare them for their future education. For the first 3 years of a child’s life it is mainly spent in the company of their parents, therefor it should be down to the parents to teach them a basic vocabulary and a necessary skill set which will be needed when they enter reception.

As much as I agree with the content of this article I disagree with serval statements and ideas within it. For instance I do not agree with the idea that the lack of support at home damages they’re brains. Although they are not set at the same academic ability of those of the same age but stronger family backgrounds, they are not damaged, their minds are still fully capable of adapting and soaking up knowledge that other children of their age group have learnt at home. The will be hindered as they are learning at a slower rate and are catching up to others but there is no reason for them not to be able to academically succeed as they continue they’re education. The idea of coming from a broken home may also help them with emotional problems, although they will have come from a house of mixed emotions it may enable them to deal with emotions and have a sense of self control which those from nuclear homes may have not experienced.

I remain to agree with this article as it highlights key points about children with a lack of support beginning at a lower age mentality than others, I do not believe it is impossible to break out of and I believe that a broken home does not mean that they cannot go on to be mentally and academically capable in the future.

language change;gender

Spinster
The true meaning of spinster is that it is a woman who practices spinning for a regular occupation. The word originated from the 13th century where it began to be regarded with spinning. However, over time the word has semantically shifted towards a negative space and has undergone derogation and has taken the meaning of being a woman which no man wants. This derogation has always had a connection with a single woman as the hobby of spinning was believed to be taken up in order to fill time which would have been spent with a man and to prevent boredom from a single woman, however the shift has caused the idea of spinning to be dropped from the meaning but the idea of an unwanted woman has remained in the current connotations of the word.


Bachelor


The original meaning was that it was a knight who was of a young age and a lack of experience, due to his youth he was unable to support himself in the war grounds. The 14th century meaning still discuss' the idea of a male who is young, fresh and strong , which is still the association which the 21st century make with the lexis. The word has undergone derogation and now takes the meaning of a free spirited independent man who maintains a care-free lifestyle. The word is associated with the male youth however , due to the change in context (the  abolishment of knights) the word has semantically shift it has taken of positive space , it previously had connotations with cowards , whereas now it has connotations which being a 'lad' and freedom.


Mistress


The original meaning of the word mistress was a woman who has control and authority , mainly with regards to children. The initial spelling ('maistresse') differs from the recent spelling, this may be due to a shift in meaning or the an alteration in the pronunciation of the word. However, over time the word has differed from its initial meaning , its the 20th century definition discusses the idea that it is a woman , other than a husbands wife, who the male is having sexual relations with. This derogation as shown a semantic shift into negative space. The word now has negative connotations , whereas its 14th century meaning was associated with the positive idea of power and control , which caused those who had these features to be admired.


Master


The lexis master had an initial meaning of power and authority. However, as the female version of master shifted into a negative space overtime the male version remained the same. In the 21st century meaning has no shifted a far from the original meaning as it still is associated with the idea of having authority and power, mainly over children in regards to a school setting.

langauge and gender linguists

Deborah Cameron- Theory of verbal hygiene

Both men and women believe that they have certain expectations about the conduct and mode in which they verbally represent themselves. It is believed that women tend to follow stereotype and follow the instructions of which they are taught on how to speak, which translate into other areas of their gender such as the way in which they are instructed to dress.  However she investigated the learning of grammar and research shown that basic grammar orientated methods used to teach children, regardless of sex, contained verbal hygiene. This is where the content which is used during the cognitive stage of learning is gender neutral and gender holds no influence of the use or content of the information learnt, ie punctuation pyramid. From her findings it is apparent that the context of the situation and is dependent on the environment and topic which is being discussed. For example, a group of girls are likely to use girlification if they are discussing and gender stereotyped topic, such as makeup. She also discovered that we should use non sexes lexis as they can cause offence or segregation.

Muriel Schulz- semantic derogation

Schulz contrasted an essay which explains the semantic derogation of sexes. During her investigation she discovered that there was more negative connotations attached to the lexis associated with women than men. Her study was followed up Julie Stanley who recorded negative connotations which were made towards sexes and expanded her investigation by proving how these lexis shifted between positive and negative connotations via discovering their collocations. She stated that women are unable to shift out of the negative semantic space.

Sara mills

 Mills investigated the various lexical pairs and how they are lexical asymmetric to one another. She also did further research in the correlation between femininity and politeness and masculinity and impoliteness. She also considered whether the politeness used was hereditary. Essentially she focused on the way in which certain genders speak and the hereditary traits in which they entail. 

accent article

 

Teacher ‘told to sound less northern’ after southern Ofsted inspection

 

A school in Berkshire have argued that accent should change when there is interaction with students. I believe that, having read this article ,that this should be the rule for teachers when in the class room. Standard English must be spoken in classrooms.

Teachers are role models to students, the way they speak holds a huge influence on their students, your children. It is an outrage to learn that teacher’s regional colloquialisms and personal pronunciations are being passed on to their younger students. As an adult role model their school teachers has an extreme impact on the way each and every student speaks.  From the age of 4 children are pushed into a schooling environment where they will begin spending at least 5 hours of their day with the same teacher. Allowing teachers to pronounce words with a regional accent encourages the idea of speaking words which are native to the area which only the older generation of the region would understand. How would you feel if you knew that your 4 year old child was being indoctrinated with words that you yourself weren’t familiar with? 

The way teachers pronounce their words has a larger impact than most parents would initially think. Think about it, teachers educate your children on how to spell, with a thick accent how can we expect our children to grasp the correct spelling for wide vocabulary they’ll pick up off of their older peers whilst being in the schooling environment. Let’s say were in the Essex region, in a small country primary school , the teacher possess a thick Essex accent and is simply discussing topics with the children , she mentions the word ‘water’ in her distinctive regional accent , clearly missing out the ‘t’ and the ‘r’ , how do you think your child will spell this word? This is just one example of the abundance of impacts a simple accent can have.

I completely understand that accent is a form of identity but the idea of teaching is based on the ethos that each teacher is there to help and guide the student and to educate them not only their subject but to develop them as a person. What the children learn in school essentially sets them up for their future, whether its learning how to spell accurately at the age of 5 or developing their speech skills at the age of 10, at each stage of their academic life they learn another skill which will become beneficial to them in the future, at each stage they should be provided with the best chance of learning and I believe that this can only be done by the correct manner of teaching.

However, if there is a small part of you that would wish for your child to speak with an accent in order to fulfil your pride within your region then they will still subconsciously obtain that, but it just will not be taught within the classroom environment. As a child they will all have an abundance of friends which they will surround themselves with 24/7, each one of those children will obtain an accent they have developed within their family home, local community or with their circle of friends.  It is vital that within the classroom we’re they grow and develop academically, that they are spoken to in Standard English were all words are fully pronounced in order to allow a quality standard of English to be spoken and spelt. It sets the same high standard of literacy for students nationwide. The idea of diluting accents is only for the benefit of your children and their learning.

Cheshire and Eckert and Attitudes towards accent

Eckert and Cheshire

 

Eckert chose to do in depth research on the different groups within American high schools, she chose to focus mainly on the burnout and the jocks. She studied the language that they used and the difference between there lexical choice, pronunciation and context they used, she then compared these factors against they’re style of upbringing, class and social position in society. In most environments in life there is different groups who alter their pronunciation and grammar in order to fit in with their social group in order to give them a sense of belonging from their group, this happens within all schools, people who originated usually from the same class with the same ethics congregate together and then speak how they are brought up, which will usually be very similar as they are the same class of people. By speaking the same way and sharing certain idioms allows the individuals to identify with each other and find a basses where a relationship can be built.

 

Cheshire chose to do a similar investigation revolving around the speech of school children and how they use their grammar in order to fit in with their friends. I believe that it is true that individuals will change their grammatical choices dependent on who they are with and the topic in which they discussing. Most people would speak differently to their friends into how they speak in a work situation. Most people use a very informal stance when they are speaking to their friends as most situation are informal and relaxed, with a low register. However , situations such as work are formal situations where it is vital that good impressions are made therefore it requires a high register due to the high formality of the situation, less grammatical errors will be made and pronunciation will be clearer and more concise.

 

Within school there will be the usual groups; the popular lot, the nerds and the average. In each of these groups their grammar will change in order to suit the people they are surrounded by. For example, the nerds will usually make very little grammatical errors as they strongly pride themselves on their intelligence and would want to represent themselves in an intellectual manner. However , the average lot of people will not make many grammatically mistake but there will be some. This is because they will be surrounded by people who have similar intellect and they won’t feel as if they have to change their language in order to fit into their social group as they all will usually have similar back grounds. However, the popular group may use more colloquial language in order to identify with a larger group of people, hence why they are known by so many people and are referred to as popular. The more relaxed language they use it become easier to identify with them because the relationship becomes less pressuring, allowing them to build multiple relationships with several groups of people.

 

Attitudes towards language

Accent is only focused around the individual’s pronunciation rather than the context of their speech. Essentially the same language is spoken nationwide however the way the lexis and phonemes are pronounced gives us an insight into their region or origin. An individual will usually make a connection with the accent being spoken with and will create a judgement based upon the way the individual pronounces their words. This is due to the fact that certain accent are originated from regions of the country which have connections with poverty and a lower standard of living , this background knowledge an individual will have an impact on the connection made between the persons accent and the social class they originate from. When someone with a foreign accent begins to speak a negative assumption is likely to be made in association with the accent they speak with. This is because more individuals believe their social group is the most important subconsciously and anyone who can’t identify with social group in a phonological manner. These people are likely to rate social groups according to their class in association with accent. Some view their accent in association with class as well as the grammatical errors which are made in connection with that specific accent. For example, having a thick northern accent , from a poor standard of living area with inadequate quality of education , the context of this person speech is likely to have many grammatical errors , which will then be associated with the accent they speak in , stereo-typing the accent negatively. Just by the accent an individual can form a whole identity of the person speaking.

conversation transcript

A; You wanna tea?
F: (2) Nah you're alright , I'm not really feeling/
A:                                                                 / You sure?
F: Actually yeah I do want one (.) wait for me?
A: Hurry up I'm cold (laughs)
M: Wait (.) where are you going? don't leave me
F: tea , you want one?
M: errrrr (.) nah I'll have a hot chocolate though
F: get out of it they're well expensive (laughs)
A: (laughs)
M: (laughs)
A: erm (.) if i drink tea with chewing gum in will it melt
F: (laughs) what the hell (laughs)
G: Amy what are you on about? (laughs)
A: (laughs) I swear its melting (3) it's actually quite sick

In this conversation there are four participants , speaker A and F are the most prominent speakers within this conversation , they are constantly using turn taking language and using an exchange structure throughout the spoken text. For example , at the beginning A begins with an interrogative sentence   and waits for a reply from F and the conversation continues in this format of exchange of information and taking turns in the conversation. The conversation takes an unprepared and  informal stance , from the beginning A is seen to be the instigator , due to the fact she begins with a question , this shows her to be more dominate in the situation, she also reinforces her question to pressurise F into the situation , showing A to have the control and F to be more intimated and less confident.Also the overlapping of speech with F and A at the beginning shows that A is completely in control because she is able to cut F off without a second thought and it is not a problem for her to do so.
The conversation has low register and is set in a very informal tone which is most probably influenced by the environment , the conversation was recorded in the common room where the environment is very relaxed and chilled out which holds an influence on the conversations held in there , this is why the conversation has such a low register because there in no need for formality. There are several features which suggest that this conversation is informal , first of all due to the elision used ; 'wanna' , by slurring this word together it creates a light and informal start to the conversation and sets the tone for the rest of the speech. Another feature used is ephemeral language; "it's actually quite sick" , the use of the word 'sick' creates informality because the word will last a short time and will come in and out of fashion , it is also only frequently used in some parts of the world or nation is it has to be used contextually for it to makes sense. Lastly , the non-frequency features (hitaus) are used and it brings the low register to the speech , 'errr' and 'erm' are both used by A and M , by using these it shows the uncertainty and unpreparedness of the conversation. There is constant laughter within this conversation which also shows its a relaxed conversation in a friendly and hospitable environment.

In this conversation there are many phonetic features used. Firstly , assimilation is used when F says ' you're alright' when it is spoken out loud the it is changed into ' yourright' however due to the context of the shorten it is known that the speaker actually means ' you're alright' , the beginning of alright is taken so that it shortens the phrase and is quicker to speak. Due to the characteristics of speech it is more acceptable to shorten words and create new ones by laziness because no written knowledge is need when it is spoken and aspects such as punctation and grammar are needed which allows it to be a lot more free and open.