Investigating how language has changed in children's literature; in relation to interaction between children and characters of authority in a boarding school setting.
Contents Contents Page Number Introduction 3 Hypothesis 3 Methodology 3 Initial description of 'The Doctor' 4 Initial description of 'Miss Loy' 4 Initial description of 'Miss Potts' 4 Initial description of 'Albus Dumbledore' 4 Discourse 5 Grammar 5 Semantics 7 Phonology 8 Graphology 9 Speech extract from Tom Brown's School Days 0 Speech extract from School Girl Chums 1 Speech extract from Malory Towers 1 Speech extract from Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone 2 Comparison between extracts involving exchanges between lead characters, and characters of authority 2 Conclusion 5 References 6 List of Tables Table Number Name of Table Page Number Books chosen for comparison 3 2 Acknowledged frameworks 3 List of Figures Figure Number Name of Figure Page Number Comparison of sentence type in initial description of character 5 2 Number of adjectives in the initial description of character 7 3 Word count demonstrating conversation dominance 3 4 Number of adjectives in the speech exchange 4 Introduction Stories of children at boarding schools have always been a popular genre choice amongst both young and young adult readers. They emulate scenarios that children can identify with, more specifically the relationships between the students and their teachers/head teachers. As a result the language used
Exploring the genre and style of the Political Interview - Paxman and Galloway interview
Exploring the genre and style of the Political Interview Introduction Politics is an area in society which is accepted as an important aspect of our lives. It governs our country and, as a result, affects how we conduct our everyday affairs. Since the commercial availability of television, politicians have had the opportunity to express party views, promote their manifesto and justify controversial actions. Live interviews have allowed the nation to put forward questions they want answered, significantly progressing the basis on who we decide to vote for to govern our country. These interviews are perhaps most notable on Newsnight, hosted by Jeremy Paxman. Paxman became a presenter of Newsnight in 1989 and has since been a pioneer in the interrogative style used to unnerve his interviewees. This topic is of particular interest due to the nature of the interaction between a representative of the audience (the interviewer) and the politician. In many cases, it is evident that politicians adopt a tactful stance when answering questions in order to prevent perceptions and retain popularity. Interviews often gain entertainment value when questions are put forward that place the interviewee in a difficult stance, and more so when an attempt is made to divert the topic to suit the interviewees position. This is a typical method used in order to gain control of conversation, and
Language Aquisition Notes
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Theorists * Cognitive - Jean Piaget - can only understand lang when you understand concept (e.g. can talk in past tense when you know about time) * Behaviourist - Skinner learn through imitation - doesn't explain where new sentences come from * Nativist - Chomsky - Language Acquisition Device (LAD) - works out what is/isn't acceptable lang use using innate programmed patterns (which are general). exact rules learnt through trial and error. His theory supports the fact that children around the world seem to develop at a similar pace, irrespective of race/culture/mother tongue. (This also 'defies' Skinner's model) Also, the fact that there is a universal grammar amongst all languages of the world. & the fact that children consistently create new forms of language that they would not have heard before. * Conversely, John Macnamara - said that rather than having an in-built language device, children have an innate capacity to read meaning into social situations. It is this capacity that makes them capable of understanding and learning language, not the LAD. * Interactive - caretaker, motherese etc - slower pace than adult convo, simplified, repetition, short sentences, often caretaker asking 'where is___?', 'that's a___', tag questions to involve child ('isn't it?') * Example for importance of social interaction: Bard and Sachs. Studied a boy
Analysis of Rhetoric in "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Enns The author of any novel has a vital role in the portrayal of his subject to the audience. Author Jon Krakauer is no exception to this principle. In his 1996 novel Into the Wild, Krakauer masterfully manipulates the elements of rhetoric in order to convince his audience that his subject, the elusive Chris McCandless, was not merely a crazy, arrogant and ignorant kid and that McCandless’ quest for truth in the wild is the same quest that every man goes through. Krakauer writes under the assumption that the majority of his audience has a negative perception of McCandless, seeing him to be one of the “others,” a category of crazy adventures whose suicidal predispositions lead them to meet their fate in the wild. Krakauer contradicts this through the use of different rhetorical appeals- to logos, pathos, and ethos. He uses emotions and logic in order to prove to the audience that no, Chris McCandless was not who the audience believed him to be and that there is much, much more to the story than a single gravestone in the Alaskan wilderness. The most obvious rhetorical appeal in this novel is Krakauer’s appeal to logos, which he establishes through the use of factual evidence. When describing McCandless’ family history and past achievements, Krakauer notes that “… Chris graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, where he’d been a columnist for, and editor
Summary of "Critical period effects in second language learning - The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language", by Jacqueline S. Johnson and Elissa L. Newport,
Psychology of Human Development 3054, Section 5014F 9 October 2001 Summary of "Critical Period Effects in Second Language Learning: The Influence of Maturational State on the Acquisition of English as A Second Language", by Jacqueline S. Johnson and Elissa L. Newport, Published by Cognitive Psychology in 1989, pages 60-99. The original paper attempts to focus on whether or not the ability to adopt a second language, namely English, also lies within a certain designated period which defines the period for first language acquirement as well. Johnson and Newport attempted to modify Lenneberg's definition of the original critical period (mentioned below) into two versions: "The exercise hypothesis and The maturational state hypothesis". The first version implies that the attainment of a native language needs to be rehearsed during a period in early life and the ability will decrease with age. However, once this has been accomplished, the attainment of a second language is quite feasible at any point during the person's lifetime. The second version implies that full native or even multiple language attainment abilities are present only during an early period of life and if this period is not utilized, learning of any language decreases with age. The hypotheses tested mainly focused on the effects of age on second language attainment. Two studies were done on immigrants
Sequential and simultaneous bilingualism.
When the term bilingualism is looked up in a dictionary, (Collins English dictionary, 2000) the definition given is: "1, able to speak two languages, especially with fluency. 2, written or expressed in two languages. 3, a bilingual person". Nevertheless the reality seems far from being so simple. In fact, different features should be taken into consideration in order to give a more complete explanation of this subject. The purpose of this essay is to examine thoroughly these aspects, explain the controversy within the subject and focus on sequential and simultaneous bilingualism. To start with, although bilingulism is when an individual speaks two languages, there are disagreements on the level of fluency that is needed for the individual to be considered bilingual. Some researchers believe that if a person has any kind of knowledge in a second language apart from his native language, it does not matter if he/she is just able to understand, speak a little or just read, this person can be considered a bilingual. Macnamara (1967) agrees with this theory saying that considering one of the four skills (reading, listening, speaking, and writing), a bilingual person will have one of these skills even if it is in a minimal degree. On the other hand, Bloomfield and Thiery's (1978) theory defines a bilingual as the individual who possesses proficient fluency in two languages, being,
When comparing the two travel based texts, the different ways in which each text expresses their key ideas and perspectives thorough language and presentation is critical as to how well they appeal to their targeted audiences.
English Language Controlled Assessment The travel industry in recent years has become an extremely lucrative and competitive market, with each travel operator having to try to promote their service in order to beat numerous forms of competition. Also, with the current financial climate, consumers are looking for the best value travel operators, so that they can still enjoy luxury outings, but will also seek the best deals possible to save money. Consequently, companies try to advertise their services in a variety of ways, to show the consumer why they provide the best value for money in relation to the quality of their services. When comparing the two travel based texts, the different ways in which each text expresses their key ideas and perspectives thorough language and presentation is critical as to how well they appeal to their targeted audiences. The purpose, audience and type of each text are very different, causing a significant impact on how they convey their ideas and perspectives. The purpose of the Rail Information leaflet is to promote and inform the reader about off peak train tickets, as discounted prices will result in an increase in sales during off peak times. The purpose of the article from Coach and Bus Week Magazine differs considerably, and it primarily tries to outline the problems of coach travel in terms of the quality of the hotels supplied by
The Growth and Importance of English as a Global Language.
The Growth and Importance of English as a Global Language The definition of a global language, is a language which has been given a specific place within countries and communities around the world, even in places where there are very few native speakers of this language. Although English is not the most widely spoken language in the world in terms of the number of native speakers - there are many more native Chinese speakers than native English speakers - it is described as a 'global language' and Chinese is not. This is because there are few other communities in the world that give Chinese, be it Mandarin or Cantonese, a particular use or function, probably due to the fact that its alphabet is so different from that which is used in the majority of the rest of the world. It is impossible to know exactly how many English speakers there are in the world, but according to estimates, there are more than 350 million native English speakers and more than 400 million speakers of English as a second, or foreign, language. These figures are especially impressive considering the fact that this mass popularity only came about in approximately the last three centuries. The English language's influence spans across the globe and is more influential in the world of media, communication, business and government than any other, even in certain countries where English is used, or regarded,
Obamas announcement for President
Obama's announcement for President Barack Obama's classical rhetoric has its own powerful source, kept alive in the traditions of African-American preaching and other great rhetoricer of our time like Martin Luther King. It's clear that this type of rhetoric is intended not to sway our minds but to lift our hearts. Obama's announcement for president is also a good example of the above-mentioned. The whole speech has a read threat, giving the receiver a feeling of reliability and security. The receiver don't have to belong a special group or a certain race to vote for Obama. He don't divide people, but gather them together under one unit, with a good effect on the receiver. He has been praised for his language skills, and many critics accused Obama for taking language lessons. In this speech he uses his known 'skills,' and it works, he never talks about himself and the american people as it was two groups, all of his sentences is either 'we' or 'our,' which again makes him more believable. The topic of the speech is America - how they are 'one nation' and how unity conquers everything. He uses different kind of rhetorical elements to make his speech trustworthy and one of them is American civil religion, one of the less implicit examples are when he's about to finish his speech and says 'That beneath all the differences of race ans religion, faith and station, we are one
Class and Gender conflict in Pygmalion
An Analysis of Class and Gender Conflict in Pygmalion Summary: Presents that Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion explicitly comments on issues of class and gender. Analyzes Shaw's use of language and symbolism to achieve that goal. "Pygmalion is a serious analysis of class and gender conflict." Bernard Shaw's play, entitled Pygmalion, transcends the nature of drama as a medium to be utilised for sheer entertainment value. Shaw's play powerfully comments on the capacity for the individual to overcome the boundaries established by systems of class and gender. Dominant assumptions and expectations, may essentially prevent an individual from becoming socially mobile within a seemingly rigid hierarchical social structure. However, Liza, the protagonist utilises language as the tool which enables the her to escape the confines of the lower class and to be regarded as a human of a certain degree of worth within society. As Liza transforms from flower girl to duchess, the audience is witness to the many ways that an individual can be dehumanised through the socialisation process. Issues of both class and gender arise from the tensions within the play that surround the interactions between Higgins and Liza and the viewer is able to openly question the values that exist within a society that judges the character of a person on the basis of wealth and education. Henry Higgins represents
