Idiolects & Youth Sociolect

Today we are looking at a few clips from the Catherine Tate Show BBC Comedy and you will get to analyse the characters' idiolects as well as look into youth sociolect.

Enjoy these (according to me) brilliant sketches! =)

Lauren on Beoyncé

Lauren is not invited

Lauren Copper meets Tony Blair, PM

Here are your answers to the task connected to these clips!

And then, when you have finished the tasks on idiolect & youth sociolect I expect you to reflect with a comment here on the following: in what ways have your studies in English at upper secondary school taught you to be flexible when it comes to using the language? Try to identify different situations and a development in your usage.

Promotion, advertising and selling techniques - the art of persuasion!

Today's lesson will deal with advertisements and promoting language, and you will get to do a sales-pitch in groups and reflect on how we react to ads and commercials.

First of all, take a look at this ad from the Shopping Channel and discuss the following:
1. What part of the advertisement offer facts about the leg machine?
2. What parts are trying to persuade the reader to buy a leg machine?
3. What methods are used?
4. Who do you think are the target audience?

Look at this info on advertising language and this to see what is typical of it and reflect on how much you saw of that kind of language in the ad.

Then, move on to...
...The Sales-Pitch!
Write a script for the Shopping Channel/radio broadcast commercial in which you advertise for another exercise machine. Make use of persuasive language (choice of words and metaphors etc). Use a selling tone - the smile in the voice! ;)
Choose from the following suggestions:
* Randall's Rowing Machine
* Sam's Step-Aerobic Machine
* Tony's Treadmill for Walkers and Joggers
Or invent your own health-promoting machine! You will get to perform infront of two other groups.
Have fun!

I would also like to read your thoughts on the language of ads/commercials, if you ever reflect on it, to what extent you feel that you are being affected positively or negatively. Are there any ads you like more than others? If so, then why?

Start: Lecture on Language Varieties

As an introduction to this part of your course in English C I gave a brief lecture on language varieties from the perspectives of accent, regional and social dialects, as well as idiolect. I then moved on to talk about variation of language that is determined by the situation of use, and style-shifting. My notes are all based on chapters in George Yule's brilliant introductory book The Study of Language (Cambridge University Press 1985) and you find them written down here. In this project we will look at the language of some ads/commercials as well as teenage language (with a humorous twist), and as an individual task you will get to shift contexts in your language use - your work will be posted on the blog so that you can learn & get new ideas from each other! A series of ads from British Rail is what started us off on the first group task, and next lesson you will get to deliver a sales pitch. I am looking forward to the results; enjoy the work!

English C goals connected with this project:

Pupils should:

* understand different types of clear authentic speech in a variety of contexts
* be able in different contexts to introduce and actively participate in oral communication of varying types, and be able to use English flexibly and purposefully, in both formal and informal contexts
* be able to review, describe and analyse their needs in English from long-term study and vocational perspectives.

/Åsa