Laura's English Blog

Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Grammar Revision.

Colon - The colon has two main uses. Firstly it is used to introduce an idea that is an explanation or continuation of the one that comes before the colon. The colon can be considered as a gateway inviting the reader to go on. ‘You are left with only one option: Press on until you have mastered it.’

Semicolon - The semicolon can be used to sort out a complicated list containing many items, many of which themselves contain commas.

The comma splice - The comma splice is one of the most frequent mistakes made when using a comma. The comma splice occurs when a comma is used to connect two independent clauses.

Whose and who’s - Who's" is the contracted form of "who is" or "who has". "Whose" is a possessive form meaning "of whom" or "belonging to who" and is used in the following way. ‘Whom did you see?’ (Did you see him?) ‘I cannot see who is in the classroom.’ (He is in the classroom.)

Its and It’s - The building was missing its doors and windows. It's been a long time since we spoke," he whispered.

Like and as - Like is a preposition, which means that it can come before a noun but it should not come before a whole clause containing a verb. As is a conjunction, and can be used before a clause containing a verb.

Affect and effect - Affect - is a verb meaning to have an influence on. Effect - is a noun meaning a cause of change brought about by an agent.

Dangling participle - In the sentence below, the modifying clause (Rushing to catch the bus) contains a participle (rushing). The participle is said to be dangling because the subject of the main clause (Bob's wallet) is not the thing modified by the initial modifying clause. It was not Bob's wallet that was rushing. ‘Rushing to catch the bus, Bob’s wallet fell out of his pocket’

Pleonasm - Pleonasm occurs when unnecessary or redundant words are used. They simply add bulk to a sentence without adding any extra content.

Tuesday, 22 April 2014

CLA Revision

CLA Revision.

Colloquial language - is a variety of language commonly employed in conversation or other communication in informal situations.

Hyponym - is a word or phrase whose semantic field is included within that of another word, its hypernym. In simpler terms, a hyponym shares a type-of relationship with its hypernym. For example, pigeon, crow, eagle and seagull are all hyponyms of bird which, in turn, is a hyponym of animal.

Elliptical utterance - is a phrase that, in itself, makes little sense. When the utterance is placed within the context of a conversation, it takes on a clearer meaning.

Morpheme - In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest grammatical unit in a language.

Deixis - refers to words and phrases that cannot be fully understood without additional contextual information.

In language structure, a diminutive or diminutive form is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment.

Holophrastic - is relating to the stage of child language development characterized by the use of single-word utterances.

The wug test - is an experiment in linguistics, created by Jean Berko Gleason in 1958. It was designed as a way to investigate the acquisition of the plural and other inflectional morphemes in English-speaking children.

Theories -

· Chomsky LAD / virtuous errors / nativist

· Skinner – behaviourism / positive reinforcement / negative reinforcement

· Piaget – Cognitive development

· Vygotsky – play and cognitive development

· Bruner – social interactionist

Language change revision.

Language Change Revision.

Proprietary eponyms - are trademarked brand names that gain wide use as terms for generic items. For example, the trademarked brand name "Kleenex" is often used to refer to all types of facial tissue, whether they are actually Kleenex or another brand.

Amelioration - the downgrading or depreciation of a word's meaning, as when a word with a positive sense develops a negative one. Pejoration is much more common that the opposite process, called amelioration.

Hyperbole - is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally.

Archaic/Obsolete - archaic is used for words that were once common but are now rare. Archaic implies having the character or characteristics of a much earlier time. Obsolete indicates that a term is no longer in active use, except, for example, in literary quotation. Obsolete may apply to a word regarded as no longer acceptable or useful even though it is still in existence

Inflection - is the name for the extra letter or letters added to nouns, verbs and adjectives in their different grammatical forms.

Assonance - is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words. It is used to reinforce the meanings of words or to set the mood.

Assimilation - is a common phonological process by which one sound becomes more like a nearby sound. This can occur either within a word or between words.

Dialect leveling - refers to the assimilation, mixture and/or eradication of certain dialects, often due to language standardisation.

Convergence - happens when an individual adjusts his speech patterns to match those of people belonging to another group or social identity.

Divergence - happens when an individual adjusts his speech patterns to be distinct from those of people belonging to another group or social identity.

The Great Vowel Shift - was a major change in the pronunciation of the English language that took place in England between 1350 and 1700.

CLA plan.

AO1 Select & apply a range of linguistic methods, to communicate relevant knowledge using appropriate terminology & coherent, accurate

written expression

Lexis and Semantics:

· lexical fields

· colloquial choices

· contractions

· use of determiners

· use of pronouns

· hypernyms and hyponyms

· use of names

Grammar:

· simple; compound complex; sentences

· awareness of sentence functions

· elliptical utterances

· non-standard constructions / grammatical omissions

· formation of negatives;

· use of determiners

· formation of questions

· use of morphemes

· use of passive

· use of present and past tense,

Phonology:

· omission of certain sounds

· consonant clusters etc

· relationship between sound and meaning

Discourse:

· turn-taking

· questions

· topic shifts

· minimal responses

· tag questions

Pragmatics:

· Non-verbal communication and utterances

· Use of humour

· Deixis

· References to books, tv etc

Language of the Caregiver:

· Pronunciation

· Pitch

· Exaggeration

· Simple lexis

· Diminutives

· Concrete nouns

· Simple constructions

· Imperatives

· Questions

· Names instead of pronouns

· repetition

AO2 Demonstrate critical understanding of a range of concepts and issues related to the construction and analysis of meanings in spoken and written language, using knowledge of linguistic approaches

Stages of development :

· Preverbal stage

· Holophrastic

· Two word

· Telegraphic

· Post-telegraphic

Reaserchers:

· Katherine Nelson – first 50 words

· Jean Aitchison - lexical and semantic development

· Roger Brown – two word phrases and meaning and morphological development

· Bellugi – developing use of negatives and use of pronouns

· Berko – ‘wugs’ experiment – morphological development

Phonological development and research:

· Phonological errors

· Alan Cruttenden (1974)

· Berko and Brown (1960s) ‘fis’ experiment

Pragmatics / Functions of language:

· Halliday

· Dore

· Turn-taking Research eg peek-a-boo

Politeness / Face theories

Power theories

Gender theories

Child Directed Speech Theories and Research :

· Features of CDS

· Bruner – Language Acquisition Support System

CLA Theories:

· Chomsky LAD / virtuous errors / nativist

· Skinner – beviourism / positive reinforcement / negative reinforcement

· Piaget – Cognitive development

· Vygotsky – play and cognitive development

· Bruner – social interactionist

Other References:

· Genie

· Deaf children

AO3 Analyse and evaluate the influence of contextual factors on the production and

reception of spoken and written language, showing knowledge of the key

constituents of language

· Genre

· Audience

· Subject

· Purpose

· Who is the text producer/ receiver

· What are the expectations of the text receiver?

Language Change plan.

AO1 Select & apply a range of linguistic methods, to communicate relevant knowledge using appropriate terminology & coherent, accurate

written expression

Lexis and Semantics :

· borrowed/loan words

· compounds

· blends

· acronyms

· eponyms/proprietary words

· conversion/grammatical shift

· pejoration/amelioration

· broadened/narrowed

· metaphor/hyperbole

· semantic shift

· archaisms/obsolete words

· Americanisms

Grammar:

· syntax/word order

· sentence structure: use of subordination and coordination.

· dummy auxiliary ‘do’ used in negative and interrogative constructions

· double negatives

· inflections

· plurals

· prepositions

· pronouns – personal (thou, thee, one)relative- who, which, whom

· verb tenses/irregular verbs/modal/auxilliary verbs

· punctuation

Pragmatics:

· implied meanings/humour/shared knowledge/taboo language/formality/political correctness

Graphology :

· look at images/font and relate to context

Discourse Structure:

· written/spoken language and the conventions of such texts.

Phonology :

· alliteration, assonance, rhyme, onomatopoeia, accent/dialect, Received Pronunciation, assimilation, omission, Estuary English, dialect levelling, Black English

Orthography:

· spelling and problems with spelling

AO2 Demonstrate critical understanding of a range of concepts and issues related to the construction and analysis of meanings in spoken and written language, using knowledge of linguistic approaches

Background theories of:

· gender

· power

· technology

Standardisation and Codification of language:

· Printing Press – William Caxton 1476

· Dictionaries – Dr Johnson’s dictionary 1755

· Robert Lowth’s ‘Introduction to English Grammar’ 1762

Prescriptive/Descriptive attitudes:

· John Humphreys - Prescriptive

· David Crystal - Descriptive

· Stephen Fry - Descriptive

· Jean Aitchison: Language Web – Damp Spoon/Crumbling Castle/Infectious Disease

· Dennis Freeborn (phonology): incorectness view/ugliness view/impreciseness view

· Phonology :

· Great Vowel Shift

· convergence

· divergence

· Labov’s ‘Martha’s Vineyard Study’ Informalisation

Worldwide Englishes:

· bidialectalism

Causes of language change:

· history and Invasions

· changing personal and social identity

· influence of social groups

· changing attitudes

· social trends

· new technologies

· intellectual activities