Summary for the language web

Summary:
Professor Jean Aitchison looks at the possibilities and the pitfalls of the way we use language, and how it can shape as well as distort our view of the world.

She examines how the big choice of words and sentences available to us also sets up possible snares and how humans may be subconsciously trapped by their language.

Jean Atitchison talks about how people speak and that our language has become sick. talks about how people speak English very informally quotes "we are plagued with idiots on radio and television  who speak English like the dregs of humanity" in this she also says that its almost embarrassing hearing people talk like this in Britain she says "one is almost ashamed to let foreigners hear it".

It also talks about the notation that change is due laziness. However, it has also been said the the only true lazy speech is drunken speech- where alcohol effects co-ordination and English is not getting like drunken speech.

Homework revision (HALF TERM)

MODE: The text type E.G electronic (emails,text) written and spoken communication.

TENOR:The relationship between writer and audience- there status ( who produced it for who?) "Dear Madam"

FIELD: The topic -what it's about E.G it's an apology letter.

FUNCTION: The purpose-why it was written E.G to entertain, to persuade.

MODE may affect language use such as grammer because the mode can be written in different formalitys therefore, the use of punctuation changes for example when the mode is electronic (sending a text to a friend) because it's a text between you and a friend it become informal as it's not work related or professional.

TENOR may affect language use due to the relationship between the writer and audience and who has a higher  status for example if there's a speech between a police officer and a young girl the police officer will have a higher status because of his authority.

FIELD may affect language use due to the topic, again for example if the field of a text is about an article on a president it's formality will have to be formal because the topic is of such high authority and so important ,however ,if the topic is about friends it's less formal.

FUNCTION may affect language use for example if the purpose of a text is to persuade it will use persuasive language in order to achieve that function.

First draft of my monologue

A clear mystic silence

only the sound of colorless drops

Dripping like a lonely tear 

Creating endless ripples of fear.

The warm Luke waves drifting without being tamed. 

The uprise of condensation lays upon my mirror

A visual disappearance….

The tiles on my wall all crispy and dry.

My Flaky pale surface with an unwanted guest 

A thigh high cover of newly born fluff

With an irritable response from the moment of touch. 

Something of my conscious that Kept me aware

it was time…. The edge of sanity…I needed a haircut

The cold hard steel on my flaky pale surface

A slip, a rip

A pause…

liquid ruby dripped down the side of my leg 

Splish, splash 

A stroke of emptiness 

A Tight congestion built up in my chest

My hand covered in Crimson red

My hand unconsciously tightened

Tonic of the vampires 

It was a blood bath

PAIN ! ..PAIN was all I felt.

I should have listened to my mother?   

Activity 19

At first what do you think the function is

I think the purpose of this extract is to persuade and show what people sacrifice just to get something they really want instead of spending money as they might not be able to afford it.

When you read to the end of the text, what do you think the function is?

The senctence "explore the world" at the end I think is trying to say look at how other people in the world live there lives and what they do just for a pair of fashionable shoes.

Do you think it is effective? How would it achieve its purpose and for whom?

I think this is very effective because it almost brings a sense of guilt and makes the reader feel guilty because it's showing how teenage girls are recruited to the army in Liberia by the promise of getting those fashionable expensive shoes. 

This text will achieve its purpose by making the reader (who may be middle class people) think twice about buying expensive shoes.

Section 2

The purpose of this text is to inform. The use of interrogative sentence structures makes the reader think more about the text, it also uses declarative language as it expresses a statement " in Liberia, the promise of fashionable shoes is used to recruit teenage girls". The text also used an ellipses "explore the world". The structure used is effective because it's short and snappy which makes the reader read on as it not too long and dull. The audience is readers of a broadsheet newspaper.

Plan for monologue

HAVING A CUT:

IDEAS:

⚫️being over dramatic about a small cut 

⚫️Inspired by "absently present" 

⚫️Feeling anxious scared 

⚫️Cutting your leg while shaving?

⚫️Describing how blood drips 

⚫️Really detailed words

⚫️Talking about how mother said its bad to shave your legs because you could cut yourself

⚫️Talk about the pain

⚫️Maybe first time shaving? Experience 

⚫️Hairy legs ? Metaphor (needed a haircut)

⚫️Use Alliteration 

Plain English campaign

I think this is aimed at people who have bad communication or written/spoken skills and also aimed at charities.

I think it is very important to write In a clear and simple style because people need to understand you and know what your talking about, for example instead of saying something like " the government has sovereignty over parliment" you just need to say " the government has a lot of power over the parliment" having simple language makes things easier because not every understands complicated English.

However maybe using complicated English May come in handy for example if your at a university interview they might want to know how deep your knowledge is of English language so you can use complicated English words then to make yourself sound very clever.

Activity 40

Extract A- is about a women wanting to become a doctor but didn't have the chance to.

Extract C- is about how being a doctor is hard work and it's really busy.

Extract D- is about a nurse who acres a lot about her patients but the patients never seem to be in a good mood as she tries very hard.

Extract E- is about a women talking about a doctor and being angry because she doesn't get enough time and attention from his as he gives to his patients.

Extract F- is about a person talking about how the doctors become really busy but she is relieved when she sees no one sitting on the chair.

Extract G- is about a receptionist talking about a phone call she had about a patient wanting a home visit from the doctor.

I think extract A " I should of been a doctor" is he most effective opening because it gets straight to the point. I would keep some of the paragraphs like extract F because it describes the feeling of a person who works at a doctors.