Language Scrapbook 2

The Genre of this piece of text is clearly the first page of children’s story book. This is evident due to the large and illustrated O, signifying the beginning of the book. The discourse of layout also justifies the story theme, and friendly illustrations at the bottom of the page convey a pirate themed story.

Due the ‘hand drawn’ illustrations of pirates makes it clear the audience in this text is children, possibly a male dominated audience due to the gender feud within the text, implying that girls are bossy, ‘she makes us do this’ etc. The grammar used including the complexity of sentences and sentence lengths is evident in portraying an audience of a child as they will be learning new words and phrases also having full attention towards the story.

The purpose of the text is to entertain children be for bed-time. This is clear within the use of lexis in the book. Including the use of slang words to create a vision of the pirate characters before a child goes to sleep. What follows this is the context of reception, as children usually do not read their own bed- time books, so the slang phonology of lexis including ‘sick o’ ‘wi’ will be read by parents in a pirate voice, simplifying the text to a child’s understandment. The other phonology which conveys the context of reception is the use of alliteration and rhyme throughout, this makes the story lighter and easier on the ear to listen to making it appropriate for a bedtime story.

During the context of production, the writers of this book have used many techniques to appeal to its genre, audience, purpose, and context of reception. The book was produced online, however made to look ‘hand drawn’ with the illustrations and the text discourse on an old treasure map. They have done this to create a more interesting look to their book, as the children will look at the images and illustrations whilst the parents will read all of the interesting phonology to the child to engage them within the story.

Topical Issues in Language

Should slang be banned?

I would like to inform you on my linguistic point of view as I strongly believe that slang should not be banned. Writer and broadcaster, Lindsay Johns argues strongly against my views on the topic, supporting the ban on slang, as he states that ‘language is power’. I strongly disagree with the very reductive and cliché turn of phrase. There is no officiant way to determine the power or ‘authority’ of a person, just as Michael Rosen states it could just as easily be argued the way to proclaim authority would be money as wealth gives corporations and people the power to do good within society. 

One topic mentioned within the debate between Johns and Lindsey was if a person can be bidialectal. When in pressured situations, such as a job interview where a person is expected to conform to the regularity of punctuality and grammar, a person may feel under pressure and subconsciously slip into ‘comfortable’ and ‘bad’ habits of speech. This may harshly effect their future opportunities if not dealt with efficiently. When a person uses a form of slang, whether it be racial, geographical, or class related that person should be free to express themselves in this way, and continue exploring in depth where the commonly used words come from and the history behind them. As Michael Rosen argues, William Shakespeare himself, used the slang word ‘cous’ within one of his most famous plays, expressing that using a form of slang doesn’t limit your chances, it explores your individuality and creativity.

Banning slang in schools is a very controversial code of conduct being enforced by schools such as Manchester Academy. Benjamin Zephaniah, a well-known Jamaican-British writer, famous for writing poems with the deliberate use of slang to convey his view on society and how his thoughts and feelings are pigeon holed, had visited the school in Manchester to hear the views and opinions of the students who’s right to use slang words had been taken.  Although the principle at the Manchester Academy is pleased as since the 2007 ban on slang, they have seen a ‘5% improvement with exam results’. One student felt she was being ignored again and again once she began using the ‘formal’ language, so deliberately used words from the ‘forbidden thesaurus’ just to be heard, which resulted in this girl receiving a devastating De-Merritt from the school system.

In one debating clip between Frances Gilbert, and David Lammy MP, perceives the men discussing whether or not we should enforce children in schools how to speak properly. I believe this is an impossible aspect to control! The children’s way of dress is already determined by the school to convey how all pupils in the hierarchy of the school are equal, so why enforce a rule which has been stated by Lindsay Johns can define ‘power?’ As Gilbert states within his side of the debate you cannot change a person’s speech, without their emotional state being influenced. This is evident within the film ‘My Fair Lady’, as she was taught how to become an elegant duchess, however she became deeply saddened and felt she had lost her identity. How can we be sure this will not happen to the children in schools once their right to speak freely is removed?!

The only aspect which should be removed by schools is a child’s limitations! Children should be confident within their social class, gender, social group, ethnicity, etc. as our school system should not ‘pigeon hole’ them for using slang. Slang is used in everyday life. Even stated by Ann Widdecombe it is even used by respected and well educated politicians in casual coffee rooms! Therefore there is no strong evidence that suggests using slang appropriately will affect any of your goals or ambitions in life.

Language Scrapbook 1

The Genre of this text is an advertisement poster for Child Line. Due to its illustrations and 'child' stated within the title, I can infer that the audience of this poster is children. Children who have a problem or issue 'bottled' up, and need someone to talk to. The purpose of this poster is to inform children they have someone to confide in. The poster demonstrates a positive metaphor for the children, as they have used a bottle illustration to represent a child's 'bottled' up emotions, and also used an explosion from the bottle which resonates with a child's release of those thoughts and feelings once they talk to somebody. Due to the colours used, for example, orange, blue and white, I can deduce that this poster's context of production was produced with a comforting message, as those colours are very soothing and calming. At the top of the poster is the important information which the children needs to know to contact 'Child Line'. In the middle of the text the slogan reads 'Don't bottle it up' 'Talk to us'. This is a friendly commanding statement enforced to the children to convey the importance of sharing any locked up emotion. The text ends with the Child Line email address, once again signifying where they need to go if they have any worries or issues that they wish to share. Within the context of reception, the text will most likely be read by children at schools, doctors, libraries, and other places which children may visit. The text will be read by children due to the written mode in which the text is shared. The short and simple text and language used within the poster, is important to a child who is reading as they will be more able to remember vital information from the text, and fulfil its purpose.

''You Should Always Use English Correctly''

‘You should always use English correctly’

The statement ‘You should always use English correctly’ in my opinion is incorrect. Although I do believe using the correct English in some situations, e.g. a job interview, may make you appear more intelligent, in normal everyday life there should not be a compulsory form of speech for each individual. Consequently, when you communicate with friends and family. Imagine feeling forced into pronouncing each word ‘correctly’. Imagine not even feeling relaxed when gossiping with your friends. Imagine the world if all people were manufactured the same.

 It is certain that the ‘correct’ English is a matter of personal opinion. It can fall under many categories for example a social group conformity. This is demonstrated for example from a group of adolescent boys from East London. Stereotypically, they will be within a social group which will use a form of slang words. This is a pivotal communication technique between their group. If we analyse the words of which they refer to such as ‘bruv’ ‘fam’ or ‘blood’ we can infer they use these references to piece together a ‘family’. If the right to speak freely was taken away from this social group, then so would their family unit.

The statement of ‘always’ has the possibility of being a frightening factor. This is evident during ‘jargon’, where code words and phrases are expressed to alarm who needs to be, and dis-alarm others in events of crisis. If the statement ‘you should always use English correctly’ was to be enforced, this could cause a scene of commotion in a preventable situation.    

According to statistics, only 20% of British people speak English correctly. This could be perceived as people wanting to distinguish individuality. This means using terms and phrases which appeal to them, and speaking them in an order of their choosing. Some people like to feel unique, and enjoy the feeling of individuality of speaking ‘incorrectly’. Using words in a manner of which is sporadic and messy may feel comfortable with some members of society, as they may want to express a rebellious attitude to some of the harsh conformities of society.

Everyone should not feel the need to conform to society’s expectations of how we should always speak ‘correctly’. If you feel comfortable speaking a certain way, why shouldn’t you be allowed? Higher individuals in our social hierarchy such as senior corporate executives, senior professionals, government ministers, etc. do speak what is known as ‘correct’ English. However, professional life does not have to conflict with a social life. For example, many people have learned to listen to another’s speak pattern and to ‘bend’ their own speech toward theirs. This will aid communication and get the other person feeling more at ease. When the other person is at ease and hearing a familiar speech pattern, they are usually much more receptive to new information and new ideas, and are a lot more willing to ask questions than if they feel they will be judged by their speech pattern or choice of words.

The way an individual personally speaks gives them a form of identity. This may like them to their roots, social class, gender, family background and social group. Nobody has the ‘right’ to take away another’s individuality. Which is why I strongly disagree with the statement ‘You should always use English correctly’.

Topical Language Issues

For our English Language Enrolment Challenge, we viewed three video clips uploaded on the English Language Blog, we then had to formulate a balanced argument of the statement 'You should always use English correctly'.

In our first English Language lesson we were shown this video clip-

After we had all viewed the clip, we got into small groups to discuss reasons for and against the topical language statement. We then did a class discussion to formulate all our individual ideas and combine them to understand whether we would agree with or disagree with the statement.