Andrew Moore - Language and Occupation

Language and Occupation 

http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/lang/occupation.htm

Language interactions may occur between or among those within a given occupation, or between those inside and those outside (customers, clients, the “general public”). This distinction will affect significantly a speaker's or writer's language choices.

Context is important for understanding meaning, especially the kind of special meanings that you will meet in occupational language. 

The forms of talk in occupational contexts 

-in an explicit sense as those kinds of activity that we can name (job interview, team briefing, disciplinary tribunal, conference, marriage ceremony) or

-in a looser descriptive sense (discussing a problem, telling a manager about an incident, asking an expert for guidance).

 Some examples of general functions of language in occupational contexts

 -communicating information

-requesting help

-confirming arrangements

-instructing employees or colleagues to do something

-making things happen or enacting them.

Lexis in an occupational context 

Every occupation has its own lexicon which is specific to the occupation generally or more narrowly to the personal practice. Example...

-forms used only in the occupation, or

-forms in the common lexicon but used with meanings which are special to the occupation: justify means very different things to a printer or typesetter and to a priest.

AQA A Level English Language

http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/as-and-a-level/english-language-7701-7702/assessment-resources

This is the link to the examples and mark schemes of past papers.  

       http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/15/steven-pinker-10-grammar-rules-break

The Guardian 

 Steven Pinker -'10 Grammar rules its okay to break'

In this article there are talks about whether grammar should belong to that of an individual or if we should have to stick to standard English language. Descriptivists argue that language is a creativity of human nature and should therefore people should have free will to write or speak how they want to. It asks questions such as should English only stem form Latin? Or why can't one word change its meaning to to mean something else over time? It talks about old rules such as 'dangling modifiers' that argue normal day sentences we use aren't grammatically correct. But then i would argue that speaking and writing are completely different contexts as you would automatically change the grammar you use in different situations. For example talking to friends, your accent and slang will come across and be used, however writing on paper means no accent will be present and in a formal piece of writing standard English would be appropriate. In some written situations, such as text, then formal writing wouldn't apply as text speech would be most likely used. Pinker also talks about 'whom' and 'who' being used. It is said that 'whom' is used when people want to sound posh but he says that when people try to use the phrase in written language it is often used incorrectly as with many other terms. 

Grice's Maxims 

The Maxim of quality - where one tries to be as informative as one possibly can, and gives as much information as is needed, and no more. 

The Maxim of quality - where one tries to be truthful, and does not give information that is false or that is not supported by evidence. 

The Maxim of relation -  where one tries to be relevant, and says things that are pertinent to the discussion.

  The maxim of manner -   when one tries to be as clear, as brief, and as orderly as one can in what one says, and where one avoids obscurity and ambiguity

    Louis Vuitton Fashion Week Report 2015
                        British Vogue 
http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/spring-summer-2016/ready-to-wear/louis-vuitton

British Vogue is a magazine set up for all the public that are highly interested in fashion and all the social trends that build society we live in. It follows the lives of celebrities, which many are covered on the front of each issue, and it holds quite a high status itself in the journalism world. The language used in this magazine would be standard English grammar (no slang) due to the market they are targeting which are those of a higher education and more than likely of a higher income as the topics talked about are an expensive lifestyle to uphold. For example the link in this is to a report on Louis Vuitton's at fashion week and we can see in this article the typical language used. A metaphor is used by the writer, ' fashion is in the flux of a game of musical chairs' , empathising the fact that the magazine audience is for those who enjoy a more challenging and intriguing read.  

AS Spontaneous Speech Terminology Quiz 

1. 'A pattern of speech i which one utterance is followed by an appropriate linked response' - is the definition of which term? 

2. Explain the term 'side sequencing'. 

3.Give three terms that are examples of non-fluency features 

4.Explain the term 'phatic talk' and give examples of the language.

5.Non-verbal aspects of speech or paralingustic features such as 'fillers' can help reveal a speakers attitudes and feelings. Name two non-verbal aspects of speech. 

6.'elp me orf this 'orse' is and example of what language feature? 

7. List Grice's Maxims and briefly describe each one.

8. When analysing  spontaneous speech we do not refer to 'sentences' but ........

9.Brown and Levinson put forward some theories about politeness. Name four positive politeness strategies we might employ if we want to be liked?

10.In order to analyse a transcript what three things must you establish an awareness of from the outset? 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=awkward+david+cassidy+interview+

Interview with David Cassidy on This Morning

In this interview we see the competitive male language between David Cassidy and Eamonn Holmes. This is typical as many males are all about masculinity and dominance in  conversation. Stereo-typically, they like to talk without emotion. For example in this interview David Cassidy talks about his life troubles without getting upset about it or make it seem as though he wants sympathy from viewers or the interviewers. He seems to talk with no shame about his life which could suggest he wants to feel in control of himself and he does this by the way he talks. Also in this interview we see that Cassidy doesn't have much to say, which makes the interview very awkward, and he gets very defensive when Eamonn asks him personal questions. This could be due to the fact two males in conversation don't empathise with each other as such as what women would do, proving there is a difference in language due to gender. 

        https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=terry+bristol+accent

 Terry's Bristol Language Lessons!!!!

Terry talks about the typical ways the Bristolian accent is perceived by other people and he tells people how they can learn to speak with a Bristolian accent. However he seems to have the stereotypical view that the accent is like a farmers but many people , especially Bristolians, woudl argue that this is not how most speak nowadays.