Transcript

This is a conversation between friends in the common room during a free period. Sam brings the conversation with an interogative sentence asking the group 'you don't know what Brownstock is?'  This leads to the first adjacency pair right at the start of the conversation as Amy replies 'no'. To this reply, Sam continues the inform the group about the festival and gives examples of artists that perfrom there. During this Megan is playing a game on her phone and chooses to jump in between speech. As Sam tells the group where the festival is held, Megan interferes and asks Amy a question. Sam choices to ignore this and continue with what he was saying. Megan then jumps in again saying 'savage' - the use of this word is sociolect, informal language is used to express her agitation over the game she is playing. Amy replies to Megan and this is an adjacency pair. At this point, three people are trying to talk at the same time showing that the girls are seeing past the main conversation for a small moment.

There is a second pause to take in the information then an adjacency pair follows this as Jamie asks Sam a question and he replies. He says 'no' and takes a pause before finishing with 'it's about...' showing that he had to think about his answer. There is then a two second pause and Megan says 'oh for crying out loud' in reaction to her game. This is the use of colloquialism. Sam jumps in as Megan says 'crying' and asks another question. However, Jamie ignores this and interrupts half way through to talk to me about Sam's previous statement to him which is an adjacency pair as I replied to Jamie.

The conversation continues by me and Amy asking Sam questions to which he replies and this again results in adjacency pairs. Megan continues to interrupt as Sam replies to the second question and Amy replies to her - an adjacency pair. The conversation ends by Sam asking if we've heard of the artists on the line up for the festival, '(.) one sec (.) erm have you ever heard of sigma'. The use of the filler 'erm' demonstrates Sam's uncertainty. Amy and I create an adjacency pair by replying and this continues for four more artists until the conversation ends by Sam saying 'surely like garage no (.) okay erm'.

Sam in the most dominant in the conversation as he is asking the questions so is in power as he controls the topic. Everyone else replies to him and so does not threaten his power, however Megan proves to be the person who most commonly breaks the exchange structure rules. Overlaps are common in the conversation which portray eagerness to get involved however Megan is shown to be unengaged, mostly talking to herself. It is clear that Sam talks the most making fourteen utterances  followed by Amy making seven utterances and me and Megan both made six. Jamie talks the less making only two utterances and this demonstrates that he may be uninterested. Sam is confident and in control - he has male domination over us three other main speakers who are female.

Grammar

Grammar controls how Language is constructed

Grammar is the set of structural rules that controls the way language works.

There are three aspects of grammar - word classes, syntax and morphology.

-Word classes define the role that each word can plain in a sentence.

-Syntax is the set of rules that control where each word class can appear in a sentence.

-Morphology describes the construction of individual words.

There are eight main word classes categorised by the function they have in a sentence

Word classes can also be called 'parts of speech'

Word Class	Function	Example
Nouns	‘naming’ words	London, book, romance
Adjectives	Describe nouns (and sometimes pronouns)	Large, sunny, featureless
Verbs	‘doing’ words	Jump, read, return
Pronouns	Take the place of nouns	You, they, him, me, it
Conjunctions	‘connecting’ words	And, or, but, because
Prepositions	Define relationships between words in terms of time, space and direction	Before, underneath, through
Determiners	Give specific kinds of information about a noun (e.g. quantity or possession)	A, the, two, his, few, those
Adverbs	Describe verbs (and sometimes adjectives and other adverbs too)	Steadily, incredibly, sadly

Word classes are controlled by rules

Word classes can take different positions in a sentence, but there are grammatical rules about how they work with each other (syntax). In the following sentence you can see all the word classes working together:

She	saw	the	new	manager	and	his	assistant
pronoun	verb	determiner	adjective	noun	conjunction	determiner	noun

At	the	store	yesterday
preposition	determiner	noun	advert

Grammatical rules affect word formation

Grammar affects word formation (morphology) because extra bits have to be added to words to change things like number or tense. The extra bit are called inflections. Examples:

-S is added to cup to change a singular noun into a plural - cups

-Ed is added to remember to change the present tense verb into the past tense - remembered

Grammar choices can influence the reader or listener

Tense

Past events can be described in the past tense or using present tense forms

-So she went up to the customer and gave him a good telling off. Clear that some time has passed since the event happened.

-So she goes up to the customer and gives him a good telling off. Present tense creates a more immediate and dramatic impact, used a lot in newspaper headlines.

Plurals

Plurals tell you there's more than one of something and plurals can increase the scale of a scene.

-There was a mass of fans outside the hotel. Singular, creates the impression of a specific body of people.

-There we masses of fans outside the hotel. Plural, creates the image of a big crowd of people across a wider area.

Adjectives

Adjectives are a great way to influence your audience

-Great ski resort in Sri Lanka. Relax in fine accommodation. Simple adjectives.

-Greatest resort in Sri Lanka. Relax in the finest accommodation. Superlative adjectives.


Grammar article
The article reads 'Coverage of Kids Company has revived comments about whether the charity should have an apostrophe in its name.'
Personally, I do not believe that 'kids' should have an apostrophe in this case. Not having an apostrophe claims that this is a company of kids. The company doesn't belong to kids therefore it is not in their possession and is using correct grammar.

Linguists

Spoken discourse structure – William Labov

 

Labov is a professor in the linguistics department of the University of Pennsylvania, and pursues research in sociolinguistics, language change, and dialectology. He is regarded as the founder of sociolinguistics.

When a speaker talks for an extended period of time, we can say they are narrating.

A sociolinguist William Labov developed a structure known as narrative categories. These are six categories which appear in a narrative.

The way a language is spoken (and written) differs across individuals as well as across situations encountered by the same individual. Labov argued that such differences are not only normal but also necessary to a language’s functioning. Labov’s research demonstrates that linguistic variation is pervasive and highly structured, revealing regular patterns of co-occurrence between language forms, such as the pronunciation of a particular vowel, and social categories, such as socioeconomic classes.

Labov has explored a wide range of linguistic phenomena within the variationist paradigm. He has examined semantic and grammatical features, though the study of phonological variation has predominated in his work. His research demonstrates that linguistic variation is pervasive (especially of an unwelcome influence or physical effect) spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people and highly structured, revealing regular patterns of co-occurrence between language forms, such as the pronunciation of a particular vowel, and social categories.

 

 

 

Semantics – Paul Grice

 The linguistic Paul Grice who determined that speakers adhere to four conversational maxims.

 

Grice is a British philosopher of language. His work on the nature of meaning has influenced the philosophical study of semantics.

Grice argued for an intention-based theory of meaning, and was the first to illustrate the distinction between what came to be called semantic and pragmatic meaning, that is, between what a speaker’s utterance (or its utterance ‘type’) means in the abstract, and what else a speaker can mean by uttering it in a particular context.

For example, the statement "Could you open the door?" is not a question about the hearer's ability, nor is it a factual statement in the indicative mood. It is actually an imperative like "Will you (please) open the door?".

Paul could ask Sue ‘’Where has the cream gone’’. Sue could then reply ‘’Cats drink cream’’. Though not said this means that the couple have a cat, cats drink cream and therefore the cat has probably drank the cream Paul is asking about.

 

 

Face Theory – Erving Goffman

 Erving Goffman developed a face theory in which an individual has both a positive and negative face needs.                                                                                                                               

 –Positive = feeling valued & appreciated

–Negative = the desire to feel independent & not to be imposed upon

 Goffman was a sociologist and writer considered to be ‘the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth century’. He is best known for his study of symbolic interaction which is supported by his book Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959).

He asked himself ‘why people behave the way they do?’ – instead of using scientific methods he used the act of simple observation to explain society. Goffman’s work allows us to have an understanding of society's ideas, values, and beliefs through the behaviour of the individual. It is through his findings that we can better understand situational behaviour.

Goffman stated that people could be seen as performers in a theatre. Actors in a play portray a certain image to the audience, and so people in society also put forth, in their behaviour, a certain image or impression to other people. For example, in church we may be quiet, respectful.

 

 

 

Semantics - Ferdinand de Saussure

 Ferdinand de Saussure was a Swiss linguist and semiotician whose ideas laid foundation for many significant developments in linguistics and semiology in the 20th century. Saussure came up with the semantic theory of the study of signals (how signs are interpreted).

Saussure said a sign is a unit used to represent and convey meaning. A sign is arbitrary (based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system) because "the bond between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary". This means the meanings that people attach to signs is subjective, people can apply different meanings to one sign. This link is also a matter of societal convention. Signs gain meanings from the associations we give them as a society.

For example, a red traffic lights doesn’t directly tell us to stop but we know to because of the meanings we associate with it as a society.

A crossing sign doesn’t literally tell us there is a crossing ahead however the image of the man allows us to know this and the red informs us to be alert.

 

'Agreement between the college and student' analysis

The text is mission statement by the college in order to inform their audience of perspective students the actions they will outtake in order to ensure their time at the college is well spent with the organisation, help and standards they want and expect. The agreement also provides a list of standards expected of the new students which they must abide to by signing the page. This allows us to clearly understand that the audience is new students to the college in order for them to understand what they can expect from enrolling at the college and also what the college expects back from them.

‘Agreement between the college and students’ is placed at the very top centre of the paper in bold block capitals in order to stand out it’s importance to make the reader aware of what they are about to read. Placed underneath in italics is a short summary of what can be expected of this content on this page – it is written in italics so that the audience can understand this isn’t the most important bit of information they need to know. This is then followed by a bullet pointed list of statements by the college which inform the audience of what they can provide. The bullet points allow the information to be set out clearly and orderly so the reader can take in each piece of information at a time. The bottom of this provides a short sign off by the ‘director of sixth form’ which makes the statement seem more personal like a letter and shows the status of the head. Following this is the section in which all perspective students must agree to. Again bullet points are used to clearly show the information so students know the exact standards they should be aware of. However above this is a statement reading ‘what we ask of you’. This is written in capital letters so the audience are aware that this is extremely important for them to get on well at the college and so it is vital that they follow these rules. Traditional and black type is used to show the formality of the agreement and that this is something that students should take into serious account.

The college agreements follows a traditional structure, supporting preconceived ideas about how texts should be presented. It is arguable that the most important information in this statement is that provided of the college about what they can offer for their students as this is a main reason as to why many would choose to enrol. Then comes the part which displays what the college expect of students should they choose to take on a course here leading us to the end of the agreement where the students signs for their commitment to the statements. This follows an explosion to resolution layout. The statements from the college are the ‘beginning of the story’ which if the audience like what they read, they will continue on. The resolution of the text is where the student signs their agreement – they like the sound of what the college has to offer, they believe they can follow the rules of the statement and so they end by signing an agreement to do so.  

At the start of the text we are met with a noun phrase – ‘agreement between the college and students’. In this phrase, the first word ‘agreement’ is the head word as it is a noun what explains what this text is. This is then followed by a preposition ‘between’ as this shows the relation between the nouns within the sentence, ‘college’ and ‘students’. Another noun phrase we find shortly after this is ‘The college and its staff’. As we go on to read the student agreement, we reach a verb phrase ‘please read this carefully’. ‘Please’ is the auxiliary verb in the phrase as it expresses the main meaning of the sentence (or otherwise ‘helps out’) the main verb in the phrase ‘read’. The adverb ‘carefully’ which gives the perspective students information about how to address this text. This is a simple imperative sentence and structure as it instructs and adding the word ‘please’ softens the interrogative sentence. ‘The’ is the determiner which is followed by the noun ‘college’ and the pronoun ‘its’ leading to the noun ‘staff’. This is also a declarative sentence as it is ‘telling’ the reader.

Through the use of its linguistic choices and structured form, it is clear that this is an informative piece of writing.