Welcome 12C! Homework 1

For Monday  11th Sep:
1. Sign up to Google Classroom using the code lhevgwb. You must sign in with your school email address. If you don’t wish to use this, forward all emails to your usual account.
2. Follow me on twitter if you would like to - @EnglangGeek
3. Read the article given to you in class and answer the questions

For Friday 15th 
1. Learn the terms in the Quizlet https://quizlet.com/_1kpngp ready for a test

Gender revision / wider reading - year 12 and year 13

This is useful for everyone: Year 12, we have finished Language and Gender now, so it's all down to you. https://aggslanguage.wordpress.com/gender-interaction-theory-%E2%80%93-holmes-tannen-cameron-defrancisco/ This is a really useful post on a blog I've recommended before. You certainly don't need to learn all of this, but it's useful background / wider reading - especially for those aiming for those higher grades.

Year 13 - this may be a nice way to ease yourself into your gender revision. We'll be coming on to this after Easter.

Year 12 Gender homework

I think I was a little unclear with deadlines this week, and some of you seem to have quite a bit of work at the moment, so here are some clarified deadlines for outstanding work:

 

For Thurs (12B) and Fri (12c1):
Read articles and summarise key points ready to feedback in class set last Thursday/Friday

 

For Tuesday:

• Watch the film clips on the blogpost below and write a paragraph that summarises the message of the film. There is a sample paragraph to give you an idea of what to write in the booklet that we used last lesson.
• Write a paragraph about how the ManFlu Lozzers text positions the audience to view the male gender. What gender representations are created through language? Use AO1 terminology too!

Year 12 homework for Tuesday 31st January and useful revision for Y13

Miss Representation 
The Mask You Live In 

Homework – watch the two film trailers above. Below is the start of an essay that a student wrote after considering the issues raised by the film about the representation of women. Consider the issues raised by ‘The Mask you live in’ and write the opening of an essay about the effects of representation on men.

Objectification of Women:
Every day, women around the world are objectified, treated as less of an equal, and denied the same opportunities as our fellow men. 

Why? The media. 

If the media is sending girls the message that women are objects and that is their primary being, girls will think that this is their path to power. Conversely, the more girls self-objectify the more likely they are to have lower confidence, lower ambition, lower cognitive functioning and lower grades. 

Year 12 Phonology homework

Research and make notes on the following terms for Tuesday's lesson (8th November)


Alliteration
Assonance
Sibilance
Consonance
Paralinguistics
Prosody
Sibilance
Glottal Stop
*How are different consonants described?
*What is the difference between phonology and phonetics?

12B and 12C1 homework set Tues 27th due Tues 4th Oct - wouldn't be a bad idea for Y13 to revise too!

Homework – What do you know about Grammar?

Have notes available to check in class on Tuesday 4^th October

Note: You need to know definitions and examples.

            E.g. An adjective describes or modifies a noun, e.g. the irresponsible father.

Assumed – you must be 100% confident with the words in this column	Learn now – you should research what the following terms mean, make notes, and learn the concepts	Challenge – if you are already fairly confident with much of column 2, research some of these terms
Nouns	concrete, common, abstract, proper, plurals	Count and non-count nouns
Adjectives	Comparative, superlative
Adverbs	Adverbs of place, time, manner, degree, frequency
Verbs	Regular verbs and irregular verbs Main verb Auxiliary verb Tense (past, present, future)	Modal auxiliary verbs Primary verbs Aspect (continuous, perfect) Subject–verb agreement
Pronouns	First, second, third person	Subject form, object form, possessive, demonstrative
	Determiners	Indefinite and definite article
	Preposition	Prepositional phrase
	Conjunctions	Types of conjunction

Year 12 Homework 1

Read the following article (Article about A-Level English) and answer the questions below. You don't need to hand the answers in, so you can answer them in note format if you wish, but I will be looking at your note-taking skills. Be ready to explain your answers in class, though.

1. What do you understand by the phrase 'modern cultural references'? Paraphrase it. 
2. Give two reasons why people have criticised the A-level. Do you think these reasons are valid?
3. What is the 'crumbling castle' view of language?
4. What viewpoint does Laura Barton hold about this subject? Where does the reader first understand this viewpoint?
5. Find at least two pieces of vocabulary that you would not ordinarily use in your own writing. Write down the words and their definitions. 

 * The version of this article that you have read was the online version. What genre features in this article would you not have found 25 years ago?

*Underline 3 uses of language that stand out to you for any reason. 

Lexical Asymmetry

A short but sweet article on gender. Remember, we're returning to this next year, so keep an eye out for articles like this as you may still wish to write on this topic in your final exam.


Go here!

One down, one to go...

Paper 1 was kind, I thought, though large... we need bigger desks next year!


So, as your thoughts turn to Paper 2, here are a few reminders about the paper.


You need to revise 4 topics: Gender, Occupation, Social Groups and Accent & Dialects.


Section A: There are two questions and you have to answer one of them. You choose which one to answer. They could be on any of the topics above.


Section B: There is only one question and you have to do it! This is the writing task, where you have to transform your linguistic knowledge on one of the topics above for a non-specialist audience.


Gender: There are some key things to remember here.


Essay: Use whatever data you are given as a springboard into a more general essay about language and gender. Show off what knowledge you have on the subject. Be discursive - don't say 'this approach is definitely right' - you get more marks for being tentative (seeing different sides of an argument).


Article: Remember to write for a specific audience (name it). Choose which audience you want to write for now!


Remember to come at the questions from a Diversity aspect. Current thinking in Linguistics is that men and women are not really that different in terms of their speech, and that even if they are, is it just because of their gender? They may have been influenced by education, class, ethnicity, region etc. Revise the diversity theorists (particular Cameron, Hyde).


Remember that there are two key topics that can come up in Gender: 1) How language represents genders. You may get a text that requires you to discuss how different genders are represented. We did this right at the start of the topic and looked at semantic derogation, lexical asymmetry, androcentric language etc. The first half of your theorists booklet is linked to this topic. 2) Whether and how men and women communicate differently. This is where the Deficit, Dominance, Difference and Diversity theorists come in. You cannot use these theorists if the question is a Representation one.


That's all for now. Post any questions in the comments below and I'll get back to you.

Revision Quizlet made in lesson

Here's the link to the Quizlet that you all made in class last week Hope it's useful.

I'll also put the Loop game we did in our lesson resources folder in the revision folder.

Language and Gender article - revision

In this very timely article from the Guardian (of course... they should pay me a commission) revise the arguments around whether English should have a gender neutral pronoun (would form part of your discussion about gender representation, not gendered conversation) and at the same time, look at how the writer forms an argument, sticks to the controlling idea, introduces other experts on the subject and makes the article lively. Note also how the title and sub-editorial material very clearly outline the position of the article.

Whilst you're here, you might as well analyse what I've done with that first sentence. It's pretty long: how and why?

See what I did there?

Enjoy!

Year 12 Revision for Paper 2

Article Writing - beyond level 3

A very respected English Language Teacher has written this useful blog about the mark scheme for Paper 2. It would be well worth a look as part of your revision.

Year 12 Useful youtube videos - Revision for AO1

Here's a link to a series of videos that have been produced by a Linguistics department. Their aim is to help students understand certain aspects of grammar, such as auxiliary verbs and subjects / objects. They are aimed at slightly younger students, but as such, the explanations they use are really clear.

Englicious Videos

Is txting killing our language?

What does LOL actually mean? 'Lots of love'? Yes, if you are my Grandad and you are writing it at the bottom of an email. 'Laughs out loud'? Yes, often. 

In this video, though, John Mcwhorter argues that the meaning of LOL has evolved. Useful for thinking about Pragmatics, Language Change for next year, chatroom contexts for the exams, and just interesting for budding linguists.

Is Txting killing our language?

Year 12 homework due back after Easter

Homework over Easter is to thoroughly learn the gender theorists we have covered. If you have lost any resources, have a look in the shared drive to supplement your notes. Also, remember the Quizlet that might help you revise.




There will be a test after Easter, and I need to see evidence that you have revised for it.


In addition, I would like you to prepare to come back to Paper 1 (Representation) after Easter. Revise the language level that you are still not secure in and increase your ability to use the terminology.
 Find one text (anything at all) and pick out 5 language features from the text. Label them precisely, then for each one try to say why the writer has chosen that particular language feature - what job is the language feature doing to manipulate the reader? If you are really struggling to find your own text, there is a text on the shared drive that you could use (here).




Eg. This chancer of the exchequer’s budget has unravelled. He must take responsibility for cold political decisions with no basis in economics or morality (from The Guardian)




The choice of the past tense verb 'unravelled' in this single-clause sentence gives the impression that there is no going back as an 'unravelling' suggests something which was once whole, but is now hard to put back together. This is further emphasised by the use of the perfect aspect 'has unravelled' which highlights that the action is complete: there is no chance of the process being stopped. This represents Osborne as incompetent and not in control of the budget for which he holds responsibility.

Got four minutes to spare?

Here's a nice little clip discussing how texting as a means of communication can have an effect on your emotions.


Four in four

Year 12 Current Homework

12B Mrs Morgan/ Mrs Desai


Devise a new test based on the level of terminology you are revising (most of you were level 4). It should have at least 6 questions and you should also know the answers. It would be good to have them written down on another sheet of paper. Due Tuesday 8th March


Create a poster or a mind-map based on the approach you were given in the lesson (Deficit, dominance, difference or diversity). Show the key ideas of the approach, key theorists and what they said, and any criticisms of that theory. You may need to use your gender theorists booklet and the quizlet to help you with this. Due Thursday 10th March


12C Miss Moody/ Mrs Desai


Devise a new test based on the level of terminology you are revising (most of you were level 4). It should have at least 6 questions and you should also know the answers. It would be good to have them written down on another sheet of paper. Due Thursday 10th March (extended from this week)


Plan two arguments from the sheet you were given in the lesson. Follow the structure on the sheet. You should come up with the paragraph plans, a suitable title and a sub-heading. Reading your title and sub-heading should leave us in no doubt as to what your controlling idea is. Due Thursday 10th March.


Create a poster or a mind-map based on the approach you were given in the lesson (Deficit, dominance, difference or diversity). Show the key ideas of the approach, key theorists and what they said, and any criticisms of that theory. You may need to use your gender theorists booklet and the quizlet to help you with this. Due Friday 11th March

Don't tell me I'm not good to you...

A quizlet for language and gender theorists. Not finished yet, but getting there.

Link

Homework delivered to your inbox?

If you subscribe to this blog, you should get an email every time I post something. Unfortunately I also use this for my year 9 class, so you might get a few things aimed at them too, but the vast majority of posts are for English Language. Might be useful for some of you who are a little... forgetful?

Year 12 - opinion article on Dialect. Useful style model for Paper 2 writing task

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/saying-no-to-gizit-is-plain-prejudice-8488358.html

This article really nicely blends AO2 (language issues and concepts) with a strong shaping of argument. There'll be prizes for people that leave a comment on this blog, either identifying one of her arguments, or identifying where she would have hit AO2 if this were an exam piece.