My targets for English language...


I need to revise language change theories and understand what to pick out from the paper.
I also need to practice annotating and planning within the 15 minutes and linking my ideas together.
Revise theorist for CLA as I commonly get them mixed up.

http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/04change/issuesofchange.html


One main issue with language change that prescriptive views have is that if language is the same as it has been for an extended period of time then it is 'normal' however when language changes which is all the time to keep up with current technology, popular uses etc. then it no longer becomes 'normal'
A huge number of words from Dr Johnsons dictionary in 1755 have changed meanings, broadened to gains more and narrowed to loose unnecessary meanings no longer popularly used.

language change

language change has been influencd by a wide ariety of sources. such as religion, race, cutlture and even travelling and exploring the world led us to borrowings from other languages. many factors today still influence this like the impact from war, scientific development, modern technology etc.
technology has been a hughe influence on our language as things such as instant messenger makes it alot easier and quicker for us to communicate around the world. This can change how we structure our sentences, whether we use standard-english and punctuation.......

change through inernal factors- adapting the words slightly
change through external factors-brininging new words from other languages such as borrowing
(notes unfinished)

 Attitudes towards language changes in this article have been compared to fashion as in the fact it is ever changing. However fashion 'trends' come in and out of popularity with the public which is similar to language however if language changes such as new words being formed they are more likely to be linked to the public’s use and demand of the word and due to the persons dialect or area they are from they cannot escape the use of it. similarly with fashion you can choose what you wear and due to social influence and media there is somewhat a little bit of pressure to represent these new 'trends' which shows progression in language or fashion to remain within the modern era.

 Simon Heffer " Even when armed with fine intentions, one can still fall into traps" this can show that even in our best intension to not "be a sheep" and follow the trends of language we make mistakes and from popularity we fall in to the loop of ever changing language following trends, dropping words we no longer use of deem to be outdated and continually use the upcoming more frequently used language.

Prescriptivists favour rules that identify ‘correct’ language usage. They disapprove of uses of language that breaks these rules.

 Jean Aitchison is a descriptivist. She attacks the prescriptivist view in her three language myths that she feels are false

 The Crumbling Castle myth suggests that English was a once great castle, but over time it has decayed and crumbled into the sea. She states this is false because the description of English as a ‘once fine language ‘is a particularly inaccurate one, as language is constantly changing and evolving. “No year,” she said, “can be found when language achieved some peak of perfection.”

The Damp Spoon myth suggests that ‘bad English’ sticks to people who are lazy and passive. The laziness is reflected by the people that put the damp spoon into the sugar bowl. Aitchison, though, states that “the only lazy speech is drunken speech” and that speaking quickly, for example, isn’t a sign of laziness – it is anything but. However from this theory laziness of language has come to develop and change words in which we use daily which can be a quicker more informative way of communicating, so being lazy may not necessarily be a bad thing as it has also enhanced our language and contributed to language change.

The Infectious Disease myth suggests that ‘bad English’ is like a horrible disease, like herpes, that spreads from person to person. We have no control or vaccine. It is coming to get you! Aitchison suggests that the idea that changes are ‘caught’ and ‘spread’ is technically correct, but it is no disease. People pick up changes in language because they want to. It is a personal decision to use the changing langugae however we may be heavily influenced through media, socially and popularity this can easily sway us to use this new language and the more common use of this makes it normal to sue the changed language so sometimes it may be more unusual to not use the new changes.

 “Random fluctuation can also occur subconsciously, and during this process, the sounds gradually drift from their original pronunciation - missing the 'target' of the bull's eye."

 Through Jean Aitcheson’s metaphors it is suggested change is like and "infectious disease” through a wide use of changed language it spreads, becomes more widely and frequently used. 

 https://a2englishlanguagerevision.wikispaces.com/Attitudes+towards+Change+and+Variation

- Instrumental: Language used to fulfil a need on the part of the speaker. Directly concerned with obtaining food, drink and comfort.


- Regulatory: Language used to influence the behaviour of others. Concerned with persuading / commanding / requesting other people to do things you want.


- Interactional: Language used to develop social relationships and ease the process of interaction. Concerned with the phatic dimension of talk.


- Personal: Language used to express the personal preferences and identity of the speaker. Sometimes referred to as the ‘Here I am!’ function – announcing oneself to the world.


- Representational: Language used to exchange information. Concerned with relaying or requesting information.


- Heuristic: Language used to learn and explore the environment. Child uses language to learn; this may be questions and answers, or the kind of running commentary that frequently accompanies children’s play.


- Imaginative: Language used to explore the imagination. May also accompany play as children create imaginary worlds, or may arise from storytelling.

I am interested in looking at the difference in male and female language through the use of technology and if there are any significant differences.

I will collect 10 messages from two boys and two girls picked at random through Facebook messenger and will then pick every third message to avoid bias and so I do not choose data that will support or disprove my hypothesis.

There may be limitations to my chosen data as two men and two women are not representative of the entire population who would use this form of social media.

Mix modality

Emoticons

Non standard English

Non standard punctuation

Images/ videos

Slang

To measure my data I will analyse and count the above techniques and compare if one gender uses more of these than another and analyse the possibilities why this would be.

Power in advertising
Fairclough
1. Synthetic Personalisation - build relationship between text producer and text reciever by using personal pronouns e.g 'you' or 'you'
2. Members' Resources - creating image of text using shared knowledge or the background knowledge of reader
3. Building Consumer - positioning the reciever as the ideal reader and therefore consumer of product

For this coursework my idea would be to analyse how power in advertising is used through the use of synthetic personalisation and/or building the consumer. I can do this by looking at magazine adverts that were produced at similar times and compare the language they use and how they engage their audiences to achieve these theories. 
I can look at magazines and maybe even newspapers to find these adverts however there might be a slightly different audience that the adverts are aimed at in both sources so it may be more reliable to just collect data from on type of source.