Language Acquisition

- Humans are the only living organisms capable of producing complex and varied sounds that can form language due to our brains.
- Different areas of our brains are responsible for different tasks, when we speak we're using several different parts of our brain in conjunction.
- Evidence suggests that humans are born with the inate ability to produce language, however the nature vs nurture debate is still a hot topic among language theorist.
- We have a gene that enables us to use langage, in one very rare case a family without the gene did no posess the motor skills to speak properly.
- Different case studies suggest that most of the key skills regarding language are aquired during the first few years of a childs development, after a certain amount of time language becomes much harder to learn.

Gossip

Casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details which are not confirmed as true:

‘he became the subject of much local gossip’

Etymology

1.       One who has contracted spiritual affinity with another by acting as a sponsor at a baptism.

2.       Applied to a woman's female friends invited to be present at a birth.

3.       A familiar acquaintance, friend, chum. Formerly applied to both sexes, now only to women.

4.       A person, mostly a woman, of light and trifling character, esp. one who delights in idle talk; a newsmonger, a tattler.

Gossip in its current form was first used around the 17^th century and the definition began to take a more negative tone in the 19^th century, from describing a woman of ‘light and trifling character’ to ‘trifling and groundless rumour’.

Between the 14^th and 19^th century the word could also be used to describe women as well as men and could be used in a sense meaning friend.

A Surgeon's Care

The extract (H) taken from A Surgeon’s Care, a book published by Mills and Boon. The purpose of this text is to entertain and the intended audience are middle aged women. The text coveys the feeling that the man in this context has much more power than the woman, this is established in the first line in which the male character is referred to as ‘the famous Professor  Chadwick’ giving him some kind of status through both his title and his implied reputation. The text goes on to portray the female character as unprofessional compared to her male counterpart, a stereotype that the male character reinforces when he says ‘Where on earth is Dr Hatfield?’, a question that causes the female character (who is in fact Dr Hatfield) to establish herself In her position. The line suggests the stereotype that women cannot be doctors.

Unfortunately rather than going out of her way to counteract the implications of this stereotype the female character instead shows a lack of competence and professionalism in her work, seemingly unable to focus on her work and instead fixation on the male surgeon.

Linguistic Theories

Grice's Maxims

Grice suggested that conversation is based on a shared principle of cooperation, something like: "Make your conversational contribution what is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged."

This principle was fleshed out in a series of maxims.

1.      The maxim of quantity, where one tries to be as informative as one possibly can, and gives as much information as is needed, and no more.

2.      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.

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

4.      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.

Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault (1926–1984) was a French historian and philosopher, associated with the structuralist and post-structuralist movements. He has had strong influence not only (or even primarily) in philosophy but also in a wide range of humanistic and social scientific disciplines

Bourdieu

The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu approaches power within the context of a comprehensive ‘theory of society’ which – like that of Foucault – his subject was mainly Algerian and French society, Bourdieu’s approach is useful in analysing power in development and social change processes. While Foucault sees power as ‘ubiquitous’ and beyond agency or structure, Bourdieu sees power as culturally and symbolically created, and constantly re-legitimised through an interplay of agency and structure. The main way this happens is through what he calls ‘habitus’ or socialised norms or tendencies that guide behaviour and thinking.

 

Commentry on Table Talk

Table Talk combines several elements well to create an effective review of the Kirazu, a cross of a Japanese and Tapas restaurant in Soho. One thing the review does very well is striking the right balance between a formal and informal lexis, ensuring the review does not come out to dry or to chatty. An example of this is the line "Most dishes cost under a fiver", while taking a neural standard English approach for most of the review this interesting piece of phonology makes a nice change.

The review also does a nice job on blending the context, atmosphere and food.

Change

 

Change. Humanity has never stood still, never content with what they’ve got, nothing’s ever good enough.

It’s me. It’s always been me. Right from the beginning, I don’t regret it, I feel no need to repent, my actions are for God to judge, no one else. It all started twenty two years ago, the summer of ’63. I remember the day well, hot and sticky, the Arizona sun high in the sky, I remember the thick shadow I cast on the dust as I left the house. I remember him. He saw me leave, slowed down at the gate and leant against the steel mesh. He stood tall, hands in his pockets barely breaking a sweat in his black suit and necktie. “Curtis Walton Jr”

“Yes, sir, what can I help you with?”

“Mighty fine patch of land you have Mr Walton”

“Well yes sir, I take pride in my property”

“I can see that, Mr Walton how would you feel if I were to offer you a sum of money for the land”

The man was confident, a small smirk around his face, he was sure that he’d get what he came for. I decided that I’d oblige. For now.

“Well sir I’d be happy to sell… for the right price of course, why don’t you come on in and take a seat, can’t stay out in this heat all day.

He’s the sort of person I despise, in his world everything revolves around money, well there’s more to life than expensive suits.

He strolled in through the doorway and sat down on the couch, he placed his briefcase on his lap and opened it, he shuffled through some papers and pulled out a large blueprint.

"This is what we want to do" He said, a smile growing on his face

"We're going to buy out all this property here on the eastern side of town" His finger made a ring around the paper "After we have everything we're going to bulldoze the lot and build shops, restaurants and new homes .This is the future Mr Walton and you could be part of it"

I was silent. I don't know how long I sat there before I spoke, it could have been seconds or minutes but it felt like hours. "Interesting" I brought myself to say. I could feel the rage in my bones, rampaging through my body. What I did next was not as spontaneous as it might seem, from the second I saw him I knew why he was here, I knew he was here to bring about change.

I reached behind me and grabbed a bottle from the table, in a swipe I smashed it down on to the sharp corner. I pulled it up and held it in the man’s face. I could see him gulp. I could sense the fear. I fed off this.

“Come now Mr Walton" he pleaded "Please stay calm there really is no need for this, I'm sure we can work something out."

I bit my lip, I could feel the desire building inside of me "I'm afraid it's too late for that, you've already had your turn, now it's mine"
 

In one clean swipe I slashed his throat open, the blood gushed down my hands and spilled onto the couch, it pooled on the floor in a puddle beneath my feet.

That was the first time, that was how it all began. The reasons may seem trivial but but that was what happened, some things shouldn’t change.

Transcript

Person 1: It's like half an hour until the end of the lesson

Person 2: You got dismissed half an h[our early, (.) ]why?

                           Person 3: Just to do [some research]


Person 1: Ah ok, should probably go and do that th[en]

 

                                                                      Person 3: [I am im doing it now]

 

Person 1: Fuckin' hell, that's alright

 

Person 3: (2) Yeah, what you doing?

 

Person 1: Nothing

 

Person 3: Is that geography?

 

Person 1: Yeah