Student Booklet 2011 12

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DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA, CULTURE AND

LANGUAGE

Academic Year: 2011-2012

MODULE CODE: ELA020C013A/S

MODULE TITLE: Language Society and Power

MODULE CONVENER: Carole Sedgwick

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 020 83923364

Room: QB114

Study Skills Booklet


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Study skills booklet Language Society and Power 2011-12

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ContentsAcademic Year: 2011-2012 .......................................................................................1

Contents ................................................................................................................ 3

Required self study tasks ....................................................................................... 4

Evaluating your work: the assessment criteria ..................................................... 5

Reading and notemaking ...................................................................................... 7

Critical thinking: What is a good argument? ....................................................... 23

Effective citation ................................................................................................. 24

Avoiding Plagiarism ........................................................................................... 27

Defining terms & reading strategically ................................................................ 29

Accurate language use and proofreading ........................................................... 32

Essay planning .................................................................................................... 33

Assessment Criteria: Written Work ...................................................................... 34

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Required self study tasks

Click on the link for each task in moodle for the appropriate week and submit your

answers. For some weeks (indicated in the schedule below) you should also bring

the completed exercise to discuss in class.

Week Self-study task

2 Reading and notemaking.In class week 2

3 Effective citation moodle quiz and assignment.

4 Moodle quiz on library skills

5 Analyse a student essay. In class week 6

6 Avoiding plagiarism.7 Moodle quiz on writing accurately and clearly.

8 Critical thinking: What is a good argument?

9 Moodle quiz on critical thinking and argument.

10 Defining terms and thinking strategically (questions 1-3).

Essay planning.

In class week 11

11 Accurate language use and proofreading.

Evaluating your work: the assessment criteria.

In class week 12 (evaluating your work only).

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Evaluating your work: the assessment criteria

1. Look at the assessment criteria for written work on page 34. What are the main

differences between:

a. A first and an upper second?

b. An upper second and a lower second?

2. The following four paragraphs are extracts from student essays. They all have

some good qualities but the grades they were given vary. What class would you

put each one in? (e.g. 1st, 2.1, 2.2 etc.) Be prepared to explain why in relation to

the criteria.

a. Linguistic relativity underlines how differences between two languages

would cause the speakers of each language to perceive the world in

completely different ways. These cultural differences emphasise the truth

behind Scrutons statement; if different languages cause different cultures

to occur, then it has the power to both unify and separate, it seems to

control the world as a whole, language would be the first and most

important issue to address.

b. Unfortunately, these ageist stereotypes can lead to unfair discrimination.

In a study by Carver and de la Garza (1984 as cited by Coupland et al

1991b:89), it was shown that following a road accident, the questions

asked by police were different depending on the ages of those involved.

For example, if the accident included a young person, they would most

likely be asked if they were speeding or had been drinking alcohol. If older

adults were involved in the accident, however, they most likely would be

asked about their physical and mental capabilities. Older adults also face

unfair discrimination in the workplace based on stereotypes about their

lack of energy, flexibility, and ability and willinglnes to learn (Kirton &

Green,2005:57). A potential employer may reject an older adult in favour

of a younger person purely based on these stereotypes.

c. Joanne Winter (1993) compared two political interviews, one conducted by

a male interviewer and the other a female interviewer. The intervieweeswere both high ranking individuals in the Australian government, at that

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time. From comparing these two interviews, Winter found that the male

interviewer used an aggressive style of interviewing, such as interrupting

his interviewee. Whereas the female interviewer did not interrupt her

interviewee at all, but was interrupted five times (Coates 2003).

d. The language that is used when talking to young children and the elderly

can often be very similar. In both cases it seems to be the case that

younger and middle aged adults talk down to children and the elderly, and

often do so in a very patronising way. This contrasts with certain societies,

such as China and India, where elderly people are viewed with respect

and prided for their wisdom. In our society it is quite often the opposite, as

we find the elderly generally ignored and rejected for their old age rather

than embraced because of it. Peccei (2004:124) suggests that so many of

us are prone to doing this because of the following reasons:

Hearing often becomes less acute as people get older, and this can lead to

a reduced understanding of rapid or whispered speech, or speech in a noisy

environment... The normal ageing of the vocal chords and muscles

controlling breathing results in slower speech and a voice which has a

higher pitch and weaker volume and resonance than that of younger adults.

People are prone to make assumptions about people based on the way they

speak.

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Reading and notemaking

This week you need to read chapter 2 of the Language Society and Power

coursebook and complete the following task before the next class session.

1. Read the whole chapter through then look at the two sets of students notes on

the first part (p.23-29). Decide which set of notes is the most worthwhile and

be prepared to say why. Think about:

a. Which student thought through the ideas more?

b. What strategies did they use to organise the information?

c. How useful will the notes be when they have to write an essay later

on?

2. Finally, make your own notes on the rest of the chapter. Try to do this on just

the one page of A4. Pick out only the important points and organise the notes

carefully. You will compare your notes with other students in the next class.

Student 1

Ferdinand de Saussures theory of signs will provide a way of discussing howmeaning is constructed at the level of a word, how this can change, how wordsfit together into larger structures (sentences) and what happens when we make

choices in sentences.

Only when we have this module is it possible to discuss what politically correctmeans and how such language functions.

Language is a way of representing reality. I could take a photograph ofsomething, paint a picture or even write a piece of music.

All signs have two parts, a concept and something that is connected to theconcept. The pedestrian signals that tell you when to walk or not are signsbecause of the connection between the red light and the concept of stopping.

Words in language are therefore signs. For de Saussure a sign is made up of twothins; a signifier and signified. His definition of the sign makes a distinctionbetween the sound we hear (signifier) and the concept this makes of think of(the signified).

The arbitrary connection between words and their meaning was one of Ferdinandde Saussures insights. There is not straightforward connection between aconcept and a sound. A bee in Englihs will buzz. In Japanese it makes the soundboon boon.

There are two parts of language, langue and parole. Langue is the system that

makes parole possible chess game you play by the rules. Parole as individualswe can do things in language that we havent done before.

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One way of changing is to legislate, like the dictator in Turkmeinistan. The newbahaviour has to become part of the langue, that is, accepted conventional ruleof the language.

Meaning of a sign is the space that sighs occupy and fit together, e.g. stagger isnot march or amble.

In Indian English, wallah is used for tradesperson or worker, e.g. taxiwallah. Itmay not be relevant in other parts of the world - wallah can be an insult.Language changes. Niggardly very different meaning unrelated to ethnicity.

Synchronic refers to a particular point in time, diachronic to talk about howlanguage changes over time. Language always implies both an establishedsystem and an evolution; at every moment it is an existing institution and aproduct of the past. (de Saussure 1966:8).

Student 2

1. Linguistic SIGN = SIGNIFIER (label) + SIGNIFIED (concept)

Link between signifier & signified is arbitrary:

no natural connection between sound and concept e.g. bee buzzesin English and boon boon in Japanese

Signs get meaning partly from relationships to other signs: march is not the same as stagger or amble

Signs get meaning from relationships to other signs within a speechcommunity

wallah in Indian English relates to tradesperson. Other parts ofEnglish speaking world not understood or perjorative term

2. Two aspects of language:

Langue Parole

Rules of language system: Rules of chess, script of a play Unconscious and abstract

Actual use of language: Playing chess, performing a playN.B.

Creative can construct sentencesnever said or written before

3. Language can change

By legislation (uncommon) Individuals use a new word or old word in different way and it is accepted,

recognised. Spaces in the linguistic system reconfigured to accommodate thenew word.

Two aspects to the study of language change

Synchronic : language at a particular point in time.

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Diachronic : how language changes over time.

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Analysing a student essay

1. Read the example essay below and the criteria for marking written workon page

34.

a. What class would you put it in? (e.g. 1st, 2.1, 2.2 etc.) Be prepared to

explain why in relation to the criteria.

b. What are the strengths of this essay in terms of the way it is written and

presented?

Essay question

Facts are facts; angles of telling can do nothing to change this. Discuss in

relation to the pieces from two newspapers (attached) paying attention to

the specific linguistic choices made.

Example essay

"Facts are facts; angles of telling can do nothing to change this."

While it may be true that a "fact is a fact," language is a medium of

expressing a facta medium that is guided by the values and ideals of

the speaker or writer and the social norms of the culture. Roger Fowler

writes that 'language is not neutral, but a highly constructive mediator'

(1991:1). Thus, it is nearly impossible for facts to be completely objective

and accurate when put into words. This theory holds true of the media

especially the news media. In this essay, I will attempt to demonstrate

the partiality of, and the influence of social contexts on language using

examples from two newspaper articlesone from The Sun and one from

The Timesboth writing on the same event and published on the same

day. I will examine the different emphases of the two articles through

their leads, headlines, sources, description of actors, language usage and

the underlying news values.

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Lead

Bell describes the "lead sentence" as the 'most distinctive feature of

the news discourse' (1991:176). Though short, the lead is essentially a

summary of the rest of the article. The lead sentence in The Sun's article

reads as follows: 'PORTUGUESE cops came up with their sickest slur yet

against the McCanns yesterday claiming little Maddies body may have

been kept in a FRIDGE before being dumped.' Before even getting into

the body of the article, The Sun makes it clear with which side they most

sympathize. It is clear that the Portuguese "cops"a term full of negative

connotationsare to blame for this "sick" rumour against the McCanns.

The presupposition behind this statement is that there have been several

others and that the Portuguese police are behind all of them. This

statement emphasizes the brutality of this "slur" and the alleged culprits

behind it by capitalizing the words "fridge" and "Portuguese." The author

also subtly sneaks in the term "little"often seen as a term of innocence

before Maddie as if to contrast the malicious-intending "Portuguese

cops" with nave "little Maddie."

Even though both The Sun and The Times are describing the same

event, their lead sentences could not be more different. The Times' lead

sentence states: 'The parents of Madeleine McCann have pleaded for an

end to the distressing smear campaign that has suggested that they may

have killed their missing daughter.' This lead sentence, like the one in

The Sun, acknowledges the ongoing "smear campaign" against the

McCanns, however, unlike The Sun, does not claim to know who the

culprits are. The Sun's leadmakes the "Portuguese cops" the subject of

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the sentence whereas in The Times, "The parents of Madeleine McCann"

are the subject. Even the alleged "smears" are different in the two

newspapers: The Sun focuses on the rumour that Madeleine's dead body

"may have been kept in a fridge" while The Times focuses on the rumour

that the McCanns may have "killed their missing daughter."

Headline

The role of the headline is to catch the public's attention and to pare

down the lead sentence into a "single main event" (Bell 1991: 187). The

Times' headline reads: 'Kate and Gerry McCann's friends refute missing

hours claim as smears continue.' There is an interesting distinction

between this headline and the lead of this article. In the headline, it

names "Kate and Gerry McCann's friends" as the subjects who are refuting

the "smear", whereas in the lead sentence names "The parents of

Madeleine McCann" as the subjects. Both are misleading, however. The

article does not quote the McCanns at all, but rather their spokesman,

Clarence Mitchell. As for mention of the McCanns' friends, only one short

paragraph out of 12 quotes a "source close to the McCanns" and one

sentence mentions that the McCanns' "friends" are aiding in refuting the

rumour.

The headline from The Sun's article takes a very different viewpoint.

Whereas The Times' headlinefocuses on the main event of the storythe

continuing smearsThe Sun's headline focuses on minor detail: the

rumour that Madeleine's body may have been kept in a fridge. It is done

in a "double decked" fashion with one smaller headline above another.

The upper headline says: 'Cops' Most Sickening Slur Yet', then in large,

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bolded letters below, it says: 'Maddies body was kept in fridge.'

Obviously, the point is to "grab the attention." However, the story itself

discusses the many other "smears" and allegations far more than this

particular one. Bell claims that headlines that focus on secondary events

or details are particularly revealing cases: 'The very fact that a headline

features something which the story presents as lesser re-weights the

news values in the story' (Bell, 1991:188-189). Most likely The Sun chose

to focus on this secondary aspect of the story because of its inherent

news valueit is negative, vivid and grotesquethus "hooking" the

reader into finishing the article.

Sources

The sources in both articles inspire less than full confidence in their veracity.

The sources range from "detectives" and "police sources" to "a source" and "a family friend."

The only definite sources named in both articles are Clarence Mitchellthe McCanns'

spokesmanand theDiario de Noticias newspaper in Spain. The Sun also quotes the

Spanish civil guard spokesman, Antonio Castilla. Neither article has more or better sources

than the other; however the certainty with which the sources are described is significantly

different from one newspaper to the other. It should be noted, however, that throughout the

articles the most outrageous claims are always backed by the weakest sources.

In The Sun, sources are described with high degree of certainty and almost entirely

using the active voice. For example, concerning the Portuguese police, The Sun writes:

'Detectives are convinced Police sources revealedPortuguese police

have leaked'The Times, on the contrary, describes the same sources with a low degree

of certainty and using the passive voice: "It was claimed yesterday that police in

Portugal believe [The] Diario de Noticias newspaper said that officers

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believed The report [is] credited to anonymous detectives from the

Polcia Judiciria." The difference between the two is enough that one

could read The Sun's article and assume certainty where it is clearly not

deserved.

Description of Portuguese Police

The newspapers are different in how they portray both the

Portuguese police and the McCanns. Although both seem to favour the

McCanns, they go about portraying the police in very different fashions.

The Sun's article is quite clear in its opinion of the Portuguese police as

frantic to accuse someone for Madeleine's disappearance and almost

villainous in their continuing "smear campaign" against the McCanns. In

the synopsis of this story on the first page of that day's newspaper, the

Portuguese police are described as "desperate cops," and throughout the

article itself, they are seen as the ones spreading what are described as

"sick allegations" and "sick slurs." The article uses words like

"extraordinary" and "bizarre" to describe the theory that the Kate McCann

may have killed her daughter.

The Times is not as overt in blaming the Portuguese police for the

continuing slurs; however, it does imply that they probably are to blame.

The article uses the passive voice insofar as it regards the Portuguese

police: 'It was claimed yesterday that police in Portugal believe that Kate

McCann killed Madeleine...' It, however, gives little space to discussing

this theory and why it maybe relevant and far more space to the

refutation of it. At one point the article says, 'The police theory was

described as total rubbish.'

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Description of the McCanns

As mentioned above, both articles favour the McCanns. The Times'

article displays Gerry and Kate McCann as pro-active in their daughter's

search, innocent of the circulating rumours, and as good people with

whom we can identify. It does this in three ways. Firstly, as already

mentioned, the fact that the article mentions that the McCanns' friends

are refuting these claims helps readers see them as innocentthey have

both "witnesses" and support. Secondly, it heavily emphasizes that the

McCanns are a church-going family. The picture that accompanies the

story shows Gerry and Kate McCann outside of their local church; the

second paragraph in the article makes a point of mentioning that

'[Tomorrow] Kate and Gerry McCann will attend a church service near

their home'a point which it restates further in the article again. The

assumption is that readers will make the connection that if the McCanns

are pious, they must be true to their word and, thus, innocent. Thirdly,

they are shown as active not only in finding their own daughter but also in

saving other families from similar fates. This can be seen in their

apparent desire to give interviews and use their campaign as 'an

opportunity to raise awareness about other missing children and to call for

better alert systems.'

The Sun's article, in contrast, shows its bias for the McCanns more

by making them seem victimized by the smears and by personalizing

them. It draws a harsh distinction between the "desperate" Portuguese

police and the innocent McCanns. And, unlike The Times' article, which

always refers to the McCanns and Madeleine formally, The Sun calls the

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McCanns by their first names and nicknamesKate, Gerry, "little

Maddie"suggesting a sense of intimacy.

Language Usage

The use of language in newspaper articles can be an interesting clue

to their underlying perspectives and values. The Sun and The Times have

many differences in their linguistic usage. Both articles have instances of

presuppositions. As I already mentioned, the headline and lead in The

Sun's article presupposes that the Portuguese police were behind the

leakages and smears against the McCanns, and this one was only the

latest of several. The clearest presupposition in The Times is that the

McCanns are innocent, the victims of what is described as a "smear

campaign" or "black propaganda." I have already discussed the

differences in voiceThe Sun uses the active voice more, while The Times

uses the passive voice. This is directly tied to modalityThe Sun

expresses strong certainty in its facts and sources while The Times is

more vague and doubtful. Between the two articles, the greatest

similarites are related to the rumours being spread. The Times uses

phrases such as "distressing smear campaign," "series of allegations," and

"black propaganda," while The Sun uses "sickening slur," "extraordinary

theory" and "bizarre claim." As a whole, The Sun writes more simply and

informally, using shorter paragraphs and shorter sentences while The

Times writes more professionally and formally using longer paragraphs.

News Values

Every article that is published in a newspaper has gone through

several processes to establish its news value. There are several principles

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that authors and editors use to determine this and it differs from

newspaper to newspaper depending on who its audience is, what will sell

and whether it is unique. News values are essential to the survival of a

newspaper. Leonardo Ralha, editor at Correio da Manh, the largest-

circulation newspaper in Portugal, understands the importance of news

values and how they relate to the Madeleine McCann story: 'Whatever

happened is a tragedy, but it is also a major, fascinating story... It's

[terrible] in a tragic case like this, but the simple truth is that we have

sold more newspapers' (Cited in Pfanner, 2007:2).

The Sun and The Times are clearly writing for different audiences

with different expectations. Though both newspapers are covering the

same event, the articles are completely different. The facts of the event

may be the same, but the expression of these factswhat little is known

of themproduced two very different articles. In this essay, I have

illustrated the biases and differences of the two articles by examining

their leads, headlines, sources, and description of actors, language usage

and the underlying news values. So, are facts "just facts"? Perhaps, until

you put them into words. But this is certain: facts are never "just facts" in

the news.

News is a representation of the world in language; because

language is a semiotic code, it imposes a structure of values,

social and economic in origin, on whatever is represented;

and so inevitably news, like every discourse, constructively

patterns that of which it speaks.

(Fowler, 1991:

4)

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Bibliography

Bell, A. (1991). The Language of News Media, Oxford: Blackwell.

Fowler, R. (1991). Language in the News, London: Routledge.

Pfanner, E. (4 November 2007). "Tabloids keep Madeleine McCann inHeadlines." International Herald Tribune, Internet WWW page at URL:http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/04/business/MCCANN05.php(accessed 10/11/07)

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Analysing the question

2. This essay question has quite a typical wording. First it gives you a statement.

Then it asks you to discuss the statement.

a. Do you think the lecturer usually expects you to agree ordisagree with the

statement in this kind of question?

b. What does discuss mean in this context?

Facts are facts; angles of telling can do nothing to change this. Discuss in

relation to the pieces from two newspapers (attached) paying attention to

the specific linguistic choices made.

Analysing the introduction

3. Decide which sentence in the introduction (below) does each of the following:

a. Gives the thesis of the essay the main idea and the response to the

question.

b. Gives an outline of the main sections of the essay.

c. Explains how the student intends to support her thesis in the rest of the

essay.

d. Repeats the statement from the question.

e. Comments on the statement.

f. Narrows the focus down to a more specific context.

g. Supports her comments with a quotation.

(1) "Facts are facts; angles of telling can do nothing to change this." (2)

While it may be true that a "fact is a fact," language is a medium of

expressing a facta medium that is guided by the values and ideals of

the speaker or writer and the social norms of the culture. (3) Roger Fowlerwrites that 'language is not neutral, but a highly constructive mediator'

(1991:1). (4)Thus, it is nearly impossible for facts to be completely

objective and accurate when put into words. (5)This theory holds true of

the mediaespecially the news media. (6) In this essay, I will attempt to

demonstrate the partiality of, and the influence of social contexts on

language, using examples from two newspaper articlesone from The

Sun and one from The Timesboth writing on the same event andpublished on the same day. (7) I will examine the different emphases of

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the two articles through their leads, headlines, sources, description of

actors, language usage and the underlying news values.

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Analysing a body paragraph

4. Below is one of the paragraphs from the body of the essay.

a. Which sentence contains the main idea of the paragraph?

b. What is the purpose of the rest of the paragraph?

c. How would you describe the structure of the paragraph?

d. What role do the extracts from the newspaper article play?

Description of the McCanns

As mentioned above, both articles favour the McCanns. The Times'

article displays Gerry and Kate McCann as pro-active in their daughter's

search, innocent of the circulating rumours, and as good people with

whom we can identify. It does this in three ways. Firstly, as already

mentioned, the fact that the article mentions that the McCanns' friends

are refuting these claims helps readers see them as innocentthey have

both "witnesses" and support. Secondly, it heavily emphasizes that the

McCanns are a church-going family. The picture that accompanies the

story shows Gerry and Kate McCann outside of their local church; the

second paragraph in the article makes a point of mentioning that

'[Tomorrow] Kate and Gerry McCann will attend a church service near

their home'a point which it restates further in the article again. The

assumption is that readers will make the connection that if the McCanns

are pious, they must be true to their word and, thus, innocent. Thirdly,

they are shown as active not only in finding their own daughter but also in

saving other families from similar fates. This can be seen in their

apparent desire to give interviews and use their campaign as 'an

opportunity to raise awareness about other missing children and to call for

better alert systems.'

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5. We could represent the structure of the above paragraph in an outline like this:

Main point: Article shows McCanns as good & innocent

Supporting point 1: Emphasises that friends support them

Supporting point 2: Highlights churchgoing

o Evidence: Picture of church shown

o Evidence : Mentions will attend church

Supporting point 3: Shows them as helping others

o Evidence: Mentions they want to raise awareness etc.

This is also a good way of planning out what you are going to write. Fornext week

do a similar outline below for one body paragraph in the essay you are going to

write:

Main point:

Supporting point 1:

o Evidence:

Supporting point 2:

o Evidence:

Supporting point 2:

o Evidence:

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Critical thinking: What is a good argument?

One of the things lecturers are looking for in your work is a good argument. Thismeans that what you say is carefully expressed, supported by evidence, logicaland

leads towards a conclusion.

Read the following argument carefully and answer the questions:

1. What is the conclusion?

2. What problems are there with the argument? (There are at least eight

criticisms you can make!)

3. How would you have to change this text to make it into a good argument?

Womens talk at work

It is well known that women talk more than men. However, because they

are naturally less competitive and more polite in the way that they speak,

they may not be so successful at work. According to Jo Cameron, a former

contestant on BBC programme The Apprentice, Women are traditionally

more modest than men when it comes to putting themselves forward.

They use passive language and think out loud. Women also have a

tendency to apologise for slip-ups and look after everyone else beforethemselves (2008). She claims that women need to be trained to

communicate more effectively in the male-dominated work environment.

Women are weak and indecisive when putting forward their point of view,

using hedges such as may,probably, or I think. This is proved by the

following example from Coates (1996, p. 155), where the speaker talks

about a meeting she is organising:

HELEN: but what it means about next week is we may not have

enough for two groups cos i had two apologies in advance/

[...] and you know some other people may have commitments/ so i dont think were going to run two groups/

Men do not express uncertainty about what they say and statistics show

that women's pay is on average 17.2 per cent less than men's pay

(Women and equality unit, 2008). Therefore, the way that women speak

disadvantages them at work. Women can either continue to be

marginalised in the workplace or change the way that they speak. It is

clear that if women want to be taken more seriously at work they have to

learn how to talk like men.

Bibliography

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Cameron, J. (2008) Women in HR must end seen but not heard mentality.

Internet WWW page at

URL:http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/05/27/46024/

women-in-hr-must-end-seen-but-not-heard-mentality.html (accessed 20th June

2008)

Coates, J. (1996). Women talk: conversation between women friends. Oxford:

Blackwell

Women and equality unit. (2008) Gender pay gap. Internet WWW page at URL:

http://www.equalities.gov.uk/women_work/pay.htm (accessed 20th June 2008)

Effective citation

Citation means using something that you have read in your writing. We are going to

look at some good examples of citation and see how it is done. Please note, there

are two tasks this week, the quiz and moodle assignment.

1. Complete the quiz on moodle in relation to the Essay extracts and the

Bibliography below.

Essay extracts

1. Singh (2004 p.98-103) discusses two aspects of ethnic prejudice in language:

the use of an us and them division and the use of negative labelling. In thisessay, I will use these two aspects to analyse articles from The Sunnewspaper.

2. The word ethnicoriginally comes from the Greek word fornation, which canbe defined as a community which has a common history, cultural tradition andlanguage (Singh 2004 p.95).

3. According to Van Dijk (1991 cited in Singh 2004 p.101), when tabloids reportnegative topics, including crime, they tend to be over-ethnicised, while more

positive news items are de-ethnicised. However, practices may havechanged in recent years. My analysis of crime articles suggests that ethnicityis only mentioned as part of a description of a person the police are lookingfor. The ethnicity of known criminals is not reported.

4. Although explicit reference to ethnicity is now rare, the term asylum seekerappears in negative contexts, associated with terms such as scam, cheatpaedophile, and perv. Singh (2004 p.100) argues that the constantrepetition of such negative associations works to reflect and reinforce astrong perception of the dangerous outsider.

5. It seems that an us and them mentality still persists in the British tabloid press,which may reinforce a negative perception of ethnic minorities. As Singh

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Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism means representing someone elses words or ideas as you own work.

We saw in week 3 that you have to give a reference for any ideas or information that

you use, put quotation marks when you copy the wording, and provide a

bibliographyat the end of your essay. If you dont follow these rules, then it looks like

the words and ideas are your own and so this isplagiarism.

1. You probably know that plagiarism is considered a very serious offence at

university. Why do you think that universities are so concerned about

plagiarism?

2. Compare the original passage from your course book with the five student

attempts at using it. For each one decide:

Is there any plagiarism?

If not, have they chosen a sensible way to use citation?

Original text1

Observational studies of parents conversations with their children have also

highlighted several common features in the way the interaction proceeds. Young

children are usually perceived to be incompetent turn-takers, with older

speakers having expectations that their contributions will be irrelevant or

delayed. The younger the child, the more likely their attempts to initiate a new

topic will be ignored by older speakers and the more likely they are to be

interrupted or overlapped (two speakers taking simultaneously). There is arelatively high proportion of directive and instructive talk from adults, either

by blunt commands be careful, dont do that or by talking over (talkingabout people in their presence and referring to them as we,she orhe).

Students citations

1 Stillwell Peccei, J. (2004). Language and Age, in L. Thomas, S. Waring, I. Singh, J. Stilwell Peccei,J. Thornborrow & J. Jones, Language Society and Power, 2nd edn, London: Routledge. p. 125-126

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a. Observational studies of parents conversations have shown that children are

usually perceived to be incompetent turn-takers. Their attempts to initiate a new

topic will be ignored by older speakers and there is a high proportion of directive

and instructive talk from adults (Stillwell Peccei 2004 p.125).

b. Adults may expect that a childs contribution to the conversation will be irrelevant

so often interrupt or ignore them. This pattern becomes stronger with younger

children. Compared to talk with other adults, talk to children includes a high

proportion of directives.

c. The more youthful the kid, the more to be expected their effort to commence a

novel theme will be uncared for by grown-up orators and the more probable they

are to be episodic or partly covered (two speakers chatting concurrently) (Stillwell

Peccei 2004 p.125).

d. Studies of parent-child interaction show a number of typical characteristics.Young children are usually perceived to be incompetent turn-takers, with older

speakers having expectations that their contributions will be irrelevant or delayed.

The younger the child, the more likely their attempts to initiate a new topic will be

ignored by older speakers and the more likely they are to be interrupted or

overlapped (two speakers taking simultaneously). There is a relatively high

proportion of directive and instructive talk from adults, either by blunt

commands be careful, dont do that or by talking over (talking about people

in their presence and referring to them as we, she orhe (Stillwell Peccei 2004

p.125-126).

e. Interaction between parents and children often follows certain patterns. Adults

may interrupt, overlap or ignore children when they speak. Talk to children

frequently includes orders or instructions. Adults also tend to talk over children,

which means to talk about someone when they are present (Stillwell Peccei 2004

p.125-126).

3. Students often resort to plagiarism because they are overwhelmed by the work.

But thats not accepted as an excuse! You have to make sure it doesnt happento you. What study habits can help you avoid plagiarism and get good grades?

Think about the following areas:

Time management

Doing the reading

Making notes

Understanding the ideas

Approach to essay writing

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Defining terms & reading strategically

It is important in academic writing to use the proper terminology for the concepts you

are talking about. Indeed, you will remember that proper use of terminology is one of

the criteria we use for marking. It is a good idea to give a definition of key terms. This

makes you think about what the term means and shows your understanding. It can

also be useful because terminology is often used in different ways by different

writers. Therefore, it may be necessary to make clear what definition you are using.

NB. You will need a copy of your course book to do this weeks task.

1. Definitions are often structured like the following example. Notice that there are

four key elements.

TERM + VERB + TYPE OF THING + DEFINING

CHARACTERISTIC

Identify the same four elements in the definitions below, which are based on your

course books glossary(a list of key terms with explanations).

a. Received pronunciation is a prestige accent that is associated in Britain

with educated speakers of high social class (Mooney et al, 2011:229).

b. A linguistic varietyis taken to mean an identifiable language system

which is used in particular geographic or social situations and has its

own linguistic norms (Mooney et al, 2011:226).

c. Convergence can be defined as a process in which speakers change

their speech to make it more similar to that of the hearer (Mooney etal, 2011:222).

2. Write a definition for the following terms based on the skeleton information.

a. Crossing/ process / speakers of one group use the speech patterns of

another group

b. Speech community /group of people / members share a common

language variety and set of linguistic norms

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An accent is defined as features of a

speakers

pronunciation

that can signal their regional or

social background.


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3. Sometimes you will want to extend a definition into a paragraph by going into

more detail or depth. Read through the following definition paragraph to see how

this has been done. What kind of additional information has been added?

Extended definition of social class

A social class can be seen as a group of people who have similar status within a

society. The concept of social class depends on the assumption that society is

hierarchically structured such that people on each layer have similarities with

each other and are considered equal but they are different from, and not equal to,

the people on other layers (Jones 2004 p.144). However, it is difficult to say

exactly what the criteria are for this social stratification. Economic status is crucial

but other important factors include level of education or training and the extent to

which a persons job involves responsibility and management of others. For

example, working as a nurse involves a high level of skill and responsibility.

Classification schemes usually place such jobs in one of the higher levels,

despite the comparatively low salary (Jones 2004).

4. You are going to work in a group to produce a definition paragraph for one of the

following key terms: POWERorIDEOLOGY. Both of them are quite broad

concepts, which can be difficult to define. However, an extended definition of

these may well be useful for your next assignment.

As a group choose one of the concepts and make some initial notes on how you

could define it.

What kind of a thing is it?

What are the defining characteristics?

5. Using the indexin your course book, find a definition of the term. Does it match

your own ideas? Skim through the other entries on this topic to find other

information that will be useful for writing an extended definition.

6. Work together to write a short definition paragraph. It must include:

A one sentence definition, structured in the way we discussed earlier.

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Some of the other elements of an extended definition.

References and quotation marks as appropriate.

7. Read another groups definition and give them some short written feedback on it.

Look at the criteria for marking to help you do this. It can be positive or you canmake (polite!) suggestions for improvement.

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Accurate language use and proofreading

It can be difficult to focus your attention on expressing difficult ideas and writing

accurately at the same time. It is important then to make sure that you check through

your work carefully for mistakes, or you can lose valuable marks.

The following sentences include the kinds of mistakes that students often make in

their writing. Can you find the mistakes and correct them? There are 17 mistakes

altogether, including problems of punctuation, grammar, spelling and style.

1. In general Received Pronunciation may be considered prestigious however;within a certain social group the accent of dominant members might carry moreprestige.

2. There are some roles in society, which only women are supposed to take on,men are not expected enter caring professions such as nursing which oftenhave comparatively low pay.

3. 35% of the women were managers while the other 65% were men.

4. The varied languages and cultures of Britain need to be embraced by all

communities and not to suppress those that do not have a British background.

5. Being more dominant in the interaction, we can see that men are more likely tointerrupt women than other men.

6. After reading the original study, the articleremains unconvincing.

7. Regional dialects can be an indicator of social class, which may include specificgrammar and lexis as well as accent.

8. The media very often uses stereotypes with regards to the elderly.

9. The language that newspapers use effects our perception of events. It isdependant on many factors.

10.I think Whorf has a point but I dont really buy the idea of linguistic relativity.

Now check your answers on moodle.

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Essay planning

You need to read the following information and prepare an essay plan before the

class.

Research shows that good writers spend more timeplanning. Below is an example

outline plan for part of the essay we analysed earlier in the course. Before the class,

prepare your own essay outline for assignment 2. Make sure you include a full

thesis statement and show clearly which are the main points and supporting

points.

Essay outline

Thesis: it is nearly impossible for facts to be completely objective and accurate when put intowords

1. Lead

Definition (Bell)

Sun sympathetic to McCannso Negative connotation cops

o Presupposition police behind smears

o Capitalisation FRIDGE & PORTUGUESE

o little Maddie contrast

Times differento Cops not culprits

o smears different

2. Headline

Role of headline (Bell)

Timeso Friends in headline but not lead

Suno Focus on fridge Grab attention

o News values (quote Bell)

3. Sources

Dont inspire confidence

Similar sources

Suno More certainty

o Active voice

Timeo Less certainty

o Passive voice

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Assessment Criteria: Written Work

To pass, your assignment needs to do the following:

1. Reflect some awareness of the module content.

2. Demonstrate that you have done reading relevant to the module in the content of

your essay.

3. Address the exact title given to you, or one agreed in person by your tutor.

4. Meet the required length (where word length is specified).

5. Conform to the conventions of academic writing and presentation.

6. Contain a bibliography which includes all the references that you make in your

assignment.

Having met these six pass requirements, how well you pass (i.e. the grade you get)

will be decided by how well you meet the detailed requirements given below. The

following scheme describes the qualities that we look for when we grade written work.

FIRST / A /

90-100%

In addition to meeting the requirements for a first graded between 80-89%, your work

must demonstrate:

1. The ability to critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your research and

to develop that evaluation to a level not usually found in undergraduate work.

2. The ability to identify and develop interesting aspects of your research to evaluation

to a level not usually found in undergraduate work.

3. The ability to see the implications of your research for future research projects.

4. Original aspects in your approach to the topic: for example, successfully using an

analytic method not usually applied to your kind of data, or making a convincing

original claim, supported by your reading or research to a evaluation to a level notusually found in undergraduate work.

80-89%

Your work must demonstrate:

1. Evidence that you have followed the module and have a thorough and perceptive

knowledge of the module content.

2. Evidence that you have understood the issues covered by the module, and can

make links between them.

3. Evidence of having read and understood the recommended reading.

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4. Evidence of having made your own literature search, and having found up-to-date

and relevant materials beyond those on your reading list.

5. A thorough understanding of the requirements of the question that you are

answering, or of the title that you are responding to.

6. An astute and comprehensive description of the linguistic background to the topic.7. A knowledge of appropriate terms and the ability to use them appropriately.

8. The ability to organise your ideas clearly and logically.

9. The ability to express what you mean clearly when you write.

10.The ability to criticise relevant published literature where appropriate and to suggest

alternative perspectives.

11.The ability to critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your research and

to develop that evaluation in an original way.

12.The ability to identify and develop interesting aspects of your research.

13.The ability to see the implications of your research for future research projects.

14.Original aspects in your approach to the topic: for example, successfully using an

analytic method not usually applied to your kind of data, or making a convincing

original claim, supported by your reading or research.

70-79%


1. Evidence that you have followed the module and have a thorough and perceptive

knowledge of the module content.

2. Evidence that you have understood the issues covered by the module, and canmake links between them.


4. Evidence of having made your own literature search, and possibly having found up-

to-date and relevant materials beyond those on your reading list.

5. A thorough understanding of the requirements of the question that you are

answering, or of the title that you are responding to.

6. An astute and comprehensive description of the linguistic background to the topic.

7. A knowledge of appropriate terms and the ability to use them appropriately.



10.The ability to criticise relevant published literature where appropriate.

11.The ability to critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your research.

12.The ability to identify and develop interesting aspects of your research.

13 Original aspects in your approach to the topic: for example, using an analytic

method not usually applied to your kind of data, or making an original claim,

supported by your reading or research.

UPPER SECOND / B / 60-69%


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1. Evidence that you have followed the module and have a solid knowledge of the

module content.

2. Evidence that you have understood the issues covered by the module, and can

make links between them.3. Evidence of having read and understood the recommended reading.

4. Evidence of having made your own literature search, and possibly having found up-

to-date and relevant materials beyond those on your reading list.

5. An understanding of the requirements of the question that you are answering, or of

the title that you are responding to.

6. A thorough and accurate description of the linguistic background to the topic.




10.The ability to criticise relevant published literature where appropriate.

11.The ability to critically comment on the strengths and weaknesses of your research.

12.The ability to produce work which is stimulating and thought-provoking.

LOWER SECOND / C / 50-59%


1. Evidence that you have followed the module and have good knowledge of the

module content.2. Evidence that you have understood the important issues covered by the module.


4. A clear attempt to meet the requirements of the question that you are answering, or

of the title that you are responding to.

5. An adequate description of the linguistic background to the topic.




THIRD / D / 40-49%


1. Evidence that you have followed the module and have knowledge of the module

content.

2. Evidence that you have understood some of the most important issues covered by

the module.

3. Evidence of having read and understood key texts from the recommended reading

list.

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4. An understanding of the requirements of the question that you are answering, or of

the title that you are responding to.

5. A description of the linguistic background to the topic.

6. A knowledge of the appropriate terms and the ability to use them appropriately.

7. An attempt to organise some of your ideas clearly and logically.8. An attempt to express what you mean clearly when you write.

9. An attempt to differentiate between knowledge which is the result of well-conducted research, and knowledge which is based on intuition or personalexperience (whether your own, or anybody else's).

FAIL / F / 39% and below

If your work does not meet the six pass requirements given at the start of this grading

scheme, then the following comments will apply.

30-39% (condonable range)

Your work will show:

1. Little evidence that you have followed the module or have knowledge of the module

content.

2. Little evidence that you have understood some of the most important issues

covered by the module.

3. Little evidence of having read and understood key texts from the recommended

reading list.

4. Little understanding of the requirements of the question that you are answering, or

of the title that you are responding to.

5. Little description of the linguistic background to the topic.

6. Little knowledge of the appropriate terms and an inability to use them appropriately.

7. Little attempt to organise your ideas clearly and logically.

8. Little attempt to express what you mean clearly when you write.

9. Little attempt to differentiate between knowledge which is the result of well-

conducted research, and knowledge which is based on intuition or personalexperience (whether your own, or anybody else's).

20-29% (non-condonable range)

Your work will show:

1. Minimal evidence that you have followed the module or have knowledge of the

module content.

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2. Minimal evidence that you have understood some of the most important issues

covered by the module.

3. Minimal evidence of having read and understood key texts from the recommended

reading list.

4. Very little understanding of the requirements of the question that you are answering,or of the title that you are responding to.

5. Hardly any description of the linguistic background to the topic.

6. Minimal knowledge of the appropriate terms or how to use them.

7. An unsuccessful attempt to organise your ideas clearly and logically.

8. An unsuccessful attempt to express what you mean clearly when you write.

9. No attempt to differentiate between knowledge which is the result of well-conducted research, and knowledge which is based on intuition or personalexperience (whether your own, or anybody else's).

0-19%

Your work will be:

1. A totally incoherent piece of writing.2. Lack structure both of the content and of the sentences themselves.3. Demonstrate no relevance to the module topic.

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Student Booklet 2011 12

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