Terminology: Language

Question 1

Received Pronunciation

Answer 1

An accent traditionally associated with high status (the queen’s English)

Question 2

Prosodics

Answer 2

Overall sound we make when we speak, including rhythm, pitch, volume and intonation.

Question 3

Paralanguage

Answer 3

The non-verbal elements of speech, refers to vocal quality and vocal effects such as whispering or laughter. It can also refer to body language.

Question 4

Third person attached narrative

Answer 4

A third person POV focused on a single character throughout the narrative.

Question 5

Colloquial register

Answer 5

Informal

Question 6

Idioms

Answer 6

Catchphrases/Expressions

Question 7

Static verbs

Answer 7

Expressing a state or condition rather than an action, relates to thoughts or beliefs. Eg: See, Own, Have etc

Question 8

Dynamic verbs

Answer 8

They describe action. Eg: run, jump, work etc

Question 9

Descriptive modifiers

Answer 9

They make sentences more descriptive, examples include adverbs and adjectives.

Question 10

Elision

Answer 10

The dropping of sounds/letters in a word or phrase. Eg: goin’ instead of going.

Question 11

Ellipsis

Answer 11

The dropping of a word in a sentence that can be understood by context clues. Eg: ‘I’m goin’ shops.’

Question 12

Deictic reference

Answer 12

Context dependant, words we can’t see unless we are in that situation. An example would be “here” and “now” in the sentence “You read this here and now.”

Question 13

Adjacency Pairs

Answer 13

A pair of utterances that often go together, such as question and answer; greeting and greeting and statement and response.

Question 14

Insertion Sequence

Answer 14

An utterance that interrupts the adjacency pair.

Question 15

‘Flouting the rules’

Answer 15

Breaking the normal expectations of an adjacency pair. Eg: A: “Hello” B: “Goodbye.”

Question 16

Phatic

Answer 16

Small talk

Question 17

Interactional

Answer 17

Social conversation, usually between friends or acquaintances.

Question 18

Referential

Answer 18

Giving information

Question 19

Transactional

Answer 19

Getting a job done, used to obtain goods, services or trades

Question 20

Expressive

Answer 20

Relaying opinions and emotions

Question 21

Expository

Answer 21

Explaining ideas or theories

Question 22

Instructive

Answer 22

Giving clear instructions

Question 23

Collaborative

Answer 23

Agreeing and showing solidarity and cooperation

Question 24

Syntactic variety

Answer 24

Changing sentence types

Question 25

Noun phrase

Answer 25

Pre-modifying adjective + noun e.g: big wolf

Question 26

Modal verbs

Answer 26

Examples include: might, could, would, will, must.

Question 27

Language levels: phonology

Answer 27

Refers to sound effects created in writing or speech

Question 28

Lexis

Answer 28

Language or vocabulary chosen by writer/speaker

Question 29

Semantics

Answer 29

The study of meaning in language

Question 30

Denotation

Answer 30

Straightforward meaning

Question 31

Connotation

Answer 31

Implication/association

Question 32

Synthetic personalisation

Answer 32

Simulating a 1-1 interaction with the reader (it’s fake)

Question 33

Discourse

Answer 33

Everything that puts a text together

Question 34

Discourse convention

Answer 34

Rules or styles that a community follows to communicate

Question 35

Discourse structure

Answer 35

The way in which an entire text is organised

Question 36

Foreground

Answer 36

Putting a word/subject in the beginning of a sentence can give it most important, e.g: Arsenal, the greatest football team ever.

Question 37

Face threatening acts

Answer 37

Challenging someone’s outer persona

Question 38

Face

Answer 38

The image of ourselves that we present to others

Question 39

Vague language

Answer 39

Imprecise or unassertive statements, e.g: ‘and so on’, ‘or whatever’, ‘whatsit’

Question 40

Grice’s Maxims

Answer 40

QUALITY - being truthful, not giving out false info
QUANTITY - being informative as needed, but no more
RELEVANCE - staying relevant to the conversation
MANNER - being as clear and brief as possible (less ambiguity)

Flouting Maxims can lead to criticism from other participants

Question 41

Accommodation theory

Answer 41

When people interact they adjust their speech, their vocal patterns, and their gestures to accommodate others.

Question 42

Convergence

Answer 42

Reducing the distance between people

Question 43

Upward convergence

Answer 43

Adjusting your manner of speaking to meet that of a higher status.

Question 44

Downward convergence

Answer 44

Adjusting your manner of speaking when talking to children or those who don’t have an RP accent.

Question 45

Mutual convergence

Answer 45

When both people adjust their manner of speaking to converge to each other.

Question 46

Divergence

Answer 46

When one or both speakers emphasise the differences in their manner of speaking. Or display body language which represents conflict / confrontation.

Question 47

Positive politeness

Answer 47

Minimises threat to hearer’s face and makes them feel good about themselves.

Question 48

Examples of positive politeness:

Answer 48

• Compliments
• Taking an interest in people
• Making clear that we enjoy someone’s company
• Humour

Question 49

Negative politeness

Answer 49

Avoiding imposing a threat on the hearer’s face.

Question 50

Examples of negative politeness:

Answer 50

• Hedging: Er, could you, er, perhaps, close the, um , window?​
• Pessimism: I don’t suppose you could close the window, could you?​
• Indicating deference: Excuse me, sir, would you mind if I asked you to close the window?​
• Apologising: I’m terribly sorry to put you out, but could you close the window?​
• Impersonalising: The management requires all windows to be closed.

Question 51

syntactic parallelism

Answer 51

words that are linked

Question 52

Hypophora

Answer 52

Question directly followed by its own answer. E.g: Who did this? Oh right, it was Greg.