Attitude, tone and ideology Flashcards
What sorts of attitudes might be displayed in a text?
Attitudes about religion, male/female roles and expectations of gender and class or social hierarchies are the most common, particularly in older texts that may have a limited audience, usually of the more affluent and more likely to be male.
What sorts of tone might you find?
There might be a much higher level of formality and exaggerated politeness in earlier texts, contrasted with a more informal and colloquial style in more modern texts. This can often be used as evidence for informalisation (Goodman) or conversationalisation (Fairclough).
What is an ideology?
An ideology is an idea that is a part of, and helps to form, a culture, society or group’s ‘world-view’, such as, ‘I have a right to choose what I do with my life’ or ‘All people have a right to be treated equally’ and so on.
What are the main types of ideology that are found in English Language exam texts?
The main types of ideology that you are likely to come across in English Language exam texts are: religious ideology (most usually Christian in older texts), consumerism (that an increase in the consumption of goods is a desirable goal), patriarchy (a social system in which men dominate) and feminism (a belief in the equality of the sexes). You might also encounter beliefs in the monarchy or democracy.
What is political correctness?
The term political correctness (adjectivally: politically correct, commonly abbreviated to PC; also abbreviated as P.C. and p.c.) in modern usage, is used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended primarily not to offend or disadvantage any particular group of people in society.
What is the euphemism treadmill?
According to Stephen Pinker, words introduced to replace an offensive word can, over time, become offensive themselves and then need to be changed and so on e.g. Moron, imbecile, idiot, mental retardation, mentally handicapped, learning disability.
Mentally challenged
Intellectually challenged
Intellectually disabled
Learning disability
If the term political correctness (in its current meaning) was first used in the 1970s, what contextual factors led to its use?
Social and cultural changes which lead to The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and The Race Relations Act 1976.
Why would it be important to eliminate sexist, racist and homophobic language?
According to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the way people think is strongly affected by their native languages e.g. language shapes thought. Therefore changing the language should change the way that people think about gender, ethnicity and sexuality.
