Topical

Question 1

Giles - Accents Study

Answer 1

aim - to investigate if people can be persuaded through different accents
- 4 different guises
1) RP -> high status
2) South Wales -> national
3) Somerset -> rural
4) Birmingham -> urban

findings:
- order above shows the order of general status/ how impressive they are
- but order was different for which accent persuaded the most people… (south wales, somerset and Birmingham all persuaded but RP did not)

RP is the minority accent so is not persuasive but is impressive? (possibly due to the type of ppl that speak RP , gov, royality etc who cannot identify with normal ppl)

Question 2

Julia Stanley Semantic Degradation 1977

Answer 2

Negative semantic space and sexual inequality

• Found that there were 220 terms for a ‘promiscuous woman’ and only 20 terms for men

Question 3

Linguistic reflection vs determinism

Answer 3

Reflection : Language is shaped by our thoughts and are simply a reflection of the way we think. ( so Language changes due to our beliefs)

Determinism : Language changes how we think/believe

Question 4

Fairclough informalisation

Answer 4

There is an increased blurring between professional discourse and personal discourse in language change ( ie teachers more informal with children now then strict; perhaps because punishment isn’t an effective educational tool)

-> more emphasis on relationships and mental health nowadays

Question 5

Caroline Tagg - Technology

Answer 5

6 Degrees of Separation
Investigates how the invention of various social media platforms has transformed the way people connect.

According to Tagg, identity is not a concrete, unchanging phenomenon, and people are constantly altering their identity based on the people and factors around them.

Question 6

Naomi Baron - Technology

Answer 6

Naomi Baron talks a lot about the convenience of communication technology and how this has impacted communication and people’s attitudes towards it.

The convenience of having an internet-powered search engine quite literally at our fingertips has diminished our need to communicate information with other people more directly.

Most people in the developed world are now largely reliant on technology every day.

Question 7

Gretchen McCulloch - Technology + Power

Answer 7

She states that before the internet, people were exposed primarily to a written language that used standard linguistic forms, whereas the internet has allowed anyone to become a writer.

• Most commonly the older generations, often reminisce about the ‘good old days’, when people had proper, face-to-face conversations instead of sending each other silly, informal messages.
• Younger generations, however, tend to celebrate the introduction of new technological features that supplement online communication.

Regardless of the mode, communication comes down to one key thing: attempting to ensure all our needs and desires are met.