Welcome to A Level Language Game plan for the year: Now: Start Language Investigation cwk October: Hand in cwk first draft October – January: Language Change February – Easter: Global diversity Easter – Study leave: revision

Language Investigation Coursework – the vital statistics Component 3: Language in Action Non-exam assessment 3500 words in total 20% 10% Language investigation 10% Original writing Language investigation 2000 words excluding data (50 marks) 1 piece of original writing with commentary 1500 words total

What is the language investigation? A student-led inquiry into an aspect of language The choice of topic is free – it doesn’t need to be linked to something we’ve done in class You will collect data about your topic, and then analyse it in relation to your wider reading The outcome will be a report Over the summer: you will be required to do as much wider reading as you can, to return to school with 15-20 or more references, and to start collecting data.

The structure of your report Section Word count (approx.) Introduction: setting out the theoretical framework of your project and your hypothesis 350 Methodology: describing how you will collect your data and how you have addressed any potential ethical issues, the language levels you will discuss 150 Analysis: detailed discussion of your data in the light of the theories/wider reading 1100 Conclusion: summarising the major findings and theories, evaluation of the strengths and limitations of your project 400 References: a list of the sources you have referred to, using Harvard Referencing – more on that later No word count Appendices: data, transcripts, questionnaires, interview schedules, consent forms etc.

Assessment objectives AO Weighting What it is AO1 15 marks Apply appropriate methods of language analysis, using associated terminology and coherent written expression AO2 Demonstrate critical understanding of concepts and issues relevant to language use AO3 20 marks Analyse and evaluation how contextual factors and language features are associated with the construction of meaning

Possible topics – there is so much to choose from! All our lessons from now on will be in the Library so that you can begin to choose your topic and research it. How teachers talk differently to Year 7 and Year 13 pupils How male and female 4-year-olds interact when completing joint activities How the language used by football coaches changes pre- and post-matches How advertising language targeted at men and women differs Comparison of different news programmes (R4, Newsbeat, local radio etc.) Language or war-related texts 1939-1945 Representations of ISIS in different newspapers Media representation of different celebrities Male and female celebrity chefs and the differences in language Homework task 1: come up with 5-6 potential project ideas to discuss with me in Friday’s lesson.

Helping you choose a topic Which aspects of English Language have you enjoyed so far? Are there any theories you want to test out? Do you have a favourite TV programme? Do you watch or play any sports? Do you belong to any clubs or organisations? Part-time jobs? What social media networks do you use? Are any of your family originally from another country? Do you know anyone who speaks English as a second language? What other subjects do you study?

What your study can be based on: Genres – e.g. an investigation into political speeches Function/use – e.g. How war propaganda posters use language to persuade Attitudes – e.g. an investigation into people’s views on the theory that technology is destroying the English Language Users – e.g. Whether non-standard English in text messages is related to age Theories – e.g. How valid is Deborah Tannen’s research into mixed-sex conversations? Your project may overlap two or more of these areas

Transcript conventions You will need to use the appropriate conventions when writing up your transcripts of spoken data. Homework task 2 Transcribe this clip from 1:31 to 2:13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vbQoBpIqfI Use the worksheet to help you. Using a table in Word is quite useful for this.

Harvard Referencing While you collect your data over the summer, you will need to keep a log. Using the Harvard Referencing system now will get you used to it and will save lots of time when you come to write up your project. In your references section List texts in alphabetical author order If you have more than one text by one author, put them in date order BOOKS Write the surname first, followed by the initial. Then put the date of publication in brackets. Then put the title in italics. Then put a comma, and the publication location. Then put a colon, and the publishing company. Holmes, J. and Stubbe, M. (2003) Power and Politeness in the Workplace: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Talk at Work, London: Longman.

Harvard Referencing While you collect your data over the summer, you will need to keep a log. Using the Harvard Referencing system now will get you used to it and will save lots of time when you come to write up your project. In your references section CHAPTERS IN BOOKS Write the surname first, followed by the initial. Then put the date of publication in brackets. Then put the name of the chapter in inverted commas. Then put the title in italics. Put the names of any editors, after the abbreviation ed. or eds. Then put a comma, and the publication location. Then put a colon, and the publishing company. Then put the page numbers after pp. Watson, K. (2009) ‘Regional Variation in English Accents and Dialects’, English Language Description Variation and Context. Eds. Culpeper, J., Katamba, F., Kerswill, P., Wodak, R. and McEnery, T., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 338-357.

Harvard Referencing While you collect your data over the summer, you will need to keep a log. Using the Harvard Referencing system now will get you used to it and will save lots of time when you come to write up your project. In your references section JOURNAL OR NEWSPAPER ARTICLES Write the surname first, followed by the initial. Then put the date of publication in brackets. Then put the name of the article in inverted commas. Then put a comma and the journal title in italics. Then put the issue and volume number in brackets. Then put the page numbers after pp. Trudgill, P. (1972) ‘Sex, covert prestige and linguistic change’, Language in Society, 1(2) pp.179-195.

Harvard Referencing While you collect your data over the summer, you will need to keep a log. Using the Harvard Referencing system now will get you used to it and will save lots of time when you come to write up your project. In your references section WEBSITES Write the surname or organisation first, followed by the initial. Then put the date of publication in brackets. Then put the name of the webpage in italics. Then write Accessed online and the web address in square brackets. Then add Date accessed, and the date you accessed the website. Moore, A. (2000) Universal Teacher: Language Change. Accessed online [http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/lang/languagechange.htm] Date accessed 08/06/2016.

Harvard Referencing While you collect your data over the summer, you will need to keep a log. Using the Harvard Referencing system now will get you used to it and will save lots of time when you come to write up your project. Citing texts in the body of your text – all in brackets Surname Comma Date Colon Page number If you paraphrase, you do not need to put a page number. If there are more than two authors, you can say ‘et al’ Holmes and Stubbe state that ‘…….’ (Holmes and Stubbe, 2003:8). Holmes and Stubbe (2003) state that… Culpeper et al (2009) point out that… (Culpeper et al, 2009: 440)

Keeping track of your reading I would use a table as you read – like the one below Source Notes Moore, A. (2000) Universal Teacher: Language Change. Accessed online [http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/lang/languagechange.htm] Date accessed 08/06/2016. Useful for discussing overview Explores proto-Indo-European in some depth Argues that… Trudgill, P. (1972) ‘Sex, covert prestige and linguistic change’, Language in Society, 1(2) pp.179-195. Interesting, but perhaps not so relevant. Makes good points about power relationships. Watson, K. (2009) ‘Regional Variation in English Accents and Dialects’, English Language Description Variation and Context. Eds. Culpeper, J., Katamba, F., Kerswill, P., Wodak, R. and McEnery, T., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 338-357. …

Homework – 2 tasks Come up with 5-6 potential project ideas to discuss with me in Friday’s lesson. Transcribe this clip from 1:31 to 2:13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vbQoBpIqfI Go straight to the Library for Friday’s lesson

To cover before the summer Data collection: Ethics Question types Sampling – incl. variables