AS English Language

1. AS English Language ENGB1B Language and Technology

2. Introduction By the end of this session you will be able to: • modify your language to be suitable for a variety of contexts • identify how extracts vary according to context • match extracts to contexts and identify significant linguistic characteristics

3. Today we are going to begin working on one of the topics for the summer exam: Language and Technology. We will work on this topic in this session each week up until the exam on 18th May. • This whole module is called Language and Social Contexts and you will need to be able to exemplify and explain how language varies based on the context in which it is being used. This basic question you will be answering is how does the medium (the method of communication) affect the message (the language choices made by the participant(s)).

4. Activity 1 a) a text message to a boy/girlfriend b) an answer phone message for a parent c) a facebook post on a friend’s wall d) an email to a teacher/boss e) a letter to an adult

5. Activity 2

6. Activity 3 Text 1 Hey Gems,howru?How was last nite?Hope u had a gd time..;)I herd the party was rele bad...ppl had an awful time!Iguess I shud b glad I didn’t go afta all...tbXx

7. Activity 3 Text 2 Hi Miriam and Sam That’s great to know (sarcasm!) :~) Hope your all doing well, winter drawing in an all that! Enjoy the dinner Much Love Mel

8. Activity 3 Text 3 Liverpool have a good recent record here in their yellow shirts with their black shorts and straightaway Scholes falls over from the kick-off so clearly the rain’s had a little bit of impact here and and now Liverpool playing towards the Stretford end away to our left.

9. Activity 3 Text 4 A: Good Morning, You’re through to XX customer service and my name is Adam. How may I help you? B: Ah hello, its about a redirection request that seems to be causing a few problems.

10. Activity 3 Text 5 A: wubiatch! Thx 4 ur help btwoz 2l8 B: Shit! Wanna invite Chloe in? A: K bt don’t tok bout Kevlol!

11. Activity 3 Text 6 It’s Tony Adams (5) David Seaman says he doesn’t really like the kit he has to play in tonight (1) I can’t exactly blame him (6) toiuch by Gascoigne this is McManaman (4) Shearer far post Sheringham even wider (1) for Pearce’s cross

12. Activity 3 Text 7 Hi Susan. It’s Jan. I was just letting you know that I next week will be fine. I’ve spoken to Tom and he says he can pick it up so that is fine. Right well I’ll speak to you soon. See you.

13. Activity 3 Text 8 A: Right hello Rachel B: Hi Vince A: So what can we help you with? B: Well, I’m sitting my exams soon and I can’t sleep but I don’t want to take pills so I was wondering if there are any foods or herbal remedies which could help?

14. Homework On Moodle you will find a reading by David Crystal called ‘The Effect of Technology’ taken from his 2002 book The English Language. Read the text and answer the questions on Moodle. Email your completed reponses to me at a.kay@blackburn.ac.uk by the given deadline.

15. Text Messages By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • define text message • list advantages and disadvantages of text messages • define and exemplify vowel deletion, initialisms, letter homophone, number homophone, phonetic spelling and key binding • identify, define, exemplify and analyse characteristic features of text messages

16. Quick quiz 1. What does SMS stand for? Short Messaging Service 2. In what year was the first text sent? 1992 3.What did it say? Merry Christmas

17. Quick Quiz 4. In what year was text messaging commercially launched in the UK? 1994 5. How many characters could be written in the first text messages? 160 6. What is ‘Blackberry thumb’? RSI from texting too much

18. Quick Quiz 7. To the nearest million, how many text messages were sent on Christmas day 2009?  441,805,870 8. On average, how many texts messages are sent worldwide every second (Oct 2010)?  200,000 9. Which political figure was the first to host a text Q&A session?  Tony Blair

19. Quick Quiz 10. What was the first TV programme to use text messaging in a storyline? Eastenders So are you an SMS-smarty or a text-tard?

20. What is text messaging? • Method of written communication between two phones or a phone and a computer • Uses alphanumeric keypad • Limited to screens of 160 characters although messages can go over into multiple screens

21. Activity 5: The pros and cons of texting

22. Activity 5: The pros and cons of texting

23. Activity 5: The pros and cons of texting

24. Throughout this unit it is important to keep in mind that technology augments(adds to), constrains (limits or restrains) and simulates(acts as an imitation or substitute) person-to-person and face-to-face communication so you need to be aware of how it is being used and why at all times.

25. Terminology Vowel deletion Vowels are omitted e.g. bt, xlnt, txt Initialism Common phrases are compressed to only the initials of the words e.g. brb, omg, tb Letter homophomes Letters which can replace whole words e.g. U, C, B, Y

26. Terminology Number homophones Nmbers which can replace whole words e.g. 1,2,4,8 Phonetic spelling Spelling s the words are pronounced e.g. luv, wot, bak Key binding Combination of letter and number homophones e.g. cul8r, w84me, ne1, ilbl8

27. How does the medium affect the message?

28. How does the medium affect the message?

29. Activity 6 The extract below is a selection of Valentine’s Day that Guardian readers sent in by text message for publication on the newspaper’s website on 14th February 2005. Use the table above to analyse the data for features characteristic of text messages. What can we immediately infer about the context of these discourses from the information we are given?

30. Activity 6 to wonderwoman from dadblog thx for sharing yr teasmade with me! Love u more than ever xxx to my amazing husband, on our 1st married Valentine’s day! U make me happier than ever b4 and I love u so much. From yr snow puma xx HOT STUFF, KEEPING THOSE COLD TOOTSIES WARM FOR YO. LERV, BOYSEY. chriscolethanx 4 10 great yrs luv always ginaxxxxxxxxxxxx

31. Activity 6 TO THE FINEST BIRD IN THE LAND – FOREVER BE MINE. YOURS4EVA. THE MOO FATHER To Clare, this I slove 4 all time ;-) N xxx LUSM.CWBWU2Nite.LU4E.KIR dear lambiei love u n ur air geetarwiv all my <3. u r my * 4eva xx

32. Activity 6 U keep of cycle all might. I love t more than able. x xxx Yoyobabeface.Kant wait 2 b wiv u.lol Kaz x 2 my sweet angel Sassie Q. Wil u marry me? Pleeeeeeez? SWALK B x x To Bob. I know this is all very sudden but would u go out with me? Sarah

33. Activity 7 As with any usage of language, the form is dependent on the context. Text messaging practices differ widely according to age of participants, function of message, relationship etc. To test this use your phone and copy 3 text messages into the spaces. They must be from different senders. Then enter the details of the senders in the table below. Give as much contextual detail as possible then analyse how the context affects the message and state your findings.

34. Activity 7 Findings?

35. Homework: Activity 8 Read the articles on pages 12-16 and answer the accompanying questions in full sentences and in your own words. Hand in in your book by the given deadline.

36. The Effects of Texting By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • describe the effects of texting • evaluate attitudes towards texting • reference secondary sources using Harvard Referencing • plan and write an essay response to a given question

37. Follow the process 1. Break down the question 2. The Research 3. Taking notes from a text 4. Planning your essay 5. Writing your essay 6. Completing the task

38. Telephone Calls By the end of this session you will be able to: • identify and describe the linguistic characteristics of telephone conversations • extract relevant information from texts • analyse a telephone conversation for salient features

39. Why do we use telephones? • Can talk to people who are not in the same place as you • Synchronous • Widespread usage • Low cost • Minimum effort

40. The development of the telephone • Cost – older generation; Talktalk; mobile tariffs • Limitations - only one line, call waiting; ringback; 1471 etc. • Recent developments – Answering services; video calls; mobiles; texting; skype etc

41. Activity 9 In pairs, you have been given a card featuring a ‘role’. With your partner you are to sit back to back (pretending you are on the phone). In turn, one of you should take a card and do as the card instructs. • When you were the caller, what problems did you face? • When you were the callee, what problems did you face?  • What generalisations about telephone calls can you make from this exercise?

42. How does the medium affect the message? Phonology • Phone voice – converges to RP • Compensates for lack of face-to-face • Prosodic emphasis

43. How does the medium affect the message? Grammar • Spoken grammar • Deictic reference

44. How does the medium affect the message? Discourse • Structures which must be followed to ensure cooperative principle

45. How does the medium affect the message? Pragmatics • Compensate for lack of visual aspect • More descriptive • Phatic or functional

46. Activity 10 Read the articles in the booklet, Why is it so hard to get off the phone? and Hello I’m on the train. Read through these and annotate and highlight any relevant findings. Be prepared to share these with the class.

47. Activity 11 • Analyse how the participants compensate for the lack of face-to-face communication • Comment on the relationships of the participants in the transcripts. Is there any linguistic evidence to prove how close they are? • Do the participants follow the rules of telephone conversation? If not, comment on where and why. • Apply any findings from the readings above.

48. S Oxford Library information deskC oh good morning I wonder if you could tell me if you have a particular book?S what’s the name?C it’s by S Levinson L-E-V-I-N-S-O-N and it’s called PragmaticsS right I’ll just check the files for youC thanks very much (pause while S checks file)S hello?C helloS no I’m sorry we haven’t got it hereC oh (.) oh well, you see I’ve rung up the university library and they don’t have it eitherS let me just check I’ve got the spelling right L-E-V-I-N-S-O-NC yes that’s rightS well I can see if it’s in the Poly Library but you won’t be able to take it out from thereC no no I realise that (.) Yes, would you check for me?S okay hold on a moment (pause while checks file) hello?C helloS no I’m sorry it’s not there either (.) Have you tried the Bodleian?C no not yetS or there’s there’s a place called the Taylor’s Institute which has a small linguistics sectionC oh where is that?S it’s in St Giles do you know the museum oh I’ve forgotten its name opposite the Randolph Hotel(.) the Ashmolean?C yes it’s in thereC okay I’ll try thereS well the number is not listed here I’d have to try directory enquiriesC oh well don’t worry I can do that (.) thanks for your helpS okayC goodbyeS bye

49. Ocean: Hello Ocean Finance, we’re the lender who will always lend, how can we help today? Hicks: Hi, my name is Tom Hicks and I’m looking to consolidate my debts and raise extra finance. Ocean: Well you’ve certainly come to the right place. Hicks: That sounds great, well I’m looking for a loan in the region of 300 million pounds and need it quickly. I heard if you agree a loan then it’s in your bank the next working day, is that right? Ocean: Erm, yes Mr Hicks but that’s a very large amount. What is the loan for? Hicks: I have a business in Liverpool and need to pay off some bank debts. It’s a soccer franchise, the world’s greatest soccer franchise. Ocean: Ok and how does your business make money, what are your income streams? Hicks: We make money when our customers come to watch the games we play. We sell them seats in our stadium and we’re the greatest supported soccer franchise in the world. We have a waiting list of people who want to come and watch the games. Ocean: Fantastic, so you sell out your seats for every game you play? Hicks: Erm, well we’ve been hit by the recession and games on Thursday nights when there’s a lot on in Liverpool apparently. Our customer base is very loyal to us, they wave banners with my name on at every game and shout chants about me. I can’t work out what they say because of these regional accents they have but it’s encouraging.

50. Learning Checklist Can you… … identify and describe the linguistic characteristics of telephone conversations?  … extract relevant information from texts?  … analyse a telephone conversation for salient features?