Discuss some of the newer forms of English being spoken in , and what they tell us abort contemporary British society.
Changes in a language like changes in a society are unavoidable. English language evolves and newer forms appear. Among them we can list Cockney, Estuary English and Mockney.
At first the introduction of RP is necessary, the standard form of English, considered proper English is rather class dialect than the local one. At least in remained the accent of those at the upper levels of the social scale as measured by education, income, profession or title. Traditionally accent of those educated in public schools.
Traditional dialect of working class Londoners is known as Cockney; among some characteristic features in pronunciation we can list use of glottal stops (t nor pronounced in words like butter, daughter), initial H is dropped (happy – ‘appy), l vocalization (dark l pronounced w), in grammar it is characterised by double negatives or the of use me instead of my (Where is me shoes?). Taking vocabulary into consideration the Rhyming Slang is used where a word is replaced by a pair of words the second of which rhymes with the one replaced (trouble and strife means wife).
Another form of English is known as Estuary English which involves some features of RP and Cockney used by young middle class people near as a roughened up form of speech. It is characterised by use of less stigmatized elements of Cockney (e.g. pronunciation and rhyming but not glottaling). General trend shows the shift from RP to EE. EE evoked the discussion whether it was a sign of dumbing down or democratization. Dumbing down is a part of general lowering of standards of speech and leveling down of culture whereas democratization in EE allows speakers to calibrate their speech according to different working and social environments. EE is an accent more socially neutral than RP that means RP speakers can moderate their accent down in order to sound less elite. Speakers can also moderate their accent up. For non RP speakers climbing the social or career ladder this represents an important innovation in British life, it enables them to compromise but retain rather than lose their original class-linguistic identity.
We can also distinguish a form known as Mockney. A less complex linguistic phenomenon than Estuary English, being a deliberate imitation of that dialect by well educated speakers from RP backgrounds, appeared in 1990s, a well established way of speaking in the popular mass media (Jamie Olivier, Guy Ritchie). A stereotypical Mockney speaker comes from an upper-middle class background. A person speaking with a Mockney accent might adopt Cockney pronunciation but retain standard grammatical forms.
The next variety that can be heard is MLE (Multicultural London English) known as Jafaican, emerged in the late 20th century, spoken mainly by working class, young people in London, it is said to be gaining territory from Cockney. MLE possesses many elements from the languages of the . It is likely that young people growing up in exposed to a mixture of second language English and local London English leads to emerge of the new variety of language from that mix. Some grammatical innovations in MLE include regularisation of be in past tense, affirmative was for all conjugations was, and "weren't" for negative conjugations. This leaves "I was, you was, he was" etc., and "I weren't, you weren't, he weren't". MLE has a specific social context, it is a marker of group identity and speech style used for in group communication, autonomy, absence of adult supervision, and extended social networks – a distinct and separate social sphere.
Summing up, all these changes in speaking resemble changes and divisions in the society. Judging by the speech it can be stated from which part of the country the person is or what is his or her background. It also mirrors the process of post war social changes, the expansion and fragmentation of the middle classes. New emerging dialects for instance MLE allows people from literally hundreds of linguistic backgrounds to communicate in a common tongue. The manner of speaking is an important factor in British society, may suggest one’s social background, or be a method of showing autonomy.
10. Wpływ języka angielskiego na współczesny język polski (leksyka, frazeologia, składnia).
Największy wpływ języka angielskiego na współczesny język polski widoczny jest w warstwie leksykalnej i przejawia głównie poprzez zapożyczenia wyrazów.
Zapożyczenia można podzielić na kilka grup. Pierwsza z nich są zapożyczenia właściwe gdzie obce wyrazy zostają przyjęte razem ze znaczeniem, często temu procesowi towarzyszy uproszczona wymowa i pisownia, np. brydż, mecz. Wyróżniamy również zapożyczenia strukturalne znane również jako kalki językowe gdzie następuje odwzorowanie obcych konstrukcji/ części składowych, np. nie ma sprawy. Tutaj możemy również wyróżnić kalki słowotwórcze czyli odwzorowanie pojedynczych słów np.. nastolatek od teenager lub drapacz chmur skyscraper. Angielskie wpływy są coraz bardziej odczuwalne również warstwie frazeologicznej. Nierzadko można spotkać się w sklepie z pytaniem Czy mogę pomóc, utworzonego na wzór angielskiego Can I help you, zamiast bardziej polskiego Czym mogę służyć, są to przykłady kalki frazeologicznej.
Innym rodzajem zapożyczeń są zapożyczenia semantyczne, które polegają na przejęciu dodatkowego znaczenia do wyrazu, który ma już swoje znaczenie np. korespondować – które ma znaczenie prowadzić korespondencję zyskało nowe znaczenie na podstawie angielskiego słowa correspond czyli odpowiadać czemuś. Kolejnym rodzajem zapożyczeń są zapożyczenia sztuczne, czyli wyrazy utworzone z obcych elementów leksykalnych/słowotwórczych jak dyktafon lub tzw. Hybrydy: ciucholand, fotokącik.
Najnowsze zmiany dotyczą także wielu innych części języka. Jedną z takich zmian jest używanie angielskiego sufiksu -er (służącego do oznaczania kogoś lub czegoś związanego semantycznie z tematem, do którego został dodany) określenia w języku polskim osób, np. szpaner, developer. Coraz częściej używany jest angielski formant liczby mnogiej -s zamiast polskiej formy, np. skatersi, mastersi. W nazwach firm wprowadza się niekiedy angielską końcówkę dopełniacza liczby pojedynczej -s, np. Witek’s. W celu tworzenia neologizmów dodawana jest wielokrotnie angielska końcówka -ing, np. plażing jako określeni spędzania czasu na plaży. Wykorzystywane są także pojedyncze morfemy angielskie do utworzenia nowych wyrazów: np. -gate do oznaczania różnego rodzaju afer, takie jak Rywingate.
Na poziomie składni wpływ języka angielskiego zauważalny jest poprzez tworzenie typowych dla tego języka konstrukcji, w których przymiotnik poprzedza czasownik, np. teoretyczne badanie.
Podsumowując, można stwierdzić, że coraz większe ilości zapożyczeń są świadectwem wzrastającego wpływu języka angielskiego na polszczyznę, bez wątpienia jest to skutkiem popularyzacji i powszechnego nauczania języka angielskiego w Polsce.
12. Normy współczesnej polszczyzny – stanowienie, kodyfikacja, stan
Norma językowa to zbiór zaaprobowanych przez dane społeczeństwo – przede wszystkim przez jego warstwy wykształcone, jednostek językowych oraz reguł określających zasięg realizacji związków między tymi jednostkami, innymi słowy jest to zbiór elementów językowych, które są w pewnym okresie uznane przez jakąś część społeczności za wzorcowe, poprawne albo co najmniej dopuszczalne. Normę traktuje się jako jeden z poziomów wewnętrznej organizacji języka.
Współczesny stan normy językowej podzielony jest na dwa poziomy – normę wzorcową i użytkową.
Norma wzorcowa właściwa jest dla kontaktów publicznych, oficjalnych, obejmuje styl naukowy i urzędowy; liczy się z tradycją i estetyka oraz precyzją form językowych. Norma wzorcowa jest jednolita i ponadśrodowiskowa. Z kolei norma użytkowa obejmuje zbiór wyrazów, ich form i połączeń dopuszczalnych w kontaktach swobodnych i nieoficjalnych. Decyduje o tym przede wszystkim stopień rozpowszechnienia danego środka językowego oraz jego komunikacyjna przydatność i sprawność np. prostota, natomiast w mniejszym stopniu zgodność z tradycją czy systemem języka.
Zespół działań służących eliminacji elementów niepotrzebnych i niepoprawnych to kodyfikacja normy językowej. Ujmuje język na aktualnym etapie rozwoju, wynikiem kodyfikacji są wydawnictwa słownikowe i książkowe, utrwalające aktualny stan normy językowej. Charakterystyczną cecha normy jest jej ciągła zmienność i ewolucja, kodyfikacja natomiast rejestruje stan normy w okresie, w którym powstał np. słownik. Czego rezultatem jest fakt, że kodyfikacja pozostaje zawsze trochę z tyłu za aktualnym stanem normy. Jednak dzięki temu kodyfikacja powstrzymuje lub opóźnia niezasłużone wejście do normy językowej niektórych rozpowszechnionych elementów, co w jakimś stopniu chroni system języka przed niepożądanymi zmianami.
Stanowienie normy
11. Nazwy własne polskie i obce – czy, jak i co odmieniać?
Nazwa własna to wyraz, wyrażenie lub jakakolwiek inna forma językowa (np. zdanie) służąca do wyróżnienia jednego przedmiotu (np. instytucji, osoby, produktu, utworu, usługi) spośród innych. Nazwami własnymi są:
Imiona, nazwiska, przezwiska, przydomki, nazwy geograficzne (Afryka), nazwy firm, urzędów, instytucji, partii, sklepów, nazwy marek i znaków handlowych (Adidas), nazwy pomników, miejsc pamięci : Syrenka
Wszystkie polskie imiona powinny być odmieniane, jedyny wyjątek to Beatrycze. Odnośnie nazwisk, odmieniane powinny być wyłącznie nazwiska kobiet zakończone na –a:
I tutaj rozróżniamy nazwiska zakończone na –owa bądź –ewa, które odmieniają się zgodnie z zasadami odmiany przymiotników, natomiast pozostałe nazwiska zakończona na samogłoskę –a odmieniają się jak rzeczowniki pospolite o podobnym zakończeniu. Co do nazw własnych pochodzenia obcego, jeżeli to tylko możliwe, należy je odmieniać. Odmieniają się wszystkie imiona żeńskie zakończona na samogłoskę –a, wszystkie pozostałe są nieodmienne (Alice). Biorąc pod uwagę imiona męskie, odmieniamy te, które w wymowie zakończone są spółgłoską (Francis), samogłoskami –a (Sasza) , -i (Giovanni), -o (Benito), -y (Henry). Można też odmieniać imiona zakończone na -e oraz akcentowane na ostatniej sylabie, np. Cesare [Czezare]. Pozostałe imiona męskie nie odmieniają się, np. Andrew [Endrju], Hugh [Hju], Matthew [Metju].
Nieco bardziej skomplikowana wydawać się może kwestia odmiany obcych nazwisk. W tym przypadku należy zwracać uwagę na to co lub czego nie słyszymy. Jeśli nazwisko obce ma końcówkę niewymawialną (kończącą się na –e nieme), to po odmianie otrzymuje końcówkę polską zapisaną po apostrofie. W innych przypadkach apostrofu nie stawiamy, nawet jeśli wymaga to spolszczenia końcówki oryginalnej, dotyczy to nazwisk zakończonych na spółgłoskę wymawianą np. Bush oraz kończących się na –y po samogłosce np. Disney. Obce nazwiska zakończona na –a odmieniają się tak samo jak polskie nazwiska zakończone na tę samą samogłoskę. Nazwiska kończące się w wymowie na –y lub –i po spółgłosce (pisane –y lub –ie) odmieniają się w liczbie pojedynczej jak przymiotniki. Nazwiska na –y w dopełniaczu, celowniku i bierniku piszemy z użyciem apostrofu, gdyż głoska ta w tych przypadkach nie jest wymawiana; nazwiska zakończone na –i, -ie zapisujemy bez użycia apostrofu (Lilly, Lylly’ego, Lyllym).
Jeśli chodzi o nazwy geograficzne to mogą one funkcjonować w postaci spolszczonej bądź oryginalnej. Jednak — inaczej niż w przypadku niektórych nazwisk — nie ma zwyczaju stosowania pisowni wariantywnej. Pisownia Paris, Madrid, Roma zamiast Paryż, Madryt, Rzym nie jest akceptowana przez normy języka polskiego. Pisownię spolszczoną stosujemy tylko w odniesieniu do nazw państw, kilkudziesięciu dużych lub ważnych miast i sporadycznie do innych nazw geograficznych; w odniesieniu do pozostałych stosujemy pisownię oryginalną. Nieodmienne są nazwy dla których nie można ustalić wzoru odmiany, np. Baku, Capri, Fidżi, a także nazwy akcentowane na ostatniej sylabie, np. Calais
Nie odmieniamy również nazw rodzaju nijakiego zakończonych na -um, np. Bochum, nawet gdy zostały spolszczone: Bizancjum, Monachium. Jednak gdy mamy do czynienia z nazwami zakończymi na –um ale są one rodzaju męskiego, odmieniamy je, np. Chartum (-umu, -umie).
Kwetsia odmiany nazw własnych jest obecnie ważnym tematem ze względu na coraz większą liczbę słów pochodzenia obcego, pojawiąjącyh się w języku polskim, co sprawia znaczne trudności w poprawnym stosowaniu tych form, niewsytarczająca znajomość tematu prowadzi do rozpowszechniania błędnych odmian oraz nadużywania apostrofu.
7. Point out the differences betweeen discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis as two approaches to language comunication research.
Discourse analysis is a way of approaching a problem or situation through deconstructing the text. Discourse analysis is neither a qualitative nor a quantitative research method but a manner of questioning the basic assumptions of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Van Dijk perceives discourse analysis as ideology analysis. The discourse analysis is primarily text based – focuses on syntax, lexicon, semantics and schematic structure. It identifies the rules which make a text in a particular type. In other words discourse studies focus mainly on the systematic and explicit analysis of the various structures and startegies of different levels of text and talk.
On the other hand CDA is a type of discourse analytical research that primarily studies the way social power abuse, dominance and inequaloty are enacted, reproduced and restricted by the text and talk in the social and political context. What is more, it is not a research method but a discipline or an approach. The significant difference between DA and CDA lies in the constitutive problem-oriented, interdisciplinary approach of the latter. Furthermore, CDA is not oriented on the investigating a linguistic unit but in studying the social phenomena.
Taking things into account, CDA studies discourse in the social perspective. It analyses the complicated relations between the language (discourse) and and other social processes. Among the most vital areas of the inbterest are relations between discourse, power, dominance and social inequality. While the traditional discourse analysis is a domain of linguists, CDA is a joint effort of specialists in various fields, for instance: psychology, sociology and political science.
8. Using the framework of critical discourse analysis, explain the relationship of language to power and ideology.
Concerning the term ‘Critical Discourse Analysis’, a variety of approaches towards the social analysis of discourse might be distinguished, among which the most commonly known are those presented by Fairclough and Wodak. Nevertheless, there is an assumption shared by CDA practitioners which states that language and power are undoubtedly linked. Therefore, each of the approaches views language as a form of social practice and focuses on the ways social and political domination are reproduced in text and talk.
In addition to the linguistic theory of Critical Discourse Analysis, the approach draws from social theory in order to examine ideologies and power relations involved in discourse.
All in all, Critical Discourse Analysis illustrates the problems generated by the relationship between ideology and power. It has to be stated that all of our words are used to convey a broad sense of meanings, and the meaning we convey with those words is identified by our immediate social, political, and historical conditions, that is why, our words are never neutral, because they carry the power that reflects the interests of those who speak.
(In each case, a number of rules and patterns, such as what is talked about and how, might be observed. The words of those in power are taken as self-evident truths and the words of those not in power are dismissed as irrelevant, inappropriate. Critical approach to discourse analysis attempts to link the text (micro level) with the underlying power structures in society (macro level) through discursive practices upon which the text is drawn. That is a text, a description of something happening in a larger social context, consisting of a complex set of power relations, is interpreted and acted upon by readers or listeners depending on their rules, norms, and mental models of socially acceptable behavior and background knowledge.)
Discussing this topic in detail, it might be observed that concerning the concept of power, which is maintained through language, relates to the control how texts are produced, distributed and consumed in particular socio-cultural contexts. What is more, the other term has to be mentioned here, i.e. ‘dominance’, which according to Van Dijk, is the exercise of social power by elites, institutions or groups that results in social inequality, including political, cultural, class, ethnic, racial and gender inequality. That is why, critical discourse analysis want to know what structures, strategies or other properties of text, talk, verbal interaction or communicative events play a role in these modes of reproduction.
Taking into account ideology as a system of ideas which constitutes and controls the large power blocks of our society and language considered as a medium of ideological force, it might be observed that language is a material form of ideology, and simultaneously language is invested by ideology. Nevertheless, it has to be noted that ideologies reside in texts but it is not possible ‘read off’ ideologies from texts because meanings are produced through interpretations of texts and texts are open to diverse interpretations. Ideologies form the basis of the belief systems or social representations of specific groups.
What might be mentioned is also the fact that nowadays, probably the most important social institution in bringing off the processes of transmitting ideologies, the meanings and values is the mass media. Some discourse genres, such as newspapers and political propaganda have the explicit aim of teaching ideologies to group members and newcomers. Thus ideologies are not innate, but learnt, and precisely the content and form of such discourse may be more or less likely to form intended mental models of social events, which finally may be generalized and abstracted to social representations and ideologies.
9. What are the basic tenets of critical discourse analysis as an approach to the study of language communication?
Fairclough and Wodak proposed eight foundational tenets for CDA,
The first states that CDA addresses social problems, the starting point is not the language per se but social problems (immigration, the role of women in the modern society, environmental issues, unemployment, the relationship between business and education).
Next tenet says that Power relations are discursive – that means, discourse can initiate some social processes; e.g. discourse may undergo operationalisation, for instance transform into practical actions, in social institutions – post-communists neoliberal economic discourse. Moreover, Discourse constitute society and culture, and is constituted by them, does ideological work representing, constructing society reproducing unequal relations of power and it is historical that means, connected to previous, contemporary and subsequent discourses. The link between text and society is mediated – the powerful ones can exert power in discourse because of the social cognition of them being powerful, and the same time the structure of the text causes social cognition, for instance, we deal with relations between discourse and cognition in which discourse structures play a mediating role. In addition, Discourse analysis is interpretive and explanatory and implies a systematic methodology and an investigation of context. Finally, Discourse is a form of social action.
Summing up, CDA views text as artefacts that do not occur in isolation – socio-political, socio-historic contexts contribute to production and interpretation of text and are crucial aspects of the analysis. It operates on three levels of analysis – engaging with the text, the discursive practices (processes of production, reception, interpretation) and the wider socio-political and socio-historic context.
Fairclough alone (one of the founders of critical discourse analysis (CDA) as applied to sociolinguistics) offers five theoretical propositions that frame his approach to CDA.
The first one states that
Discourse (language use) shapes and is shaped by society:
This is viewed as two ways, dialectic relationship - language changes according to the context - situations are altered according to language used –for example, advertising and news can affect attitudes, behaviour, etc.
What is more,
Discourse helps to constitute (and change) knowledge, social relations and social identity:
The way language is used affects the way the world is represented, for instance: Anti-Abortionist terming themselves ‘pro-life’ implies that their opponents are ‘anti-life’.
According to the third tenet:
Discourse is shaped by relations of power and invested with ideologies:
And if this tenet is correct, then language is a powerful mechanism for social control and, therefore, is contested and contestable, and
The shaping of discourse is a stake in power struggles.
Finally, 5. CDA aims to show how society and discourse shape each other: Language use is not a neutral phenomenon – it is concerned with developing consciousness of the issue, a precondition for developing new practices and conventions – and thus contributing to social emancipation and social justice.
13. Using Corpora in language teaching and learning.
In linguistics a corpus defines a large and structured set of texts, nowadays usually electronically stored and processed. The corpora are used to do statistical analysis, checking frequency of occurrence or validating linguistic rules within a specific language territory. In other words corpus may be defined as any body of text, that is a collection of recorded instances of spoken or written language.
A corpus may contain texts in a single language, and is called monolingual corpus, and they are often subjected to a process known as annotation, an example of annotating a corpus is part of speech tagging, in which information about each word’s part of speech – noun, verb, adjective – is added to the corpus in the form of tags.
Taking language teaching and learning into consideration the use of corpora is believed to be a useful didactic material since functions as complementary material for dictionaries. In dictionaries entries are followed by the exemplary illustration of use of a word in a sentence, corpora provides an access to thousands of examples which show the word being applied in a sentence in a broader and real context. Furthermore, using corpora it is possible to analyse whether the word or collocation is common and widely used or rather its use is not natural for native speakers of a language, moreover it illustrates the typical context of using a word. In addition, one common failure of English textbooks is that they teach ‘a kind of school English which does not seem to exist outside the foreign language classroom’ (Mindt 1996: 232). As such, learners often find it difficult to communicate successfully with native speakers. The advocates of using corpora argued that corpora can provide a powerful tool with which learners can explore and discover patterns of authentic language, providing such information as collocations. It has been also contended that corpus-based language teaching has potentials to motivate learners and promote learner autonomy that are highly valued in pedagogy.
The issue of how to use corpora in the language classroom has been discussed extensively in the literature. With the corpus-based approach to language pedagogy, the traditional ‘three P’s’ (Presentation – Practice – Production) approach to teaching may not be entirely suitable. Instead, the more exploratory approach of ‘three I’s’ (Illustration – Interaction – Induction) may be more appropriate, where ‘illustration’ means looking at real data, ‘interaction’ means discussing and sharing opinions and observations, and ‘induction’ means making one’s own rule for a particular feature.
To sum up, Corpora are useful not only because collocations can only reliably be measured quantitatively, but also because the KWIC (key word in context) view of corpus data exposes learners to a great deal of authentic data in a structured way, what is more using corpora helps students develop autonomy by providing materials for self studying, and exploring.
14. Second language acquisition theories (behaviourism, cognitivism, nativism, interactionism).
Throughout the years many different theories of have been discussed in order to understand how the language is acquired by people. Among most famous theories we can distinguish behaviourism, cognitivism, nativism and interactionims. These theories provide different views at second language acquisition.
Behavioursts claimed that language depends largely on the environment, the major proponent of this idea was Skinner. He believed that language is acquired through principles of conditioning including association, imitation and reinforcement. In other words language acquisition and development are learnt behaviours.
According to this view, children learn words by associating sounds with objects, actions, and events, by observation and imitation. It is believed that the human mind is a blank slate at birth and all kinds of knowledge is learnt from the environment.
Critics of this idea argue that a behaviorist explanation is inadequate and they maintain that learning cannot account for the rapid rate at which children acquire language. There can be an infinite number of sentences in a language and all these cannot be learned by imitation. Children acquire language skills even though adults do not consistently correct their syntax.
Popular model in behaviourism Stimulus – response leads to habit formation and base on reinforcement. Positive reinforcement as a reaction to desirable behviour increases probability of a behaviour being repeated, if the outcome has negative effect for instance punishment decreases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.
Cognitivism became the dominant force in psychology in the late-20th century, replacing behaviorism as the most popular model for understanding mental functions. However, Cognitive psychology is not a refutation of behaviorism, but rather an expansion of behaviourist approach.
Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes that humans cannot be "given" information which they immediately understand and use. Instead, humans must "construct" their own knowledge. They build their knowledge through experiences which enable them to create schemas - mental models in their heads. These schemas are changed, enlarged, and made more sophisticated through two complimentary processes: assimilation and accommodation.
In cognitivism, language development occurs according to stages of cognitive development. According to Piaget, language appears when one has ability to represent symbols in mind. And cognitive development and language acquisition are closely interrelated processes. During the childhood the abstract knowledge about the world can be gained through seeing objects around them and by observing how the objects function and interact each other.
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The Nativist Interpretation of language acquisition based on Chomsky’s idea that the principles underlying the structure of language are biologically determined in the human mind and hence genetically transmitted. He therefore argues that all humans share the same underlying linguistic structure, irrespective of socio-cultural difference.
Chomsky’s observations of children being able to produce understandable sentences led him to the conclusion that there must be some special mechanism dealing with lg from our early childhood. He called the mechanism Language Acquisition Device, children are born with the LAD which help them not only to learn their mother tongue hut also to order the structures while learning. In other words LAD is an innate ability to acquire language. He also introduces the concepts of Universal Grammar and Critical Period Hypothesis. Chomsky argued that the human brain contains a limited set of rules for organizing language that linguistic structures are at least partly innate. This implies in turn that all languages have a common structural basis; the set of rules is what is known as universal grammar. This is the claim that there is, indeed, an optimal period for language acquisition, ending at puberty, that moment is called CPH. After that state acquiring a language becomes much more difficult.
Similar to behaviourist theory, the interaction theory believes that nurture is crucial in the process of language development and it is promoted by face to face interaction and communication.
The interaction hypothesis claims that comprehensible input is important for language learning. In addition, it claims that the effectiveness of comprehensible input is greatly increased when learners have to negotiate for meaning. This occurs when there is a breakdown in communication which interlocutors attempt to overcome. One of the participants in a conversation will say something that the other does not understand; the participants will then use various communicative strategies to help the interaction progress. The strategies used when negotiating meaning may include slowing down speech, speaking more deliberately, requests for clarification or repair of speech, or paraphrases.
Summing up, since years understanding how people acquire languages has been the issue explored by many psychologist who proposed varied theories. However, every theory has its supporters and opponents and it cannot be stated that any of the language acquisition theories fully explains the process of lg acquisition, still it is vital to know different approaches to language acquisition since they provide vital basis for language teaching.
15. Pragmatics
Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics and semiotics that studies the ways in which context contributes to meaning. Unlike semantics, which examines meaning that is conventional or "coded" in a given language, pragmatics studies how the transmission of meaning depends not only on structural and linguistic knowledge (e.g., grammar, lexicon, etc.) of the speaker and listener, but also on the context of the utterance, any pre-existing knowledge about those involved, the inferred intent of the speaker, and other factors. In this respect, pragmatics explains how language users are able to overcome apparent ambiguity, since meaning relies on the manner, place, time etc. of an utterance. In other words it a study of what people mean by what they say.
Pragmatics differs two speech acts that are produced by people – direct and indirect. In direct speech act there is no hidden intention, only direct relation between structure and function, for example, shut the door, do you wear seat belt? On the contrary, there is also indirect speech act. In indirect speech acts the speaker communicates to the hearer more than he actually says, for example by asking someone a question Can you pass the salt? A person does not ask about the real ability of the other person but expects the particular action.
Furthermore, from the pragmatic point of view there are three factors in a verbal communication: locution, illocution an perlocution. Locution is described as an act of producing a meaningful and correct utterance, illocution describes function of the utterance, in other words, intended aim of the speaker and finally, perlocution, the effect of the utterance or reaction of the listener to what was said. Moreover, in pragmatics co-operative principle is presented, which describes how people interact with each other. Grice advised speakers to make contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose of the talk exchange in which you are engaged. The cooperative principle is divided into four maxims: quantity which says – make your contribution as informative as is required and not more, quality that states a speaker should not say what he/she believes to be false or lacks in adequate evidence, maxim of relevance which is make your contribution relevant and finally maxim of manner which says avoid obscurity and ambiguity, be brief and orderly.
Summing up, pragmatics outlines the study of meaning in the interactional context. It looks beyond the literal meaning of an utterance and considers how meaning is constructed as well as focusing on implied meanings. It considers language as an instrument of interaction, what people mean when they use language and how we communicate and understand each other.
6. What contribution can cultural theory make to our understanding of ‘myth’ in popular culture?
In modern society, myth is often regarded as historical or obsolete. Modern formats of communication allow for widespread communication across the globe, thus enabling mythological discourse and exchange among greater audiences than ever before. Myths are made-up stories or people who are not ‘true’. A theme or character type embodying an idea. states that myths convey things which cannot be conveyed by words such as symbols, stories. Myths express characters and stories that are encoded into the human species in prehistory, and therefore express universal concerns. Various elements of myth can now be found in television, cinema and video games. Although myth was traditionally transmitted through the oral tradition on a small scale, the technology of the film industry has enabled filmmakers to transmit myths to large audiences via film broadcasting. We can also see the process of Mythicization of public figures - Celebrities and success resemble mythical figures who live in the magical world of luxury.
In the psychology of Carl Jung, myths are the expressions of a culture or society’s goals, fears, ambitions and dreams. Film is ultimately an expression of the society in which it was credited, and reflects the norms and ideals of the time and location in which it is created. In this sense, film is simply the evolution of myth. The most commercially successful genres since 2000 have been fantasy and superhero movies, claiming a larger portion of commercial culture than ever before
The technological aspect of film changes the way the myth is distributed, but the core idea of the myth is the same. The basis of modern storytelling in both cinema and television lies deeply rooted in the mythological tradition. Many contemporary and technologically advanced movies often rely on ancient myths to construct narratives.
Christopher Booker in his book The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories which is a Jungian-influenced analysis of stories and their psychological meaning, examines many genres, including folktales, films, operas and soap operas. After years of research he stated that there are seven basic plots, which share basic character types and present different views of the same central preoccupations.
Overcoming the Monster Rags to Riches The Quest Voyage and Return Comedy Tragedy Rebirth. The Lord of the Rings contains all seven plots combined in a single narrative.
Summing up, with the invention of modern myths such as urban legends, the mythological traditional will carry on to the increasing variety of mediums available in the 21st century and beyond. The crucial idea is that myth is not simply a collection of stories permanently fixed to a particular time and place in history, but an ongoing social practice within every society.
Why does seem to produce so many subcultures?
Subculture is described as a group having social, economic, ethnic, or other traits distinctive enough to distinguish it from others within the same culture or society. What is more, it is a subdivision of a national culture or an commune within it with a distinct integrated network of behaviour, beliefs, and attitudes. David Reissman distinguished between a majority, „which passively accepted commercially provided styles and meanings, and a 'subculture' which actively sought a minority style and interpreted it in accordance with subversive values”. In addition Subcultures bring together like-minded individuals who feel neglected by, or refuse to accept, societal standards and allow them to develop a sense of group identity. Pop culture/subcults are a spontaneous solution to the disappearance of membership. The reasons for the vast number of subcultures in the Britain are numerous, one of them is the fact that belonging to a subculture provides feeling of a membership to a group/society as a result of a fact that ‘Youth’ do not have too little freedom; they have too much (and too little structure); they have been abandoned by the adult world. Moreover, the need of individualism, self awareness is also resembled by adhesion to subcultures, also competitive regionalism – accents, dialects or city/regional identities are sources for emerging subcultures.
Dick Hebdige, acommentator on youth culture, argues that the multicultural nature of post-war was crucial to the formation of many subcultures in .
To sum up, great number of subcultures in is a response to changes in the society, growing multiculturalism, more freedom, lack of boundaries and the strong need of belonging to a group that shares similar views and preferences.
5. Body culture studies; The body, culture and society.
Body culture studies describe and compare bodily practice in the larger context of culture and society, for instance the tradition of anthropology, history, sociology. As body culture and society in terms of human bodily practices, they are sometimes views as form of materialist phenomenology. The significance of the body and of body culture was discovered since the early twentieth century. During 1980s a particular spread, in connection with sports studies.
Until recently many have tended to view body as a fixed, unchanging fact of nature, viewed in biological terms rather than as being social, cultural, historical or in terms of political economy. Norbert Elias wrote the first sociology, which placed the body and bodily practice in its centre, describing the change of table manners, shame and violence from the Middle Ages to Early Modern court society as a process of civilisation. Today both naturalistic and social constructionist views have left their mark upon how academics and others have though about human embodiment in relation to sport and related areas such as health, fitness and physical activity. Many new ways of thinking about the body have opened up sport, body and society as a rich and vibrant area of research. Body studies challenged the traditional western ideas about the separation of mind and body. Concerning body building, for men and women it is not only sport but also a body project that involves a practical recognition and changing understanding of the significance of the body both as a personal resource and a social symbol of self and a broader identity. The pervasive influence of new forms of twenty first century health consciousness re-confirms the way the body has become a project, the control of which is central, fundamental to gender politics. Plastic surgery has provided alternatives for radical bodily reconstruction in line with contemporary notions of femininity and masculinity of the time.
The bodily practice of people in different parts of the world is a basis for their social life. The body remains central to struggles for recognition. In reality the body in a physiological, medical, biological, religious and social sense is a key component to the practice of power, democracy, lifestyle, identities and to that end fact that bodies of knowledge will interconnect and talk to one another is a refreshing breakthrough.
Studies of the body is sport provide for exciting opportunities to consider what is natural, what is ethical and what is social and for these reasons alone they must remain a valuable component of any future evaluation of the potential progressive contribution of sport to society.
2. Race and Racism in Contemporary
Great diversity among population in contemporary is a result of Post-war immigration which was also connected with the labour shortage in 1950s, in that years large scale migration from , took place. The probable negative outcome of that high scale migration was observed and commented on by Enoch Powel, in his speech he warned the British society against growing number of immigrants, his speech was called ‘Rivers of Blood’ and the speech caused outrage among politicians. Nowadays great number of British citizens agree with Powell’s observations. Brixton Riots in 1981 were protests against discrimination which was resembled in ‘stop and search’ procedure which aimed at lowering crime level, however, Lord Scarman in his report found unquestionable evidence of the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of 'stop and search' powers by the police against black people. Another case of racial hatred was a murder of Stephen Lawrence in black boy was attacked and murdered by a group of white teenagers. Macpherson Report published in 1999 revealed not only that the attack was racially motivated but also that Institutional Racism was presented by police officers who came at the crime scene and did not provide first aid to .
After 2001 instability among society can be observed. The Bradford Riots took place, as a result of heightened tension between the large and growing British Asian, mainly Islam, communities and the city's white majority. The dislike towards Islam religion grew after suicide attacks in on 7th July, 2005.
In contemporary Britain prejudice is focused on language and culture rather than on race only. Growth and variety of immigration led to the new debate and necessary changes in immigration policies. Dislike towards immigrants nowadays is also caused by the fact many of them live on benefits and do not work. The proportion of Britons who admit to being racially prejudiced has risen since the start of the millennium. The change in a language around race was also observed “The term racism has undergone a change of meaning. It has lost its moral force, it is used too freely. After the war if you said someone was racist, you had images of Hitler. A racist was someone who hated people. Now it is applied to someone who might say: ‘I love my people and want to keep others at a distance.’”