This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
The aim of this coursework unit is to develop your ability to explore and analyse
language data through a variety of methods. It should enable you to build upon the key
concepts and ideas gained during the course of your studies, as well as providing you
with the opportunity to demonstrate expertise in an area of individual interest.
Your coursework file will comprise of two individual pieces of writing:
a language investigation
a media text.
Language investigation
You should choose your own area for study in consultation with your teacher(s). The
topic selected should be manageable given the time and word limits. Investigations may
be based on areas that have been studied during the course so far; or may be based in
any area that is seen to yield interesting questions about language study.
The length of your investigation should be 1750-2500 words, excluding appendices and
data.
Media text
You will use the broad subject focus of your investigation to produce a media text (e.g.
newspaper article, magazine article) highlighting the language ideas and issues
surrounding your chosen topic.
This task will encourage you to develop your editorial writing skills (these have already
been tested in ENGB2). This piece should be based on your knowledge and should be
aimed at a non-specialist audience. This piece needs to be linked to your investigation
but does not need to reflect your findings. You will be able to undertake wider reading
and you should provide a bibliography to identify your preparatory reading material.The length of this piece should be 750-1000 words.
Assessment objectives
The following objectives are assessed through your completion of your ENGB4Investigating Language coursework. They are weighted in different proportions.
AO1 Select and apply a range of linguistic methods, to communicate relevantknowledge using appropriate terminology and coherent, accurate writtenexpression.Investigation: 20%
AO2 Demonstrate critical understanding of a range of concepts and issuesrelating to the construction and analysis of meanings in spoken and writtenlanguage, using knowledge of linguistic approaches.Investigation: 20%
AO3 Analyse and evaluate the influence of contextual factors on the productionand reception of spoken language, showing knowledge of the keyconstituents of language.Investigation: 10%
AO4 Demonstrate expertise and creativity in the use of English in a range ofcontexts informed by linguistic study.Article: 30%
Once you have decided upon an area for your investigation, you will need to collect your
data. It is important that your data is carefully and accurately collected; the success of
your investigation depends upon it.
How you collect your data will vary depending upon your chosen area. It may be quite
complicated and can be quite time consuming so make sure you are prepared for this.You may need to:
record and transcribe spoken data (from audio or screen)
collect a range of written texts
visit local libraries
search the internet
create questionnaires
set up interview scenarios.
Once you have collected your data you should ideally have it electronically stored sothat you can easily make multiple copies. You may need to scan pieces onto the
computer but should always keep the originals as well.
You will need to include in your final project appendices:
a clean (original) copy of your data
an annotated version of your data.
Anomalies
When collecting your data you need to ensure that your collection is consistent andkeeps anomalies and variables to a minimum. You need to think very carefully about
any other contextual factors which may prevent you from accurately comparing data, or
may prevent it from being truly representative.
Ethics
When collecting your data you need to ensure that you have permission to use it in your
investigation; you may need to send letters or emails to do this. You should also ensure
that all your data is ethically collected. For example, you should not record people
speaking without their knowledge.
Any letters/emails that you write should be included in your appendices along with any
In order to write the analysis section of your investigation and to ensure that your final
coursework is structured appropriately you will need to define the frameworks you are
applying to your data very carefully. Throughout your course so far you have already
become adept at applying language frameworks to any texts that you encounter. The
difference here will be that you need to select the frameworks that you believe are themost relevant to your data and your investigation yourself.
These frameworks will vary widely depending upon the area that you are investigating.
Your application of the frameworks should be systematic, exploratory and sensitive. As
a general rule you should choose to focus on four/five key frameworks. These will
enable you to divide your analysis into sections and encourage you to work ‘across’ texts
rather than in a linear fashion ‘through’ texts.
Each of your framework choices should be formed as a sub-heading or question. Within
each of these frameworks you will then be required to analyse your data in detaildrawing on your knowledge of linguistic terminology to give accuracy and precision to
your comments. You will also be required to use frequent, specific examples from your
data to support your comments.
The following table shows the over-arching concepts under which you can form more
specific questions.
framework questionsDiscourseStructure
How is the text arranged, sequenced and organised?
GraphologyHow is the text presented, visually, on the page? What visualcomponents is it dependent on? How do these help to establish meaning?
PragmaticsWhat actual and implied meanings do texts have in the particularcontexts in which they are written?
SyntaxWhat is distinctive about the sentence structure and word order in atext?
Morphology What is interesting about the structure of individual words in a text?
Lexis/semantics
What is distinctive about the vocabulary used in the text? How does thetext use language to create meanings?
PhonologyHow are the meanings and connotations produced in a text? What isinteresting about the sounds involved in a text?
Orthography How is the text written (typeface/hand-writing etc.), spelt andpunctuated?
In your project you should aim to demonstrate your understanding of a range of
different approaches to language. For instance, there is little mileage in your whole
analysis concentrating on graphological features. However, two of your frameworks may
fall under one of the broad headings named in the table above.
Your final investigation should be clearly structured in the following way. It should
include the following sections in this order.
The title page
Very straightforward, you simply have to let us know who you are and what yourinvestigation is about so check that it includes the following information:
title of your investigation
your full name
module name and code (AQA A2 English Language; Unit 4 Investigating Language;
ENGB4)
candidate number
centre number
school name.
Contents page
As with your title page, this simply gives clarity to your work so ensure that it fulfils
these criteria:
provides a clear outline of the structure of your investigation
lists the content of your appendices.
Introduction
The introduction is an opportunity for you to outline your reasons for selecting your task
and provides the chance to give a little background information to help contextualise
your ideas and approaches. You should include:
your reasons for choosing this focus for your investigation
your hypothesis/research question
how your topic fits into a wider context for language use
how your research relates to some theoretical aspects of language, including
reference to what you have read on these aspects
Your aims and objectives.
Methodology
In this section you should outline how you have collected your data and how you went
about ensuring that your data collection was not open to anomalies. You should include:
the methodology that you have chosen for your data selection
problems (if any) that you encountered during the process of collecting your data
techniques that you used to ensure that your data was valid.
Skills practice 1: The language of ‘Mills and Boon’ book titles
(adapted from Researching Language 2nd Edition by Angela Goddard)
Data set
Below are a list of titles from Mills and Boon novels:
RageFeverThe Caged TigerDesireSnow BrideWith All My Worldly GoodsLord of the LandMidnight LoverDear VillianBurning Obsession
Night of PossessionKiss of a Tyrant
Summer in FranceGreek Island Magic A Modern GirlDangerous Demon A Girl BewitchedSweet ConquestSecret FireDark TyrantLoving in the Lion’s DenDangerous Moonlight
UntamedWildfire Encounter
The Fires of HeavenKing of the CullaBridal Path Always the BossThe Girl from NowhereMakebelieve MarriagePacific AphroditeSavage SurrenderDangerous CompulsionDear Demon
Task 1
Make notes on the following:
Can you find any patterns in the data?
Try to categorise the titles according to their meanings. This means you should
attempt to link several titles together in groups via their connotations since they are
trying to create similar pictures.
Consider if there are any common language or grammatical patterns in the data.
Task 2
Create your own headings for the categories that you have found. Aim to create three
or four headings.
Task 3
Answer the following question:What do these titles tell you about the world of ‘Mills and Boon’ books?
Research
If it helps you may like to undertake some research about ‘Mills and Boon’. You could
Skills practice 2: The language of hairdressing shop names
Or
The language of florist shops
Task 1
Create a data set by searching the internet for names of either hair dressers or florists’shops. You should aim to obtain a list of approximately 20 names. A good place to start
is www.yell.com.
Task 2
Make notes on the following:
Can you find any patterns in the data?
Try to categorise the names according to their meanings. This means you should
attempt to link several titles together in groups via their connotations since they are
trying to create similar pictures.
Consider if there are any common language patterns in the data.
Task 3
Create your own headings for the categories that you have found. Aim to create three
of four headings.
Task 4
Answer one of the following questions:
What do the various connotations and structures of the shop names tell you about
hairdressers’ shops?
Or
What do the various connotations and structures of shop names tell you about florists’
shops?
Skills practice 3: Language change in advertising
Research
Search the internet to find between five and ten print advertisements for one of the
Look carefully at the advertisements. Create a title for an investigation that uses these
adverts as its data.
Task 2
Annotate the texts identifying their key features, consider:
lexical choice
pragmatics
graphology
discourse structure
audience and purpose
contextual issues.
Text 3
Create a list of four framework headings that would provide structure for an
investigation that uses this data set.
Skills practice 4: Social networking sites, Facebook and MySpace
Investigation title:
An investigation into the defining features of the language of social networking sites.
Comments:
This was a very successful project with a modern and youthful context, firmly based inthe ever changing field of language and technology. It concentrated on defining the
language and features of social networking sites and exploring whether common
structures exist between sites. The investigation’s overall aim was to create a ‘list’ of
identifiable and common features (if these existed).
Task 1:
Write a short introduction that outlines the aims and intentions of this investigation.
You should also introduce the subject matter and provide any relevant background
information.
Task 2:
Outline how you would go about collecting data for this investigation. You should
In your investigation you will need to include a list of all the books, articles, TV/ Radioprograms, journals, emails and web-sites that you have referred to. Ideally you shoulduse the Harvard style of referencing; this is the most commonly-used style ofreferencing worldwide. These examples conform to the British Standard, but you maysee slight differences elsewhere.
You should include a full bibliography - listing all the sources of information you haveconsulted in your research; this list should also be arranged alphabetically.
Below is a list of the most commonly used reference forms:
EmailFAMILY NAME, INITIAL(S). Year. Title. [online]. Message to: Recipient. Date sent. [Dateaccessed]. Personal communication.
BookTake the information from the title page and the reverse of the title page:FAMILY NAME, INITIAL(S). Year. Title. Place of publication: Publisher.
Book (edited) Write ed. or eds. after the editor's name(s):FAMILY NAME, INITIAL(S). ed. Year. Title. Place of publication: Publisher.
Newspaper article FAMILY NAME, INITIAL(S). Year. Title of article. Newspaper title. Date, page number ofyour quotation.
Image (online)
ORIGINATOR. Year. Title of image [online]. [Date accessed]. Available from World WideWeb: URL.
Television advertisement COMPANY/PRODUCT. Year produced. Description of advert (duration). Televisionadvertisement, channel. Screened dates.
Television broadcast Series title and number and title of episode. Year. Transmitting organisation andchannel. Date. Time of transmission.
Website with author
FAMILY NAME, INITIAL(S). Year. Title [online]. [Date accessed]. Available from WorldWide Web: URL.
Website with no author Title of website.Year as appearing on site [online]. [Date accessed]. Available fromWorld Wide Web: URL.
Wikis WIKI NAME. Year. Title of article [online]. [Date accessed]. Available from World WideWeb: URL.
Crystal, David. 2008. 2b or not 2b: David Crystal on why texting is good for language.The Guardian. Saturday 5th July 2008. p. 2 of Features and Reviews. Available fromWorld Wide Web:<www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jul/05/saturdayreviewsfeatres.guardianreview1>
Beadle, Philip. Mind your Language- and know what it means. The Guardian. Tuesday
16th May 2006. p. 6 of Education Guardian. Available from World Wide Web:
You will have frequent meetings with your teachers about your investigation. Use
these record sheets to keep track of your progress, any questions/problems that youencounter and any advice or targets you are given. These sheets must be kept and
Below is a list of areas that have proved successful for past investigations. You can use
these to provide you with ideas for your own investigation.
This list is far from exhaustive; the possibilities are endless, so think very carefullyabout what interests you.
1.
Language change e.g. recipes, magazines, children’s books.
2.
Comparison of language in news programmes – R4, Newsbeat, local radio,Newsround , BBC Six O’Clock News.
3.
Interview techniques e.g. Paxman, Parkinson, Jonathan Ross.
4.
The language of investigative journalism (TV).
5.
Study of transcribed examples of regional varieties of spoken English – accent anddialect.
6.
A study of how parents talk to their children e.g. when reading bedtime stories.
7.
Analysis of a stretch of everyday discourse e.g. Big Brother , sales talk, greetings,gossip, occupational variations (politicians, lawyers, detectives, doctors, hairdressers… the list is endless).
8.
Comedy styles – stand-up, sitcom, taboo. How an individual comedian createscomedy e.g. Billy Connolly, Eddie Izzard, Harry Hill.
9.
Analysis of differences between spoken and written English e.g. radio v. press, newsor sports reports.
10.
Observations of young children learning to speak read or write.
11.
Exploration of stylistic features of media forms e.g. magazines, TV programmes andwebsites. Look at how language is related to the audience.
12.
Do common linguistic definitions of gendered language match ordinary people’s
perceptions?
13.
The Language of toys for boys/girls in catalogues (Barbie vs. Action Man etc.)
14.
The Language of nursery/playground rhymes, lonely hearts columns, match.com,car/food/cosmetics adverts, comics, political speeches, children’s books, fly-on-the-wall documentaries, Big Brother diary room, children’s books, tele-sales, chat-rooms,birthday cards etc.
Teacher talk. Record a teacher working with their students. Examine powerfeatures employed.
17.
Gender issues. Record a male group and female group discussing the sametopic/stimulus. Compare the differences.
18.
Taboo language. Record two different age/social/gender groups and compare their
use of taboo language. Is it becoming more prevalent? More acceptable?
19.
Occupational lexis. Record a person at work, or within any social group (e.g.:doctors/solicitors/mechanics/football fans) where specialised language might beused. Examine the functions of their jargon. How and why is it used?
20.
Child language acquisition. Record children talking as they perform a task e.g. Legobuilding. Read them stories and ask them to re-tell it in writing, or on tape, comparevia age.
21.
The lexis of sports commentators. Record and transcribe a few commentaries.Compare extracts of at least three different speakers to investigate if there is a
recognisable genre.
22.
The language of football managers in pre and post match interviews.
23.
Language change in advertising e.g. Coca-Cola, Kodak, Levis.
24.
Technology based. The language of social networking sites, blogs, text messaging
etc.
25.
The prevalence of Black English vernacular in popular culture. Why is it fastbecoming the most popular variety of English for teenagers today? Examine in terms
of a few selected texts.
26.
To what extent is there an increasing influence of Americanisms on the EnglishLanguage? Examine in terms of three selected media texts e.g.:newspapers/magazines/music/radio and TV scripts.
27.
Gender stereotyping in children’s literature. Select three extracts from texts fromperhaps the 1940s/1950s (like Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five or Arthur Ransom’sSwallows and Amazons) and examine for gender bias.
28.
Gender stereotyping in any type of text you would like to examine. This could be –tabloid newspapers, lifestyle/sport/car/fashion/music magazines. Analyse in terms
of the target audiences and shared cultural assumptions. A good one to do might besuperhero or fantasy-type comics, where stereotypes are often employed.
29.
Focus on the representation of an individual at a particular point in time e.g. BarackObama, David Beckham.
30.
Change in tabloid and broadsheet papers as the war in Afghanistan develops.
Appendix E: style model for media text: Crystal on texting
2b or not 2b?
Despite doom-laden prophecies, texting has not been the disaster for language manyfeared, argues linguistics Professor David Crystal. On the contrary, it improves children'swriting and spelling …
David Crystal
The Guardian, 5th July 2008
Vandalism? Teenager texting on a mobile phone. Photograph: Martin Godwin
Last year, in a newspaper article headed ‘I h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking ourlanguage’, John Humphrys argued that texters are ‘vandals who are doing to ourlanguage what Genghis Khan did to his neighbours 800 years ago. They are destroying it:pillaging our punctuation; savaging our sentences; raping our vocabulary. And they mustbe stopped.’
As a new variety of language, texting has been condemned as ‘textese’, ‘slanguage’, a‘digital virus’. According to John Sutherland of University College London, writing in this
paper in 2002, it is ‘bleak, bald, sad shorthand. Drab shrinktalk ... Linguistically it's allpig's ear ... it masks dyslexia, poor spelling and mental laziness. Texting is penmanshipfor illiterates.’