Lexical Relations
The first sentence, “These are designed for small boys and girls”, is ambiguous as it presents the potential for two different meanings. The first meaning is that the products designed are for boys of small size and girls of all sizes. The other meaning is that the designed products are for both boys and girls of small size.
The second sentence, “The students complained to everyone they couldn’t understand”, also presents ambiguity in the meaning expressed. One possible meaning for the sentence would be that every person the students encountered and could not understand, they complained to them. The other meaning is that the students complained to all interested parties about something they could not understand.
The first pair of words exhibit homonymy as the lexical relation between them. According to Curzan and Adams (2012), homonyms are words that are spelled or pronounced similarly- that they are indistinguishable during speech. In this case, ‘piece’ and ‘peace’ are not similarly spelt but are similarly pronounced.
The second pair of words on the other hand present a hypernym/hyponym lexical relationship between themselves. A hypernym is defined as a superclass that encapsulates numerous different- but related- subclasses called hyponyms. In this case, therefore, the hypernym becomes dog (that describes numerous different dog species) while the hyponym becomes schnauzer which is only one species of dogs among hundreds.
In the study of discourse, scripts are described as dynamic structures of knowledge based on conventional actions (Yule, 2016). They are much like schemas with the additional feature of being dynamic in that it incorporates dynamic actions in addition to the static features of schemas.
An accent is the uniqueness in pronunciation of certain words and phrases that arises from continued influence by various external environmental factors such as the native tongue as well as the level of education, socioeconomic status etc. a dialect, on the other hand, considers more aspects than the pronunciation of words (Aitken & Beardmore, 2015). A dialect has unique vocabulary that distinguishes their speech as well as grammar. They are both different forms of the same language. An example of the aforementioned difference would be the Southern accent that differs from the Northern one in the United States, but only in pronunciation and not vocabulary. On the other hand, the English language has varied dialects globally such as the American dialect and the British dialect, or even the Irish dialect. All these dialects differ greatly in grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation as well.
Dynamic Structures of Knowledge
Culture, in the study of language, is referred to as sets of shared beliefs and values that shape the attitudes and social patterns as well as behavior of a particular group of people (Goddard, 2015). The study of culture in language is of significance as culture is the basis upon which language is developed through continued interaction between members of the said group of people. As such, language becomes the expression of the common attitudes and beliefs of a culture (Stewart & Strathern, 2017).
I like several things about this video presentation (Welby, S., 2016). The first aspect is the mode or method of presentation where the instructor poses various contrasting examples to distinguish polite language from rude language. The instructor is also able to identify the key words and phrases that may assist a speaker to ‘soften’ their language. Such phrases and words include “I reckon…” and “it seems that…” that are used to present errors or problems in a more polite manner. I therefore like that the video provides practical and tangible methods that, when applied, result in polite communication as is the aim of the video without complicating the matter. the examples and concepts employed in the video can thus be successfully replicated within a classroom experience making it a useful classroom tool.
I conversely do not like several aspects of the video by BBC Master Class. One such matter that I disagree with is the need to constantly emphasize on politeness as the instructor described the British as a very polite people. While it is important to exercise restraint and prudence in communication in order to facilitate amicable communication, the use of various phrases such as “it is likely that…” to soften the blow of bad news may create ambiguity in particular situations. Particular formal scenarios and circumstances require that information is presented as precisely as possible without any alteration of the spirit of the message. It may be thus important in such circumstances to present the truth as it is without ‘sugarcoating’ words in order to retain the density of the message being communicated. For example, when a surgeon breaks the news to a spine injury patient that they can never walk again. ‘Sugarcoating’ the message would only create false hope and frustration in the patient that is detrimental to their health and counterproductive to the surgeon’s efforts. It may be, thus, better to break the terrible news as it is; without filters and ‘softening’ words. However, in order to still retain a level of politeness in the overall communication process, it would be wise to follow the blunt statement with a much ‘softer’ and empathetic statement that cushions the message’s blow.
Accent and Dialect
In my future teaching context, I would use this video as a teaching tool in the classroom environment. The method of tutoring expressed in the video is quite suited for the classroom environment as students respond better to examples that portray such clear contrast between bluntness and politeness (Shafto, Goodman & Griffiths, 2014). The conversational snippets employed give a clear picture, not just of the vocabulary used but also the tonal variations that indicate aggression and also openness that are good and simple indicators of polite language (Mills, 2017). Identifying the various tonal variations as well as structural and vocabulary adjustments that enable a polite communication process thus makes this video a useful teaching tool insofar as politeness is concerned. It would thus be important that at the end of the discussion on politeness and after watching the video that the issue of situational empathy and accuracy is addressed. This would be done by identifying particular situations where it would be necessary to present blunt factual truth and some of the factors that determine the level of language ‘softening’ in various circumstances.
The statement made by Yule is very true and I agree with it. Of course, contention arises on the fact that some students would prefer to learn English as the Englishman knows it and while this may be an understandable inclination, the merits of learning Standard English far outweigh the limitations imposed by not learning the ‘Englishman’s English’. The reason for the existence of Standard English is to simplify the rigorous grammar impositions of Elizabethan or any other form of English to terms that are understandable both to the native English speakers as well as learners of the language as a second language and thus facilitating communication between them (Seidlhofer, 2017). While it may be limited in scope and cultural richness compared to other forms of English (including the implied ‘superior English’ by Yule, 2017), Standard English equips all students with sufficient tools to delve deeper into other richer or more exciting forms of the English language (Trudgill & Hannah, 2017). It may also become exceedingly difficult to successfully teach other advanced varieties of the language that may have different structural, lexical and grammatical rules since these rules and conventions also change periodically and do not enable effective communication (Pennycook, 2017). These varieties of the English language are also vast in number which compounds the difficulty of teaching all of them in the classroom. A learner may, however, choose to study these varieties in a deeper manner, but only once they have mastered and understood Standard English.
References
Aitken, S., & Beardmore, K. (2015). Accent, Dialect and Phonics. Inclusion and Early Years Practice, 4(14). 56-73.
Culpeper, J., & Haugh, M. (2014). Pragmatics and the English language. (2nd ed.) Sydney, Australia: Macmillan International Higher Education.
Curzan, Anne. & Adams, Michael. (2012). How English works: a linguistic introduction. (2nd ed.)Boston: Pearson Longman.
Goddard, C. (2015-06-25). Words as Carriers of Cultural Meaning. In (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Word. : Oxford University Press,. Retrieved 29 Oct. 2018, from https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199641604.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199641604-e-027.
Mills, S. (2017). English politeness and class. (2nd ed) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pennycook, A. (2017). The cultural politics of English as an international language. (!st ed.) London: Routledge.
Seidlhofer, B. (2017). Standard English and the dynamics of ELF variation. In The Routledge handbook of English as a lingua franca (pp. 85-100) (1st ed.). London. Routledge.
Shafto, P., Goodman, N. D., & Griffiths, T. L. (2014). A rational account of pedagogical reasoning: Teaching by, and learning from, examples. Cognitive psychology, 71, 55-89.
Stewart, P. J., & Strathern, A. J. (2017). Language and culture. In Breaking the Frames (pp. 69-78). (3rd ed.) London: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Trudgill, P., & Hannah, J. (2017). International English: A guide to varieties of English around the world. (6th ed.) London: Routledge.
Welby, S. (Reporter) (2016, December 12) BBC Learning English: Be Polite- How to soften your language. Retrieved October 28, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQN4-l5AXE0
Yule, G. (2017). (6th ed.) The study of language. London. Cambridge university press.
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