Monday, 14 October 2013
Prescriptivism is the belief that Standard English and Received Pronunciation are the only correct ways of speaking; all regional dialects and variations are seen as improper or inferior
Descriptivism is the belief that all dialects and accents are of equal status and have no difference in terms of perceived intelligence or reliability etc. Opposite of Prescriptivism.
Prescriptivists include: Henry Fowler, Robert Lowth, Simon Heffer
Descriptivists include: Samuel Johnson, Leonard Bloomfield, Bertrand Russell
Dr. Samuel Johnston (1709-1784) believed that it would be irrational to see no change in what is viewed as correct language over the course of generations, and that it is fairly reasonable to assume changes will occur in language throughout time. He also argued that language regulators who attempted to preserve languages from being altered by others through creolisation etc. prevent language growth and are hardly beneficial.
Monday, 7 October 2013
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8320549/Rastamouse-provokes-complaints-of-racism-and-teaching-bad-language.html
1. The issue is presented as promoting the use of Jamaican slang amongst young children, which parents feel as promoting mild racism for their children. The issue is presented as provoking a response from the parents of the audience, as presented through the verb "provoked"
2. The author is presenting the show as being a positive source, through the presentation of Rastamouse "entertaining children" and the fact that it states the intention of the eponymous rodent is to "spread love and respect". .
3. The parents are presented as being worried for their children, as the author states that the mothers who are interviewed as "concerned" and "{raising} fears", implying the parents as the victims, possibly creating a reaction of sympathy from the reader. However, the program is present from BBC's accounts as being "positive" and "educational", possibly to counteract against the negative opinion already presented and therefore creating a neutral viewpoint overall and matching the unbiased standards of The Daily Telegraph
1. The issue is presented as promoting the use of Jamaican slang amongst young children, which parents feel as promoting mild racism for their children. The issue is presented as provoking a response from the parents of the audience, as presented through the verb "provoked"
2. The author is presenting the show as being a positive source, through the presentation of Rastamouse "entertaining children" and the fact that it states the intention of the eponymous rodent is to "spread love and respect". .
3. The parents are presented as being worried for their children, as the author states that the mothers who are interviewed as "concerned" and "{raising} fears", implying the parents as the victims, possibly creating a reaction of sympathy from the reader. However, the program is present from BBC's accounts as being "positive" and "educational", possibly to counteract against the negative opinion already presented and therefore creating a neutral viewpoint overall and matching the unbiased standards of The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
Aims
To find out views and opinions of various accents and languages across the British Isles.
Methodology
In an online poll conducted by the BBC, 5000 participants were asked to rank the voices of celebrities in terms of the appeal and pleasantry of their accents.
Findings
Sean Connery consistently proved the most popular with his Edinburgh accent for the majority of participants. Following Connery was the newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald due to his authoritative RP accent. Also proving popular was the BBC Radio 2 newsreader Moira Stewart and Pierce Brosnan. The results from participants also showed a strong favour and preference for accents relatively similar to their own; English participants rated Hugh Grant's RP accent highly, while Scottish participants showed a strong favour for Ewan McGregor's Scottish accent. The trend continued with participants voting highly for accents of celebrities from their respective countries. This is supported further by the results of Ian Paisley's Northern Irish accent, which was declared the least pleasant in all countries of the British Isles apart from his home country of Northern Ireland.
Conclusions
It is possible to conclude from the data that their is a strong favourability to accents from a person's home country, and a possible dislike for accents which are not local. However, the fact that Sean Connery's Edinburgh accent proved most popular could imply some variation. Also, RP accents from Moira Stewart and Trevor McDonald prove the most popular as well as certain Scottish regional accents from Connery and Ewan McGregor.
Evaluation
The results of the research may not be most valid as there is a possibility that participants voted celebrities on their character or personal appeal rather than their accents, which could explain why actors and newsreaders whom participants are exposed to frequently proved the most favourable. Validity can also be brought into question through the sample used by the BBC. The size of the sample may not be proportional to the population of each country, therefore possibly making accents of celebrities of a certain nationality more poplar than others due to a biased sample. There are other factors such as social class and cultural background which may cause a bias or affect the data.
To find out views and opinions of various accents and languages across the British Isles.
Methodology
In an online poll conducted by the BBC, 5000 participants were asked to rank the voices of celebrities in terms of the appeal and pleasantry of their accents.
Findings
Sean Connery consistently proved the most popular with his Edinburgh accent for the majority of participants. Following Connery was the newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald due to his authoritative RP accent. Also proving popular was the BBC Radio 2 newsreader Moira Stewart and Pierce Brosnan. The results from participants also showed a strong favour and preference for accents relatively similar to their own; English participants rated Hugh Grant's RP accent highly, while Scottish participants showed a strong favour for Ewan McGregor's Scottish accent. The trend continued with participants voting highly for accents of celebrities from their respective countries. This is supported further by the results of Ian Paisley's Northern Irish accent, which was declared the least pleasant in all countries of the British Isles apart from his home country of Northern Ireland.
Conclusions
It is possible to conclude from the data that their is a strong favourability to accents from a person's home country, and a possible dislike for accents which are not local. However, the fact that Sean Connery's Edinburgh accent proved most popular could imply some variation. Also, RP accents from Moira Stewart and Trevor McDonald prove the most popular as well as certain Scottish regional accents from Connery and Ewan McGregor.
Evaluation
The results of the research may not be most valid as there is a possibility that participants voted celebrities on their character or personal appeal rather than their accents, which could explain why actors and newsreaders whom participants are exposed to frequently proved the most favourable. Validity can also be brought into question through the sample used by the BBC. The size of the sample may not be proportional to the population of each country, therefore possibly making accents of celebrities of a certain nationality more poplar than others due to a biased sample. There are other factors such as social class and cultural background which may cause a bias or affect the data.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)