Activity 19 on page 26

1a) From this extract taken from the guardian newspaper the main function is Transactional language, this is due to the fact that this extract is passing on information. 

1b) To the end of the text the function is informative, This is because to the end of the text it starts to talk about the fact that in Liberia teenage females are being recruited to fight in a civil war.

1c)I think that this extract from the guardian is very effective because of the visual presentation as well as the graphology, the fact that there is a stiletto with camouflage markings basically sums up and justifies the text as well as the fact that there is a lot of question marks and a change of word colouring, it allows the reader to connect the dots and by doing so it draws them in, which suggests that another function could be persuade.

2)The use of Short snappy sentences allow the reader to stay interested and intrigued in wanting to gain more knowledge upon the subject, there's no paragraphs which could suggest the level of importance, the use of question marks and rhetorical questions allows the reader to think and base an opinion, The white background shows that nothing else is as important as the stiletto and the brief paragraph, the fact that the image of the shoe is over the text shows that it's more important I the matter, "Explore the world" is in a bold font wich suggests the importance of the shot sentence and the fact that the reader needs to be able to see it

Analysis of the transcript

My Analysis:

This transcript is informal because of the fact that it is a casual chat with a freind. "Yh" is an abbreviation of the word "Yes" or "Yeah" in which is primarily used when in agreement with someone or something, "Yh" can be used in a numbe of ways, within this transcript "Yh" was In fact used to show that I had agreed with the past statement in which my associate had sent me.

"Defo" is an abbreviation of "Definitely" in which also is similar to "Yh" this is due to the fact that they both are words mainly used to agree with someone's opinion or statement. Throughout this transcript I find that there is a lot of Phatic language (Language used to be sociable) this is due to the fact that it is an informal conversation between me and a friend ,But if we take a more deeper approach we could justify that the transcript also has Transactional Language (language used to pass on information) this is because of the fact that my associate asks "Yeah. But what song again" you can infer that I am then going to pass on information about the song I have then chosen.

"Kl" is an abbreviation of the word "cool" in which is a slang term which has a number of meanings for example "those shoes look cool" or "I'm fine, I'm cool" the differmt meanings make it sometimes confusing to depictiate what the writer is actually saying because of the fact that it is in a written format instead of a verbal format, it's easier to identify what context the work "Kl" could be in, from the speakers tone and announciation of the word, but in this transcript "Kl" was used the same way as "Yh" to show that I was able to understand what my accociates last statement was.

"Yo" is a slang term for the word "Hello" in which can be justified as being both Phatic and Transational language because it is normally a conversation starter, As shown in the picture "Yo" had a question mark which shows that he was saying this in a questionable format.

The KeyWords from last lesson

PHATIC LANGUAGE: The utterance of a phatic expression is a kind of speech act.

In Roman Jakobson's work, 'Phatic' communication is that which concerns the channel of communication, for instance when one says "I can't hear you, you're breaking up" in the middle of a cell phone conversation. In the modern context, this usage appears in online communities and more specifically on micro-blogging.

FORMALITY: A formality is an established procedure or set of specific behaviors and utterances, conceptually similar to a ritual although typically secular and less involved. A formality may be as simple as a handshake upon making new acquaintainces in Western culture to the carefully defined procedure of bows, handshakes, formal greetings, and business card exchanges that may mark two businessmen being introduced in Japan

DEIXIS:  refers to words and phrases that cannot be fully understood without additional contextual information. Words are deictic if their semantic meaning is fixed but their denotational meaning varies depending on time and/or place.

PRONOUN: In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a word or form that substitutes for a noun or noun phrase. It is a particular case of a pro-form.

CONTEXT DEPENDENT: Those aspects of a text whose meanings depend on an understanding of the circumstances in which it has been produced.

CONTEXT INDEPENDENT: the words WHILE and IF and the order of the expressions that follow are permanently defined by the language itself. They always mean the same thing regardless of where they are found. They are context-independent.

LOCUTION: A word or phrase, esp. with regard to style or idiom or

A person's style of speech his impeccable locution

ILLOCUTION: an act of speaking or writing which in itself effects or constitutes the intended action, e.g. ordering, warning, or promising. Compare with perlocution.

PERLOCUTION: an act of speaking or writing which has an action as its aim but which in itself does not effect or constitute the action, for example persuading or convincing. Compare with illocution.

CULTURAL ASSUMPTIONS: Cultural assumptions are an important aspect of understanding context. Culture is a system of beliefs, customs (usual habits and practices), values, attitudes and lifestyles of a particular people. Culture can refer to groups of people such as nations or more specific groups such as sporting teams.

PRAGMATICS: a subfield of linguistics which studies the ways in which context contributes to meaning. Pragmatics encompasses speech act theory, conversational implicature, talk in interaction and other approaches to language behaviour in philosophy, sociology, linguistics and anthropology

List as many modern technological modes as possible (e.g. radio/telephone) List which new modes you use – for each, say whether it is interactive or one-way communication

*Radio- One way communication

*MobilePhone- Interactive

*Television- One way communication

*MP3- One way communication

*IPad- Interactive

*Computer- Interactive

*Camera- Interactive

*Walkie Talkie- Interactive

*Digital Picture Frames- One way communication

*SatNav/TomTom- One way communication

*Speakers- One way communication 

The Analysis of a text

I am going to be be discussing and analysing my idolect as shown in the picture below, in the picture below I am having a conversation with a close friend over a messaging app called BlackBerry Messenger.

My use of slag shows that I am very comfortable with the person in which I am messaging, for example when I say "Defo" instead of definetly ,or when I say "kl" instead of cool, it shows that this conversation is informal. For example if I was in an interview with my potential employer I wouldn't use such words as "Defo" and "fam" because those words are to be used In mainly informal environments.

There is a little if any punctuation ,this also adds to the fact that this is an informal piece of text, the use of question marks and fullstops show that as this is a piece of text you have to define when you've finished a sentence or asking a question, That's the same with lower case and upper case letters with in this.

The Politics and English language By George Orwell

The Politics and English language

By George Orwell

Orwell had written that the writers of modern prose tend not to write in definite terms but use a certain style instead ,also he compares and contrasts an original biblical text with a comedy element "modern English" to show what he’s intentions where. All Writers find it is easier to put long strings of words together than to pick words for their meaning. This is mainly the same case within political writing, when Orwell had noted that seems to demand an “imitative style" Political speech and writing are generally in defence of the indefensible and so lead to a euphemistic inflated style. Thought corrupts language, and language can corrupt thought. Orwell suggests six elementary rules that if followed will prevent the type of faults he illustrates although "one could keep all of them and still write bad English".

 

George Orwell goes on to then makes it clear that he has not been considering the literary use of language; He also acknowledges his own shortcomings and states "Look back through this essay and for certain you will find that I have again and again committed the very faults I am protesting against".