English Language

Accent and Dialect, language and gender, language and power

What defines an accent?

Pronunciations associated with a particular region.

What is a dialect?

Variations in words associated with a particular region.

What is Received Pronunciation often referred to as?

King's English; how the ruling class speaks.

How much of the UK population uses Received Pronunciation?

Only 3% of the UK population has this accent.

What linguistic feature is common in Scouse?

Th-fronting, where 'think' turns to 'fink'.

What makes Manchester accent distinct?

Dropping /y/ in 'City' (Citeh) and /h/ in 'hello'.

What is a notable feature of the Birmingham accent?

Monotone and timbre with Th-fronting.

What does MLE stand for?

Multicultural London English.

What is dialect levelling?

Varieties of dialect that start to become more similar to each other.

What is Standard English?

The form of English widely used and accepted as the normal way of communication.

Define Descriptivism.

The view that no use of language is incorrect and variations should be acknowledged.

What is Face Theory?

The idea that we present ourselves differently in different contexts.

What are Grice’s 4 Maxims?

Quantity, Quality, Manner, Relevance.

What does the Deficit Theory suggest about women’s speech?

Women’s speech is seen as deficient compared to the male norm.

What is the main idea of Difference Theory proposed by Tannen?

Men and women communicate differently, leading to potential miscommunication.

What is Foucault’s concept of power?

Power is everywhere, not held by certain groups.

What is Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)?

A method of analyzing language that focuses on the relationship between language, power and society.

What does Sinclair and Couthard's IRF model describe?

The interaction structure between teachers and students in the classroom.

What are the elements of the IRF model?

Initiate, Response, Feedback.

What is Downgrading Convergence?

Moving speech closer to another person to decrease social distance.

What is an example of a heterophone?

Words with the same spelling but different sounds.