Instrumental Power- When the text producer/speaker already has power over the receiver, usually due to existing authority/laws. Can be imposed by both groups & individuals. e.g. a judge in court, a police officer

Influential Power- When the text producer/speaker attempts to gain influence over the receiver through techniques such as persuasion. e.g. advertisers

Political Power- Power exercised by those who have the backing of the law e.g. the prime minister

Social Group Power- Power held as a result of being a member of a particular social group. Can be determined by social variables such as gender, class, race, and ethnicity e.g. the Royal Family representing the ruling class within the UK

Hard Power- Power that’s exercised through overt & often forceful/domineering methods. Possibly involves an aggressive or impersonal approach e.g. stop & searches

Soft Power- Power that’s exercised through less overt & more subtle methods such as politeness & persuasion. Can involve a more personal approach

FEATURES OF HARD POWER:

Imperatives
Bald commands/ aggravative directives
Modal verbs
Conversational dominance
Threats
Graphological force e.g. bold, italics, caps, underlining

Soft Power- Power that’s exercised through less overt & more subtle methods such as politeness & persuasion. Can involve a more personal approach

FEATURES OF SOFT POWER:

Mitigated directives
Indirectness
Inclusive language
Conversational accommodation
Back-channelling: Backchannels are utterances such as English “mhm,” “uh-huh,” “wow,” “yeah,” and “really,” displaying comprehension of the speaker's utterance. to show interest, attention and/or a willingness to keep listening
Graphological friendliness

Mitigated directives/imperatives- To make something less harsh or severe

Social distance- Refers to the extent to which participants in spoken conversation have either a close/distant relationship. e.g. a closer SD would be two teen best friends, a wider SD would be a teenager and an old pensioner

Power asymmetry- A marked difference in the power status of individuals involved in spoken discourse e.g. a manager talking to an employee

Powerful participant- A speaker with a higher status in a given context who is therefore able to impose a degree of power

Less powerful participant- Those with less status in a given context, who are subject to constraints imposed by more powerful participants

Constraints- Ways in which powerful participants may block/control the contributions of less powerful participants

Divergence- When people’s speech styles & use of language move further apart. This can increase the social distance between people e.g. someone giving a lecture

Downward convergence- Occurs when a speaker with a higher status (perhaps because of their social background/ correct use of standard English/ received pronunciation tones down their accent to lower social status people

Upwards convergence- when lower status people eliminate regional features 4of their accent & dialect when communicating with RP/ Standard English-speaking people

Positive politeness- In spoken interaction, strategies that one speaker may use towards another to make the hearer feel good and show respect

Positive face needs- relates to the desire to be wanted, liked, appreciated and feel close to others

Face theory- Face relates to a person’s self-esteem, well-being, and emotional needs. Goffman says that our face is like a persona which we present in a conversation or to the world

Negative politeness- In spoken interaction, this means being indirect & not presuming/assuming, nor forcing your opinion e.g. deference, being apologetic, gratitude

Negative face needs- it relates to the need to have freedom of thought/action and not feel imposed on e.g. hedging, apologies

Face-threatening act- a communicative act that threatens their positive/negative face needs & imposes on their basic rights e.g. orders, harsh language, insults

Over-accommodation- occurs when individuals try “too hard” to converge with others’ styles of speaking & communication. Despite intentions, they could be seen as condescending and patronising

Maxims of quantity- never saying more/less than required

Maxim of relevance- what you say should be relevant to the subject/context of the conversation

Maxim of quality- be truthful & not say anything you suspect to be false

Maxim of manner- avoiding ambiguity/obscurity and making what you are saying clear

Ideology- a set of opinions/ beliefs of a group/individual

Synthetic Personalisation- is the process of addressing mass audiences as though they were individuals through usage of inclusive language

Member’s resources- is the concept of creating an image of the product being advertised in the readers’ mind

Master status- "a status that has exceptional importance for social identity, often shaping a person's entire life." Master status can be ascribed or achieved. Ascribed statuses are statuses born with—e.g., race, sex, etc.

Key gender terms & concepts:

Gender stereotype: A generalised view or preconception about the attributes or characteristics and roles that are, or ought to be possessed or performed by women and men. E.g., ‘All men should act tough and not express a sensitive side’. ‘All women are emotional’.

Masculinity: Qualities or attributes which are regarded as typical characteristics of men.

E.g., ‘masculine’ men take pride in their appearance, have forthright personalities, are driven, often assumed to take leadership roles. (provider, strong, competitive)

Femininity: Qualities or attributes which are regarded as typical characteristics of women.

E.g., ‘feminine’ women are sensitive and gentle by nature; are affectionate and empathetic towards others; tend to be cooperative & supportive. (domestic roles, maternal, collaborative)

Marked terms: A gender-specific form of a word.

E.g., Policeman/Policewoman, Housewife, Priestess, Hostess, Lioness, in these cases the suffix indicates gender.

Note, some of these unmarked forms may be considered male.

Unmarked terms: gender neutral/unmarked forms of a word e.g. police officer

Sex: Sex is usually categorised as female or male but there is variation in the biological attributes that comprise sex and how those attributes are expressed.

Gender: Refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, expressions and identities of girls, women, boys, men and gender diverse people.

Socialisation: the process by which people, especially children, are made to behave in a way acceptable in their culture/society

Semantic derogation: When lexical items have negative connotations and meanings associated with them. Player (men), Stud (men), Slut (women), Whore (women).

Semantic deterioration: when lexical terms gradually develop negative connotations.

E.g., Many female terms are marked and indicate sexual promiscuity (mistress, madam, hostess) whereas unmarked male terms such as ‘Bachelor’ & ‘Master’ show power, freedom and independence.

Double entendre- double meaning.

A double entendre is a figure of speech with two interpretations, one usually risqué. Example: "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana."

Lexical asymmetry: Words used to refer to men and women which are imbalanced with their meaning. E.g., Bachelor (term for men). Spinster (term for men). Wizard (men) Witch (woman).

Overt prestige: prestige acquired in a community by using a standard/formal language variety associated with power and status e.g. job interview so making and effort to appear professional

Stereotype: A widely held but oversimplified idea or belief about a particular type of person or thing, Example: The stereotype that all teenagers are lazy and rebellious.

Covert prestige: prestige acquired in a community by using a non-standard language variety, such as a working-class dialect e.g. Yorkshire accents seem to be hardworking and trustworthy

Political correctness:

Vocative: a word or phrase used to address a reader/listener directly, usually in the form of a personal name, title or term of endearment e.g. sir/madam/mate

Gender non-binary refers to individuals who do not exclusively identify as male or female. They may identify as a combination of both genders or neither.

Example: A person who identifies as gender non-binary may use they/them pronouns and may feel that traditional gender categories do not accurately represent their identity.

Hetero normative is a belief system that assumes heterosexuality as the norm. For example, the expectation that men should be attracted to women and vice versa is a hetero normative view.

Transgender Definition: Transgender refers to individuals whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. Example: An example of a transgender person is someone who was assigned female at birth but identifies and lives as a man.

Cisgender Definition: Cisgender refers to individuals whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth. Example: A person assigned female at birth who identifies as a woman is cisgender.

Note