For my coursework I am going to look at genderlect in Grand Designs. I am going to explore the way in which the males in the programme perhaps tend to talk more to the builders about figures and the women tend to talk more about the interior design etc. I have found three clips, two of which are from the same episode showing and backing up this idea that women care more about the aesthetics than the price and the second clip is from a different episode that is going against this ideology as the woman here is actually discouraging the aesthetics and in a role reversal telling her husband that they don't need certain things to keep in with the budget.

Grand Designs S9 E4 The Eco Arch Kent

First transcript is 44.58-45.50

Ch4 Grand Designs Collection 10 7of7 The Disco Home

http://www.youtube.com/v/pDpKx3r7kao?autohide=1&version=3&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=_URtd0OerxMfiPO_nGRMPw&autohide=1&feature=share&autoplay=1

First transcript is from 27.10-28.36

Second transcript is from 41.14-45.24

Prescriptivism and Descriptivism

 

Prescriptivism:

 

 

The general take of a prescriptivist is that there are rules that define how language should be used, and that mistakes result from when those rules are broken. You might hear this idea of prescriptive linguistics described as normative, which means that the rules are based on normal usage, and they determine the way things (spelling, grammar, etc.) ought to be. Some examples of prescriptive rules are:

• Don’t end a sentence with a preposition
• Don’t split infinitives
• Don’t use the passive voice
• Don’t use the pronoun ‘I’ in object position

 

Descriptivism:

The idea behind descriptive linguistics is that a language is defined by what people do with it. In other words, you begin by studying and listening to native speakers. Then, when you notice patterns in the ways that they communicate, you can record those patterns as guesses about the principles of a language. If you rarely (or never) observe someone breaking those patterns, then your guess is more likely to be an accurate representation of the language. Those guesses are called hypotheses, and when they are well-supported by evidence, they can be accepted as correctness conditions for a language. For example, a correctness condition about Standard English is the notion of a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word order. It is very difficult (if not impossible) to observe a native English speaker saying something like, “*I an apple ate,” so it is a safe bet that if you hear that, you aren’t hearing Standard English. Of course, it also means that if enough people start using a new construction, then your grammatical model should adapt to accommodate it.

Well known:

Descriptivist's

•  Alexandra D’Arcy 
•  Merriam-Webster

Prescriptivist's

• Shadyah A. N. Cole
• Geoffrey Nunberg

Shadyah A. N. Cole

 

Shadyah A. N. Cole wrote an article on the historical development of prescriptivism , which shows how social and economic conditions influenced scholarly and popular attitudes to the English language; and Geoffrey Pullum’s Ideology, Power, and Linguistic Theory, in which the author assesses justifications for prescriptivist claims, and shows that “in grammar the 19th century never really went away”.

 

 

 



The Rastamouse Controversy

 

 Rastamouse Branded “No Better Than The New Sambo – Golliwog In Drag”

    

Levi Roots, Benjamin Zephaniah and psychologist Delroy Constantine-Simms all have their say on CBeebies sensation Rastamouse.

It’s hard to keep up with all the Rastamouse controversy, we reported earlier this week that the show had already garnered a combined 101 complaints and now high-profile Rastafarians have been giving their opinion on the show with Reggae Reggae Sauce founder Levi Roots saying he doesn’t support the use of a mouse to represent his culture “I was asked to do the voice of the mouse, but I said no. I am a Rastafarian and I wouldn’t want to portray a Rastafarian as a mouse. For me it is about integrity.” he told The Mirror “I’d never portray a Rasta as a pig or a mouse as I don’t think the values of being a Rasta are served by that. If it was a lion that would be very different, a lion is strong symbol in Rastafarianism.” continuing “Personally, I do not support this representation of us. But we do need representation on TV and as this is the first it should be given a chance. People need to decide whether it is right or wrong for themselves. I have seven children and I would most certainly not want them to watch this show.”

Benjamin Zephaniah was more contemplative about the show: “It’s not the greatest representation of the community, and the accents are not very accurate – probably because people wouldn’t understand a real one. But it’s the first, so of course it is going to attract criticism. The fact that he’s a mouse isn’t great. If you asked the community 99% would want a lion, but so would English football fans.” finishing “On the whole, I’d rather have Rastamouse than not.”

Controversially, in the same Mirror article psychologist Delroy Constantine-Simms called Rastamouse “no better than the new Sambo – golliwog in drag” continuing “No other ethnic group in Britain would allow their religion to be represented by a rodent. Can you imagine a Jewish person writing Jewie the Crime Fighting Pig? Or a follower of the Hindu faith endorsing Hindi the Crime Fighting Cow? Or a book from a Muslim writer titled Jihad Jane? It just would not happen.”

Rastamouse has already been licensed the in Poland, Australia, Canada and Israel and is set for a merchandise range as well as pop career following a record deal with EMI.

Posted 16th March 2011 by Fonzi Neutron
 

 

How is the language issue represented?  

The language issue is represented by three different quotes from individual speakers, Levi Roots, Benjamin Zephaniah, whom themselves are Rastafarians, and a psychologist Delroy Constantine-Simms. All of whom have quite negative things to say about the subject. Rastamouse is described in a highly opposing manner with such things being thrown around as "I do not support this representation of us" and "be represented by a rodent". With the word "rodent" being used instead of mouse it brings with it more weak and unfavourable connotations.

 

How does the author represent him/herself and others?

The author of this article is perhaps against the idea of this program as he starts with how many complaints that the show has gathered and only at the very end does he say of the programs success. It was a mere sentence compared to the three huge paragraphs filled with negativity for the program. He also seems to take side with the Rastafarians when they say that they do not wish to be depicted in such a way.

 

How does the author shape the readers response?

The author shapes the readers response by making them question whether they would wish for their culture, race etc... to be portrayed in such a derogatory way. If they would like it if they themselves were to be characterised as a "rodent" so small and powerless instead of a lion that holds great power and is seen as strong and independent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes on BBC Voices

Aims:

The aim of this study was to find out how people feel about accents and languages across the British Isles.

Methodology:

5000 people took part in the online poll, participants in this poll were asked to rank celebrities in order of how pleasant their voices sounded to them

 

Findings and analysis:

The findings of this online poll were that respondents indicated a personal preference for accents that were relatively local to themselves. For example the Scots said that they preferred Ewan McGregors Perthshire accent, the English on the other hand found Hugh Grant's voice attractive and the Welsh preferred listening to the Welsh actor Richard Burton and the newsreader Huw Edwards. Finally those in the North of Ireland found Terry Wogan's Limerick accent simply irresistible. However the Northen Irish participants were the only group of people who actually found Ian Paisley's voice acceptable even though his voice was declared the 'least pleasant' by all other areas of the UK. In the North of Ireland again Janet Street-Porters Esturary Cockney tongue was voted the least attractive.

Conclusions: