Spoken Language

Question 1

Discourse community

Answer 1

a group of people who share basic values, assumptions, and ways of communicating about them.

Question 2

Pragmatics

Answer 2

are used when people imply what they mean instead of saying it directly

Question 3

Prosody

Answer 3

It focuses on how you say things instead of what you say

Question 4

Grice’s maxims

Answer 4

The maxim of quality - the truth of a statement
The maxim of quantity - not too much/not too little
The maxim of relevance - how relevant a statement is to the conversation
The maxim of manner - being clear

Question 5

Communication Accommodation Theory

Answer 5

Developed by Howard Giles who suggested that we accommodate the person we are addressing. This will result in convergence and divergence

Question 6

Convergence

Answer 6

When we move our speech closer to the person we are speaking to

Question 7

Divergence

Answer 7

when someone exaggerates features of their speech to emphasise the difference between themselves and others

Question 8

Overt prestige

Answer 8

is acquired by those speakers who have command of a standard accent/dialect that is spoken to give social status within the wider community; often that of the elite

Question 9

covert prestige

Answer 9

is acquired by those speakers desiring to belong; to be considered a member of a community.

Question 10

Elision

Answer 10

the omission of some sounds or syllables when speaking

Question 11

Ellipses

Answer 11

the omission from speech or writing of words that are not needed or able to be understood from contextual clues

Question 12

what the tenor of the text tells you

Answer 12

• what kind of person the author is (of presenting themselves to be)
• what kind of people the expected audience is
• what the relationship between them is

Question 13

Social group power

Answer 13

the degree of influence an individual has amongst their peers and within society as a whole.

Question 14

Personal power

Answer 14

power due to occupation, position in a heirarchial group, academic or practical knowledge and/or wealth

Question 15

Personal identity

Answer 15

A person’s individual characteristics such as their personality, their beliefs, their values etc.

Question 16

Social identity

Answer 16

a person’s membership of social groups, such as gender, age, occupation, religion, etc.

Question 17

Standard pronounciation

Answer 17

the form of English grammar and vocabulary that is regarded as the standard, to be taught to learners of English and used in formal situations.

Question 18

Recieved Pronounciation

Answer 18

the standard pronunciation of individual words in a dictionary. This accent is recognised as a marker of social status and is sometimes called ‘BBC’ or ‘Queen’s English’. The reaction to RP tends to be hostile and nowadays there has been a gradual shift in pronounication.