Read the transcripts. They are decontextualized; taken out of their original context, so we do not have any contextual factors to help us interpret them.

Spoken language

Task 1

Try to decide which speech genre each example represents. Find linguistic evidence to support your decision.

TEXT 1

A this is the entrance to Marlborough Road (1) and St James’ Palace is on the left (1) we’re looking now (2) through (1) the gates of Hyde Park (3) with the (.) Wellington Museum on the left there (5) the carriage has (4) left (1) the park itself (1) and now (1) crosses Hyde Park Corner (1) going under (.) the Wellington Arch (26) the Duke of Wellington himself after whom this (1) arch (.) is named (.) had a memorable (2) state funeral himself (3) in the streets of London in 18 (.) 52 (4) still the flowers (2) rain before (1) the procession (.) otherwise (3) everything is (1) silent and still (71) these huge wrought iron gates on the arch (1) are usually closed they open (.) very rarely for a special occasion like ↑this↑ (2) and the (.) cortege will come through here (.) and then (2) turn to the left (1) and start on its journey (.) down Constitution Hill (.) which will take it all the way along (1) the side (1) of the (1) huge gardens of Buckingham Palace

Task 2

To show that you have engaged with the texts, write a 4-5 sentence overview making connections between them.

TEXT 1

A this is the entrance to Marlborough Road (1) and St James’ Palace is on the left (1) we’re looking now (2) through (1) the gates of Hyde Park (3) with the (.) Wellington Museum on the left there (5) the carriage has (4) left (1) the park itself (1) and now (1) crosses Hyde Park Corner (1) going under (.) the Wellington Arch (26) the Duke of Wellington himself after whom this (1) arch (.) is named (.) had a memorable (2) state funeral himself (3) in the streets of London in 18 (.) 52 (4) still the flowers (2) rain before (1) the procession (.) otherwise (3) everything is (1) silent and still (71) these huge wrought iron gates on the arch (1) are usually closed they open (.) very rarely for a special occasion like ↑this↑ (2) and the (.) cortege will come through here (.) and then (2) turn to the left (1) and start on its journey (.) down Constitution Hill (.) which will take it all the way along (1) the side (1) of the (1) huge gardens of Buckingham Palace

Task 3

Suggest a possible context and provide evidence for your choice. You need to think about things such as the purpose, the tenor, whether the speech is public or private, the relationship between participants and the target audience, and the linguistic contextual factors (e.g. deixis, referencing, terms of address, implicature, presupposition).

TEXT 1

A this is the entrance to Marlborough Road (1) and St James’ Palace is on the left (1) we’re looking now (2) through (1) the gates of Hyde Park (3) with the (.) Wellington Museum on the left there (5) the carriage has (4) left (1) the park itself (1) and now (1) crosses Hyde Park Corner (1) going under (.) the Wellington Arch (26) the Duke of Wellington himself after whom this (1) arch (.) is named (.) had a memorable (2) state funeral himself (3) in the streets of London in 18 (.) 52 (4) still the flowers (2) rain before (1) the procession (.) otherwise (3) everything is (1) silent and still (71) these huge wrought iron gates on the arch (1) are usually closed they open (.) very rarely for a special occasion like ↑this↑ (2) and the (.) cortege will come through here (.) and then (2) turn to the left (1) and start on its journey (.) down Constitution Hill (.) which will take it all the way along (1) the side (1) of the (1) huge gardens of Buckingham Palace

Task 4

How would information about physical contextual factors (e.g. time, place, occasion, shared knowledge, cultural references etc.) help you to understand these transcripts better?

TEXT 1

A this is the entrance to Marlborough Road (1) and St James’ Palace is on the left (1) we’re looking now (2) through (1) the gates of Hyde Park (3) with the (.) Wellington Museum on the left there (5) the carriage has (4) left (1) the park itself (1) and now (1) crosses Hyde Park Corner (1) going under (.) the Wellington Arch (26) the Duke of Wellington himself after whom this (1) arch (.) is named (.) had a memorable (2) state funeral himself (3) in the streets of London in 18 (.) 52 (4) still the flowers (2) rain before (1) the procession (.) otherwise (3) everything is (1) silent and still (71) these huge wrought iron gates on the arch (1) are usually closed they open (.) very rarely for a special occasion like ↑this↑ (2) and the (.) cortege will come through here (.) and then (2) turn to the left (1) and start on its journey (.) down Constitution Hill (.) which will take it all the way along (1) the side (1) of the (1) huge gardens of Buckingham Palace

Task 5

Now read through the contextual information and then re-consider each text. How does the additional information shape your response? Did your reading change in the light of the contextual factors?

TEXT 1

BBC Television commentary, David Dimbleby (1997)

This is an extract from the commentary for Princess Diana’s funeral on 6th September 1997. She was the first wife of Prince Charles and was well-known for her charity work. She was divorced in 1996 and was fatally injured in a car crash in Paris on the 31st August 1997. Her coffin was carried on a gun carriage through London from Kensington Palace, along the south side of Hyde Park, past the Albert Memorial, beneath Wellington Arch to Constitution Hill and the Mall, where Buckingham Palace is situated. From there, the funeral cortege went on to Westminster Abbey for the official ceremony. The event was not a state funeral, but a royal ceremonial funeral. More than a million people lined the streets to watch the cortege pass.

TEXT 1

Commentary

  • Subject specific lexis: place – Hyde Park, London, Constitution Hill, Buckingham Palace; funeral—funeral, procession, cortege (nouns).
  • Proper nouns: location—Marlborough Road, Constitution Hill; famous landmarks—St James’ Palace, Wellington Arch, Hyde Park Corner, Buckingham Palace.
  • Concrete nouns: architectural—gates, park, arch; linked to funeral—flowers, carriage.
  • Modifiers: used sparsely—memorable, huge (attributive) silent, still l. 8 (predicative); very rarely (adverb phrase)—all with emphatic stress.
  • Locational language: deixis—this (demonstrative pronoun), now, still l.7 (time adverbs), there, here (place adverbs); adverbials—on the left, through the gates …, under the Wellington Arch, down Constitution Hill, along the side of … (all prepositional phrases).
  • First person plural pronoun we (engaging viewers).
  • Verb phrases: is, crosses, are (present tense for current events); ’re looking (present progressive for on going action); will come (modal indicating future event); has left (present perfect for event in past with ongoing relevance); had (past tense for completed events); is named (passive to emphasise object).
  • Relative clauses providing extra information: after whom this Arch is named … (formal—use of object form whom + avoiding preposition at the end of the clause); which will take it
  • Many simple (we’re looking now … there) and compound (is … and … is; has left … and … crosses) utterances.
  • Metaphor (reflecting individuality of the speaker): the flowers (2) rain

Read the transcripts. They are decontextualized; taken out of their original context, so we do not have any contextual factors to help us interpret them.

Standard and non-standard English

Task 1

Try to decide which speech genre each example represents. Find linguistic evidence to support your decision.

TEXT 2

  1. but whichever garage you go to (.) motorists seem concerned about what’s going in their tanks =
  2. = there’s /sʌmɪnk/ wrong with the fuel (.) there’s definitely /sʌmɪnk/ wrong with the fuel (2) hundred per /sen/ /meɪʔ/ (.) I’m /telɪnjə/ / ðæʔ/ now
  1. one theory being investigated is excessive levels of silicon in batches of unleaded petrol (.) sent out over the last few weeks (1) a key component in the exhaust system of the oxygen centre (.) has failed because of the tainted fuel (.) and it costs two hundred pounds to replàce

Task 2

To show that you have engaged with the texts, write a 4-5 sentence overview making connections between them.

TEXT 2

  1. but whichever garage you go to (.) motorists seem concerned about what’s going in their tanks =
  2. = there’s /sʌmɪnk/ wrong with the fuel (.) there’s definitely /sʌmɪnk/ wrong with the fuel (2) hundred per /sen/ /meɪʔ/ (.) I’m /telɪnjə/ / ðæʔ/ now
  1. one theory being investigated is excessive levels of silicon in batches of unleaded petrol (.) sent out over the last few weeks (1) a key component in the exhaust system of the oxygen centre (.) has failed because of the tainted fuel (.) and it costs two hundred pounds to replàce

Task 3

Suggest a possible context and provide evidence for your choice. You need to think about things such as the purpose, the tenor, whether the speech is public or private, the relationship between participants and the target audience, and the linguistic contextual factors (e.g. deixis, referencing, terms of address, implicature, presupposition).

TEXT 2

  1. but whichever garage you go to (.) motorists seem concerned about what’s going in their tanks =
  2. = there’s /sʌmɪnk/ wrong with the fuel (.) there’s definitely /sʌmɪnk/ wrong with the fuel (2) hundred per /sen/ /meɪʔ/ (.) I’m /telɪnjə/ / ðæʔ/ now
  1. one theory being investigated is excessive levels of silicon in batches of unleaded petrol (.) sent out over the last few weeks (1) a key component in the exhaust system of the oxygen centre (.) has failed because of the tainted fuel (.) and it costs two hundred pounds to replàce

Task 4

How would information about physical contextual factors (e.g. time, place, occasion, shared knowledge, cultural references etc.) help you to understand these transcripts better?

TEXT 2

  1. but whichever garage you go to (.) motorists seem concerned about what’s going in their tanks =
  2. = there’s /sʌmɪnk/ wrong with the fuel (.) there’s definitely /sʌmɪnk/ wrong with the fuel (2) hundred per /sen/ /meɪʔ/ (.) I’m /telɪnjə/ / ðæʔ/ now
  1. one theory being investigated is excessive levels of silicon in batches of unleaded petrol (.) sent out over the last few weeks (1) a key component in the exhaust system of the oxygen centre (.) has failed because of the tainted fuel (.) and it costs two hundred pounds to replàce

Task 5

Now read through the contextual information and then re-consider each text. How does the additional information shape your response? Did your reading change in the light of the contextual factors?

TEXT 2

BBC News Channel news item (2007)

This is a report about a problem with contaminated petrol sold at a number of supermarket petrol stations in South East England in February 2007. Motorists had problems with their cars breaking down and tests on the fuel found that it had traces of silicon. The contamination was thought to have damaged a sensor in the exhaust, which then cut the power to prevent long-term damage to the engine. While silicon products are used in diesel fuel, even very small quantities can cause serious problems in petrol engines.

TEXT 2

Television news

  • Initial position conjunction (But): representing continuation of a topic in a new direction; falling intonation on non-finite verb to mark end of topic (replàce).
  • Subject specific lexis: nouns—garage, motorists, tanks, fuel, unleaded petrol, exhaust system (focus of topic).
  • Tenor: formality of Speaker A with polysyllabic lexis—investigated (past participle), excessive (adjective), component, silicon (nouns), tainted (verb modifier); informal pronunciation of Speaker B—/sen/, /sʌmɪnk/ (elision); /meɪʔ/, / ðæʔ/ (glottal stop); /telɪnjə/ (elision/reduction).
  • Second person pronoun (generic you) used to represent an unspecified person (cf formal ‘one’).
  • Contractions: typical of spoken language (particularly informal)—what’s, there’s.
  • Informal vocative: /meɪʔ/.
  • Informal idiom: hundred per /sen/, I’m /telɪnjə/ (Speaker B).
  • Modifiers: linked to Speaker B’s evaluation of the situation—repetition of adjective wrong (emphatic), adverb of probablity(disjunct) definitely (with emphatic stress); Speaker A’s factual description of situation—adjective excessive (negative in this context); enumerator two hundred (with emphatic stress); Speaker A’s evaluation—adjective concerned.
  • Verb phrases: present tense go, ’s, costs (current situation); passive being investigated (subject unimportant); past tense sent out (establishes time scale of event i.e. event in past which led to curent state of affairs).
  • Distinctive lexical choice: verb modifier tainted (figurative cf contaminated/polluted).

Read the transcripts. They are decontextualized; taken out of their original context, so we do not have any contextual factors to help us interpret them.

Spoken language

Task 1

Try to decide which speech genre each example represents. Find linguistic evidence to support your decision.

TEXT 3

  1. I filmed er Saving Private Ryan ↑here↑ and we also made Band of Brothers (.) and ↑Andrew↑ was in (.) episode eight of Band of Brothers =
  2. = now you (.) were you involved in the production of that? I believe // you produced
  1. // I directed one and I (1) wrote some of them and yes I produced (.) er helped to produce the whole shebang =
  2. = indeed and what was it about Andrew that made you choose him in // comparison
  1. // oh nothing at all I er (.) they cast him (.) I was at home I said who’s playing Jackson they said a guy named Andrew said good enough for me =
  2. = that’s good enough for me {audience laughter} you’ve got er h. those high expectations =
  1. = yeah

Task 2

To show that you have engaged with the texts, write a 4-5 sentence overview making connections between them.

TEXT 3

  1. I filmed er Saving Private Ryan ↑here↑ and we also made Band of Brothers (.) and ↑Andrew↑ was in (.) episode eight of Band of Brothers =
  2. = now you (.) were you involved in the production of that? I believe // you produced
  1. // I directed one and I (1) wrote some of them and yes I produced (.) er helped to produce the whole shebang =
  2. = indeed and what was it about Andrew that made you choose him in // comparison
  1. // oh nothing at all I er (.) they cast him (.) I was at home I said who’s playing Jackson they said a guy named Andrew said good enough for me =
  2. = that’s good enough for me {audience laughter} you’ve got er h. those high expectations =
  1. = yeah

Task 3

Suggest a possible context and provide evidence for your choice. You need to think about things such as the purpose, the tenor, whether the speech is public or private, the relationship between participants and the target audience, and the linguistic contextual factors (e.g. deixis, referencing, terms of address, implicature, presupposition).

TEXT 3

  1. I filmed er Saving Private Ryan ↑here↑ and we also made Band of Brothers (.) and ↑Andrew↑ was in (.) episode eight of Band of Brothers =
  2. = now you (.) were you involved in the production of that? I believe // you produced
  1. // I directed one and I (1) wrote some of them and yes I produced (.) er helped to produce the whole shebang =
  2. = indeed and what was it about Andrew that made you choose him in // comparison
  1. // oh nothing at all I er (.) they cast him (.) I was at home I said who’s playing Jackson they said a guy named Andrew said good enough for me =
  2. = that’s good enough for me {audience laughter} you’ve got er h. those high expectations =
  1. A = yeah

Task 4

How would information about physical contextual factors (e.g. time, place, occasion, shared knowledge, cultural references etc.) help you to understand these transcripts better?

TEXT 3

  1. I filmed er Saving Private Ryan ↑here↑ and we also made Band of Brothers (.) and ↑Andrew↑ was in (.) episode eight of Band of Brothers =
  2. = now you (.) were you involved in the production of that? I believe // you produced
  1. // I directed one and I (1) wrote some of them and yes I produced (.) er helped to produce the whole shebang =
  2. = indeed and what was it about Andrew that made you choose him in // comparison
  1. // oh nothing at all I er (.) they cast him (.) I was at home I said who’s playing Jackson they said a guy named Andrew said good enough for me =
  2. = that’s good enough for me {audience laughter} you’ve got er h. those high expectations =
  1. A = yeah

Task 5

Now read through the contextual information and then re-consider each text. How does the additional information shape your response? Did your reading change in the light of the contextual factors?

TEXT 3

Interview with Tom Hanks, ‘Friday Night with Jonathan Ross’ (2008)

This is an extract from an interview in which Tom Hanks talked about his new film ‘Charlie Wilson’s War’. Before they discussed the film, Ross asked Hanks about his visits to the UK for previous projects such as the Spielberg film ’Saving Private Ryan’ and the HBO television miniseries ‘Band of Brothers’. Andrew Lee Potts was another of Ross’ guests. While Hanks’ interview took place, Potts was waiting in the green room for his appearance later in the show. He appeared in the role of Private Eugene Jackson in ‘Band of Brothers’ (Episode 8).

TEXT 3

Celebrity interview

  • Pronouns: Speaker A uses first person singular I and inclusive plural we (speaking about personal experience); Speaker B uses second person you (direct address).
  • Proper nouns: names of films/TV programmes—Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers; first names—Andrew (actor), Jackson (character).
  • Subject specific: filmed, produced, directed (verbs), episode, production (nouns).
  • Verb phrases: filmed, made, involved (past tense—commenting on past events linked to main speaker); ’s (present tense quoted clause i.e. direct speech—recounting conversation with no pauses to mark the end of utterances).
  • Discourse markers: adverb now (marking conscious development of topic).
  • Grammatical mood: were you involved …, what was it about … (interrogatives—directing topic); I directed … and yes I produced … (declaratives—providing answers) = complete adjacency pairs.
  • Affirmation: yeah; yes (informal adverb); indeed (disjunct—pragmatic marker, quite formal = emphatic agreement).
  • Comment clause: I believe (tentative, hedging).
  • Distinctive: the whole shebang (noun phrase)—idiomatic; good enough for me (noun phrase)—understatement (repeated by Speaker B for humorous effect + audience response i.e. paralinguistic feature).
  • Utterance types: many compound—I filmed … and we also made … and Andrew was … , I directed … and I wrote … and I produced (polysyndeton – extending turn); elliptical—said good enough for me.

Read the transcripts. They are decontextualized; taken out of their original context, so we do not have any contextual factors to help us interpret them.

Spoken language

Task 1

Try to decide which speech genre each example represents. Find linguistic evidence to support your decision.

TEXT 4

  1. you /gʌnə/ go to Aintree next Friday?
  2. yeah excuse for all women to get dressed up
  3. /ən/ like wear a hat
  1. yeah it’s called Ladies Day for a reason /jnəʊ/ style /ən/ stuff is // important
  1. // mm
  1. I’m /lʊkɪn/ forward
  1. yeah like see all the clothes like // the h.
  2. // yeah /ən/ the big hats /ən/ /əmeɪzɪn/ hair // styles
  1. // the hen parties
  1. I’m looking forward to the racing /kɒz/ I’ve never /bɪn/ // before
  2. // no way never /bɪn/ it’s crazy the first time // so many p.
  3. // yeah so many people:: (.) the Best Dre::ssed (.) all the /ʃaʊtɪn/ it’s // really
  1. // really /greɪʔ/ fun
  1. but is it too crowded? (.) I mean like can’t move
  2. nah it’s /greɪʔ/ really you’ll want to go back again
  3. so (.) /wɒtʃə/ wearing?

Task 2

To show that you have engaged with the texts, write a 4-5 sentence overview making connections between them.

TEXT 4

  1. you /gʌnə/ go to Aintree next Friday?
  2. yeah excuse for all women to get dressed up
  3. /ən/ like wear a hat
  1. yeah it’s called Ladies Day for a reason /jnəʊ/ style /ən/ stuff is // important
  1. // mm
  1. I’m /lʊkɪn/ forward
  1. yeah like see all the clothes like // the h.
  2. // yeah /ən/ the big hats /ən/ /əmeɪzɪn/ hair // styles
  1. // the hen parties
  1. I’m looking forward to the racing /kɒz/ I’ve never /bɪn/ // before
  2. // no way never /bɪn/ it’s crazy the first time // so many p.
  3. // yeah so many people:: (.) the Best Dre::ssed (.) all the /ʃaʊtɪn/ it’s // really
  1. // really /greɪʔ/ fun
  1. but is it too crowded? (.) I mean like can’t move
  2. nah it’s /greɪʔ/ really you’ll want to go back again
  3. so (.) /wɒtʃə/ wearing?

Task 3

Suggest a possible context and provide evidence for your choice. You need to think about things such as the purpose, the tenor, whether the speech is public or private, the relationship between participants and the target audience, and the linguistic contextual factors (e.g. deixis, referencing, terms of address, implicature, presupposition).

TEXT 4

  1. you /gʌnə/ go to Aintree next Friday?
  2. yeah excuse for all women to get dressed up
  3. /ən/ like wear a hat
  1. yeah it’s called Ladies Day for a reason /jnəʊ/ style /ən/ stuff is // important
  1. // mm
  1. I’m /lʊkɪn/ forward
  1. yeah like see all the clothes like // the h.
  2. // yeah /ən/ the big hats /ən/ /əmeɪzɪn/ hair // styles
  1. // the hen parties
  1. I’m looking forward to the racing /kɒz/ I’ve never /bɪn/ // before
  2. // no way never /bɪn/ it’s crazy the first time // so many p.
  3. // yeah so many people:: (.) the Best Dre::ssed (.) all the /ʃaʊtɪn/ it’s // really
  1. // really /greɪʔ/ fun
  1. but is it too crowded? (.) I mean like can’t move
  2. nah it’s /greɪʔ/ really you’ll want to go back again
  3. so (.) /wɒtʃə/ wearing?

Task 4

How would information about physical contextual factors (e.g. time, place, occasion, shared knowledge, cultural references etc.) help you to understand these transcripts better?

TEXT 4

  1. you /gʌnə/ go to Aintree next Friday?
  2. yeah excuse for all women to get dressed up
  3. /ən/ like wear a hat
  1. yeah it’s called Ladies Day for a reason /jnəʊ/ style /ən/ stuff is // important
  1. // mm
  1. I’m /lʊkɪn/ forward
  1. yeah like see all the clothes like // the h.
  2. // yeah /ən/ the big hats /ən/ /əmeɪzɪn/ hair // styles
  1. // the hen parties
  1. I’m looking forward to the racing /kɒz/ I’ve never /bɪn/ // before
  2. // no way never /bɪn/ it’s crazy the first time // so many p.
  3. // yeah so many people:: (.) the Best Dre::ssed (.) all the /ʃaʊtɪn/ it’s // really
  1. // really /greɪʔ/ fun
  1. but is it too crowded? (.) I mean like can’t move
  2. nah it’s /greɪʔ/ really you’ll want to go back again
  3. so (.) /wɒtʃə/ wearing?

Task 5

Now read through the contextual information and then re-consider each text. How does the additional information shape your response? Did your reading change in the light of the contextual factors?

TEXT 4

Informal conversation between friends (2015)

The focus of this conversation between a group of friends is Ladies Day, which takes place on the Friday before the Grand National horse race at Aintree, Liverpool. The event is renowned as much for the display of top fashion as for the horse racing. Newspaper coverage is extensive. It tends to highlight the attendance of celebrities, to comment on fashion trends and the wild behaviour of some racegoers, and to include numerous photographs of the memorable outfits.

TEXT 4

Informal conversation

  1. Subject specific lexis: Aintree, Ladies Day, Best Dressed (proper nouns); hat, clothes, hair styles (concrete nouns); racing (verbal noun).
  2. Discourse marker: so (interjection) to introduce new topic.
  3. Time adverbials: next Friday (noun phrase); before, never, again (time adverbs).
  4. Tenor: informal e.g. /gʌnə/, /əmeɪzɪn/, /wɒtʃə/, it’s, can’t (elision); yeah, /kɒz/, nah (informal pronunciation); /greɪʔ/ (glottal stop); /ən/, /jənəʊ/ (reduction + elision).
  5. Informal lexis: stuff (noun) = general reference, placeholder; like (filler); no way (idiom); crazy (modifier—predicative adjective).
  6. Affirmation: yeah; nah (informal adverbs); never /bɪn/, so many people (reinforcing repetition, mirroring), mm (non-verbal interjection); excuse for all women to get dressed up || /ən/ like wear a hat (completing each other’s utterances).
  7. Grammatical mood: mainly declarative, but Speaker uses interrogatives to seek information e.g. you /gʌnə/ go to Aintree next Friday? is it too crowded?
  8. Listing (reflecting enthusiasm) e.g. the big hats /ən/ /əmeɪzɪn/ hair // styles, so many people:: (.) the Best Dre::ssed (.) all the /ʃaʊtɪn (asyndetic).
  9. Utterance type: lots of elliptical structures e.g. you /gʌnə/ go to Aintree next Friday? (primary auxiliary omitted), see all the clothes (subject omitted), I’m /lʊkɪn/ forward (object omitted from transitive verb).
  10. Comment clauses e.g. /jnəʊ/, I mean.
  11. Comment clauses e.g. /jnəʊ/, I mean.