€¦ · Web viewThe word slang often has a negative connotation ... is to hear a political heir to Pontius Pilate and Marie Antoinette. ... Adam Taylor of the Washington Post:

RETAKING THE SPOKEN LANGUAGE UNIT

Year 11

Spring 2016

© Chris Healey Bishop Justus 2014

Title:Investigate and explore the ways spoken language is used by political leaders David Cameron, Caroline Lucas and Ed Miliband to persuade their electorate in party political broadcasts?

About the task:Final outcomes for candidates submitting written responses must be produced under formal supervision. Candidates may use research materials but these must not constitute a detailed writing frame or a draft response to the task. The final outcome should be written work totaling 800–1000 words in a period of two–three hours

© Chris Healey Bishop Justus 2016 1

That breaks down to around 9 paragraphs + Introduction and Conclusion.

Structure should follow:

Introduction: explaining the background of the politicians and perhaps their different target audiences.

Para 1: Cameron (Point, Evidence, Technique, Effect, How people would react to or receive this style of speech)

Para 2: Miliband (Point, Evidence, Technique, Effect, How people would react to or receive this style of speech)

Para 3: Lucas (Point, Evidence, Technique, Effect, How people would react to or receive this style of speech)







Conclusion: use some of the newspaper articles to explain how they are received by the public and then conclude showing

AVOID: Repetition – vary the opening sentences to each paragraph.

A*-A Extension:

2nd quotation is always good in paragraphs to develop/reinforce your argument VARY THE ORDER of the PETER paragraphs – start with the R at times.


Spoken Language GlossaryAccentThe way pronunciation indicates regional or social identity, e.g. an Irish accent, a London ‘youth’ accent, an upper-class accent.

BackchannellingFeedback from listeners to show that they’re interested and understand, e.g. saying ‘mmm’, ‘yeah’ or nodding.

Body language Aspects of talk involving gestures, position, movements, facial expressions, and so on.

Back-trackingGoing back to something in the conversation that’s already been started or has already been said.

Ellipsis missing out words in phrases (“you goin Bromley?”)

Ellision joining words together (wanna, gonna)

FillersItems in speech that allow time to think, or create a pause, e.g. ‘erm’, ‘um’.

Formality/informalityFormal language is used in situations which are more distant and impersonal. Informal language is used in situations which are more relaxed, intimate or casual. Formality depends on the context and who you are talking to.

HedgingWords or phrases which soften or weaken what’s said, for instance ‘kind of’, ‘sort of’.

Paralinguistic featuresForms of non-verbal communication, e.g. body language and tone.

Phatic TalkSmall talk to diffuse tension or fill space.

Pitch moving the tone of words either higher or lower

Plosive language:P’s and d’s that cause exhalation when spoken

Prosodic featuresAspects of voice such as pitch, volume, pace, pauses and rhythm. If you’re just looking at a transcript it’s hard to pick up any of this. In texting or internet talk, emoticons, capital letters and punctuation are often used as a way of showing prosodic features in writing.

RegisterThe kind of language used in a particular context, e.g. the register used in an occupation might include typical formats, levels of formality, kinds of vocabulary.

Referential LanguageLanguage whch refers to specific knowledge (can be used to exclude others.

Rhetorical questionAsking a question for which you don’t expect an answer.

DialectA way of speaking specific to an area or class.IntonationVary pitch and tone to emphasise or suggest meaningPausesA break in speech, sometimes used for effect.StressingEmphasising words through volume or pitchRP (Received Pronunciation)

An English accent not associated with any region of the country. It used to have social status but nowadays is a bit less obviously a mark of high standing. For instance all news presenters used to speak with RP accents but nowadays many have regional accents.

Slang


Non-standard words or phrases used informally by particular groups. The word slang often has a negative connotation – people are criticised for using slang.

Standard EnglishThe form of language that is seen as the norm for any formal contexts and is used for education, government and the law. Variations from Standard English, such as dialects, are said to be nonstandard. Standard English can be spoken with a regional accent.

TranscriptA written record of spoken language. Symbols and special markings can help to show aspects of speech, such as overlaps, pauses or loudness or softness that aren’t a feature of written language.

Transactional LanguageLanguage used to get direct information

Sophisticated words:Target audience, political elite, detached, appeal,

David Cameron

David Cameron is the Prime Minister of the UK, and the leader of the Conservative Party who are in parliament. He is often criticised for being detatched from the ordinary people in the UK because he went to an exclusive private school: Eton College, and then Oxford. He was already a millionaire before becoming Prime Minister. His upper-class diction and aristocratic accent is often criticised as being “posh” or as the papers call him a “Tory toff”.

Target audience:In this broadcast, Cameron wants to appeal both to the usual Conservative voters (usually richer more middle or upper class voters) and to the working classes who are concerned about immigration.

From article by Kevin McGuire in THE MIRRORAspiration is misused cynically by a silver spooned David Cameron to shift blame on to those whose lives he blights. Here is a PM born with every advantage money could buy and a gilded old school tie network to land him cushy numbers. From a prep school favoured by the royals to the Bullingdon Club via Eton, his is a life of unearned privilege.

If life was a 100 metre race, millions of disadvantaged Britons are slowed in the cement slippers of low-wage households where paying the bills is a soul destroying daily worry.

Cameron on the other hand was awarded the biggest of head starts, placed so close to the finishing line he could stumble badly in his golden sneakers and the luck of birth would still make him a winner.

To listen to the Con leader lecture working people on trying harder, aiming higher, is to hear a political heir to Pontius Pilate and Marie Antoinette.

The Tory toff who surrounded himself with a brigade of Old Etonians fails the “Deeds not Words” test of the Suffragettes. The nation increasingly sees through him, Cameron’s hollow talk of aspiration falling flat in middle-income homes.



Ed Miliband:

Ed Miliband is the leader of the Labour Party who are not in government but in opposition. They wish to show how wrong the Conservative Party are.He did NOT go to private school but did attend Oxford university.His party is known for representing more working class people and opposing the capitalist driven beliefs of the Conservative Party.

Target audience:In this broadcast, Miliband wants to appeal both to the usual Labour voters but particularly to the working classes who are concerned about immigration, and feel that Labour was too liberal about immigration. At the same time, he knows that many ethnic minorities vote Labour, and he must not seem “anti-immigration”.

Adam Taylor of the Washington Post:

Labour supporters think that their real problem closer to home: Their own leader, Ed Miliband. Is he just too "weird" to be prime minister?On Friday, British political gossip website Guido Fawkes has rounded up some of the criticism of Miliband coming from different Labour sources. One anonymous quote is especially damning:“The narrative around Ed Miliband, because it’s the truth, is that he looks weird, sounds weird, is weird.”

But there's a bigger issue here: I suspect that when people say Miliband is "weird," they often mean "posh" or "out of touch." That's a problem for Labour, traditionally the working class, union-orientated party. UKIP may be led by Nigel Farage – a privately educated man who made a small fortune as a commodities trader and dresses like a traditional English gentleman – but its anti-Europe, anti-establishment message clearly resonates with people who might have voted for Labour in the past. And those people probably don't feel well-represented by a slightly awkward, metropolitan intellectual like Ed Miliband.


Caroline Lucas:

Dr Caroline Lucas is the Leader of the Green Party. The Green Party have never been in government and are known for their focus on Environmental issues. Though it is known she attended private school, this is rarely mentioned by critics. Her history of protesting against government policies makes her seem more like a real person than most other politicians. She has qualified with a PhD making her more qualified than the other two leaders.

Target audience:In this broadcast, Lucas wants to appeal to the working class voters who have lost benefits from the Conservative cuts. She is aiming to appeal to the less privileged and perhaps less-educated classes.


CAMERON TRANSCRIPT

I believe (.) that you have the right (.) to have your say on Europe. (2)

So when we have finished renegotiating Britains’s relationship (.) with the European Union, (2) we will give you (.) the final decision (.) with an in-out referendum (.) by the end of 2017. (2)

Labour and the Lib Dems oppose our plan. (2) They won’t stand up for Britain (2) and they refuse to give you a say. (2)

And UKIP, (.) they simply can’t deliver on anything they promise. (2)

Only the Conservatives, (.) will stand up for Britain (.) and let you have your say. (2)

Only by voting Conservative on May the 22nd (.) can you get (.) real change in Europe.


MILIBAND TRANSCRIPT

One of the things I’ve done, (.) since becoming the leader of The Labour Party, is understand where we got things wrong in government, (2) and change them. (3)

And one of the things we didn’t get right (2) was immigration. (2) That’s why I’ve got a new approach. (3)

Millions of people in this country are concerned about immigration. (.) And if people are concerned about it, (.) then The Labour Party I lead is going to be talking about it.

Low-skill migration has been too high, and we need to bring it down. (2)

That means maximum transitional controls for new countries coming in (.) from Eastern Europe. (2) It means properly enforcing the minimum wage, (.) so people aren’t brought here to undercut workers (.) already here, er, and it means let’s give proper training (.) to workers already here (.) so they have a fighting chance of filling the vacancies that exist.

There’s nothing wrong (.) in employing people from abroad. (2) But the rules need to be fair (.) so that local people can have a fair crack of the whip. (2)

For recruitment agencies, (.) some of them do a good job. (2)

They can’t engage in bad practices, like saying we’re only gonna employ people (.) from abroad. (.) That’s wrong, (.) and we would change it.

We would say to all recruitment agencies (.) “You can’t just exclude people (.) because they happen (.) to be living in Britain.


LUCAS TRANSCRIPT

Since entering Parliament, (.) I have seen just how uncaring (.) this government is. (2) Looking after the super-wealthy, (.) and pushing the poorest into destitution. (2) Money that should be used to protect public-services, (.) is instead paying for bank bail-outs (.) and tax cuts for the rich. (3)

By tearing down the welfare state, (.) the government is destroying a vital safety net that should be there for all of us.

Austerity (.) has failed. (2)

The cuts aren’t working. (2)

Debts rising (2) and hope (.) is disappearing. (3)

Unlike the other parties, (.) the Green party knows that the way to tackle the deficit (.) isn’t by slashing public services (.) its by investing in jobs.


Documents

€¦ · Web viewThe word slang often has a negative connotation ... is to hear a political heir to Pontius Pilate and Marie Antoinette. ... Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: