LELA 10082 Exam hints Practical issues Exam is

LELA 10082 Exam hints

Practical issues • • • Exam is computer marked Special exam answer sheet Mark one slot only Use pencil Bring rubber Don’t make any other marks 2

Exam format • • • 40 questions multiple choice no penalty for wrong guesses one correct answer per question no “wrong” answers are possibly right (I hope) 3

Types of questions • Complete the sentence – “Phonetics” is a word used to describe … a. The study of the sounds of speech b. A frenzied attack on someone c. A way of teaching reading to infants d. The study of rhyme schemes in poetry 4

Types of questions • Which of the following statements is FALSE? • Which of the following statements is TRUE? • Which of the following features IS found … • Which of the following IS NOT found … 5

Types of questions • Definitions of terms – What is “phonetics”? – The study of speech sounds is referred to as … • Always a choice of four 6

What is covered • 40 questions – 5 generic questions on accents and dialects – 3 questions on RP – 10 questions on how accents differ, incl. two on non-segmental features, and one relating to the examples we looked at – 1 question on lexical differences between accents 7

What is covered • 40 questions (cont. ) – 2 general questions on dialects – 5 questions on Labov’s work and related issues – 2 questions on Basil Bernstein – 3 questions on dialect surveys – 2 questions on Halliday’s definition of register – 5 questions on stylistics and stylometry – 2 questions on authorship studies 8

Phonetic symbols • A few of the questions refer to specific speech sounds • All are shown using a phonetic symbol and an illustration from standard English (e. g. the sound in words like luck and look) • But you should know (anyway) standard phonetic symbols for the sounds of English 9

Worth revising • • language, dialect, idiolect accent vs dialect standard dialect prestige dialect RP hypercorrection accents differ in – – phonemic system incidence distribution realisation • isogloss • non-segmental differences: intonation, stress, rhythm, loudness, voice quality • Trudgill et al. ’s case studies (in general, not in detail) • sources of lexical (and grammatical) differences between dialects 10

Worth revising • sociolinguistics • speech community • factors: geography, ethnicity, social class, gender • prestige – overt vs covert – positive vs negative • Labov’s studies – Martha’s Vineyard – New York City • Bernstein – restricted vs elaborated code – deficit theory • dialectology – – – Survey of English Dialects elicitation techniques choice of informants “observer’s paradox” dialect maps, “isogloss” 11

Worth revising • register • Halliday – field ~ tenor ~ mode • text-type • genre • stylistics • stylometry – type: token ratio – vocabulary growth • authorship studies – famous cases 12

Good luck and thanks for being a nice class! 13