Features of academic writing Hedging It is often believed that academic writing, particularly scientific writing, is factual, simply to convey facts and information. However it is now recognised that an important feature of academic writing is the concept of cautious language, often called "hedging" or "vague language". In other words, it is necessary to make decisions about your stance on a particular subject, or the strength of the claims you are making. Different subjects prefer to do this in different ways. Language used in hedging: 1 Introductory verbs: e.g. seem, tend, look like, appear to be, think, believe, doubt, be sure, indicate, suggest 2.Certain lexical e.g, believe, assume, suggest verbs 3.Certain modal eg, will, must, would, may, might, could verbs: 4, Adverbs of e.g. often, sometimes, usually frequency 4, Modal adverbs _ e.g. certainly, definitely, clearly, probably, possibly, perhaps, conceivably, 5. Modal adjectives ¢.g. certain, definite, clear, probable, possible 6. Modal nouns eg. assumption, possibility, probability 7. That clauses e.g. It could be the case that e.g. It might be suggested that e.g, There is every hope that 8, To-clause + e.g. It may be possible to obtain adjective e.g, Itis important to develop e.g, It is useful to study EXAMPLES Compare the following: It may be said that the commitment to some of the social and economic concepts was less strong than it is now The commitment to some of the social and economic concepts was less strong than it is now. The lives they chose may seem overly ascetic and self-denying to most women today, The lives they chose seem overly ascetic and self-denying to most women today. ‘Weismann suggested that animals become old because, if they did not, there could be no successive replacement of individuals and hence no evolution. Weismann proved that animals become old because, if they did not, there could be no successive replacement of individuals and hence no evolution. Yet often it cannot have been the case that a recalcitrant trustee remained in possession of the property entrusted to him Yet a recalcitrant trustee did not remain in possession of the property entrusted to him. Recent work on the religious demography of Norther Ireland indicates a separating out of protestant and catholic, with the catholic population drifting westwards and vice versa. Recent work on the religious demography of Northern Ireland shows a separating out of protestant and catholic, with the catholic population drifting westwards and vice versa By analogy, it may be possible to walk from one point in hilly country to another by a path which is always level or uphill, and yet a straight line between the points would cross a 4valley. By analogy, one can walk from one point in hilly country to another by a path which is always level or uphill, and yet a straight line between the points would cross a valley. There are certainly cases where this would seem to have been the only possible method of transmission. There are cases where this would have been the only possible method of transmission. ‘Nowadays the urinary symptoms seem to be of a lesser order. Nowadays the urinary symptoms are of a lesser order. ‘Try the following exercise: Identify the hedging expressions in the fotlor ing sentences. There is no difficulty in explaining how a structure such as an eye or a feather contributes to survival and reproduction; the difficulty is in thinking of a series of steps by which it could have arisen For example, it is possible to see that in January this person weighed 60.8 kg for eight days, For example, it may be necessary for the spider to leave the branch on which it is standing, climb up the stem, and walk out along another branch. Escherichia coli , when found in conjunction with urethritis, often indicate infection higher in the uro-genital tract. There is experimental work to show that a week or ten days may not be long enough and a fortnight to three weeks is probably the best theoretical period Conceivably, different forms, changing at different rates and showing contrasting ‘combinations of characteristics, were present in different areas. ‘One possibility is that generalized latent inhibition is likely to be weaker than that produced by pre-exposure to the CS itself and thus is more likely to be susceptible to the effect of the long interval. For our present purpose, it is useful to distinguish two kinds of chemical reaction, according to whether the reaction releases energy or requires it Tt appears to establish three categories: the first contains wordings generally agreed to be acceptable, the second wordings which appear to have been at some time problematic but are now acceptable, and the third wordings which remain inadmissible.incondelvago.com/english_2.html The term hedges explained _http:/html Hedges (0 Hedges in semantics and discourse analysis. “If you hedge against something unpleasant or unwanted that might affect you, you do something which will protect you from it. If you hedge or hedge a problem or question you avoid answering the question or committing yourself to a particular action or decision.” (Collins Dictionary, 1987) (1 Hedges and semantics. The first approach to hedges comes from Semanties: G. Lakoft (1972) published his article Hedges: A Study in Meaning Criteria and the Logic of Fuzzy Concepts. He was not interested in the communicative value of the use of hedges but was concerned with the logical properties of words and phrases like rather, largely, in a manner of speaking, very, in their “ability to make things fuzzier or less fuzzy” 1] Hedges and discourse analysis The other approach comes from Discourse Analysis, and its value is, thus, a communicative one, affecting directly scientific discourse and its conventions of fentative language and politeness. These two conventions are a means of submitting new scientific advances to the recognition and acceptance of the scientific community without impositions, © Hedges and politeness From Politeness theory (Brow & Levinson, 1987), hedge was defined as “a particle, word or phrase that modifies the degree of membership of a predicate or a noun phrase in a set”. Examples are: perhaps, seem, might, to a certain extent, suggest, etc. or even whole utterances like “I suppose that Harry is coming. Won't you open the door?” Myers (1989) claims, thus, that hedges are used to mark a claim “as being provisional, pending acceptance in the literature, acceptance by a community”. Hedges: Myers and Halliday For Myers, an unhedged claim is “probably not a statement of new knowledge”. Hedges reflect a relation between the writer and the readers, rather than the degree of the probability of the statement. This last approach to hedges must be understood as belonging to the second macrostructure of language (Halliday, 1968) called “Interpersonal” from which derives a category “tenor” of register analysis (the other two being the “Ideational” one - field - and the “Textual” - mode ~ Hedges in academic disciplines. In academic disciplines, the use of hedges varies according to the field the writer represents. Fields like linguistics, philosophy, psychology, history, sociology, ete. termed as “Soft Sciences” would contain more hedging than the texts of so-called “Hard Sciences” - biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, geology, etc. - and technology, because of the different bases or argumentation in these fields, hard sciences being less subjective and, therefore, needing a lower number of hedging In general, the convincingness of an argument in all these academic disciplines depends on the use of linguistic devices that include hedges. 3(i Hedges in scientific discourse. There is a growing interest in the motivation for the use of hedges in scientific discourse, the study of which is relatively recent. Their use is connected with the fact that scientific discourse obeys the same mechanisms as ordinary everyday communication does. It proves that scientific texts are not only content-oriented and informative, but also aim at convincing and influencing their audience. In scientific writing, polifeness has been seen as the motivating factor for hedging. C Type of hedges. Hedges can be represented in scientific discourse by different linguistic devices: + Epistemie verbs: seem, think, suggest, estimate, etc, “Data suggest that this is an important loss mechanism”, “We suggest as an additional possibility...” + Modal verbs (epistemic value): can, could, may, might, should, ete. “Deposits of hydrogen may be presented” + Conditional forms: “The pressure of sunlight could contribute to lunar hydrogen” (Hedges and modalization. Also, hedges and the fuzziness or modalization they bring into discourse can affect either: + _ the truth-conditions of scientific propositions: “Data suggest an extreme diversity of shapes” or “The meteorite colour is sort of blue”. The degree of commitment of the speaker / writer to the truth-conditions’ “We think that the data show an exireme diversity of shapes” ot “I should say that the meteorite colour is blue”. itions for Translation, Translation is an area where cultural conventions concerning hedging cause problems. If the requirement is accepted that a good translation must not only preserve the meaning of the original text, but also produce in a reader an equivalent response to that produced by the original text, adjustments in hedging may be necessary. If the cultural norms have cause the writer of the original text to use a lot of hedging and the translator has not reduced their amount to suit the norms of the target culture, the result may be an irritatingly tentative, uncertain text. The opposite can, of course, also happen: the translated text may sound much too assertive to people used to more “hedgy” texts. This is a problem in the case of scientific texts and, no doubt, ‘more research is necessary, especially on cross-cultural differences, on the effects of hedges in readers, and on comparisons of hedging phenomena in texts of different academic fields, of different genres, and their treatment and role in translation.http:/www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?docid=152820 Recognising Grammatical Differences between American and British English by Kerry G. Maxwell and Lindsay Clandfield Lexical variations such as nappy vs. diaper and spelling variants like centre vs. center or colour vs. color are instantly recognisable as indicators of the language varieties of American and British English. More subtle are those few variations which, rather than being immediately obvious in vocabulary and spelling, are revealed in the different ways in which the two varieties choose grammatical forms. in this article we will explain some of these differences and explore what Implications there are for teaching. There are also some activities for teachers to use with their students on American and British English, as well as activities which explore varieties of language. Contents The ciforncos: Use of stsent tet ese an sl pst | Vath autesment lb elective nouns | Use of dle and fake | Use of aunliaies and modal | Use of prepositions | Past tense foams Inspleationsfertesching Actviios atitiss of Ena ‘Do-you spank Enalshes? (online sctvty) Comments tem veers 1. Use of present perfect tense and simple past tense ‘Speakers of American English generally use the present perfect tense (have/has + past participle) far less than speakers of British English. In spoken American English it is very common to use the simple past tense as an altemative in situations where the present perfect would usually have been used in British English. The two situations where this is especially ikely are: () In sentences which talk about an action in the past that has an effect in the present: American English British/American English Jenny feels ill. She ate too Jenny feels il. She's eaten too much. much. | can't find my keys. Did you | can't find my keys. Have you see them anywhere? ‘seen them anywhere? (id In sentences which contain the words already, just or yet: American English British/American English Ae Aca thes oa oaasioey A: Are they going to the show tonight? tonight? : B: No. They already saw it. BNET ie reer a ciao A; Is Samantha here? A; Is Samantha here? B: No, she just left. B: No, she's just left. AsA; Can | borrow your book? ‘A; Can | borrow your book? B: No, I didn't read it yet. B: No, | haven't read it yet. 2. Verb agreement with collective nouns In British English collective nouns, (ie. nouns referring to particular groups of people or things), (€.9. staff. government, class, team) can be followed by a singular or plural verb depending on ‘whether the group is thought of as one idea, or as many individuals , e.9.: My team is winning. The other team are all sitting down. in American English collective nouns are always followed by a singular verb, so an American would usually say: Which team is losing? whereas in British English both plural and singular forms of the verb are possible, as in: Which team is/are losing? 3. Use of delexical verbs have and take {In British English, the verb have frequently functions as what is technically referred to as a delexical verb, i.e. itis used in contexts where it has very litte meaning in itself but occurs with an object noun which describes an action, e.g I'd lke to have a bath, Have is frequently used in this way with nouns referring to common activities such as washing or resting, e.g: She's having a litle nap. 1iljust have a quick shower before we go out. In American English, the verb fake, rather than have, is used in these contexts, ¢.g, Joe's taking a shower. 1d like to take a bath Let's take a short vacation, ‘Why don't you take a rest now? 4. Use of auxiliaries and modals In British English, the auxiliary do is often used as a substitute for a verb when replying to a question, eg. ‘A: Are you coming with us? B: I might do, In American English, do is not used in this way, €.g.: ‘A: Are you coming with us? B: I might. In British English needn't is often used instead of don't need to, €.9. ‘They needn't come to school today. They don't need to come to schoo! today. In American English needn't is very unusual and the usual form is don't need to, i. They don’t need to come to schoo! today. In British English, shail is sometimes used as an alternative to will to talk about the future, e.g. | shalwill be there later. In American English, shail is unusual and will is normally used. In British English shall Ive is often used to ask for advice or an opinion, e.9.: Shall we ask him to come with us? xhttp://www uta fi/FAST/USI/REF/usgbintr.htm! American vs British English Basic Differences and Influences of Change (Introductory Outline for First Course Segment) FAST-US-1 Introduction to American English (Hopkins) Department of Translation Studies, University of Tampere Introduction ‘American English has grown steadily in international significance since World War II, parallel to the growth of U.S. political, economic, technological and cultural influence worldwide. ‘American English is currently the dominant influence on "world English” (cf. British English) largely due to the following: Population: U.S. vs U.K. (SAE/SBE ca 70% vs 17% of all native English; Dibul #68) Wealth of the U.S. economy vs. the U.K., & influences, Magnitude of higher education in America vs the U.K. Magnitude of the publishing industry in America Magnitude of global mass media and media technology influence ‘Appeal of American popular culture on language and habits International political and economic position of the U.S. (cf. Kennedy) NO@ReN= ‘American and British English are both variants of World English. As such, they are more similar than different, especially with "educated" or "scientific" English. Most divergence can be ascribed to differing national histories, demographics, and cultural development, and the ‘way in which national language has thus developed differently in parallel with the differing national needs. ‘The following general categories of difference between standard American English (SAE) and standard British English (SBE) each have their own sociolectic value: |. Different Pronunciation, Although Same Spelling — (Top) Advertisement (advert, ad) Controversy, Laboratory, Secretary Leisure, schedule, dynasty, dance Renaissance, oregano, migratory, clerk [bank, office], ate 'PC-influence examples: harass & harassment, Uranus, etc. Il. Different Spelling, Although Same Pronunciation ‘+ Colour — color, Centre — center ‘+ Cheque — check (noun form [bank]; verb "to check" the same) «Defence — defense (noun form), Licence (noun form) — license ‘+ Alright — allright; Manoeuvre — maneuver, tyre — tire + Ageing — aging; Whisky (Scotch) — whiskey (U.S. & Ireland) © Gaol — jail lll. Same Term, Different But Similar Spelling and Pronunciation Aluminium — aluminum Polythene — polyethylene ‘Maths — math (shortening of "mathematics") Rise — raise (more money in salary, wages) IV. Same Words, But Different or Additional Meanings © I married a homely girl. The opening of our new play was a bomb! 2+ We all had tea and biscuits. (ct. Harry Potter, ‘orumpets’ vs ‘English muffins’, etc.) + The com harvest was exceptional this year. (cf. US "maize" or "sweetcom"; GB "any cereal” or "whe oats’, etc. & links one and two) * We needed a torch for the dark trail. (cf. flashlight, or GB ‘electric torch, flaming torch) + IBM made over a billion dollars last year. (of. “thousand million”; ‘changing’ GB standards) ‘The committee tabled the motion (GB: put it on the table). Nigel and Trevor purchased 7-day Travelcard season tickets. Ralph needs to write an essay for his university course. GB ‘Trousers’ = US ‘Pants’; US ‘Pants’ = GB ‘underwear pants’ US ‘It was a tremendous storm; my pants got all wet’ would in GB refer to “underwear pants' rather than ‘outerwear pants’ [trousers] + GB ‘Jumper = US ‘Sweater; US ‘Jumper = GB Pinafore [dress]. ‘GB ‘I'm getting warm; | think I'll take off my jumper’ would refer in SAE to ‘taking off my dress’ instead of taking off my sweater’ V. Grammar, Syntax, Punctuation, General Usage — (Top) Punctuation ‘© Date writing, numberiword order (Never use only numbers!) ‘+ Use of commas and periods inside quotation marks © Business letter salutations, colons vs commas © ‘Honorifies': Mr. or Mrs. or Dr. Smith (U.S.) vs Mr or Mrs or Dr Smith (GB), etc. Grammar 5. (US) Finnair has a flight’ © to. London _—_today. (GB) Finnair have a flight to London today. (large collective nouns) 6. (U.S) England has (..) played well today, even if it lost. (G.B,) England have played well today, even if they los 7. (G.B) The Government are acting like themselves again. 8 (GB) Have you got your grade in history yet? (U.S, Have you gotten your grade in history yet? 9. (GB) He went on a course. How many were on the course? (U.S) He was in a course. How many were in the course? 10.(GB) We lived in the High Street. (cf ‘street people’ ...) (U.S) We lived on Main Street Con” plus article plus High/Main) 41.(GB) He's in_—_hospital_ with = a_—stDroken —_ leg. (U.S) He's in the hospital with a broken leg. 12. (G.B) | have got a car. vs. (U.S.) | have a car. | got a car. (different implications) 13.(GB) We werent able to_—_catch_—him up (U.S.) We weren't able to catch him, catch up with him, catch up [with him]. 14. One was different fromfthan the other. VI. Divergence and Overlap ‘+ To post vs to mail a letter — an art gallery vs an art museum ‘+ Autumn vs fall — tap vs faucet, luggage vs baggage, shop vs store, etc. Vil. Same Concept, Different Terms or Expressions; (or) ‘Same Word, Differences in Style, Connotation and Frequency ‘* Hire a car—rent a car (hire-purchase vs installment plan) «Petrol — gasoline; Saloon — sedan, Estate car — station wagon flXill. Yiddish and Ethnic Jewish Influence on SAE + Schlock, Goy, Schlemiel, schlep, chutzpa, nebbish, shtik '* He should live so long! | should have such luck! + He's complaining yet! This | need? All right already. + Fat-shmat, so long as she's happy. Smart, he's not XIV. Many Other Ethnic Influences, Constantly Changing . . . + "Gay" liberation movement (drag, closet, fairy, fruitcake, ‘to out’ — ‘he was outed’) + Organized crime, crime syndicate (vs "Mafia") ‘+ "Chicano" (vs ‘Latino’ or Hispanic’ culture vs "wetbacks,” etc... XV. Jargon; "Professional" influences, Media conveyance ... ‘Computer: fonts, multitasking, up/downloading, blogging, flaming, etc. Drugs: Cocaine (coke, leaf, snow, angel dust); crack, valise, kilos, brick, trips’ ‘Social Position: Yuppie, Buppie, Puppie, Dinks, Woots ... Business: Power breakfast, Valium picnic, warm fuzzies, Youthisms: dork, nerd, geek, dweeb; psyched, pumped, bart... Technology & Media in Culture: technocrat, technopeasant, techno-potato, tech- nomads; a virtual corporation, telecommuting, edutainment, terrestrial! TV (vs cable, satellite); [broadcasting to] ‘narrowcasting’, XVI. Regional Variation, Identity, Stereotyping Variation in Terminology * Soda vs Soda Pop vs Pop vs Coke vs ‘tonic’, etc. (see map from wow popvssoda.com) + ‘lee cream soda’ vs ‘milk shake’ vs 'shake' vs frappe vs cabinet + ‘Rubber band’ vs ‘gumband’ (Pittsburgh region), etc. ‘Terms for general, ‘anonymous’ or 'stereotyh I" persons “Uncle Sam" (U.S.) vs "John Bull” (U.K) John Doe, John Q. Public, Joe Citizen, Joe Senior Joe Blow, Joe Shmoe, Joe Six-Pack, "brother, "sister" “Souther” names: Billy Bob, Jimmy Joe, Bubba and Beauregard Varying implications (region, education, ethnic) of "non-grammatical” language (@) "He aint done nothin’ yet" (uneducated, rural?) (©) "He done et over at th’ Hatfields” (ill...) (© "You be late...the food be cold.” (Black English) ‘our-letter words”, Obscenities and Implied Obscenities © Damn, fart, piss, crap, turd, shit, fuck, cunt; vs GB bloody, bugger, bollocks, sod, ote. © His daughter was a thespian who matriculated at the state college. ‘She came to the party with a homo sapiens! +The dean said he was an extrovert. He masticated during the meal. 5* Boot — trunk (storage area); silencer — muffler (to reduce exhaust noise); other aulo terms Fortnight — two weeks; Goods train — freight train Barrister vs. solicitor — lawyer, attomney-at-law ‘Sweet (vs "sweets") — dessert; red whortleberries — lingonberties See also Lost in Transition for US/GB ‘changeability’ [Quite or Very?] and other examples VII “Inventiveness"; Spinoffs; Combinations; Allusions to Brand Names. Hamburger — cheeseburger, beefburger, fishburger, lobsterburger, Hotel, motel, floatel, boatel Hardware, software, firmware, shareware, freeware, vaporware; "treeware ... ‘Suburb, exurb, technoburb, cyburb — citizen, netizen Metrosexual, retrosexual, lbersexual, etc., vs jetrosexual’ ‘Smoke/fog = smog; "to liter"/Yo bug" = litterbug Cosmetics/pharmaceuticals = cosmeceuticals, pharmaceuticalsifarming = pharming; Sexploitation, cityscape, zeroscaping (xeriscapina: xeric plants) "Half and hall; “A sbcpack of PBR tallboys . ..” “Let's go and visit the Colonel... (Colonel Sanders & KFC vs military) (Roz, on Frasier): "Im going to climb into a hot tub with my good friends Ben and deny" IX. Euphemistic References — (Top) ‘Senior citizen, emeritus professor (cf. 'PC' language below) Security officer, hair stylist, household manager Powder room, ladies’ lounge: motion discomfort bag ‘A "pre-owned" car (of "used car” & "used-car salesman") “The loved one...” (of death and funeral references generally) "To deselect, dehire” employees; to “downsize, right-size" the company X. "Equality" Vocabulary Fireman — firefighter, Policeman — police officer Mailman —mail carrier, Salesman — sales person Manmade — artificial, synthetic, manufactured Maid — house cleaner. Stewardess — flight attendant Chairman — chairperson, Chair, presiding officer, xl. Politically Correct” Terminology (Jargon) ‘+ Seniors; ‘older’ adults (55 & older) vs. “elderty" or “old” people ‘+ "People of Color” vs “colored people” or "coloreds” or “blacks” ‘© “Canola” vs "rapeseed" oil ‘+ Animal companion vs "pet", Native American vs "Indian" ‘= 'Stay-at-home mom’ vs “housewife” (not ‘married to one's house’) ‘« International Wildlife Conservation Park (former Bronx Zoo — "zoo" connotations) Xil. "Black English" (specific terminology in cultural context) Everybody look down at they feet; | ain't afraid of nuthin’ + You ugly, man; | the baddest cat around; He be good. '* Boy, Nigger, Soul food, Honkie, rapping, gig, cool! 6In American English should is often used instead of shall, i.e.: ‘Should we ask him to come with us? 4. Use of prepositions In British English, at is used with many time expressions, e.g at Christmasifive ‘o' clock at the weekend In American English, on is always used when talking about the weekend, not at, e.g Will they stil be there on the weekend? She'll be coming home on weekends. In British English, at is often used when talking about universities or other institutions, e.9.: She studied chemistry at university In American English, ins often used, e.g. ‘She studied French in high school In British English, to and from are used with the adjective different, e.g This place is different fromito anything I've seen before. In American English from and than are used with different, e.g. This place Is different fromithan anything I've seen before. In Brtish English to is always used after the verb write, €.9.: | promised to write to her every day. In American English, fo can be omitted after write, i.c.: | promised to write her every day. 5. Past tense forms Below is a table showing verbs which have different simple past and past participle forms in American and British English. Note that the irregular past forms burnt, dreamt and spoilt are possible in American English, but less common than the forms ending in -ed, ‘simple past (Br) [simple past (Am) past participle (Br) oo lbumedibumt —_[bumed/burnt —_[bumed/burnt ___lbumed/bumt bust busted bust busted di ved Hdoveidived jived idived iream_ Mreamedidreamt |dreamedidreamt__|dreamed/dreamt __dreamed/dreamt et ot ot of often lean leanedieant leaned leanedfieant leaned leam leamedieami _leamed leamedieamt leamed lead leaded jeaded/pled leaded “pleadedipled rove roved raved rove! [provea/proven Isaw awed wed fsawn |sawn/sawed smell melledameh _fsmelled melledismel smelled spell pelledispeit___fspelled polled/speli___ spelled pill pilled’spit spilled pilled/spit ‘spilled pit pat patlspit kspat ‘spat/spit {spoil poiled/spoll _bpoiled/spoi poiled/spoilt _spoiled/spoilt ink stank istank/stunk. fstunk ‘stunk jwake ke jwoke/waked ken woken Note that have got is possible in American English, but is used with the meaning ‘have’, gotten is the usual past participle of get, e.9. 7American English British English You've got two brothers. You've got two brothers. ( you have two brothers) Youve gotten taller this ‘You've got taller this year year Implications for Teaching 4. The two major varieties of English ‘The two varieties of English most widely found in print and taught around the world are British and ‘American - itis therefore important for teachers to be aware of the major differences between the two. And while lexical differences are the easiest ones to notice, a knowledge of grammatical and phonological differences can be useful not only for teachers to be aware of, but also to be able to ‘deal with should they come up in class. 2. Which is better? ‘An important point to make is that different doesn't mean wrong. Comments such as "American English is inferior to British English", or “American English is better than British English’ have no solid basis other than the speaker's opinion. The truth is that no language or regional variety of language is inherently better or worse than another. They are just different. Students will often have very firm beliefs on which English they think is better/easier to understand/clearer etc. While it may be true for that particular individual, there is no evidence to suggest that one variety is easier to learn or understand than the other. 3. Materials and Varieties Ifyou are an American English speaker teaching with a British coursebook or vice versa, what do you say when the book is different from your English? The answer here is to point out the difference ‘The differences are not so numerous as to overload the students and often can be easily dealt with For example, if you are an American English speaker using a lesson that has just included “at the weekend’ it takes very litle time to point out that in American English people say “on the weekend”. Accept either from your students then. If you decide to go along with the book and say “at the weekend" yourself, you'll probably sound unnatural, and “on the weekend” might slip out anyway! 4, Exams and essay writing In most international exams, both varieties of English are accepted. However, while writing for an international exam (or writing in English generally) students should try to remain consistent. That means if they favour (or favor) American spelling and grammar, they should stick to that convention for the whole piece of writing, 5. What role do other varieties of English have in the classroom? AAithough British and American varieties are the most documented, there are of course many other varieties of English. Scotland, Ireland, South Asia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, West Africa, the Caribbean, South Africa all have their own regional variations of English. The decision whether or not to highlight aspects of these Englishes would depend on two factors: ‘+ ifthe students are going to live, or are already living, in one of these places - in which case the need to understand specific aspects of that English is clear, or ‘+ ifthe teacher is from one of those places and therefore speaks a regional variation of English. In this case it could be useful to occasionally point out differences between your English and that of your coursebook (see point 3 above about using your own variety). Activities Which is which? Activities in published EFL/ESL materials often present lists of words which students must olassify as either American or British. These will tend to focus on lexis and spelling. To take account of grammatical differences, and present a more comprehensive activity, teachers could compare larger pieces of text and decide where they came from. Look at this sample exercise: 8Scotiand Yard police are looking for a famous American bank robber called Dirty Dan. Dirty Dan robbed a bank in London last Friday night. They are interviewing three different people. All three have British accents, but the police know that Dirty Dan can imitate a British accent. Read parts of each of the transcript. Can you Identify Dirty Dan from the language he uses? Suspect 1: 1 already said this. I didn’t do anything special on the weekend. Friday night I took a shower in my apartment and then went out to see a movie. It was a movie I had already seen, Matrix Revolutions, I really like action movies. I went with my girlfriend Samantha. Suspect 2: I wasn’t in town at the weekend, and I certainly wasn’t anywhere near the bank on Friday night. I was at a hotel in Paris with a special friend of mine. Shall I give you the hotel phone number? You needn't bother asking me any more questions. You've got the wrong man. Suspect 3: I've already said this. On Friday night I went to see a film at the cinema. It was Matrix Revolutions. I don’t really like action films, but my friends really wanted to see it. It was rather boring. After that I went home and had a nice hot bath. I went to bed around midnight. Answer: Suspect 1 is Dirty Dan. The American words and expressions are: already said this (British ‘would use present perfect); on the weekend (British - at the weekend); took a shower (Bntish - had @ shower); movie (British - film). Varieties and standard ‘When looking at varieties of English, it might be useful to discuss different varieties of the students’ ‘own language. Here are some questions you could set for discussion which raise different issues about varieties and Standard language. ‘+ What is your native language? Where do people speak this language? What other countries use the same language that you do? ‘+ When the same language exists in more than one part of the world, there are often some differences between the two languages. These are called varieties of the language. Are there any varieties of your native language? ‘* What differences in language are there in your own country? For example, do people in the Capital city speak a different kind of language than people in the country? ‘* What do you think of the different varieties of your own language? + Isthere one standard variety of your own language? Is there one variety of your own language that people in your country dislike? + If |wanted to learn your native language, would it matter what variety | learn? Do you speak Englishes? Test your knowledge of English around the world with this online quiz about different kinds of English. Varieties of Enalish quiz Comments from users: Very helpfull Fully accords with my experience as an AmE speakeriteacher in Europe. Cone small AmE suggestion for Dity Den Suspect 1 festne:| already told you. (or A | already tod yout.) *Saic" seems less idiomatic to me here. 1 ide rea it yet” unusual in AME, but that may be from years of working with British speakers hitp://www.onestopenglish.com/english_grammar/british_american.htm : {also founRodica Albu, The spread of English—an overview * The colonisation of Ireland started in the second half of the twelfth century (1169), ‘© The 16th century Plantations of Ireland, run by English colonists, were a precursor to the colonies established on the North Atlantic seaboard. (several people involved in these projects also had a hand in the early colonisation of North America, particularly a group known as the "West Country men", which included Humphrey Gilbert, Walter Raleigh, Francis Drake, John Hawkins, Richard Grenville and Ralph Lane.) ‘* Cabot sailed in 1497, and though he successfully made landfall on the coast of ‘Newfoundland (mistakenly believing, like Christopher Columbus five years earlier, that he had reached Asia), there was no attempt to found a colony. Cabot led another voyage tothe Americas the following year but nothing was heard from his ships again «The first attempt at colonising Newfoundland took place in the sixteenth century (1583), ‘* Francis Drake was an English privateer who attacked many Spanish ships and forts in the Caribbean, including San Juan harbour in 1595. His most celebrated Caribbean exploit was the capture of the Spanish Silver Train at Nombre de Dios in March, 1573 © The first attempt at colonising Virginia - 1583 (repeated in 1587) © Jamestown, located on Jamestown Island in the Virginia Colony, was founded on May 14, 1607 (The name Virginia was first applied by Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth I in 1584) * December 31, 1600 - the Queen granted a Royal Charter to "George, Earl of Cumberland, and 215 Knights, Aldermen, and Burgesses" under the name, Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading with the East Indies. * 1615, Sir Thomas Roe was instructed by James I to visit the Mughal Emperor Nuruddin Salim Jahangir (1605 - 1627) to arrange for a commercial treaty which would give the Company exclusive rights to reside and build factories in Surat and other areas. In return, the Company offered to provide the Emperor with goods and rarities from the European market. This mission was highly successful © The first recorded Africans in British North America (including most of the future United States) arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 © The Caribbean initially provided England's most important and lucrative, colonies, but not before several attempts at colonisation failed. An attempt to establish a colony in Guiana in 1604 lasted only two years, and failed in its main objective to find gold deposits. Colonies in St Lucia (1605) and Grenada (1609) also rapidly folded, but settlements were successfully established in St. Kitts (1624), Barbados (1627) and Nevis (1628). British colonisation of Bermuda began in 1612. St. Kitts was used as a base for British colonisation of neighbouring Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Anguilla and Tortola; the latter used as a base for colonisation of the Windward Islands and the wider Caribbean area. * In 1670, King Charles I granted a charter to the Hudson's Bay Company, granting it a monopoly on the fur trade in what was then known as Rupert's Land, a vast stretch of territory that would later make up a large proportion of Canada. Forts and trading posts established by the Company were frequently the subject of attacks by the 10French, who had established their own fur trading colony in adjacent New France. © 1672~ The Royal African Company was inaugurated, receiving from King Charles a monopoly of the trade to supply slaves to the British colonies of the Caribbean. From the outset, slavery was the basis of the British Empire in the West Indies. Until the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, Britain was responsible for the transportation of 3.5 million African slaves to the Americas, a third of all slaves transported across the Atlantic, © 1788 — the foundation of the Australian penal colony of New South Wales (NSW) © The English language was established in New Zealand by colonists during the 19th century. © 1842 Great Britain obtained from China’s Emperor the control over the island called Honk Kong, in order to build a harbours for commercial ships. 1898 — Great Britain sign an agreement with China, which granted the Great Britain’s ownership of the island for 99 years, The German professor Herbert Pilch summarizes the overseas development of English in the following four-phase model: (1) Transportation to overseas coasts by explorers, traders, settlers, The English language establishes its dominant position. (2) Spread inland through conquest, prepared by geographical surveys, supported by railroad building; treks and goldrush; romantic legends (the American Dream, the Australian Legend) of frontiersmen (Davy Crockett, Paul Bunyan), slaughter of the aboriginal population (except in South Africa), (3) National Consciousness. Political independence of the Mother Country, democratic ideology; attempts to set up a “national language” different from (British) ‘English! (Noah Webster, Sidney J Baker), cult of regional slang (witness the reception of Salinger's novel Catcher in the Rye), ) International Prestige The overseas varieties of English influence usage in Europe instead of inversely, e.g., Australian English black tea “tea without milk”, American English square “old fashioned”. Technically, we say that the FOCAL AREA (ie. the area whence innovations spread) shifts overseas from London. NaeD dee. any R,Albu, Semantics and Pragmatics WORKSHEET 8, I, State for each pronoun in the following sentences whether itis free, bound, or either bound or free. Consider each sentence independently. Example: John found himself in love with her. himself--bound; her—free Example: John said that he loved her. he~bound or free; her-free 1. Lhope you'll join us tomorrow. 2. The fact that he considers her pretty pleases Maria. 3, Whenever I see you, I think of her. 4, John discovered that a picture of himself was hanging in the Post Office, and that fact bugged him, but it pleased her. 5, It seems that she and he will never stop arguing with them. 6. Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves. (On a sign in a cemetery.) 7. Louise said to herself in the mirror, 'T™m so ugly.’ IL. Circle any deictic expression in the following sentences. (All sentences do not include such expressions.) 1, We saw her standing there. 2, Dogs are animals. 3. Last week, all my troubles seemed so far away. 4, The name of this rock band is "The Beatles". 5. The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. 6. The Declaration of Independence was signed last year. 7. Copper conducts electricity. 8. The treasure chest is on the right. ‘9. These are the times that try men’s souls. 10.1 want this, and this, and this. (Q: How many objects does he want?) TI. The purpose of making assertions is to describe some state of affairs. However, would the main urpose of making the following assertions normally be simply to describe some existing state of affairs in the world? |. "There is @ wasp in your left ear." 2. "Someone has broken the space-bar on my typewriter.” 3. “This gun is loaded.” 4. "You are a fool.” 5.” love you.” Now, for each of the above sentences state one or two purposes that the speaker may have had in mind when uttering them, The first one is done for you: To wam the hearer of the damage of being stung or to shack him or both. All of these answers mention acts of one kind or another. Thus warning, shocking, complaining, apologizing, insulting, reassuring etc. are all acts. They are all things that we DO using the language. An important part of the meaning of utterances is what speakers DO by uttering them. Acts such as teasing, insulting etc. are aspects of utterance meaning and not of sentence meaning. ‘We can distinguish performative utterances (and sentences) from constative utterances (and sentences). = APERFORMATIVE utterance is one that actually describes the act that it performs, i.e. it performs ‘some act and simultaneously describes it. = ACONSTATIVE utterance is one which makes an assertion (ie., it is often the utterance of a declarative sentence) but is NOT performative. ‘Compare "I promise to repay you tomorrow." "John promised to repay me tomorrow." V. Performative verbs or not? apologize, authorize, condemn, sing, forgive, know, sentence, do. For the first person singular personal pronoun see