HBES 2103 SOCIOLINGUISTICS

ASSESSMENT
MAY 2024 SEMESTER

NOTES ON COURSE ASSESSMENT

This assignment carries a 60% course weightage. The rest of the 40% will derive from the
final examination.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. Use Times New Roman or Arial, 12-point font, with 1.5-line spacing in A4 format.

2. The cover sheet of your assignment must contain the following information: Course code
and name / Semester / Your full name and student number / Your email address and
mobile number.

3. Ensure that the assignment you submit is paginated.

4. Present your responses to the tasks in a single portfolio file (PDF or Word format).

5. Late submission without prior permission may results in a deduction of marks.

6. Any assignment detected to have been plagiarised will be marked down, failed outright,
and/or referred to the University’s disciplinary committee for further action. To learn more
about avoiding plagiarism, consult such sites as https://style.mla.org/plagiarism-and
academic-dishonesty/

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COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES & SUMMARY OF TASKS
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

The tasks set herein are designed to help you meet the following course learning
outcomes (CLOs):

CLO1: Explain the key terms and concepts related to the study of language and society
[C4, PLO1] 60%

CLO2: Analyse the relationships between language and society [C4, PLO2] 30% CLO3:

Demonstrate capacity to take responsibility and accept accountability [A3, PLO8] 10%

Note that the above CLOs supersede earlier versions listed elsewhere.

SUMMARY OF TASKS

Task 1 [CLO1]: Defining Language and Gender [20 marks]

Task 2 [CLO2]: Language and Register in Everyday Life [30 marks]

Task 3 [CLO3]: Reflection - Taking Responsibility and Accepting Accountability [10 marks]

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TASK 1 [CLO1]
DEFINING LANGUAGE AND GENDER
[20 MARKS]
In your textbook, An Introduction to Language and Society, you will find that there are many
competing theories of language, including theories of language and gender.

For example, on the topic of questions, we have seen studies from Brouwer et al. (1979) and
Fishman (1983) that show women asking more questions than men when buying tickets at
Central Station in Amsterdam and when engaged in a heterosexual couple’s discussion
respectively.

In terms of tag questions, Dubois and Crouch (1975) found that men used more tag
questions than women in conferences, while Holmes (1984) found that there was a similar
number of tag questions asked by the men and women in her sample. From here we get
numerous studies and perspectives on the issue of gendered language.

This is to say that while the references in your textbook are extensive, they are not
exhaustive. It is always good to look at new points of views, in different forms of media.
Perhaps you will find new information that would contribute and challenge your
understanding, thus broadening your understanding of the subject.

With this in mind, watch the video entitled “Language and Gender” produced by the Oldfield
English Department (2020). The video is available on YouTube at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL7hMHCuJz0

After watching the video, answer the following questions.

Your answers must be taken from the video, and not from other sources.

1. Lakoff’s ideas of gendered speech styles (12 marks)

a. What is a “genderlect”?
b. What are “hedges”? Give an example from the video.
c. What is a “tag question”? Give an example from the video.
d. Besides “hedges” and “tag questions”, what are other trends of female
speech given in the video? Give any one example.
e. One trend of male speech is the use of “covert prestige”. How does the
video explain this term?

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f. Besides “covert prestige”, what are the other trends of male speech
given in the video? Give any one example.
2. On other approaches (3 marks)
a. The Oldfield English Department posits that the “Difference Approach”
counters some of Lakoff’s ideas. What were the two main points given
by the video of this approach?
 b. What does Jennifer Coates (1989) mean when she says that “all female
talk is co-operative”? Quote from the video.
3. Reflecting on Gender and Language (5 marks)
a. In order to test Lakoff's ideas about male and female spoken language,
the Oldfield English Department asks its students to watch a video. What
show does it ask its viewers to watch?
b. Does the speaker from the Oldfield English Department believe that
Lakoff’s ideas still hold true? What are the three reasons given from the
video for this belief?

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TASK 2 [CLO2]
LANGUAGE AND REGISTER IN EVERYDAY LIFE
[30 MARKS]
The way we speak changes depending on our audience. Four terms that are useful when
talking about the contexts in which we speak are: register, field, tenor, and mode.

To summarize the points from your textbook (pp. 123 - 131):

Register (also known as stylistic variation) is the context of a situation that requires a
person to adjust their speech;

Field is the action within a situation, or what a text is about;

Tenor is related to ideas of politeness, degrees of formality, and the relative statuses
of participants; and

Mode is the manner or medium in which the text is presented – usually through
writing or speech.

Based on these definitions, study the three forms of media given below.

Once you have understood the messages of each piece of media, answer the following
questions:

1) What is the register of all three pieces of media? Answer in one short sentence.

2) What is the field, tenor, and mode of each piece of media? For each piece of media,
provide three sentences.

You can refer to the sample below to help you develop your answers.

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Sample Media
Sample Answer:

With words such as “Kohls”, “Shop now”, and “collection”, the field of this Reel is
a shopping excursion in a shopping mall.

The tenor of this piece of media is inclusive and open, suggesting a friendly
relationship between the company and consumers.

Finally, the mode is a mix of writing and speaking - though the spoken aspect is
more scripted speech as this is an official company Instagram account.

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Media 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bks2zGnssMY
(Transcript) “Don’t let me go … no, don’t let me go … don’t you ever let me
go” (Text) Lots of storage for lots of photos. Relax, it’s iPhone 15.
Media 2
(Text) We fuel you! Kawan-kawan, we know you must be tired after the long queues
last night. Keep your spirits up! If you’re gonna be fueling the heat, at least let it be
from our Extra Hot sauce. Drop by Nando’s for some PERI-PERI flame-grilled
chicken, and get a complimentary Bottomless Coke*.

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 Media 3
(Text) One child is holding something that’s been banned in America to protect
them. Guess which one.
We won’t sell Kinder chocolate eggs in the interests of child safety. Why not
assault weapons? momsdemandaction.org

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TASK 3 [CLO3]
REFLECTION - TAKING RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCEPTING
ACCOUNTABILITY [10 MARKS]

In Task 3, you will engage with your inner feelings and attitudes towards a hypothetical
situation in order to demonstrate your ability to take responsibility and accept accountability.

When describing your inner feelings and attitudes here, you want to engage with your
emotions - are you delighted, upset, embarrassed? Would you be indignant, indifferent, or
responsive to a particular situation?

Taking responsibility, on the other hand, is about creating action that solves a problem.
How would you make a situation better?
And finally, in terms of accepting accountability, you should reflect on how you would come
to terms with the possibility of error, misunderstandings, or general negative behaviours.
What can you do or say to show that you understand when you have been in the wrong?

For example, imagine you had made your friend upset because you had forgotten his or
her birthday. You would take responsibility by first apologizing to your friend and
suggesting that you treat them to a special dinner. Then, to show that you have
accepted accountability of your actions, you might tell your friend that you understand
that it’s inconsiderate to forget a friend’s birthday and as a show of intending to correct
future errors, you put their birthday on your calendar.

Taking all these aspects into consideration, answer the following question:

If you failed to submit work by a given deadline, how would you take responsibility and
accept accountability? Why?
Write a response in 100 words.

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ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

TASK 1

All answers must be taken from the video.

All examples MUST BE THE SAME as the ones given in the video.

Award full marks only if answers match the text in the video.

For example:

On genderlect - if the answer is exactly as printed in the slides on the video, award 2 marks.

If it isn’t as printed on the slide in the video, but is similar in meaning, award 0.5 marks. If it
is completely different from the video, no marks are given.

TASK 2

Award 3 marks for correct identification of register

And award maximum of 3 marks each for correct identification of field, tenor, and mode of
each piece of media.

For example:

Media 1 - Correct identification of field (3 marks), Correct identification of tenor (3 marks),

Correct identification of mode (3 marks)

TASK 3
Rating / Criteria 1 Total
/ Weightage Marks

Task Response

[Max. 10] [Max. 10]

Excellent [9-10] [10]

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Fully addresses all parts
of the task

Presents a fully developed

response to the task with
relevant, fully extended
and well supported ideas

Good [7-8] [8]

Addresses all parts of

the task well

Presents a well-
developed response to
the task with relevant,
extended and
supported ideas
 Satisfactory [5-6] [6]

Addresses most parts of

the task.

Response development
is not always clear and
there may be no
conclusions
drawn

Presents some main ideas

but these are limited and
not sufficiently developed;
there may be irrelevant
details

Insufficient [3-4] [4]

Responds to the task only

in a minimal way or the
answer is tangential; the
format may be
inappropriate

Presents a position but this

is unclear

Presents some main

ideas but these are
difficult to
identify and may be
repetitive, irrelevant or
not well supported

Unsatisfactory [0-2] [2]

Does not adequately

address any part of the task

Does not express a

clear position

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Presents few ideas,
which are largely
undeveloped or Irrelevant

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