ENGLISH LANGUAGE SCRAPBOOK

A guide to a successful year 12 task

Getting Started!

You should have purchased a scrap-book for your unit of study for Year 12 English Language. You could

also purchase a plastic pocket book to

store information obtained from

newspapers or online which has anything to say about language (in Australia primarily, but elsewhere could be

relevant.)

Retain any information you may find about the following:

SWEARING

TABOO WORDS

RACIST OR SEXIST LANGUAGE

SLANG

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

POLITICAL USE OF LANGUAGE

Stylistic Features of written text

This means that the information may find could specifically discuss these topics. Or, a writer or speaker may be making use of

any of the above topics in a natural context or format. Date all sources and keep anything from Newspapers, Texts,

Film, TV, Radio, or the Internet. In some cases you may have to record information you have heard from direct speech - so, write it down, including source and date, and keep that in your scrapbook/display book. Keep this information safe as it will be useful for forming the basis of some of

your Unit 3 essay writing as well as analysis and annotation for your scrap-

book.

So what now...?

Do not neglect this aspect of the course as !!!!

You will be asked to

report on your finds in class

regularly. It will comprise

a percentage of your grade.

Newspapers

Provide a wonderful source of language in use (magazines also prove useful). Regular

columns, especially in The Age, The Age Green Guide – and Good Weekend - often

discuss language directly, providing plenty of material for discussion and analysis.

Texts Read, read and read. Choose from

the Supplementary Reading list suggestions AND any of the following which give good information about English Language:

• 1984 George Orwell• Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll• A Concise History of Australia Stuart

Macintyre• Fowler’s Modern English Usage• VCE English Language Exam Guide Kirsten

Fox

FILM!!

Presents a good opportunity to study

identity through a clash of Broad,

General and Cultivated accents, and

even ethnolects and Aboriginal

dialects. We will view segments of

film during class time; however, you

could view any of the following in

your own time:

The Castle

They’re a Weird MobFrontline (1990’s comedy program)

Summer Heights High We can be Heroes

Kath and KimThe Black Balloon

Television and Radioprovide excellent resources for analysis. Both domains are useful to study

the differences between planned/unplanned and spontaneous/scripted speech. Try to look at some of the following

 • Enough Rope (also website, especially Chopper Reed and Steve Irwin

interviews in the archive; see abc.net.au )• Reality TV, such as Idol, Survivor, Big Brother, The Bachelor, America’s

Next Top Model, Super Nanny - (useful to compile snippets)• Can we help? (Kate Burridge segment- ABC TV 6.30pm Fridays)• The Sounds of Aus• Anything on SBS featuring ethnolects (ethnically based accents) such as

Kick or Fat Pizza, Swift and Shift Couriers,• Bogan Pride• Listen to or download Lingua Franca from Radio National 621

(abc.net.au/rn). It is broadcast at 3.45pm on a Saturday. • Live football or sporting broadcasts with lively commentators, like Rex

Hunt

The Internet and Technical Communication

NOW this is your specific domain - your generation’s speciality, so to speak! In the area of e-language you could look at actual transcripts of email, msn and texting for analysis. You will have your own authentic examples here but you could also look at the following....

• You Tube for stand up comedians, e.g. Mitchell & Webb, Russel Peters,

• Official sites for different show clips, e.g. mister potty mouth himself, Gordon Ramsay

• Wikipedia – for obscure points of grammar in easy to find and digest form

NOW GET STARTED!!!