Spoken language Study: The Language of TV Sports

Commentators.

Starter

Spoken Language: About the Controlled assessment...

•10% of language total•Up to about 1,000 words•Up to 4 lessons/3 hours writing•You should have some of your own data... •Topic (for ALL Yr 10 classes) is based on TV sports commentators

Working title:By what means and how well do TV sports commentators use language

and delivery to inform and entertain their target audiences?

Remember – sports commentaries are largelyLIVE

SPONTANEOUSUNSCRIPTED

Although elements may be prepared, this is NOT planned speech...

By what means and how well do TV sports commentators use

language and delivery to inform and entertain their target

audiences?

Rhetorical devices to describe/involve/

entertain

Prosodic Features of Spontaneous Speech (things

you hear, delivery)

Non-fluency features of

spontaneous speech

What was the prime

purpose?

Who is/are the target

audience(s)?

Use terms

Discuss effect achieved and

evaluate impact

Paralinguistic Features (what you

see)

You can talk about a commentator’s use of…

Rhetorical devices to describe/involve/

entertain

Repetition

Inclusive phrases and

pronouns

Rule of three

Emotive lexis

Non-fluency features of

spontaneous speech(Noises)

Mispronunciations

Incomplete utterances

Varied utterance

length

Prosodic Features of Spontaneous Speech

(things you hear, delivery)

Pauses

Imagery

Ellipsis

Stress, emphasis

Pitch

Tone

Pace

Volume

Crescendos

Rhythm

Ambiguities

Repairs

Repetition

Remember to discuss the effect produced.

Jargon specific to sport

Compressed language

“Bloopers”

Hesitations

The mark scheme

You are marked out of 20 in 5 bands (you need around 57% of marks to achieve a grade C)

• Band 1 – ‘Limited’ comments (F/E)

• Band 2 – ‘Some’ relevant comments(E/D)

• Band 3 – ‘Clear, consistent’ expression of ideas (D/C/B)

• Band 4 – ‘Confident, assured’ presentation of ideas(B/A)

• Band 5 – ‘Sophisticated, impressive’ presentation of thoughtful ideas (A/A*)

Each band has three bullet points that rank how well you can:

• explain radio sports commentators’ use of spoken language and how this usage has been adapted to specific purposes, depending on the sport, its context and its audiences

• understand and explore features in spoken language data (i.e. the transcripts and sound clips)

• show awareness and explore public attitudes to this genre of spoken language.

You are being assessed on how well you can:

• Understand variations in spoken language, explaining why language changes according to the context

• Evaluate the impact of a commentator’s spoken language choices – on their original listeners, and on you now.

How the bands “feel” -

• Band 1 – ‘Limited’ comments = D/E• Band 2 – ‘Some’ relevant comments = C/D• Band 3 – ‘Clear, consistent’ expression of ideas = B/C• Band 4 – ‘Confident, assured’ presentation of ideas = A/B• Band 5 – ‘Sophisticated, impressive’ presentation of thoughtful ideas = A/A*

The start of an essay which might get just a C grade – can you see why?

To improve:

1. PLAN - to organise ideas. This is rather “random” and lacks purpose.

2.USE QUOTES – this is too vague in places, too descriptive – it needs specific examples, quotes of the utterances and features, so the student has something to analyse for effect on listeners, using terms., rather than just saying “this is good”.

3. THINK MORE/MORE DEEPLY – consider less obvious and alternative interpretations for what happens

An extract from an essay which has A/A* characteristics – see the difference?The student is using terms, quoting and is analysing the utterances, lexis and devices for effect. They have an eye on the purpose and audience.

TRANSCRIPT REFERRED TO IN THIS ESSAY(speech is interspersed with sounds of crowd cheering, applause, conversations, tannoy announcements) Commentator: Florence Griffith Joyner wasn’t just the track world’s fastest woman (.) she was also its flashiest (1.0) her racing attire included eye catching boy hugging gold lame tops and black bikini briefs (1.0) Flo Jo had speed and style to burn (.) and she saved her most fiery performance for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul (.) Korea...

The commentary

•Language used•The prosodics used in delivery (pace, pitch, intonation, volume, pauses and hesitations) •Degree of formality used/created – the tone, how “friendly” the commentator is

The features/style of the sport

The personality of the commentator(s)

The context

Typical features of the genre

Listener expectations

To inform

To meet expectations of

more knowledgeable

listeners

To entertain

To convey and share an (often)

emotional experience

with the listeners

The commentary•Language used•The prosodics used in delivery (pace, pitch, intonation, volume, pauses and hesitations) •Degree of formality used/created – the tone, how “friendly” the commentator is•Any paralinguistic features contributing to the effect of the delivery, if the commentator is on camera.

To inform

To meet expectations of

more knowledgeable

listeners

To entertain

To convey and share an (often)

emotional experience

with the listeners

Evaluate effect achieved

•What was the main aim of the commentary? Why? Was it achieved?•Who was the target audience? Do you feel their needs and expectations were met? •What did the commentator’s language choices and delivery add to the action? If they are held in high regard, can you now see why? How far are the prosodic (and

paralinguistic) devices spontaneous, how far are

they used consciously?

By what means and how well do TV sports commentators use language

and delivery to inform and entertain their target audiences?

You should focus on and explore one aspect which interests you, to get the depth... E.g.

•Change over time/to meet new audience expectations•Differences between commentaries on various sports and why they differ – our expectations•The skill of commentators – what are the challenges of their task and how/how well do they overcome them? •What makes for a really good piece of sports commentary?

Choose an “angle”. You then need to select 2, 3 or 4 transcripts to go with your own. Remember it is DEPTH That matters – it’s PQEE, working out what is influencing the spoken language and what effect is achieved on the audience.

Middle paragraphs

Talk about your freshly ANNOTATED

transcripts

You should listen to your own again once (at

home if necessary) and any of our shared ones you’ve chosen. What

aspects of each will you discuss, using terms and PQEE-ing? Make notes on your planning sheet

in class.

Introduction

Say which aspect of this huge area you are

focusing on and why you are interested.

Include facts, statistics, results of your mini-

surveys...

By what means and how well do sports commentators use language and delivery to inform and entertain their target audiences?

Conclusion

Answer your question! What have you learnt

whilst studying this topic? Did you learn

anything surprising/especially

interesting? What were your thoughts on TV

sports commentary at the start – have they

changed?

Your transcript

1st chosen transcript – similarities/ differences to yours? Why?

2nd chosen transcript – similarities/ differences to yours?

Why?

3rd/4th chosen transcript – similarities/ differences to yours?

Why?

The first edition of The Radio Times 28 September 1923

It wasn't until 2 November 1936, with the start of the first 405-line high-definition service, that The

Radio Times became the world's first television listings magazine.

Two pages a week sufficed at first!Radio or TV?What some TV viewers do...

Audience profilesEffect of well-known presenters...

How it began

Captain Henry Blythe Thornhill Wakelam - January 1927

First football commentary – on radio. Part of an interview, where a commentator compares then and now.

Accents at the BBC

Received Pronunciation

Just not cricket (parody)

Welcome to the Stadium of Delight

How it began...

Why do styles of commentating change?

"Goalgasm"!

The story of Women at the BBC...

Gabby Logan TV documentary

Athletics- an example of sexism in sport (let alone in sports commentary) – a prepared speech on 100m world-record holder Florence Griffith Joyner (“Flo Jo”) at the Seoul Olympics, 1988 (sorry, no clip of this extract, but there are clips of the race mentioned on Youtube where the camera focuses on her amazing nails and she’s called a “girl”... Are the men ever called “boys”?)

(comments interspersed with sounds of cheering, applause, conversations, tannoy announcements) Voice over: florence griffith joyner wasn’t just the track world’s fastest woman (.) she was also its flashiest (1.0) her racing attire included eye catching boy hugging gold lame tops and black bikini briefs (1.0) flo jo had speed and style to burn (.) and she saved her most fiery performance for the 1988 olympic games in seoul (.) korea...

Article on sexism in sport in Britain

Andy Gray and Richard Keays on Sky TV although, see how they are successful once again... Effect of well-known presenters...

Attitudes and values: women in sport – a reflection of society?

By what means and how well do TV sports commentators use language

and delivery to inform and entertain their target audiences?

Remember – sports commentaries are LIVE

SPONTANEOUSUNSCRIPTED

Although elements may be prepared, this is NOT planned speech...