Studying spoken language

On the Eduqas course, AS learners will have the option of analysing a spoken text as one of the two unseen texts in Component 1 Section A.

At A Level, they will be required to compare and contrast three spoken texts in Component 3 Section A. At least one of these texts will be a transcript.

The most important principle is to ensure that learners have access to many different types of spoken language, including speeches, commentaries, voiceovers, interviews etc.

The following resources are intended as starting points for the study of spoken language, with a particular focus on transcript conventions and on analysing similarities and differences between written and spoken language.

A good introduction is to create transcriptions from narrative prose dialogue. Even though they are not actually required to make transcriptions as part of the assessment, it is still a useful exercise as it enables learners to explore the key similarities and differences between written language and spoken language. Remember that they are already very familiar with the analysis of written language, but the analysis of spoken language will be new to most of them. Therefore, it seems sensible to use their existing knowledge of written language as a starting point for the study of spoken language.

The following tasks are adapted from the WJEC CPD material for AS English Language.

Key to prosodic markers:

Underlining indicates a stressed syllable(.) micro pause(2) timed pause in seconds/ rising intonation\ falling intonation// overlapping= latch-on

TASK 1

Read Texts 1 and 2 below. Identify the techniques used to create a sense of how the spoken words are delivered. Then answer the following question.

Analyse and compare the ways in which each text uses linguistic techniques to recreate an informal conversation.

You will need to think about: •the difference between dialogue and spontaneous conversation•the lexical and grammatical choices•the way the speech is recorded and the effect it has•the meaning communicated by the prosodic features.

TEXT 1 “I don’t know why you’re so horrible to me … you just don’t seem to understand.” Jane was getting upset and her tone was rising. Her words were emphatic. “You don’t help … You’re never there when I need you. I just want you to …” There was a silence—a painful silence as the two faced each other. Then they both began to speak at once. “That’s not fair!” “You have to change!” Silence again. This time Stephen began, hesitantly but with a clear sense that he wanted to explain. “I … know it … it seems as if I don’t care. But that’s not true I ...” “Really? Well it certainly seems that way to me.” Jane was indignant now. Her words were tumbling out, the tone strident and the pitch creeping up again. “You never— “Just listen can’t you,” Stephen’s insistence was difficult to ignore. He had a powerful voice.

TEXT 2 J I don’t know why you’re so horrible to me (3) you just don’t seem to understand(.) you

don’t help(6) you’re never there when I needyou (.) I just want you to (8) /S // that’s not fair

J // you have to change (5) \S I I I know it it s. seems as if I don’t care (.) but (.) but that’s not true // I

J // well it certainly seems that way to me you never=

S = just listen can’t you

TASK 2

Read the following narrative extract and re-write it as a transcript using appropriate prosodic markings.

"Isn’t this annoying?" Hannah cried. "And the weather’s just right for exploring! I hate delays. What can we do? The summer will be over and we’ll have done nothing." "You could come to ours," replied Mark. "Come and eat the strawberries. They’re ripe now." Mark’s proposal was received with delight; and the excitement of her "Oooh! I’d like that more than anything" was followed by repeated promises that she would most definitely come. "You can depend on me," she cried. "I will definitely be there. Just name the day." "I can’t name a day," he said, " not till I’ve spoken to some other people." "Oh! leave all that to me. It can be my party. I’ll organise it—don’t be afraid of delegating to me. Leave it all to me. I’ll invite the guests." "No," he calmly replied " I— "Aah! Don’t be a spoil sport!" she exclaimed. "You never let me do stuff," whining now. "There’s no point you stressing yourself,” he said, low key, but assertive. “You know what happens when—” Hannah looked sulky. “Suit yourself.” She paused, but then couldn’t resist carrying on breathlessly. “We could pick the strawberries ourselves and sit under trees—and eat whatever else you’re going to provide. But it’s all got to be outdoors—a table in the shade, you know. Everything natural and simple. Does that sound good?" "No way. My idea of simple and natural is to eat indoors. When you’re tired of eating strawberries in the garden, you can come in for the rest!" Mark was clearly going to be inflexible. "Well—I—ooh ooh can I choose the dec—?” “Nope!” Hannah had pushed her luck; Mark had now lost interest.

A useful approach for teaching transcription conventions is to give learners an unannotated transcript of a short clip and ask them to add prosodic markers such as pauses and intonation. Pairs/groups can then compare their findings and discuss any differences.

Transcribed version without prosodic markers:

Criminal penguins – extract from Frozen Planet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlbxRBfGAr0

Over the coming months the few parts of Antarctica that are ice free will be

the stage on which five million Adelies will build their nests to construct one

they need pebbles and without a good looking nest a male will be unable to

attract a female when they at last arrive an impressive property demonstrates

your worth as a mate it takes stones of all shapes and sizes to build a decent

nest and finding ones that are just right is not easy so some penguins turn to a

life of crime the one who has been robbed seems unaware that the thief is just

over his shoulder and looking for more the thief’s nest is coming along nicely

uh probably because he keeps a particularly sharp lookout for robbers after

all it takes one to know one

First part of the transcript with some prosodic markers added:

/

Over the coming months (.) the few parts of Antarctica that are ice free will be

the stage on which five million Adelies will build their nests

When they have completed this exercise they can then move on to analyse the impact of the stresses, pauses and intonation, (e.g. Attenborough stresses the first syllable of millions to suggest incredulity at the numbers involved), in addition to looking at the speaker’s lexical and grammatical choices and other techniques (e.g. the noun ‘stage’ suggesting that the penguins are entertainers and we are the audience/further examples of anthropomorphism in the text; the inclusion of the specialised proper noun ‘Adelies’ in the context of the nature documentary genre etc.)

As an extension, show a similar clip but this time with the sound turned off – e.g.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSm7BcQHWXk

Learners can then write a script for a voiceover using the genre conventions they have explored. They could also record themselves speaking it aloud, using prosodic features such as stress, pauses and intonation. Then show them the actual script and invite them to compare it with their versions.

The actual transcript is below (again, without prosodic markers):

This is the sleepy island of St Kitts in the Caribbean three hundred years ago

vervet monkeys were brought here from west Africa along with slaves serving

the rum industry escaped monkeys acquired a taste for alcohol by eating

fermented sugar cane left in the fields today they satisfy their thirst by raiding

local bars they have learnt to be sneaky picking the right moment is everything

for years the monkeys have been studied for insights into our own drinking

habits just as we vary in our taste for alcohol so do the monkeys some do

anything for an alcoholic cocktail but just as some people are teetotal so are

some monkeys these reject alcohol in favour of soft drink significantly the

percentage of teetotal monkeys matches the non-drinkers in the human

population in line with human habits most drink in moderation twelve per cent

are steady drinkers and five per cent drink to the last drop this similarity

between us shows that a liking for alcohol is determined mainly by our genes

after each daily raid other human parallels soon appear but unlike us monkeys

that are heavy drinkers make better leaders respected by other monkeys they

seem to tolerate leaders that monkey around like monkeys our taste for

alcohol began when we scoured the forest for ripe fermenting fruit food and

alcohol became linked with intoxicating effect

Another interesting ‘way in’ to the study of spoken language is to use ‘word clouds’ to measure the frequency of specific words. This can be particularly interesting for political speeches. This word cloud shows Donald Trump’s acceptance speech for the Republican Party nomination, with the size of each word indicating its frequency.

This is the word cloud for Barack Obama’s acceptance speech for the Democratic Party nomination in 2008, which makes an interesting comparison:

(www.wordclouds.com)

Learners can speculate about the possible reasons behind the similarities and differences, and there are also opportunities to link the word-level analysis to contextual factors.Learners could be asked to use some of the words in the word clouds to suggest some possible sentences in the actual speeches, and then compare their ideas to the originals.

When learners start to analyse political speeches, these prompts could be used to encourage detailed engagement with the text:

REGISTER: what is the mode? Spoken? Written? Written to be read/spoken? Spontaneous spoken answers?What is the manner (relationship between participants) – formal or informal? Same or different ideology? Supporters or opposers?

LEXIS: Are there any examples of subject specific vocab? General? Typical of certain ideological stance?Any abstract nouns reflecting beliefs or political policy?How are participants named? Titles? Forenames? Surnames? Focus on the role? Or individual? Anything significant about connotations of words? Are verbs dynamic or stative? Are adjectives particularly evaluative?

GRAMMAR (PRONOUNS):How are pronouns used? Do they create distance? Opposition? (they/those) Do they dehumanise the reference, make it seem faceless/threatening (it)? Create a very formal tone - high social class? Or create sense of authority (one)? Do pronouns bring speaker and audience together, giving an individual tone and suggesting a sincere attitude (by repeating I), particularly with mental process verbs (think, feel believe)? Establish a rapport with audience (by using I)? Link issues and policies to particular person (by using his, hers, theirs)? Draw the audience in (by using you)? Do the pronouns show that speaker is accepting responsibility for something (I), sharing responsibility (we) or rejecting it (they).

GRAMMAR (SENTENCE STRUCTURE): Is the sentence structure varied? Simple sentences making direct and emphatic statements? Compound sentences balancing arguments? Complex sentences exploring abstract concepts, or building tension grammatically or semantically?

GRAMMAR (VOICE): Are there any examples of passive voice? – refocusing audience’s attention on certain elements? Concealing the person’s responsible for an action by omitting by + agent?

METAPHORICAL / RHETORICAL LANGUAGE:Any metaphors? Establishing a direct link between abstract theories and concrete examples? Helping the listener to understand? Extended metaphors emphasising a particular message? What image is created and how does this fit into the ideology of the speaker and strengthen his/her argument?What is the focus or theme of key sentences? Reordering of sentences to bring key elements to the attention of the audience?Clusters of three? Hyperbole Litotes? Anecdotes? Emotive language? Evaluative adjectives? Parallelism? How is the speech structured? Binary oppositions? Anything else?

Online sources for spoken language

News websites, e.g.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/video/

BBC Radio 4 – recently broadcast programmes:http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4

Clips from recent editions of Radio 4’s Today programme:http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj9z/clips

Archive clips – TV interviews:http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2011-08-16/video-the-greatest-broadcast-interviews-of-all-time

Collection of transcribed historical speeches – some also in audio format:http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/previous.htm

An archive of British political speeches:http://www.britishpoliticalspeech.org/

Useful books

Speeches That Changed the World (Quercus, 2014) – includes CD with clips of speeches

Sam Leith: You Talkin’ To Me? Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama (Profile Books, 2012)

David Crystal, The Gift of the Gab: How Eloquence Works (Yale University Press, 2016)

Sara Thorne, Mastering Advanced English Language (Palgrave, 2008)