Michael Pearce

Informalization in UK party election broadcasts 1966-97:

This article uses a novel, quantitatively based method to assess the extent to which UK party election broadcasts in the 31 years between 1966 and 1997 became more ‘informal’. Using the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, I identify 28 linguistic ‘markers’ which are salient in the assessment of formality, and count their frequencies in the 37,000-word corpus. My quantitative findings reveal a general increase in informalization over time, which corresponds with judgements made in critical discourse analysis (CDA). But I also discover an anomaly in the broadcasts from 1987, which I explain with reference to the influence of the Conservative party leader, Margaret Thatcher.

The Routledge Dictionary of English Language Studies

preface abbreviations, transcription conventions and symbols consonant phonemes of English other consonant symbols in this book vowels definitions bibliography

Exploring a Perceptual Dialect Boundary in North East England

This article reports on a qualitative study of people‟s perceptions of dialect differences and similarities in part of North East England. Its main objective is to add to an understanding of the influence of geographical, social and cultural factors on the placing of subjective dialect boundaries. It does this in the context of a widely remarked upon inter-city rivalry within the region.

The Ethnonym Geordie in North East England

Abstract What are the origins and history of the ethnonym Geordie in North East England? How does this history — which according to some authorities has never adequately been explained — help us to understand its current usage and meanings? I attempt to answer these questions by drawing on evidence from a range of sources (including newly available material in the British Newspaper Archive).

Folk accounts of dialect differences in Tyne and Wear

Abstract This article explores folk-perceptions of dialect differences within Tyne and Wear, North East England. It presents a qualitative analysis of responses to an online survey in which participants offered their descriptions of linguistic variation. These richly detailed comments are used in the composition of a nuanced picture of lay perceptions of linguistic variation in the region.

Book Review: The Language of Conversation, The Language of Speech and Writing, The Language of ICT

These are three recent additions to the Intertexts series from Routledge, which is edited by Adrian Beard, Ron Carter and Angela Goddard. The target audience of the series is ALevel English Language, Literature and Media Studies students, together with beginning undergraduates in English and related disciplines. The series consists of a core reader (Working with Texts: A Core Book for Language Analysis ) and over a dozen ‘satellite’ volumes, which are designed to complement the reader. As well as the three titles under consideration here, there are Intertexts on language and gender, the language of sport, politics, advertising, magazines, poetry, newspapers, humour, drama and fiction. All the satellite texts share a common format. Each ‘unit’ begins by clearly setting out its aims. The main bodies of the units are divided into sub-sections in which concepts are introduced in an accessible fashion and supported by activities, many of which provide language data for students to get to grips with. Some of the activities are accompanied by commentaries which, while not exhausting the possibilities for analysis, provide a framework for the students’ further study of similar texts. Some of the activities take the form of ‘textual interventions’. These re-writing and transformation exercises are a particularly useful resource for A-Level teachers, given that students are required to produce a portfolio of ‘original writing’ as part of their coursework. Each unit also contains ‘extension’ exercises, which are often in the form of small-scale research projects. Once again, these will prove to be a valuable source of ideas for A-Level students and undergraduates looking for topics for their language investigations. Each title concludes with a useful glossary and suggestions for further reading. BOOK REVIEWS 267