Analysis:
Question 1:
Out of the ten people that participated in my questionnaire, nine of them spoke with an Essex accent and one spoke with a Geordie accent.
Question 2:
Out of the ten people that participated in my questionnaire, there were two who were lower class, one who was working class, six who were upper middle class and one who was higher class. The one participant with a Geordie accent was one of the lower-class answerers, which is interesting as Northern areas are stereotypically lower class areas.
Question 3:
All ten participants answered that they thought Received Pronunciation was the most professional accent. This shows that, despite differences in accents and origins in participants, we have a clear idea as to what sounds professional. This is interesting as a lower-class Northerner may become defensive when contrasted against a higher-class member of society, especially one which is linked to being in and around London.
Question 4:
Six of the participants thought that a Scouse accent is least professional and the remaining four thought that a Geordie was least professional. It is interesting to find that both of the Northern accents were perceived to be less professional. This may be linked to the fact that London, which is a business city and is stereotyped to be full of men in suits and with a professional atmosphere, so Southern accents would be linked to this.
Question 5:
Nine out of the ten participants said that they watch BBC News shows, all of whom said they found them interesting and informative. The one person that said they didn't watch BBC News shows was the person who spoke with a Geordie accent. This may also be due to the North/South divide in the country, again where Northerners have negative perceptions of those in the South.
Question 6:
Six participants, including the participant with the Geordie accent,  said they do stereotype those who speak proper English as being posh or ‘stuck-up’. This may be due to the lack of people who speak Standard English and it is mainly owe in positions of authority such as politicians or royalty.
Question 7:
Two participants said they feel isolated or limited by their accent. The participant with a Geordie accent said that they felt that by living in Essex people were weary of them and their accent due to it being different. They also felt that their opportunities in the workplace were limited as a result of their accent, especially higher paid jobs in the city of London. This may be due to the fact that their accent is not what is expected and stereotypically is not intelligent.
Question 8:
All of the participants said that they do alter their lexical choice depending on their surroundings. The general ideal was that it was in order to make the lexis appropriate for the situation. For example, there is no need to use the technical words needed at a business meeting when having a conversation over the dinner table. This is completely normal and most people do so without realising or thinking about it.
Question 9:
Two participants answered below 6, the same two who said they felt isolated and limited by their accent. This is most likely a factor in them being uncomfortable with their accent, because they feel as though they are not being accepted as a result of their accent.
Question 10:
Two of the ten participants said they would change their accent in order to feel more comfortable and make themselves more appealing to employees. Again, this was the same two participants who felt isolated and limited by their accent. The remaining eight participants would not change their accent, mainly because they felt it made them who they are.

Conversation Analysis:

Dad:       I cant believe we didnt win (.) we was the better team
Brother:  the other team were rubbish/
Dad:                                                 /so were we though
Brother: I dont want to go anymore (3)
Dad:     well Ive paid for your ticket now
Brother: dont care

'Dad' clearly has authority in the situation as he is the only one to break the 'turn-taking' rule. It is clear that the two speakers are close because there is an informal register, words such as 'dont' and 'didnt' are not proper English. The ellipsis shows that the tone is fairly dull and boring, as is supported by lexical choices such as 'rubbish'. The overt purpose is showing that the two speakers are looking to discuss some kind of match or competition.

Dialect - The different ways in which a language is spoken (differences are in lexis, grammar and phonology). Sometimes different words may be used in place of the dictionary-correct version. For example, Northern people may say 'mam' or 'ma' instead of 'mum' or 'mother'.

Accent - only to do with sound differences. How phonemes sound different, depending on geographic. For example, Northern accents may cause the word 'my' to sound like 'me'.

Conversation

I believe that person A is someone who has authority, such as a policeman, whilst person B is someone with information such as an eyewitness. The authority figure uses interrogative sentences in order to get the information which they need. This gives the person a sense of authority as speaker B feels the need to answer both questions, showing that person A has authority over person B.

The audience gets the feeling that person B is shocked or nervous. The constant use of hiatus and fillers show how the speaker is struggling to get their words out, or are thinking about what they are saying so as not to do anything wrong. This adds to the assumption that person A has authority, as person B does not want to give any wrong information, presumably because there would be harsh consequences. As well as this, the use of euphemisms such as 'he must have had it', implying the victim died, supports that speaker B is shocked, as they do not want to be as blunt as to say that the person is dead.

Speaker B uses taboo/slang words such as 'bloody' to emphasise the seriousness of the incident, as well has the shock they are in from witnessing the incident. This shows how the incident is obviously serious, and so supports the idea that speaker A is a police officer as this is the sort of situation that they would be involved in.

Speaker B has a lot more speech within the transcript, however speaker A has the authority. This is juxtaposed to the conventions of speech and turn-taking, as someone who speaks more is often presented as domineering and in charge of the situation. However, some may think that speaker B is in charge of the situation since they are the one with the vital information.

Bishops Waltham Action Group Leaflet

The primary audience of this text would be residents of Bishops Waltham, as it is their opinion which will be listened to when deciding whether the Sainsbury's should be built. The way this leaflet is written as a letter shows a formal address of the person, for example the letter starts, 'Dear Resident', which will make the reader feel as though the letter/leaflet is aimed just at them. It's purpose, to persuade the residents to vote against the construction of the superstore, is clear from the very first paragraph; the letter is stating why the letter is being written. This immediately makes the reader aware of the situation, and they will play closer attention to the letter, as they want to know why they should vote against it. The letter sustains a high register, as to sound important and professional; if the letter was written using a low register, it would not sound very impressive, therefore a high register will make the reader take the letter seriously.

In the top left of the page, is the logo for Bishops Waltham Action Group. A logo makes the page look well thought out, professional and respectable. Also, the human eye is trained to read from the top left corner of a page, so this is likely to be the first thing that the reader will see, making it more rememberable. This is important because the group will want the reader to contact them or be involved in their cause, and the audience must know their name to do so.

The writer uses a lot of words in the same semantic field as war, to make the problem seem as bad as, if not worse, than war. For example, the use of 'juggernaut' implies that the corporation is big, powerful and impossible to take down. Also, the word 'destroy' is used, saying that a new Sainsbury's will 'destroy' the town. This is obviously exaggerated, but in persuasive texts emotive language is used to make the reader worried about the consequences if they do not follow what the writer wants them to do, in this case they do not want to be held responsible for allowing the store to destroy their town.

This is a leaflet which is written in the style of a letter, and uses features of both. The features of a leaflet used are persuasive text, images and logos. These are used in order to gain the attention of the reader and to get them on board with the cause. An example of persuasive language is in paragraph four, where the text is all about the negative impact the superstore will have on the area. The features of a letter used are the start, where it says 'Dear Resident' as well as where the recipient can reply to. This makes the organisation easy to contact, which is important for an action group as people need to know this if they are to be involved.

This piece uses a lot of modal verbs which are fairly certain. For example, 'the superstore will destroy the vitality or viability of Bishops Waltham'. This implies that there is no doubt that this will definitely happen. This is obviously a bad thing, and the reader cannot assume that anything else will happen, so they do not want to risk this outcome.

English Grammar (Part 2):

Active and Passive Voice

•Active Voice: The boy kicked the ball. (The focus is on the boy, he is the subject and he is doing the kicking).

•Passive Voice: The ball was kicked by the boy. (The ball is the subject, less focus on the boy, more about the ball).

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•Newspapers often use active voice to make a story seem more controversial. For example:

•The police arrested the suspect…

Rather than

•The suspect was arrested by the police.

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•The first sentence is more emotive as people will react to the fact the police have arrested someone.

Sentences and Clauses

•In the same way words form to make phrases, phrases form to make clauses. They are groups of words centred around a verb.

The boy ran up the hill    -    Subject Verb Object

Co-Ordinated Clause – when two clauses are joined together with a conjuction. Both clauses must make sense on their own.

I played football but I got injured.

I went to the shop because I ran out of milk.

I opened my window because I was hot.

Subordinate Clause – there will be a main clause which makes sense alone, and a clause that only makes sense when with the main clause.

Although I went into town, I didn’t meet my friends.

I played football, even though it was cold.

As tired as I was, I did my homework.

English Grammar (Part 1):

Nouns:

•Concrete – name of something, a physical object (chair, table, wall)

•Abstract – the name of an idea/concept (love, courage, pride)

•Collective – the name for a group (murder of crows, herd of cattle)

•Common – a noun that follows the word ‘the’ (box, wall, door)

•Proper – A name, starts with capital letter (Shenfield, Bible, Saturday)

Noun Phrases are used to modify a noun, They are common in newspapers.

Original: A plane crash                             Noun Phrase: The most horrific plane             .                                                                                                                                                                  crash  ever

Nouns can be used to:

•Create lexical cohesion

•Help paint a picture and describe a scene

•Create an emotional response from the reader

Adjectives:

•An adjective is a word or phrase that modifies or describes nouns and pronouns. They can be evaluative, emotive or descriptive.

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•The painter took off his overalls and ate a meal.

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•The weary painter took off his blue, green and white overalls and ate a day-old Chinese meal because he felt ravenous.

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•Adjectives can be comparative (comparing one thing to another, e.g better, happier) or superlative (emphasising something about that thing, e.g best, happiest). The word ‘than’ always comes after a comparative adjective, and the word ‘the’ always comes before a superlative adjective.

Verbs:

                                 / Main Verb (action)

Base Form (infinitive) 

                                 \ Auxiliary Verb ---- Primary auxiliary 

                                                          \ Modal Auxiliary

•Verb phrases are built around a head word (main verb). A modal auxiliary can be placed along a continuum to degress of strength towards commitment. E.g:

•Most Committed: Spurs must beat Man City

•Less Committed: Spurs should beat Man City

•Least Committed: Spurs might beat Man City

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•Primary Auxiliaries help to distinguish tense (was/is/will be).

•Past: He was good at football.

•Present: He is good at football.

•Future: He will be good at football.