EL1102 Studying English in Context
This page contains the texts and notes for
the first part Lecture No. 1 of this module. Please note that these probably
won’t make a lot of sense if you haven’t attended the lecture. This also
applies to most of the notes in this Web site, and I make no apologies for
that, because these notes cannot be a substitute to lecture attendance.
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Text 1
S1: Customer
S2: Assistant
S1: (a) Can I post this second class please?
S2: (b) You may. Put him over the bar, just there,
look, where my finger is
S1: (c) There [laughs]
S2: (d) They’re still tingling, thank you – second
class is thirty-six
S1: (e) Right – I need erm to get a TV licence for
my Mum, can you do it month by month or do you have to *pay for it all at once
or?*
S2: (f) *Er – well at the* moment we’ve got no
forms for you to do it month by month but er if you write to TV, Bristol [S1:
yeah] just TV Bristol, TV Licences Bristol, I think they’ll send you a form
monthly
S1: (g) Right
S2: (h) They’re doing it, they used to do it in
book form years ago [S1: yes] and I think they’re starting it again
S1: (i) Right
S2: (j) So you, you know
S1: (k) Cos she’s probably not going to be in her
own home for a year so we just want to do it for a month *at a time to see how
she goes*
S2: (l) *That’s right, that’s* right, or if she ever
leaves she can always change the address at a post office where she goes to
Notes
(b) S2’s You
may is a rather formal and polite reply to the customer’s can.
(d) tingling
here refers to the needle on the weighing scale (this is obviously not an electronic
scale). The needle has not stopped moving but the customer tries to remove the
letter. The assistant wants the letter to stay on the scales until it is clear
what the exact weight/price is.
(h) in book
form: Formerly, it was possible to buy a booklet into which you stuck
saving stamps (usually month by month or week by week) which could be used to
pay for your annual TV licence when totalled up
[Carter
& McCarthy 1997: 92–93]
Text 2
S: all public caning because the teacher caught us
gambling you know so all public caning some more [= what’s more] I
prefect you know kena [= caused to] lost badge all everything gone nah
koyak [= destroyed] so kena er public caning some more I gabra [=
lost, unfocused] boy some more public is like . principal office no
sweat you know but public is like they call your parents round
[Uppal 1984]
Text 3
Auld Lang Syne
1
Should auld
acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And auld lang syne?
Chorus:
And for auld lang syne, my jo’,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
2
And surely, ye’ll
be your pint stowp!
And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
3
We twa hae run
about the braes
And pu’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot
Sin’ auld lang syne.
4
We two hae paidled
i’ the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.
5
And here’s a hand,
my trusty fiere,
And gie’s a hand o’ thine;
And we’ll tak’ a right gude-willy waught,
For auld lang syne.
If
you want to listen to the melody, click here. (Click on the ‘back’ button
on your browser when you’ve had enough)
Notes:
Title:
auld = old; lang
= long; syne = since, ago
Chorus:
jo’ = sweetheart
Verse
2: ye’ll be your pint stowp! =
you will pay for your own pint (of beer)
Verse
3: twa hae run = two have run; braes =
hillsides; pu’d = pulled; gowans = wild daisies; mony =
many
Verse
4: paidl’d = paddled, waded; burn =
brook; frae = from; dine = dinner time; braid = broad
Verse
5: fiere
= chum; give’s = give us (ie give me); gude-willy waught =
good-will drink
Text 4
Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,
‘Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
Waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?’
Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong:
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee.
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker-bag,
‘You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.
Waltzing Matilda,
Waltzing Matilda,
You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.’
If you want to
listen to the melody, click here. (Click on the ‘back’ button on your
browser when you’ve had enough)
Notes from the OED (Oxford English Dictionary)
On-line
billabong:
Austral. A branch or effluent of a river, forming a blind channel,
backwater, or stagnant pool.
billy:
Austral. and N.Z. A cylindrical container, usu. of tin or enamel ware,
with a close-fitting lid and a wire handle, used for making tea and for cooking
over fires in the open, and for carrying food or liquid.
coolibah:
Austral. Any of several Australian gum-trees, esp. Eucalyptus
microtheca.
jumbuck:
Austral. and N.Z. A name given by Australian and New Zealand aborigines
to sheep; in frequent colloquial use among stock-keepers in the Bush.
swagman:
Austral. and N.Z., a man who travels with a ‘swag’ (which is Austral.
and N.Z. for the bundle of personal belongings carried by a traveller in
the bush, a tramp, or a miner)
tucker-bag:
a bag for tucker (ie the daily supply of food of a gold-digger or
station-hand; rations, meals; also, food generally, victuals)
Text 5
|
1 |
Ring a ring o’ roses, |
OR |
Ring around the rosie, |
|
2 |
The cows are in the meadow |
|
|
Text 6
Have a break. Have a
KitKat.
(Click
on icon to get to the Kit Kat Park in Japan!)
Text 7
I THINK THEREFORE IBM.
Text 8
I THINK MORE CAREFULLY
THEREFORE I AMSTRAD.
Text 9
Tour guide fee war
THE national bodies representing tour guides and
travel agents are locked in a dispute over an increase in fees for guides.
The main sticking point is rates for half-day
tours, which last 3½ to four hours, the most common tours offered here.
The Registered Tourist Guides Association of
Singapore has raised its rates by $20 to $70 for English and local language
guides.
For foreign language guides, who can speak Thai,
Indonesian and European languages, it also increased rates, by $15 per hour to
$100.
These changes took effect in January. It also said
that the fees, which had not been raised since 1983, would be upped by 10 per
cent a year.
However, the National Association of Travel Agents,
Singapore (Natas) has recommended rates of $55 for a half-day tour for English
and local language guides and $90 for foreign language guides starting next
month, among other guidelines.
Tour guides who agree to its rates would be given
‘top priority’ for assignments by its members.
[Straits
Times, 13/3/97]
Text 10
The gene encoding an acid extracellular protease
(AXP) from Yarrowia lipolytica (Candida olea) 148 was cloned, expressed in
Escherichia coli DH5, and characterized. The complete DNA sequence of the acid
protease gene was determined. The protein sequence deduced from the DNA
sequence showed that the mature AXP consisted of 353 amino acids with a mol.wt.
of 37,427. The gene also encoded a putative 17 amino acid hydrophobic
prepeptide and a 27 amino acid propeptide containing no potential
N-glycosylation sites. The mature extracellular enzyme was produced by cleavage
between Phe and Ala. AXP is a member of the aspartyl protease family. AXP shows
homology to proteases of several fungal genera and to human progastricin. The
coding sequence is preceded by a potential regulatory region of 1,982 bp.
Transcription of both AXP and alkaline extracellular protease genes of Y.
lipolytica 148 is regulated by culture medium pH. The acid protease is useful
in the brewing industry as a chill-proofing agent.
[Derwent Biotechnology Abstracts]
Text 11
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy
Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us
this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them
that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from
evil: For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever.
Amen.
Text 12
Sr
Your fellow servant upon the news you sent her is
goeing to Looke out her Captain. In Earnest now shee is goeing to sea, but ‘tis
to Guarnesey to her freinds there. her going is soe sudden that I have not time
to say much to you, but that I Longe to heare what you have done, & that I
shall hate my selfe as Longe as I live if I cause any disorder between your
father and you, but if my name can doe you any service, I shall not scruple to
trust you with that, since I make none to trust you with my heart. she will
dirrect you how you may sende to mee, and for god sake though this bee a short
Letter let not yours bee soe, tis very late & I am able to hold open my
Eyes noe longer, good night. if I were not sure to meet you againe by and by, I
would not Leave you soe soone.
Your
[Dorothy Osborne’s letter to William Temple, 17 March 1653]
Text
13 
1 Whan that aprill with his shoures soote
When April with his showers sweet
with fruit
2 The droghte of march hath
perced to the roote,
The drought of March has pierced
unto the root
3 And bathed every veyne in
swich licour
And bathed each vein with liquor
that has power
4 Of which vertu engendred is
the flour;
To generate therein and sire the
flower;
5 Whan zephirus eek with his
sweete breeth
When Zephyr also has, with his
sweet breath,
6 Inspired hath in every holt
and heeth
Quickened again, in every holt and
heath,
7 Tendre croppes, and the yonge
sonne
The tender shoots and buds, and the
young sun
8 Hath in the ram his halve
cours yronne,
Into the Ram one half his course
has run,
9 And smale foweles maken
melodye,
And many little birds make
melody
10 That slepen al the nyght
with open ye
That sleep
through all the night with open eye
11 (so priketh hem nature in
hir corages);
(So Nature pricks
them on to ramp and rage);
12 Thanne longen folk to goon
on pilgrimages …
Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage ...
This is of course the opening of Geoffrey Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales (The Prologue). If you haven’t read Chaucer before,
you’ll probably notice the divergent spellings immediately. The pronunciation
of Chaucerian English is also different from ours; Dr
Bonnie Duncan’s website and the Brigham Young University site
contain an audio file of this. (Remember this takes you out of the EL1102 site,
and the audio files might take a little while to download. Use your browser’s
<BACK> button to return here.)
Text 14
Our conclusion must be that there is variation
in English (and, indeed, other languages). This is the focus of this module: variation,
rather than uniformity or homogeneity. A variety of labels are
used to refer to this phenomenon of variation, including genre, variety,
accent, dialect and register. I will use the general term variety
since this is the word that is cognate with (= related to) variation.
(For the record, genre and register have to do with different social
occasions for communication; dialect is to do with structures and
vocabulary associated with various groups of people; and accent is to do
with the pronunciations associated with various groups of people.)
We will not be judgemental in our approach. In
linguistic circles, this is known as the prescriptive approach (rather
than the descriptive approach). The prescriptive approach is not helpful
from our point of view because it fore-closes discussion, and discussion is
what we are interested in.
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913), the Swiss
linguist made a central distinction between two different kinds of endeavours
related to the investigation on language (linguistics). He used the
analogy of a tree trunk. (Some people find the analogy useful, others don’t. If
it doesn’t work for you, you can consign it to the dustbin!)
You
can make a horizontal cut or a horizontal cut; you can study language at a
single point in time, or you can trace the development of language over time.
The former he called synchronic linguistics and the latter diachronic
linguistics. From this it follows that one aspect of variation is the historical
one.
We have also seen how speakers from different
locations might also produce different varieties of the language. This is geographical
or regional variation.
Sometimes, variation is related to more social
issues. Some people think that men and women speak differently. In certain
countries, you might be able to recognise a person’s social class (upper class
[eg aristocrats], middle class [eg professionals like lawyers and
teachers], working class [eg manual labourers like brick-layers]) from
the way they talk. In addition to that, individuals might also vary their style
of talk depending on various social factors (level of formality, who is being
addressed, the occasion, etc.), and we expect most people to be able to make a
switch from one style to another. We will use the umbrella term social
variation to refer to this.
Some people think they can recognise individual
styles. Literary critics might talk about Shakespeare’s style, for example. If
a new work is found, they might analyse it, and if it doesn’t conform to his
style, they might say that it is unlikely to be written by him. You might do
the same thing when you receive a mysterious unsigned letter, and you try to
look at the way the language is used (including the handwriting or the font if
printed), as well as the kind of paper used, the postmark, etc. to see if you
recognise the style. This is individual variation. This is sometimes
also called a person’s idiolect. This aspect of variation will not be
focused on in this module.