Transcript 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYmtjYxhitg

Prescriptivism & Descriptivism

Prescriptivism:

Linguistic Prescriptivism includes judgements on what language is socially and politically correct.Its aims may be to establish a standard language, to teach what a particular society perceives is correct language, or to advise on effective communication.

Descriptivism:

Is the way language is analysed and describing how language is spoken. Descriptivism is the belief that description is more significant and important to teach.

List of Prescriptivist' s and Descriptivist's :
Geoffrey Pullum- Professor of general linguistics
Victor Mair - Professor of Chinese language and literature
Mark Liberman- American Linguist

Geoffrey Pullum
Is a british-american linguist who specialises in the study of English. He is the Professor of general linguistics at Edinburgh University and he is also the co author of the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language.

works:

Gazdar, Gerald; Klein, Ewan; Pullum, Geoffrey K.; and Sag, Ivan A. (1985). Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar. Basil Blackwell, Oxford.

Pullum, Geoffrey K. (1991). The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax and Other Irreverent Essays on the Study of Language, University of Chicago Press.

Pullum, Geoffrey K. and Ladusaw, William A. (1996). Phonetic Symbol Guide, University of Chicago Press.

Huddleston, Rodney D. and Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, Cambridge University Press.

Huddleston, Rodney D. and Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2005). A Student's Introduction to English Grammar, Cambridge University Press.

Liberman, Mark and Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2006). Far from the Madding Gerund and Other Dispatches from the Language Log, William, James & Company

BBC Accents research and Poll results

 

 

 

Aim

In their investigation, they researched what accents the general public prefer listening to spoken by a well known celebrity, 5,010 people answered the survey with a ratio of 49 male: 51 female. 97% of the whole sample said that English was their first language.

 

 

Findings

Sean Connery's Edinburgh tone, was recognised as the most pleasant accent within the United Kingdom by the BBCs commissioned poll. Pierce Brosnan, was also high up the rankings, who was born in the republic of Ireland, and was raised in England and America. However, even more successful with the public was Sir Trevor McDonald who was originally born in Trinidad, was found to have a very authoritative voice which identified him to listeners easily.

Respondents also note that they prefer accents local to them, as they can understand local dialect and language. Scots said they loved Ewan McGregor's Perthshire accent, whereas the English found Hugh Grant's accent more attractive for a male; and the welsh preferred listening to the welsh actor Richard Burton.

 

Analysis

I think the results found are very biased as to where the respondents may live, as the results show they prefer listening to people who live local to them. This could be because they find it easier to relate to their chosen language, dialect and lexical variation.

 

Conclusion

To conclude this research, I believe that results on who is said to have the most interesting and likeable accent depend on who answered the survey. Their answers rely on where they are from in the United Kingdom, which affects what accents they prefer.