LING1001 Language for humans and non-humans
Tutorial Prep, Week 2
Your language use
Purpose: Reflect on your own language use, and what the standard
variety of English is. Review concepts from class.
This tutorial is about how you use language. We’ll also be talking about what
the “standardised” version of English is.
➜ For your prep, write your answers to the bolded questions:
1.
How does the way you use language tell others about who you are?
You could think about:
•
•
•
languages in your background (any degree of fluency)
•
•
•
•
words, phrases, or in-jokes that you use with friends
2.
Daniel once had a chat with Dr Sasha Wilmoth about a headline that was
a bit hard to process. It was:
language you’ve learned (again, any degree of fluency)
how you choose which language to use in a situation, or which variety of
English you choose
words or phrases that you use online, which maybe other people wouldn’t
words or phrases that are unique to your family
words or phrases or language quirks that are unique to you
“Potatoes are better than human blood for making space concrete
bricks, scientists say.”
Watch or read the Because Language interview with Sasha Wilmoth.
Video here: https://youtu.be/lRZONC3FJ_E
Do you notice any terms from this chat that have come up in lectures?
Can you define them? And why was this sentence so hard to process?
What to do
•
Write answers to the bolded questions. You can do this on a computer or with an
actual piece of paper. No need to take a long time — about an hour is good.
•
Then upload it to LMS by noon on the Wednesday before your tutorial. PDF is good,
but just about any format is okay, even a photo you take with your phone.
•
Bring a copy with you to your tutorial, so you can talk about it.