British conversation rules
An ethnographic approach to
teaching English
Simon Parker
Sharing One Language
Cheers!
TOP 20 WAYS TO SAY THANK YOU:
1. Cheers
2. Ta
3. That's great
4. Cool
5. OK
6. Brilliant
7. Lovely
8. Nice one
9. Much appreciated
10. You star
11. All right
12. Fab
13. Awesome
14. Wicked
15. Merci
16. Danke
17. Gracias
18. Super
19. Ace
20. Thank you
Source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howa
boutthat/7959915/Britons-abandon-thank-you-infavour-of-cheers.html
Ethnographer?
participating ...in
people’s daily lives
asking questions
listening to what
is said
watching
collecting whatever data is available
M. Hammersley & P. Atkinson
A rule: a fact or the statement of a
fact, which holds generally; the normal
state of things
• Watching the English:
The Hidden Rules of
English Behaviour
• Kate Fox
• Publisher: Nicholas
Brealey Publishing
(April 2, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 18 578 850 82
“The Ultimate Gap Fill”
A:
“_____ _____ _____ _____ you?”
B:
“_____ _____ _____ _____ please”
A:
“_____ _____ _____ _____”
B:
“_____”
what cheers two can that'll I packets be
£1.10 of get crisps please
Answer
A:
B:
A:
B:
What can I get you?
Two packets of crisps, please
That'll be £1.10, please
Cheers
Weather speak
Context rule: simple
greeting OR ice breaker
(the weather is only an
excuse to talk!)
Reciprocity
rule: response
ALWAYS
required from B
Agreement
rule: positive
‘social
response’
required from
B – you agree
even if you
really
disagree!
Form: question,
question tag or
interrogative intonation.
Weather hierarchy
rule: “but at least it’s
not......” sunny and
warm  rainy and
cold
A. Oh, it’s cold today, isn’t
it?
B. Yes, but at least it’s not
raining again
Weather - as - family rule:
foreigners can not make negative
comparisons (“What? You call this
cold? I come from Knezha and....”)
But you can make positive one – if
you say you prefer the weather in
the UK.
Female bonding
Counter
compliment
rule:
compliment +
self-critical
remark
Response: self
depreciating
denial +counter
complement
2nd Response:
more self
depreciating
denial +counter
complements
• A: Your hair looks great. Mine’s so
boring and mousey
• B: Oh no, it’s terrible! It gets so fizzy – I
wish I could have it short like you
but I just don’t have the bone
structure; you’ve got such good
cheekbones
• A: No way, they’re far too high. I look
like Donald Duck especially with my
neck. Your neck is so elegant.
Extra ‘social points’ for witty,
amusing self depreciating remarks
Use in class:
(1) show the students this dialogue (2) get them
to identify the rules/pattern (3) discuss what it
‘might’ tell you about English people (4) get the
students to write their dialogues in pairs which
follow this pattern .
Male Bonding
The ‘Mine’s Better
Than Yours Game
Start: boast or attack
on other person’s
‘theirs’ . Topic is
immaterial.
Response: statement
is challenged (even if
they agree with it)
• A: I see your company chose your car
again. Not even someone with your
bad taste would buy a Kia
• B: Sod off – it least it won’t spend half its
time in the garage like yours. I bet your
mechanic’s bought himself a new
house with the amount you spent
fixing that German pile of rubbish
• A: He’s been tuning it, you idiot. It’s
something you do with performance
cars – who the hell would tune a
bloody Kia?
The ‘no earnestness’ rule: seriousness or
zeal are both unmanly and un-British
Use in class:
Same as female bonding but you will problem
need to change some of the words for students
in any class lower than XI.
Social Class Rules
The 7 deadly class sins
pardon
sofa
serviette
pudding
sweet
loo
dinner
afters
settee
tea
couch
toilet
lavatory
living room
sorry
supper
lounge
dessert
napkin
sitting room
(1) Find the 7 groups of synonyms (up to 4 words in each group)
(2) Decide which word(s) are (a) upper + upper middle class (b)
middle middle to working class words
Red = middle middle to
working class, blue =
upper middle to upper
class
1. Pardon, sorry
2. Settee, sofa, couch (US)
3. Living room, lounge, sitting room (not in ex. drawing room
(mainly upper class)
4. Sweat, pudding, afters, dessert (American – sort of
acceptable!)
5. Tea, dinner, supper
6. Toilet, Lavatory
7. Serviette, Napkin,
Use in class?
(1) Discuss class in Bulgaria– is there are class
structure here? What are the classes?
(2) Ask if the different classes/groups they have
identified speak differently? Do they use
different words?
(3) Do the exercise
(4) Wider discussion – is it right to judge people
based on their class? Can language/accents
be a barrier to a good job in Bulgaria?
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Thanks for listening!
Simon Parker
simonparker@albiontraining.com
www.sol.org.uk