ENGLISH LANGUAGE 2014/15 Resit Essay Titles
YEAR 1
Module
Approaches to Meaning
Code
Q1029
Resit Mode
POF 3000 words
Consisting of 3 x 1,000
word essays on a set
topic
Essay Title
Candidates must write three 1,000 word essays on the following topics:
Essay 1: The polysemy and homonymy of mash
Discuss and demonstrate the range of senses the word mash has. Does one sense
stand out as the word’s ‘core’ or ‘basic’ sense? How are the different meanings of
mash related to each other? How would they be situated on a continuum of
homonymy/polysemy? How can you tell that these are separate meanings, and not
just vagueness?
For further instructions and suggestions for sources, refer to the Adopt-a-Word
document provided for the module (see topic P1).
Essay 2: Mash and parts of speech
Discuss the notion of ‘part-of-speech’ (aka ‘grammatical category’) with reference to
the word mash. What part(s) of speech is the word mash, and how can you tell?
Demonstrate different criteria for determining part-of-speech. If your word can be
several parts of speech, discuss to what extent the differences in part-of-speech are
determined by their meanings (or vice versa, perhaps). (Note that you need only take
into account the major parts-of-speech for content words, i.e., noun, verb, adjective,
not things like determiner, preposition etc.).
For further instructions and suggestions for sources, refer to the Adopt-a-Word
document provided for the module (see topic M2).
Essay 3: Mash and synonymy
Explore the issue of synonymy by comparing mash to up to three synonyms found in
a thesaurus (or in a synonym entry in a dictionary). To what extent are the words
really synonymous?
For further instructions and suggestions for sources, refer to the Adopt-a-Word
document provided for the module (see topic E1).
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YEAR 1
Investigating Language in
Context
Q1076
ESS 2500 words
Language and Technology
Q1201E
ESS 2000 words
Child Language Acquisition
Q1079
ESS 3000 words
Approaches to Discourse
Q1082
ESS 3000 words
Essay: 2500 words
Part 1: From one episode of Big Bang Theory, transcribe each laughable. You should
note which character produced each laughable and identify the trigger for the
laughable e.g. irony/sarcasm or deviation from expected conversational behaviour.
Use your findings to discuss briefly how the production of laughables contributes to
characterisation in this sitcom.
Part 2: With reference to the instances of irony/sarcasm which you identified, discuss
which theoretical model of irony best accounts for these occurrences.
NB the transcripts must be included as an appendix. They are not included in the
word count.
Explain how the invention of the printing press affected levels of literacy in Britain.
YEAR 2
13/14 (did not run in 14/15)
What can child errors of over-generalisation tell us about the acquisition of grammar
and morphology? Discuss how at least two of the main theories of Child Language
Acquisition account for these errors.
A CDA approach to discourse can point out how ideology is behind the different
representation of social actors or actions. Analyse the following newspaper article
about immigration to the UK and analyse how ideology is linguistically indexed in the
text.
Britain to face new immigrant wave
BRITAIN should brace itself for a tidal wave of immigration not seen
since it last opened its doors to Eastern Europe.
By Marco Giannangeli
PUBLISHED: 00:00, Sun, Dec 23, 2012 | UPDATED: 19:55, Mon, Jan 5,
2015
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/366693/Britain-to-face-new-immigrantwave accessed 26/04/15
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Ukip leader Nigel Farage has warned that 29 million Bulgarians and
Romanians will have the right to unrestricted access to Britain’s benefits
system after 2014.
His prediction comes as an influential think-tank reveals that David Cameron
has grossly overestimated the Government’s ability to keep a promise to cut
immigration to “tens of thousands” of people a year.
In a new report, the Institute of Public Policy Research claims that, while net
migration may fall to 140,000 next year, it will rise again in 2014.
Mr Farage warned of dire socio-economic conditions in both new member
states that will fuel the rush to Britain.
“This will be the biggest campaigning issue for Ukip in 2013, and one which
will influence every local and by-election we fight,” he said.
Romania currently contends with more than 600,000 Roma gypsies, its
second largest ethnic minority after Hungarians, while in Bulgaria, Europe’s
poorest nation, half the population lives beneath the breadline.
Last year rules that required Eastern Europeans to work for 12 months before
being entitled to unemployment or housing benefits were scrapped.
Mr Farage went on: “It used to be the case that you’d come on an
unrestricted basis to seek work in this country. But now you can come to
either work or seek benefits.
“In Bulgaria, 46 per cent of people are living below the poverty line. This is
real poverty – not being able to feed your family – not the relative poverty
David Cameron speaks about. If I was Bulgarian I’d be packing my bags
now, getting ready to come to the UK on an unrestricted basis, in the secure
knowledge that if I can’t get work, I’d get benefits and housing.”
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In 2006, the Ukip leader went to Romania with the Sunday Express to see the
challenges posed by Roma gypsies.
“I spoke to Government officials in Bucharest. They told me ‘We have a
problem in this country with Roma but soon it will be yours’.”
He warned that unfettered immigration is creating a need to build 330,000
homes a year to accommodate “the massive rise in population”.
Sarah Mulley of the Institute for Public Policy Research think-tank, said:
“Although net migration will fall next year, the Government is fast running
out of options for further restricting non-EU immigration in any significant
way.”
YEAR 3
Discourse of Social and
Personal Identity
Q3151
ESS 3500 words
Critically discuss the notion of situated self-identity as explored by recent social
constructionist discourse scholars. Choose your own examples to illustrate how this
concept is realised in talk. Include any texts you use in the appendix.
Intercultural
Communication
Q3160
ESS 3500 words
Develop an argumentative essay on the topic of the speech act of apology in
cross-cultural and intercultural contexts. As part of the assignment, you are
expected to narrow the topic appropriately, so please make sure to be clear about
which cultures, what types of contexts (e.g. interpersonal, institutional, public), and
what theoretical positions you are considering. Your essay should have a thesis
about apologies in intercultural communication and use ample research to support
it.
Contemporary Stylistics
Q3152
ESS 3500 words
Linguistic Typology
Q3157
ESS 3500 words
Discuss the topic of character impression formation from a cognitive stylistic
perspective in a film or television series of your choice.
Provide a typological sketch of your adopted language, reflecting on phonological
and morphological characteristics, word classes, nominal and verbal categories,
basic constituent order, and simple and complex clauses. Highlight any areas of
particular interest, and discuss any problems that arose in your analysis.
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