Essay help

[Damo17]

"Nothing excludes a person more effectively than not understanding the language of a particular group." Discuss with reference to Australian Society.

What could be some main points that you could talk about?

[jackinthepatch]

A particular group (to reference Australian society maybe a group of farmers or something lol) may use jargon specific to their field of employment (farming), which would exclude people outside of that field who would not understand what was being said.

[sick muzza]

some lingo was created by certain ethnicities, as they did not have words for things like 'backyards' in their homeland, so they would use a word like 'yarda'when speaking their native tongue. this lead to many people not understanding what they were saying, and a cultural divide between those people who knew the lingo and those that didnt.

[sick muzza]

p.s. ask him ^^^^^ if ya want more, he might be able to help you out with that, jackinthepatch has a better memory than me.

[jackinthepatch]

Yeah good point Watto.

You could also talk about how Australian English uses many idioms and slang, that would not be understood by people who didn't speak Australian English.

[Damo17]

Thanks guys, that has really helped. 

[jackinthepatch]

No worries mate (Y)

[Damo17]

Another practice essay:

"Age, Race/Ethnicity and Gender are the three key determinants of language use." Do you agree?

I do have some idea's but it would be very helpful for any contributions. Thanks in advance.

[jackinthepatch]

Do you agree or disagree?

[Damo17]

Do you agree or disagree?

I would agree with it at this point in time.

[jackinthepatch]

Oh yeah thought so lol, just checking haha.

Ok...

Age is a determinant because:

• it determines the lexical choices we will make. Eg. a younger person will be more likely to say 'I'm going to the movies' rather than 'I'm going to the pictures', which would be more closely linked to older generations
• it can determine the use of HRT. If the speaker is a young female they will be more likely to use HRT. This falls under the 'gender being a determinant' category as well

Ethnicity is a determinant because:

• each variety of a language has a slightly different lexicon, so our ethnicity will determine the lexicon we use. Eg. 'mall' in American English replaces our 'shopping centre'
• one language can have many accents, so if a speaker is Irish for example, their race will determine the Irish accent they use
• people may want to speak in a certain way, to identify their belonging to a particular ethnic group. Eg. being an Italian Australian will determine the words and accent you use, to demonstrate in-group solidarity

Gender is a determinant because:

• gender determines what words you will use. Eg. males are more likely to use non-standard forms
• the accent you use is determined by gender. Eg. females will more likely speak the Cultivated variety of Australian English, compared to males, who are more likely to use the Broad variety

Um...I'll add more when I think of it lol.

[Damo17]

Thanks that is very helpful. I had the first point under age, I had a rough idea on the 3rd point under ethnicity and the 2nd point under gender which my teacher actually told me. Just needed a bit more to talk about. Thanks soo much again.

[jackinthepatch]

Yeah naa no worries mate, hope it helped.

[kenny17]

ur a smart fella jack in the patch

[jackinthepatch]

Haha cheers mate.