Would anyone be able to give me feedback on my essay? It's basically my first proper one so any feedback would be much appreciated.
Here's the essay topic
‘Your use of language sends out lots of little messages, not just about your level of education and where you come from, but about how youwould like to be perceived.’
Discuss with reference to at least two subsystems of language.
Use the article “Add an accent and then stir” as well as the video clips from Alibrandi and My Fair Lady to respond to this topic.
Language is an expression of identity. It can reveal aspects of your age, background, socioeconomic status, identity, education and aspects of your personality. It can demonstrate how you want to be perceived by others. Swearing, taboo, racial slurs, discriminatory language, articulate speech, arrogance and different uses of language can prompt people to treat you in a certain way. Thus, intentionally and unintentionally, language use and accents can make people perceive you in a certain way; good and bad. A lot of language use and its perceptions are reliant on the context in which it is used, as well as the interlocutors involved. As Clare Kramsch says, “there is a natural connection between language and identity.”
In terms of lexicology, language choice can reveal a lot about a person’s identity and how they want to be perceived. The use of articulate formal language can convey a high level of education, articulation, knowledge, an upper class and intelligence. An example of this is when Josie Alibrandi from Looking for Alibrandi uses formal speech to express herself at the “Have a Say Day”. Jacob, however, uses humour and slang to engage the audience using informal speech. Despite being powerfully perceived by the audience (and not the judges), it identifies him as a public-school student, lower-class and more inferior than Josie. However, both are powerful in different ways and appeal to different groups in the audiences. In this clip, Josie has overt power and prestige due to using Standard English while Jacob has covert prestige, appealing to the minority group. Brendan Black says “When communicating with friends and family, vernacular language is more appropriate.” This is demonstrated through Jacob’s speech which was aimed at the students and his friends in the audience, thus being more powerful to them than the panel of judges.
Benjamin Lee Whorf said "language shapes the way we think, and determines what we think about". This perfectly demonstrates the way that language use can change what people think about you and how they perceive you. Other lexemes that can make people perceive you as lower class and inferior include using racial slurs, discriminatory language, expletives and politically incorrect language that damages others’ face. If an individual uses expletives, the person may want to be perceived as cool or angry; whether this is intentional or not.
Relating to phonetics and phonology, accents are a major expression of who you are. A broad accent, for example, may demonstrate that a person is from a lower-class, uneducated, ‘bogan-like’ and inferior. Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady says "The moment an Englishman speaks, it absolutely classifies him.” Eliza Doolittle’s accent, for example, gives the perception that she is lower-class, uneducated and shunned by many people who come across her. However, despite the way she is treated and how she speaks, she doesn't want to be treated as inferior as and less important than those of the upper class who have Received Pronunciation varieties. This conveys that an accent can indicate where a person is from due to regional variations in dialects and accents. It also argues with the statement that your language use demonstrates to people the way you want to be perceived. Some people’s language is unintentional and out of habit.
Another example of accent expressing who you are is the high-rising intonation characteristic of Australian speech; it identifies you as Australian. As Bill Hunter said, “Very few women use broad Australian accents, probably because it is associated with Australian masculinity.” This infers that women don’t use a broad accent because they don’t want to be perceived as masculine and unfeminine. Many aspects of gender variation occur due to how they want to be perceived. Women pay more compliments, ask more questions, make more effort to include others in the conversation and are more likely to use formal language. This shows that women tend to want to be perceived as more polite, respectful and generous than men due to stereotypes.
When individuals use certain lexemes, messages are sent out. They can be direct, indirect, using euphemisms and dysphemism, irony, metaphor, simile and other stylistic devices. Connotations are conveyed and they can be positive and negative. Each has different effects. These messages do convey the person you are through your attitudes, morals, beliefs, personality and the way you treat people and the way you want to be perceived. For example, if someone continually uses metaphors or sarcasm, they may want to be perceived as humorous, funny and down to earth.
Language expresses you, identifies you, conveys messages about you and makes you an individual. Depending on the context, these messages can be intentional, such as to build rapport, or accidental such as in a moment of anger and expletives are used. However, despite the various uses of language, it may not deliberately express the way you want to be perceived. Laurie Bauer: says, “What is called beauty in a language is more accurately seen as the prestige of its speakers.” This prestige differs between every individual due to their own language and life.