Teacher guide

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All Talk
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Teacher guide
In this unit, students investigate their own unique spoken language style. They also explore how
impressionists use this kind of data.
14-19
You talk - Me me me
Investigate the unique spoken language “fingerprint” you leave
behind in every conversation.
What is the purpose?
This unit gets students thinking about their idiolect,
or individual speech style. The question-based
method starts with their own ideas then adds
observations by friends and trusted adults. The data
generated can be explored in a way that supports
the development of some descriptive labels:
vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and non-verbal
features. There is an extra activity which invites
investigation of the speech styles of sports stars, in
reality and in impressions.
Who is it for?
The familiar nature of the data and simple method
makes this unit suitable at an early stage of a
GCSE course, or during Key Stage 3. It could be
adapted for use in A Level English Language, with
more complex questions, and with the three rings
representing the student’s observations about
idiolect, sociolect and dialect.
What will I find in here?
• Idiolect starters including famous people’s speech
bubbles
• Me me me dartboard and observation questions
• Speaking and Listening activities and assessment opportunities
• Sports star idiolect investigation guide
What will I find on the DVD?
The video shows a female Year 12 student
completing the main Me me me activity. First she
answers the questions herself, then she interviews
a friend and a teacher. This could be used to model
the activity before your students do it, or as a way of
initiating discussion afterwards.
2
All Talk - Me me me
Website extras
These extra features can be found at
www.bt.com/alltalk
Optimised photocopy masters
Each unit has a student guide and a teacher
guide in pdf format. These are optimised for
photocopying.
Extra video
This is a semi-structured interview with a
student of the same age, from a different
part of the UK, in which she reflects on her
idiolect.
Full transcript
There is a full transcript of the DVD content
which you can adapt for any appropriate
educational use.
Teacher’s notes
There is extra guidance about the unit focus
and its intended outcomes; notes about the
video and transcript material; classroom
questions to get a conversation started; and
links to other units in All Talk.
Web links
There are links to news articles about how
txt-talk is being analysed by forensic linguists
in legal cases.
Video sound bites
These comments are transcribed from the recording made for the video in this unit. These are extra
comments we didn’t use in the video. Which ones do you think are the most interesting and why?
INSIDERS/OUTSIDERS
“She doesn’t even go here.” If there’s someone you don’t even see, like you’ve never seen before,
you kind of say that to them cuz obviously they don’t go here. They don’t belong like in the area.
PROPER/OUR WAY
A lot of people tell me to talk properly but this is our way of talking.
KNOWING HOW YOU TALK
You just kinda talk, don’t you?
SICKNESS COMING
We drop the ts and like roll our rs but people who’ve grown up here for a longer time, like my mum
and that, they don’t drop the ts. It’s a kind of sickness coming more recently.
LANGUAGE CHICKENS AND EGGS
We use phrases from Hot Fuzz, the local stuff, and, like “Am I bovvered?” But then I don’t really
associate it with films they do cuz they’re so commonly used.
YOUNG/OLD
I think it’s more of the young generation that knows things like “scagged your jeans and stuff.”
BIG CITY INFLUENCE ON THE SURROUNDING AREA’S LANGUAGE
It might be because we’ve got people coming from Bristol as well, so it’s probably coming over
from that.
3
All Talk - Me me me
Me me me activity
This consists of a dartboard with observation
questions around it (page 5). Students might find it
easiest to work with an A3 version of this. Students
first explore the questions by themselves, writing
their responses in the inner circle of the dartboard.
Then they choose one friend and one trusted adult to
ask the same questions. They record these answers
in the next two circles, and so develop a rounded
view of their personal speech patterns. Use the video
to model the activity or to stimulate thinking by
contrast and comparison.
NB: this involves talking with a friend and a trusted
adult. It might be possible to complete the friend
circle in class, but the trusted adult circle is a
homework task.
When students have completed their Me me me
dartboards, you could create an exhibition of them
in the classroom or scan them and create an online
gallery. Invite students to browse them and then
see what else they could add to their own or a
friend’s dartboard.
This leads into the follow-up activities for students
on page 6. These are designed to get them thinking
about what they’ve done in more depth and detail.
Students could create collages, using images,
symbols, fonts, and words to represent their idiolect.
These artifacts could make a rich classroom display
and support individual presentations assessed for
Speaking and Listening.
The further activity on page 7 focuses on the idiolects
of Steven Gerrard (footballer) and Andy Murray
(tennis player). Students investigate the idiolects
of these two sports stars, then look at how Alistair
McGowan mimics their speech patterns for comic
effect in his impressions. This could provide the
starting point for a Controlled Assessment if the topic
and data types are suitable for your specification.
4
All Talk - Me me me
Lesson builder
Speech bubbles
To introduce idiolect, show pictures of Bart
Simpson, Queen Elizabeth II and Wayne
Rooney and ask students to fill in a speech
bubble for each one.
Find a poem
Find a poem using the data recorded on the
dartboard. First, students list all the words and
phrases, then move them about, repeat them,
add and subtract, until they have a ‘found
poem’ representing their own speech style.
Idiolect influences
Explore influences on idiolect by asking
students to put the following into a rank order
of importance:
family, friends, teachers, the area where a
person lives, interests, sports, television,
films, social networking sites, games, job,
music, other
Try this as a “snowball” discussion, with
individual ranking, then pairs to compare
results, then fours to explore how these
influences could cause problems in everyday
talk. This could lead into imaginative writing or
drama improvisation.
Crime scene
There is a set of web links on the All Talk
website that could be used to explore the
significance of idiolect in real world contexts,
specifically solving crimes.
Literary links
Explore idiolect in literature with excerpts from
Old Tongue by Jackie Kay, Our Country’s Good
by Timberlake Wertenbaker, The Catcher in the
Rye by J.D. Salinger, Huckleberry Finn by Mark
Twain and The Color Purple by Alice Walker.
Me me me dartboard
5
1. Are there any words or phrases
that I use a lot?
2. Do you notice any slang in my
usual talk? E.g. I’m knackered
for I’m tired?
3. How do I usually greet you?
How do I usually greet my
friends or family?
4. How would I usually say that I
like something? E.g. I heart it!
5. Are there any words of phrases
from my interests or activities
that I use? E.g. back of the net!
6. Do I have an accent or a
particular way of pronouncing
words? E.g. always drop ‘h’
sounds - ‘ave, ‘ouse.
7.Are you aware of any phrases
that I use which might only be
used in this area? E.g. that’s
gert lush (Bristol).
8. Which phrases or words from
TV, film or other media do
I sometimes use? E.g. am I
bovvered?
All Talk - Me me me
Inner circle = Your responses
Middle circle = Friend
Outer circle = Trusted adult
Taking it further
Develop your ideas about your idiolect by completing as many of these tasks as you can.
6
All Talk - Me me me
Talk like me
Actors, comedians and impressionists use spoken language patterns to convince us they are playing
someone else. Test how well the impressionist, Alistair McGowan, does this for Steven Gerrard (footballer)
and Andy Murray (tennis player).
Listen
First, find out more about the patterns of spoken language used by Steven Gerrard and Andy Murray. Listen
carefully to these clips from YouTube. Try it with your eyes shut so you’re really listening to their speech
rather than watching their mannerisms.
Steven Gerrard - Post-match interview
Andy Murray media conference
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU_
sG8xR1Rk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_
Eab5XV3CI&feature=related
Listen to the first two minutes of this recording
Transcribe
To really get inside these two speakers’ idiolects, you could transcribe some or all of the clips. Write down
everything they say, exactly as they say it, including the umms, self-corrections and pauses, and any
distinctive features of accent.
Discuss
• What do you notice about the idiolect of each speaker?
• How are they similar and different?
Compare
Now explore what Alistair McGowan makes of the spoken style of the two sports stars. You could transcribe
parts of this too.
Alistair McGowan takes off Gerrard
and Murray
• How closely does McGowan mimic the speech patterns of Gerrard and Murray?
• Which features of the two men’s idiolects does
he use?
• Are there any features that he misses?
• What advice would you offer to Alistair McGowan to improve his impersonations?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTAI
cZ18pCQ&feature=related
7
All Talk - Me me me