S#*@ scientists say (boingboing.net)

Scientific language is full of technical terms that sound like everyday terms - and so can be seriously misunderstood when scientists speak in public. (Compare 'subject' or 'particle' in linguistics.)

S#*@ scientists say
http://boingboing.net/2011/10/18/s-scientists-say.html?dlvrit=36761

From Riddle to Twittersphere

The prolific David Crystal has another book out - looks like a readable approach to the history of English. Details in the article, including the full list of words he picks out.

From Riddle to Twittersphere: David Crystal tells the story of English in 100 words
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8824676/From-Riddle-to-Twittersphere-David-Crystal-tells-the-story-of-English-in-100-words.html

How not to represent accents...

The Australian had to apologise rapidly for this basically racist representation of the speech of an Irish airline boss. The respelling is pretty broad even at the start - and when you come across the 'dialect' idioms later on, you realise this isn't your normal (or acceptable) reporting...

http://www.irishecho.com.au/2010/12/01/full-transcript-of-the-insulting-article/5822#.TpcbXjPoqGU.mailto

Why Concrete Language Communicates Truth

The article stretches the concept of 'concrete' a little with verbs, to favour active over passive form for example, but this is still convincing stuff. 

Why Concrete Language Communicates Truth — PsyBlog
http://www.spring.org.uk/2011/06/why-concrete-language-communicates-truth.php

TAPoR text analysis tool

For A2s to consider: got loads of text you'd like to analyse?

The awesome TAPoR website has tools that will give you word counts, frequencies, charts and more to enable you to manage very large amounts of data, like many magazine articles or speeches, or entire movie scripts.

It doesn't do the thinking for you, but it helps expose interesting patterns by showing you them in a pretty way.  More on this to come in class, but have a play - try putting the PLB address into the Your Web Page text box and choose Explore with Voyeur.

Poster Presentation from Sussex Uni

Found this in the UofS library: the focus is to find whether rhyming in children's books helps children to learn new words, or to follow the plot. The results are perhaps surprising.

Apologies for the poor quality of the photos - low light and a mini camera. Let me know if you're interested and I'll aim to return with a better one. Or go and visit the library yourself - it is awesome.

Giving an academic conference paper

From the doctoral blog at University of Sussex - some advice on presentations. For A2s.

http://wp.me/pNwt4-9g

Editing tips for designers

For the verbose among you seeking concision. Also, a good example of why you need to know all those technical terms. 

Editing tips for designers
http://www.cennydd.co.uk/2011/editing-tips-for-designers/

What song titles teach us about headlines

Not entirely convincing - doesn't really get round to headlines - but an interesting set of commentaries. 

What song titles teach us about making headlines stand out
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/newsgathering-storytelling/writing-tools/146150/what-song-titles-teach-us-about-the-importance-of-good-headlines/

The Accent Meme

I'm not sure of the source of this, but I know the British Library were running a research project which aimed to gather data on at least some of these questions.  Many won't make sense, because in this form, there are some American cultural touchstones that aren't familiar in the UK.  Nonetheless, 'aluminium' appears here in its UK spelling, though 'theatre' and 'pyjamas' follow the US pattern - which makes me suspect that this may be an adaptation and extension from an original UK idea.

From Dossy's Blog, a version of the meme:

Here’s the idea: record yourself saying the following things and answering the following questions. Then compare your accent with your friends. Fun for all! 

Questions:

• Your name and/or username
• Where you’re from
• The following words: Aunt, Roof, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting Image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught, Orange, Coffee, Direction, Naturally, Aluminium, Herbs.
• What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house? [on the night before Halloween?]
• What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
• What do you call gym shoes?
• What do you say to address a group of people?
• What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
• What do you call your grandparents?
• What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
• What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
• What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

You'll find Dossy's recording there, and it'll be easy to look for others.

The Analytical Essay

We've linked to i love english language already on the PLB, but can I direct your attention to the following page? Half the battle in the exam is writing your essays tightly.
http://wp.me/P5DBg-1g

Fry's Planet Word

Stephen Fry is, of course, a national treasure; and also, conveniently, a fan of language and linguistics. This TV show starts Sunday and runs for 5 episodes which cover a range of language issues, beyond just English. Set your recorder, log on to iPlayer, or even actually watch it on good old live telly. Fry's Planet Word