LELA Exam hints

2/13 Practical issues Exam is computer marked Special exam answer sheet Mark one slot only Use pencil Bring rubber Don’t make any other marks

3/13 Exam format 40 questions multiple choice no penalty for wrong guesses one correct answer per question no “wrong” answers are possibly right (I hope)

4/13 Types of questions Complete the sentence –“Phonetics” is a word used to describe … a. The study of the sounds of speech b. A frenzied attack on someone c. A way of teaching reading to infants d. The study of rhyme schemes in poetry

5/13 Types of questions Which of the following statements is FALSE? Which of the following statements is TRUE? Which of the following features IS found … Which of the following IS NOT found …

6/13 Types of questions Definitions of terms –What is “phonetics”? –The study of speech sounds is referred to as … Always a choice of four

7/13 What is covered 40 questions –5 generic questions on accents and dialects –3 questions on RP –10 questions on how accents differ, incl. two on non-segmental features, and one relating to the examples we looked at –1 question on lexical differences between accents

8/13 What is covered 40 questions (cont.) –2 general questions on dialects –5 questions on Labov’s work and related issues –2 questions on Basil Bernstein –3 questions on dialect surveys –2 questions on Halliday’s definition of register –5 questions on stylistics and stylometry –2 questions on authorship studies

9/13 Phonetic symbols A few of the questions refer to specific speech sounds All are shown using a phonetic symbol and an illustration from standard English (e.g. the sound in words like luck and look) But you should know (anyway) standard phonetic symbols for the sounds of English

10/13 Worth revising language, dialect, idiolect accent vs dialect standard dialect prestige dialect RP hypercorrection accents differ in –phonemic system –incidence –distribution –realisation isogloss non-segmental differences: intonation, stress, rhythm, loudness, voice quality Trudgill et al.’s case studies (in general, not in detail) sources of lexical (and grammatical) differences between dialects

11/13 Worth revising sociolinguistics speech community factors: geography, ethnicity, social class, gender prestige –overt vs covert –positive vs negative Labov’s studies –Martha’s Vineyard –New York City Bernstein –restricted vs elaborated code –deficit theory dialectology –Survey of English Dialects –elicitation techniques –choice of informants –“observer’s paradox” –dialect maps, “isogloss”

12/13 Worth revising register Halliday –field ~ tenor ~ mode text-type genre stylistics stylometry –type:token ratio –vocabulary growth authorship studies –famous cases

13/13 Good luck and thanks for being a nice class!