6 pages paper plus proposal

1) Project Options (A or B)

A. Speech Styles: Identify someone you view as having an interesting way of speaking/ communicating. The person could be a character on a television show or in a movie, a political figure or news personality. Find “data” of the person speaking (on youtube, for example).

- Analyze this person’s speech: what features stand out? e.g. phonological or syntactic features; lexical or pragmatic features, (suprasegmental features: intonation, pitch, stress), gestures, and anything else you consider notable about his or her style of speaking/communicating.

- It is not enough to say that someone has an “accent” (remember – we all have some type of accent). What are the features that collectively produce the accent? What is it specifically about the person’s speech or language that constitutes a certain speech style? How do you think this style is used and what does it represent or portray about this person’s persona or behavior?

- You must include a link to an online clip in your proposal and paper (and you may use more than one clip).

B. The Language of ______________________________ (fill in the blank).

Choose a milieu/occupation/hobby with which you are thoroughly familiar. Describe the linguistic and communicative norms and practices associated with it. For example, if you have worked in a medical environment, you could discuss and analyze the language of a medical professional and the ways medical staff communicate with other staff and with patients. If you are an athlete or artist, a barista or a jazz musician, a fast food worker or an accomplished chef, you can explore language, grammar, and communication in that realm. Think about the environments where you spend your time.

- Be sure to discuss concrete examples: Spend time in your setting/activity and observe people interacting. What would a novice in this milieu need to know to communicate effectively? Finally, what can you conclude about the distinctive features of language and communication in this particular setting or activity?

2) Proposal Guidelines:

Your proposal should indicate/contain: 1) which project option you have chosen and why 2) data source (material you are analyzing) and your intended focus 3) an outline in which you enumerate the specific linguistic/communicative features

you plan to discuss; and 4) at least one reference from the course readings and a brief explanation of how it

is relevant to your topic.

The proposal will be graded on the clarity and coherence of your focus and your planned analysis, and the incorporation of all the elements addressed in 1 – 4 above.

Length: 1 - 2 pages. Formatting: 1.5 spacing or double-spaced • 12 point font, black ink • Insert page

numbers • References: Use APA or Chicago (this is just for formatting your reference list) Link: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01/

3) FINAL PAPER GUIDELINES. 

• Length: 4 - 6 pages depending on line spacing (not including copies of conversations/ data, if relevant)

• 1.5 spacing or double-spaced • 12 point font, black ink • Insert page numbers • References: APA or Chicago (just for formatting your reference list – see link above)

Organization of Paper

• Introduction (introduce your focus): 1) your data source (for example, data might be a youtube clip or a recording of a family conversation); or 2) the specific setting or activity (for project #2). Briefly explain why you chose this focus and discuss what you plan to examine or demonstrate in your analysis.

• Data Analysis: In this section describe the phenomenon you are analyzing in more depth (for example, the different linguistic features you identified in a particular person’s style of speech or the linguistic and communicative practices employed in a specific setting).

- Use at least two readings to help support your analysis. - Feel free to use additional articles or books from outside of the course readings

(optional). - When using or referring to video/audio segments, please transcribe (type out) segment

and indicate the URL at end of paper. - What patterns do you see, if any, across your data? What did you learn from your

analysis?

• Conclusion: Overall, what can you conclude from your analysis? In what ways is your analysis limited? What further measures would you take if you expanded your project? (for example, collecting a larger data corpora or employ additional research or analytical methods)?