Abby Buckingham's English Language Blog

BBC Radio 4 - The Reith Lectures - Jean Aitchinson: The Language Web: 1996 Professor of Language and Communication at the University of Oxford Jean Aitchison delivers five Reith Lectures examining the power and the problem of words. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gmvwx http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/radio4/transcripts/1996_reith1.pdf Key Notes: Lecture 1: A Web of Worries: 'The Language Web is the title of all these lectures. Webs, especially cobwebs, may entangle. But webs themselves are not a tangle. They have a preordained overall pattern, though every one is different in its details. Nature forces humans to weave the language web in a particular way, whatever language they speak.' ' humpbacked whales alter their songs every year and no-one has complained.' 'Of course it isn’t. Over 100 years ago, linguists - people who work on language - realised that different styles suit different occasions, but that no part of language is ever deformed or b...

Article for research in coursework: (applies to my topic of safe sex education for LGBT+ pupils) Faith should be no barrier to schools teaching respect for LGBT rights Masuma Rahim Some parents may not be happy about it, but programmes like 'No Outsiders' are important and should be expanded https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/04/faith-religion-lgbt-rights-school-no-outsiders

Occupational Lexis - Word of Mouth - Solving crime with forensic linguistic Dr John Olsson talks to Michael Rosen about how he uses forensic linguistics, specifically authorship analysis, to solve crimes including murder, false witness and hate mail. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00027n6

Top Down Language Change - Clarks Now shoe staff are asked to help boost child literacy as Clarks workers are told to speak to ‘engage and chat’ with young customers to improve their confidence https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6646167/Clarks-workers-told-speak-engage-chat-young-customers.html