Lexical Density Informalisation In English Language

Lexical Density Informalisation In English Language Both of these terms within the study of English language are commonly used as markers that help to differentiate between the spoken and written modes of Language. Lexical Density is a measure of how much information there is in a particular piece of language. Lexical words (content words) are words which carry information. Texts which have a high proportion of lexical items compared to function words (grammatical items) are said to have a high lexical density. Written texts are likely to have a higher lexical density than spoken texts which tend to have more grammatical items than content. Scientific texts are also likely to have a very high lexical density due to their educational nature. Halliday defines lexical density as a measure of the density of information in any passage of text, according to how tightly the lexical items (content words) have been packed into the grammatical structure. It is important to consider in this definition however that lexical density can be high in the more formal written texts because of the use of nominalisation (where one syntactic form is replaced by another) which although creating a high Lexical Density count can also lower the level of information content. An example of the differences in Lexical Density between written and spoken language can be shown when i asked my niece what she had learned in school that day: we did electricity in science today.(lexical density count: 3) which when compared to her summary lesson text for that day; Materials that can carry electricity are called conductors they conduct electricity.(lexical density count: 6) primary school text book. Informalisation is the breaking down of divisions between formal public use and informal private use of English. Linguists argue that language used in public and institutional contexts is changing and that styles of private language have crossed borders to be used in public situations in a new form of address. They say that increasingly professional encounters are becoming more conversationalised (Fairclough in Maybin Et Al, pg205). This can be seen frequently on business websites such as Recycle Now (www.recyclenow.com) advertised to us by our local council. They demonstrate informalisation through their use of some of the typical markers of informal English; pronouns, simple English and contractions of negatives; (Maybin et al, pg 207) Keep it simple, Dont worry about removing labels, its as simple to recycle as to throw away However this could also be an example of the use of this marketisation where the informalisation of language is used intentionally by an organisation for a sp ecific marketing reason. Another key marker of informalisation is the term of address. The observation that my doctor, and some of my regular customers now call me Sharon and not Mrs Tyrrell (without being asked) are excellent examples of the informalisation of the English Language within my day to day life. Part 2 Baynham and Maybin (2007, p. 123) assert that electronic means of communication seem to have shifted the relationship between speech and writing. Discuss this statement, using brief examples of your own to illustrate your points. Modern technology has allowed language to explore a new medium;- Electronic Discourse (ED), different in fundamental ways from typical conversational speech and writing found in other situations. The first task therefore is to look at the differences between the two more traditional mediums of speech and writing looking at if, and how, the relationship between them has been changed by ED through analysing its linguistic properties. Written English is most often planned, while spoken English is most often unplanned. This simple distinction results in many notable differences although the main differences lie within their differences in form. Form refers to grammatical, lexical, phonological and graphological aspects of language. I will look at the differences between the two in these respects and then look at the features of ED and how that relates to both written and spoken language. In the grammatical traits for speech, there is a lack of clear sentence boundaries which makes it difficult to know when one has ended and when one can begin. Usually in speech between people who know one another, the boundaries are erased and overlapping occurs. In contrast, in typical written text you are expected to write in full sentences, include paragraphs and have an appropriate structure. When using typical writing in a formal document punctuation is essential and the agreement between nouns and verbs is crucial. Typical speech and typical writing also have a different grammatical intricacy. Typical speech has a simpler grammatical structure because there are fewer clauses, less subordination and often shorter units; whilst typical writing has more grammatical intricacy because it contains subordinate clauses in complex sentences, it also contains pre-modifiers and past modifiers. Typical speech contains looser contraction sentences that are linked with words such as and and lengthy coordinate sentences. Also non-standard subject-verb agreements, ellipsis, non-standard word order, fragmented sentences are all very common. The lexis vocabulary of typical speech is colloquial and slang. It contains taboo language, nonsense words and contracted words. This is in contrast to the much wider vocabulary that is to be typically found in more formal writing. Typical writing also includes words that are never spoken, such as long chemical compounds and also relies on the greater degree of formality. In typical speech, inexplicitness is expected and much repetition occurs whilst in typical writing one must be explicit and repetition is frowned upon. Typical speech is usually unplanned and can be full of non-fluency features and running repairs such as false starts, hesitations, repetitions, discourse particles and fillers, words such as umm and like, and yknow. Another noticeable difference is that the lexical density of spoken discourse is usually much lower than that of written due to the high content of grammatical items used in relation to that of content words. The phonology traits are not able to be used in typical writing. In typical speech however, the intonation is extremely important, the prosody also makes a huge difference and a word or phrase could have a different impact if pronounced with the wrong prosody. Intonation may reveal the boundaries for clauses and is vital in social and emotional conversations, as it helps to explain ones point of view. Prosody is also used to make the conversation more lively and interesting. In typical writing, the tone can only be indicated by the use of question marks (?), exclamation marks (!),underlining, CAPITALS or by describing the tone. In literature, the tone of the poem is achieved in the rhyme and the rhythm. The graphology feature of language is not used in typical speech. Spelling, punctuation and the use of paragraphs are all seen as graphology features. These all appear and play an important part in typical writing. The amount or size of paragraphs and the use of italics, underlining, and emboldening can all give a certain impression. Pictures, emoticons and columns are all graphology features. Paralinguistic features such as the movement of the hands, a shrug or a smile are crucial in Spoken English where the use of more than just words context cues, tone, gestures, eye contact, pace and body language-all play a part in communicating meaning, while written English generally lacks these. Having highlighted some of the main differences and therefore the relationship between spoken and written English it is also important to note that these differences are not absolute and there are a range of forms and genres across both speech and writing- for instance a spoken lecture or a job interview is closer to writing than a pub conversation between friends and a personal letter closer to speech than a page from a textbook-. This is often dependant on the formality of the situation in which the discourse is taking place. Now to look at the notable linguistic features of ED in comparison to the definitions already visited above. It is important to note that the proportion of these features exhibited by a ED text can vary enormously according to criteria such as formality, subject and the personal characteristics of the individual writer (including age, identity, etc.). Grammatically ED tends to use many of the typical spoken traits such as telegraphic language Have forwarded the P the email, Will do, but am not back in office this week'(see appendix A) and also uses interaction features (e.g. questions) ill call then, ok? (ibid) and overall a very un-complex grammatical structure similar to informal speech. However this omission of grammatical words gives the text an extremely high lexical density which is traditionally more a characteristic of writing. The lexical features of ED are also hard to categorise, as in some ways, it is like conversation in that it presents a number of performance features generally characteristic of in process or in situ communicative events and behaviours, such as repetition, direct address, disfluencies, and markers of personal involvement, including syntactic and lexical items (Davis and Brewer, 1997). However, because turn taking occurs differently in ED, the interruptions and overlaps so characteristic of conversation do not occur (see Appendix B). There is also an absence of the fillers so often seen in oral conversations (Brown Yule, 1983) although these are present urrrrrr not sure, think so (appendix B) The vocabulary used in ED is typically very informal and frequently uses abbreviations, auxiliary verbs, colloquialisms and familiar terms of address (see appendix B) much like that associated with speech. Phonologically and graphologicaly ED utilises many techniques to try and imply tone or meaning that previously has been difficult to do in writing. The use of emoticons, :o) , capitalisation, letter repetition, use of graphics, sounds, punctuation and phonetic spelling (see appendix B) to indicate emotions, pauses, emphasis and intonation all demonstrate the fact that ED is a much more multimodal method of communication than was previously possible within typical writing and is often successfully able to create the impression of speech within written form. It is apparent from the examples provided that electronic communication does not fall within the standard definitions of narrative and text (Jones, 1995, p. 5) but in fact appears to embody aspects of each. It is clear that this new and still evolving medium that ED also demonstrates the process of informalisation within the written English language, clearly showing the majority of the markers that are used to define it; casual terms of address, informal vocabulary, intonation and contractions of negatives. It has been suggested that the electronic medium creates a feel of distance between the author I know that i, certainly, am guilty of being too casual in situations when i am contacting people by means of electronic communication and even guilty of using marketisation when corresponding with customers for my online business to make me seem more approachable. So, in conclusion, whilst the medium of electronic communication may not have changed the relationship between speech and wr iting it has certainly blurred it. Perhaps in this technology surrounded age we need to readdress the definitions of speech and writing to reflect the numerous varieties that now exist. WORD COUNT 1642

Difficulties of Parenting Essay

Every day thousands and thousands of adults around the world experience the happiness and challenges of becoming new parents. Every generation goes through the period of having to raise its children to adulthood. Even though parenthood has a great deal of positive points for the mother and father, it is probably the most difficult task that they will take on in their lives. Being a good parent requires a great deal of effort in many different areas throughout a child’s life, and being able to successfully manage all those areas is what makes parenthood so demanding. The actual process of physically raising an infant is probably the most difficult task for a parent. When a child is born, it is completely helpless and needs constant attention to all its needs. Parents must constantly feed it, clean it, and always pay constant attention to their new child since it is completely dependent on them. Finding the right foods, cloths, and other necessary items such as diapers and baby bottles might look easy, but they are quite difficult and require a great deal of time and attention. Picking the wrong baby formula can cause a baby to get sick, and finding the correct size for baby cloths can be quite difficult. Also, since there are many different variations and brands for everything babies need, parents will usually find it hard to decide what the right product is for their child. For example, finding the perfect car seat for a baby becomes a big challenge when the parents must choose between at least twenty similar brands. As the child grows up, new challenges are created for the parents. One of the most important parts of raising a child is to teach it morals and discipline. Many times parents find it difficult to decide when and how to teach a child a certain thing. For example, parents must show that lying and cheating are not good, but many are unable to explain the negative results of these actions. Also, many families have environments where children see their parents doing many of the bad things that they showed their children to be wrong. Therefore, another difficult task for parents is to create a positive home setting that is based on what they teach their children. Also, parents must find a way to discipline their children without causing fear in them. Some children are more difficult that others for teaching discipline, but parents must be careful not to be too forceful with them but, at the  same time, be able to gain their full respect. The many stresses of raising a child can have a strong impact on the parents through the years, and learning to adjust to the new stresses of life is quite important but difficult for parents to do. Financially, the cost of living becomes much higher for the parents, and they realize that they must find new ways to adjust their lives in order to make ends meet. They will eventually have to give up on many things that they used to do such as going to expensive restaurants and yearly trips out of town. Parents always want the best for their children and many times must find ways to help their children get over the many hurdles such as school work, peer pressure, and other things that may cause a child to lose its confidence. In this way parents go through the same stresses that their children go through, and the long years of continuous stress will have a lasting effect on the parents. Finally, one of the more difficult realities that parents face is the loss of their freedom and free time. They realize that the daily walks together become more and more difficult. They will have a lot fewer romantic dinners together. Instead, they will be spending more time at home with the children or, at best, in a family restaurant with the rest of the families with children. At first, accepting this reality will be a difficult task for the parents. As time goes by, they adapt to the new environment. However, many men and women go through periods of depression in their late 30’s and 40’s due to the fact that they feel like they have lost a big portion of their younger times raising their children and are no longer able to enjoy life as they did before. It is another sacrifice that all parents make for their children. Clearly, having children and raising them to the best of their abilities are goal of most parents. However, accomplishing this goal is probably the most difficult challenge of their lives. It takes a great deal of energy, both physically and emotionally, to turn an infant into an adult, and it all comes at a big cost and sacrifice for the parents. As they raise their children, parents learn as much as their children about life. In a way, they grow with their children in their own ways through the good and the often  difficult times.

Nebosh IGC

It may be seen as an unproductive cost which conflicts with the requirement to keep costs low. An undesired event resulting in personal injury, damage or loss. A situation with the potential to cause harm or damage. (iii) The likelihood that harm from a particular hazard may be realized. (3) Unsafe conditions and unsafe acts. The number of people likely to be affected by the harm from a hazard, and the severity of the harm that may be suffered.Revision Question 2 Workers should: a) take reasonable care for their own safety and that of other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work; (b) comply with instructions given for their own safety and health and those of others and with safety and health procedures; use safety devices and protective equipment correctly and do not render them inoperative; (d) report forthwith to their immediate supervisor any situation which they have reason to believe could present a hazard and which they cannot themselves correct; (e) rep ort any accident or injury to health which arises in the course of or in connection with work.Criminal – fines; Civil – compensation. External data sources include: National legislation (e. G. Regulations); Safety data sheets from manufacturers and suppliers; Government Enforcing Authority publications such as Codes of Practice and Guidance Notes; Manufacturers'/ suppliers' maintenance manuals; National/alienation standards; Information from local safety groups; Information from trade associations; Information from Journals and magazines. Internal data sources include: Information from accident records; Information from medical records and the medical department (if you have one);Information from company doctors; Risk assessments; Maintenance reports; Information from Joint inspections with safety reps; Information from audits, surveys, sampling and tours; Information from safety committee minutes. NOBLES International General Certificate 1-27 Revision Question 3 There should be a framework of roles and responsibilities for health and safety allocated to individuals throughout the organization, including the appointment of specialist staff and ensuring that general management roles and arrangements address health and safety issues.To ensure that the organizational arrangements, health and safety standards and operational systems and measures are working effectively and, where they are not, to provide the information upon which they may be revised. 1-28 NOBLES International General Certificate Setting Policy for Health and Safety I Element 2 Element 2 Why might the health and safety policy of two organizations, both undertaking similar work, be different? What are the three key elements of a health and safety policy? By whom should the policy be signed?What does a safety organization chart show? What responsibilities do all workers have relating to health and safety? 2-12 NOBLES International General Certificate Element 2 | Setting Policy for Heal th and Safety What forms the base for the plans for the systems, procedures and other measures required to put the health and safety policy into effect? State the three main forms of communicating health and safety information to staff. What are active monitoring systems? In what specific circumstances should a policy review be held?NOBLES International General Certificate 2-19 Because the policy is a reflection of the particular circumstances of each organization. Thus, any variations in size, nature and organization of operations, etc. , will mean that the health and safety policy will also vary. The general statement of intent, organization and arrangements. A senior Director or the Chief Executive Officer, indicating the organization's commitment at the highest level. The hierarchy of roles and responsibilities for health and safety, and the lines of accountability between them.To act responsibly and safely at all times, and to do everything they can to prevent injury to themsel ves and to fellow workers. Risk assessments. The three main methods of communicating health and safety information are the use of written procedures, provision of instructions and provision of appropriate training. Active monitoring systems are those which seek to identify deficiencies in current arrangements before any resulting accident. They include testing, inspections and consultation procedures, as well as management controls to ensure compliance.The circumstances which should give rise to reviews, either of general policy or specific aspects of it, are: Changes in the structure of the organization, and/or changes in key personnel. A change in buildings, workplace or worksheet. When work arrangements change, or new processes are introduced. When indicated by a safety audit or a risk assessment. Following government enforcement action or as the result of the findings from accident investigations. Following a change in legislation.If consultation with workers or their representa tives highlights deficiencies. If requested by a third party. NOBLES International General Certificate 2-21 Element 3 | Organizing for Health and Safety Element 3 Outline typical duties of employers to workers. Outline common duties of workers. What are the responsibilities of employers to people who are not their workers? Where business premises are rented, is the employer responsible for health and feet matters relating to points of entry to and exit from the workplace?NOBLES International General Certificate 3_11 Outline the areas of responsibility placed on people in the supply chain for the articles and substances which they supply to workplaces. Outline the responsibilities of the client and the contractor where a contractor is working in the client's own workplace. 3_17 Organizing for Health and Safety I Element 3 How may employers consult workers? What are safety circles? 3-20 NOBLES International General Certificate The general duties of employers are:Provision of adequate instruction, training, supervision and information necessary to ensure the health and safety at work of workers. Provision/maintenance of safe plant/equipment and a safe system of working. Provision and maintenance of a safe workplace (including a safe way of getting to and from that place of work). The two general duties of workers are: To take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work. To co-operate with the employer so far as is necessary to enable the employer to fulfill his legal obligations.Employers must make adequate provision to protect third parties from harm as a result of their work activities by: Conducting their undertakings in such a way as to ensure that people not in their employment who may be affected by their activities are not exposed to risks to their health and safety. Giving people who are not their workers sufficient information regarding the undertaking as might affect th eir health and safety; for example, details of potential hazards. It would depend on the terms of the tenancy agreement. Responsibility lies with the person who may be said to control the particular aspect of the premises.

The New York Stock Exchange - 1492 Words

Today the New York Stock Exchange is synonymous with investing. However, it hasn t always been that way. Our current system of exchange has grown and changed over time to become what it is today. We ll walk you through a history of the stock market to see what it took to get to where we are today. 1100s- France During this time France had a system where courretiers de change (or brokers) would manage the agricultural debts throughout the country on behalf of the banks, and trade debts from one bank to another. 1200 s- Merchants of Venice The merchants and moneylenders of Venice were the first brokers of the time, they would meet with other lenders, carrying slates with information on the various issues for sale. They These†¦show more content†¦These investments would outfit the ship and crew, and upon a successful return, would pay back a percentage to the investors. These types of limited liability companies would only last for voyage though, and would be dissolved upon return, only for a new company to be created for the next one. Investors would spread their risk around by investing in several different ships at the same time, allowing them to play the odds against all of them ending poorly. If a ship had a 33% chance of being seized by pirates, and the investor had placed money in 3 or 4 companies, instead of just one, they would still make a profit. When the East India companies were formed, they changed how business was done. These companies had stocks that would pay dividends on all of the proceeds from all of the voyages that the companies undertook, rather than going on a voyage by voyage basis. They were the first modern joint stock companies, which allowed them to demand more for their shares, and in time, build larger fleets. The size of the companies, along with their royal charters which forbid competition, meant huge profits for those that could invest. Would You Like Stocks With Your Coffee? Shares of the various East India companies were issued on paper, which allowed investors to sell to other investors. However, in order to be able to buy stocks, anShow MoreRelated new york stock exchange Essay764 Words   |  4 Pages nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The New York Stock Exchange traces its origin back 200 years. Centuries of growth and innovation the NYSE remains the world’s foremost securities marketplace. Over the years its commitment to investors has been unwavering and its persistent application of the latest technology has allowed it to maintain a level of market quality and service that is unparalleled. 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