Apparently I ran out of space on the last blog post.
Notice how paragraph 4 also achieves the following things 1. an opening sentence which fully introduces the text - which is absolutely essential. 2. A COMMAND of the situation which shows surprise and interest when things don't go as expected. 3. Apt and concise quotations which demonstrate how the situation is important but without going on forever and a day. 4. Full and thorough explanations about WHY language is being used this way. 5. Relevant application of theories where significant.
I am now going to show you how you could write paragraphs FIVE and SIX of this essay based on the other two wider reading texts. You will then be able to use these ideas if this sort of question comes up in the exam.
We will be doing LOTS MORE of this in lessons, so you are really missing out if you don't come along.
Paragraph 5 -
In a further transcript which we studied in class, a midwife speaks to a new mother shortly after a difficult birth. Again, it appears that the instrumental power of the midwife is put to one side in order to utilise Accommodation theory (Giles). It is quite clear to see that the midwife utilises downward convergence near the start of the extract through the interrogative, "What've you called her love?", the contraction 'what've' and colloquialism 'love' presumably designed to create an informal atmosphere and put the patient at ease. This continues through the midwife's use of empty adjectives such as 'lovely' to describe the baby name, which are usually an indicator of a lack of power. Noticeably, the midwife allows the patient to display all the features of dominance, allowing her to talk for the majority of the exchange, only back-channelling with 'right' to show she is understanding what she is saying. Later, she seeks clarification from the patient by repeating the interrogative the noun 'suction' as an imperative after the patient informed her that '[the baby] had suction'. This shows her using her position to gain clarity on a medical issue. The exchange ends with the midwife continuing to use her experience to create a relaxed atmosphere by guiding the husband to the toilet, claiming 'I know the anatomy of these places.' Notably, the only time she uses low-frequency medical jargon such as the common noun 'anatomy' is to create humour.
Paragraph 6 -
We see a more predictable use of language in a final transcript of a conversation between a pharmacist and a customer who wishes to be given something to deal with a troublesome cough. The exchange begins with the pharmacist latching on to a lot of what the customer says, often repeating them word for word "C - Bout two days / P - 'bout two days", presumably to clarify details to aid with a diagnosis. Also, here, the pharmacist converges to speak in a similar fashion to the customer to put them at ease. Later in the text, we see how the customer's embarrassment and lack of experience talking about sensitive issues causes them to interrupt the pharmacist when they talk about phlegm, "a lot of phlegm (.) or what [
[no (...) it's sort of a hard dry cough"
The abrupt interjection of 'no' shortly after the mention of the common noun 'phlegm' reveals that the customer feels self conscious speaking about her symptoms. After this, the pharmacist uses their instrumental power to take more control of the situation claiming, "Well, what I would take..." which acts as a cloaked imperative to maintain an informal atmosphere and protect the pharmacist from extended responsibility. The pharmacist is also able to show their expertise by using low frequency field-specific lexis such as the noun 'guaithenesin' and the adjective 'mentholoated' which would elicit confidence from the customer.
Come along to tomorrow's lesson and we will work through more possible exam scenarios.
Nick
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