The Bible...in Jamaican patois

Can you read this? It's the Bible translated into Jamaican patois (Luke 1 verses 26-28). Read about its development here (link to BBC News Magazine page).

New words, or 'buzzwords' of 2011?

Neologisms and collocations ahoy! Read Charlie Brooker's article in The Guardian where he writes about the 'buzzwords' of 2011. It makes a for nice little revision reading for AS English Language students (morphology, semantics, lexis...need I say more?)

A festive article about language change

Sandi Toksvig has written an interesting article in The Telegraph about linguistics and language change - and throws in a little festive cheer as well. Read it here.

How to...study a novel (prose fiction)

English Literature students may find the following resource helpful for exam revision when studying prose texts. The Open University has designed a very accessible online course (it's free!) called 'Approaching Prose Fiction' and is useful for understanding the demands of AO2 - structure, form and language. I would advise you to pay particular attention to the following topics:

2.3 Narrative perspective

2.4 Setting

2.5 Characterisation

2.6 Genre

2.7 Style and language

 

A nice little (English-related) stocking filler...

Season's greetings! It's not long now until the end of term, but if you're stuck for a present for a student who studies A2 English Language (or AS if you're forward-thinkers), you might want to consider buying David Crystal's new book, The Story of English in 100 Words. Described as "an eye-opening tour of the English Language through the ages from Britain's leading linguistic expert", the book aims to explore the history of the English Language in an accessible manner. This topic is particularly useful for A2 students currently studying unit 3, 'Language Diversity'.

The Daily Mail has recently written a review of Crystal's new offering, and you can read this here.


The Story of English in 100 Words is available now in all good bookshops priced £12.99.

emagazine A level English Language Conference 2012

Attention all AS and A2 English Language students! Emagazine (English and Media Centre) have just released the date for their next conference for students of English. It takes place on 6th March 2012 and as always, will be packed full of relevant and interesting seminars related to English Language. Speakers include Professor David Crystal, who will be discussing Pragmatics, and Dr Marcello Giovanelli who will be looking at 'Texts, Modes and Meanings'.

For further details, incuding the programme of events, please follow this link.
Please let your teacher know if you would be interested in attending.

In other (related news), the December issue of emagazine will be in the library - and available online - very soon.

Whose font is it, anyway?

When I decided to set up this blog, I agonised over which fonts to use for the headings, blog posts etc. No, I really did. But why? Does the type of font you use say something about you as a person - does it affect how you gauge a business' credentials? How did different fonts come into use? I am fascinated about these aspects of language. If you are too, it may be worthwhile listening to the BBC Radio 4 programme, Book of the Week, which explores the history of the font and the people responsible for them via Simon Garfield's new book Just My Type. 


You can listen to this programme - and others in the series - via BBC i-Player (follow the link above).

Are you a writer? Do you dream of becoming a journalist..?

Why not enter The Guardian's blogger competition for student writers: tell them how you think higher tuition fees will change student behaviour. More details can be found by following this link.

Closing date: 4th December, 5pm

Language and Gender

Next week (w/c 7th November), AS English Language students will be looking at theories and concepts related to Language and Gender as part on their Unit 1 Presenting Self exam topic. Those students who would like a comprehensive introduction to this topic, should head to the Emagazine - English and Media Centre - website and view the emagclips featuring Professor Deborah Cameron - an eminent academic of language and gender at the University of Oxford. Catch these short videos whilst you can! (also available via Coulsdon's library pages - following the link on Moodle).

AS Language students would be wise to remember that their first Moodle assessment is due on 14th November and will involve researching theories and concepts related to Language and Gender - this would certainly be an excellent place to start...

RIP RP

With a little help from Emagazine - well, their Facebook page to be precise -  I have recently discovered an excellent language website by Alison Ross called RIP RP. AS and A2 English Language students may already be familiar with this name as Alison is one of the authors of your Edexcel Student Book and is an Edexcel examiner (for those of you who have looked at child language acquisition transcripts and recordings, Alison also goes under the guise of Techno nanny..!)

Alison's website is still in its infancy, but it looks really interesting as it focuses on news and issues related to language study. Upcoming topics include idiolect and non-fluency features - and information related to Unit 2 of English Languge (coursework) which we will focus on in the summer term.

TOWIE: It's educational (linguistically speaking, of course...)

It's official. Watching TOWIE can be educational - or certainly insightful - from a linguistic perspective. A recent article in The Sun discusses TOWIE in relation to dialectal difference and the casts' use of spoken language. The article is written by Paul Kerswill, a professor of sociolinguistics at Lancaster University; you can read it here:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3885529/TOWIEs-dialect-continues-a-lengthy-linguistic-tradition.html

AS English Language students will be studying 'Language and Region' after the half term break, as part of their exam unit, Presenting Self (section B).

Reminder: AS English Literature study day

Just a reminder to all AS English Literature students that the Edexcel study day takes place on Monday 21st November. Adrian Price has sent out a letter to all students with details of the event and timings. If you would like to attend, please speak to your teacher ASAP after the half term break, so your place can be reserved.

It costs £19 and you should bring your money along to the Finance Office before 14th November.
(Transport is free if you are able to meet us at East Croydon station at 09.45am.)

Michael Sheen plays Hamlet

A new adaptation of Hamlet opens on 28th October at the Young Vic, starring Michael Sheen as the tortured protagonist. Read his interview below:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/oct/23/michael-sheen-interview

The play runs until 21st January 2012

National Novel Writing Month

Write a 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month.

Who: You!
Why: To put on your CV, test yourself or simply feel better than ‘real’ novelists who take years to complete theirs.
When: You can sign up anytime at the website below.
Writing begins November 1.
Apply: To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight.

Visit: www.nanowrimo.org for more information

Calling all poets!

Thursday (6th October) is National Poetry Day, and The Poetry Society is running their annual poetry competition, National Poetry Competition 2011. The competition is open to anyone over the age of 17 and the deadline for entries is 31st October 2011.
If you do decide to enter, we'd love to hear from you. Get those creative juices flowing...

What's on this week...

Here's a round-up of all things English-related appearing on your TV or featuring on the radio soon. Try and catch them - if you can drag yourself away from the glorious sunshine of course!

Television
Stephen Fry's new series, Fry's Planet Word, continues on Sunday 2nd October (9pm, BBC2). The second programme of the series investigates the relationship between speech and identity by looking at dialect and class. AS and A2 English Language students should take a look...


AS English Literature students may want to set their videos (am I showing my age..?) for this one: BBC2 is showing a short programme called Poets in Person on 5th October (Wednesday) which explores contemporary poems with insights from the poets themselves. It starts at 4.00-4.30am...

Radio
A2 English Literature students may be interested in listening to Katie Him's new dramatisation of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. You can follow this via BBC Radio 4 Extra; the first installment begins on Tuesday 4th October at 11.15am-12.00pm.

The BBC Radio 3 series The Verb continues tonight (Friday 30th September) at 10pm. Diana Athill talks about her latest book.

Enjoy your weekend!

Books Season

The Guardian and Observer Books Season begins this weekend. Starting today in their Review supplement, The Guardian investigates the "most powerful figures in British books" and there is also a focus on the bicentenary celebrations of the birth of Charles Dickens. In tomorrow's Observer you can receive a free Dicken's 'Heroes and Villains' wallchart.
You can also receive 25% off at The Guardian Bookshop, using code BOOKSSEASON (offer ends 30.09.11).

Grab your copy today! Or follow the links above...

What's on this week...

Every week, we aim to keep you updated with Language and Literature-related programmes (whether on television or radio) and relevant theatre productions. Here's what's coming up in the next week or so:

Television
English Language students may be interested in a new BBC2 series hosted by the comedian and actor Stephen Fry. Called Fry's Planet Word, the five-part series explores linguistic achievements and how our skills for the spoken word have developed. If it's as good as his recent BBC Radio 4 series, it'll definitely be worth staying in for...(or catching up on iPlayer.)
Fry's Planet Word begins on Sunday September 25th at 9pm, on BBC2.

Theatre 
Fans of Shakespeare may like to know that there are a couple of productions running in London theatres: 
The Tempest is currently on at Theatre Royal Haymarket until 29th October;
Hamlet begins its run at the Young Vic from 28th October – 21st January 2012 - and stars the rather wonderful Michael Sheen as the tormented protagonist.

Edexcel AS English Literature study day

Attention all AS English Literature students! Sovereign Education is delivering a conference related to Unit 1 of your exam, entitled 'Explorations in Poetry and Prose'. The day focusses on different aspects of the exam paper and aims to develop your ability in:

• responding to unseen poetry and prose
• comparing and contrasting poems on a shared theme
• linking prose texts through a common topic.

There are four seminars and key speakers include a Chief examiner and Principal Examiner of national examination boards. The course takes place on Monday 21st November in Central London (venue tbc) and runs from 11.00am - 3.30pm and costs £19 per student. If you are interested in attending, please let your teacher know ASAP and places can be booked.

Stephen Pinker: a name worth knowing

AS/A2 English Language students may want to familiarise themselves with the name Stephen Pinker. He is a renowned Professor of Psychology who has written several books about language, linguistics and psychology. Read about him here on the excellent TED website, where you can also find links to talks/lectures he has given.

Welcome to English at Coulsdon

Welcome to the AS/A2 level English blog at Coulsdon Sixth Form College. This blog is still very much in its infancy at the moment, so please bear with us whilst we get it up and running! It is hoped that, in time, you will visit these pages frequently over the year to explore interesting links and articles related to your subject; whether you are studying English Language, English Literature, or English Language & Literature.

We will be adding helpful information related to the texts and topics you are studying, including revision guides, forthcoming productions (fingers crossed) and conferences.

Watch this space!