English Language Terminology - Advanced Features

This presentation is a development from basic word classes (http://www.slideshare.net/keepitsurreal/english-language-terminology-word-lasses) and explores the following:
similes and metaphors, types of listing, idioms, collocations, oxymorons, levels of formality, prosody, onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyme, assonance, cohesion, reference, identification, ellipsis, conjunction, repetition, and graphology / layout.
The simple explanations will clarify any misunderstandings, with the help of clear bullet points, concise definitions, and examples.
The presentation is perfect for English Language A Level at both AS and A2.

1. Similes and metaphors Similes are comparisons that involve the use of like or as For example: b old as brass swim like a fish Metaphors describe the person, object, situation etc. as if it were another thing For example: A hail of criticism rained down on their heads If a metaphor is sustained over a considerable portion of the text it is called an extended metaphor

2. Asyndetic listing Listing which does not involve the use of conjunctions For example: he dropped his pencil case and everything fell out , pens , pencils , paper , rulers Listing which involves the use of conjunctions For example: she missed the bus and the next bus and the next bus after that Syndetic listing

3. Idioms An idiom is an expression whose meaning cannot be understood from the meanings of the individual words that make up the expression For example: face the music , put a sock in it

4. Collocations Groups (usually pairs) of words that are commonly found alongside each other For example: Spick and span Long day Terraced house A dark and stormy night

5. Oxymoron An oxymoron is an expression in which words of contradictory or opposite meaning have been collocated e.g. bitter sweet

6. Levels of formality Informal language is language that is relaxed, familiar and conversational Formal language has a more serious, distant and impersonal tone The vocabulary is a key hint about the level of formality, as well as grammar (elaborately constructed sentences suggest a more formal tone) Questions to ask when discussing formality: Where exactly is the formality/ informality evident? Is the same level of formality present throughout the text? Why has this level of formality been chosen and what effect does it have?

7. Prosody …is non-verbal aspects of speech such as tone, intonation and stress …occurs when the sound of a word echoes its meaning : splash, buzz, thump Onomatopoeia

8. Alliteration …is when two or more words begin with the same letter/ sound : crisp, crunchy cornflakes …occurs when words have similar endings Rhyme

9. Assonance …is the repetition of vowel sounds For example, “ She sells seashells by the seashore ” contains the repetition of short E and long E sounds So is the old slogan for Hoover vacuum cleaners: “ It beats as it sweeps as it cleans .” There is no actual rhyme there, in the English sense, but there is the repetition of vowel sounds. If the vowel sounds clash with each other, producing a discordant effect, this is known as dissonance

10. Cohesion The techniques and devices used to connect different parts of a text with each other

11. Grammatical cohesion

12. Reference Reference often involves the use of third person pronouns ( he, she, it, they ) For example: My grandfather was an Irishman. He was born in Dublin He is cohesive because it refers back to grandfather When a word refers back to something that has already been mentioned it is called an anaphoric reference References forward are known as cataphoric references

13. Identification This is the use of determiners such as the , this or that to indicate that a noun has previously been mentioned When a noun is first used, it is often preceded by the indefinite article but later references will use the : A ship appeared on the horizon. When Laura arrived later I pointed the ship out to her

14. Ellipsis This is where words are omitted from a sentence This becomes a cohesive device if an earlier part of the text enables us to supply the missing elements : Beer cans littered the floor, the television had been kicked in and graffiti covered the walls. A bit of a mess .

15. Conjunction This refers to the use of conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs as cohesive devices The words are also known as connectives and they link together parts of a text and indicate the relationship between them

16. Lexical cohesion This is cohesion achieved through word meanings rather than grammatical structure

17. Repetition This has a cohesive effect because it forms a link between different sentences Sometimes, however, the word itself is not repeated; a synonym is used This refers to the tendency for words to occur together This is cohesive because it involves the use of words that, because of their meaning, are already linked in the reader’s mind Collocation

18. Graphology This is the text’s visual aspects

19. Layout and overall presentation Is there a lot of dense text, or is the text broken up – if so, how? Are parts of the text separated from the rest by the use of devices such as boxed sections and speech bubbles? Is there a reason for this? Which part of the text immediately catches the eye? Does the design encourage you to read particular features first? Is there any use of juxtaposition? This means placing words, ideas and pieces of information next to each other: stories that are linked or contrast may be juxtaposed Does the text adopt the layout conventions of the genre? Or another genre – e.g. an advert could take the form of a recipe, letter etc.

20. Typeface The size of the words and individual letters can be important: e.g. large lettering can draw attention to something The use of upper and lower case letters: upper case can be used to add emphasis or reflect meaning in some way, whereas sometimes lower case letters are used to appear stylish and unconventional Use of bold, italic, underlining etc. to highlight parts of a text The actual font used and the connotations of it, for example The Daily Telegraph has a conservative, traditional look whereas The Sun looks bolder and brashier

21. Illustrations Illustrations can take the form of photographs, cartoons, drawings etc. Study the relationship between the illustrations and the text Is there a contrast or do they add impact to the points made in the text?