Introduction to Language Investigation

An investigation into how the Persuasive Language of Fashion Advertisements has changed from Overt to Covert between the years 1959 and 2013.

Introduction:

For my investigation, I will be exploring the use of implicatures within advertisements from 2013 in comparison with similar advertisements in 1959. I have decided to investigate this as I find the relating aspects of social history very interesting.

Hypotheses

·       Fashion Advertisements from 2013 will be less direct in the way they use language to persuade in comparison to advertisements from 1959.

·       Fashion advertisements from 2013 will be sexist through the use of implicatures, whereas 1959 will be explicitly sexist.

·       From Fairclough’s theory 2013 advertisements will be more dependent upon graphology*¹, which I have considered to be a convert form of persuasion, as the audience must interpret the implied meaning behind the images.

I expect to find that advertisements from 1959 will be more explicit with persuasive techniques. My hypotheses are based around Norman Fairclough’s theory about the informalisation of language, in which he looks at how we, as a society, have moved away from formal language use. I have interpreted this theory to mean that over the 54 years my investigation ranges between, language will be used to imply in 2013, rather than to make formal, explicit statements, which I expect to find in advertisements from 1959.

Contextually, since 1959, women have made significant progress to gain a position of equal opportunity with men and this would coincide with one area of language change I expect find, concerning explicit and implicit forms of sexism. I think that 2013 advertisements will still have sexist undertones, but these will be implied not formally stated. This is because it has become socially unacceptable to be outwardly sexist, but our society is still fundamentally founded upon patriarchal ideology.

^*1 Discourse and Social Change in Society – Norman Fairclough

Media Text: Synthesising Skills

Mission Impossible?

Have you ever tried to learn a new language? Perhaps French? Or maybe Spanish for a holiday abroad? Many of us imagine it to be simple, so that before you know it, you’re fluent in a week! Realistically, it doesn’t happen quite like that. It’s a lot of words, a lot of strange grammar and, sometimes, it seems like mission impossible.

‘They can’t talk straight

Any more than they can walk straight.

Their pronunciation is awful

And their grammar is flawful.’

Just like Ogden Nash’s poem describes, a child’s language is, at first, ‘flawful,’ and this is because learning a language is a slow, but steady process that we’ve all gone through. No matter what age your child may be, they are at some stage of developing language.

If your child has already spoken their first word, you will remember how exciting it is. And if your child hasn’t, I’m sure you’re looking forward to it! For months and months a child has responded with funny noises, babbling and, worst of all, crying… when finally, a word! That special day marks the start of audible progress towards fully developed language. It’s a proud moment for any parent.

However, language researchers remind parents that one word alone is not language, which seems a little discouraging, but take this as hint that the best is yet to come! The early stages of language can be a tad frustrating. ‘Mamma… say Mamma… Mammmma.’ Sound in any way familiar? When a child eventually says mamma, Andrew Wilkinson says that it’s just repetition but this isn’t any reason not to celebrate! A child that has begun to copy will quickly progress onto the next stage.   

So what is the next stage? Well, Caroline Bowen, a language specialist, talked about how a child aged between 1 and 2, will begin to understand simple words, simple commands and simple questions. So, let’s call this the Simple Stage. Within the Simple Stage, a child will not only understand these things, they will also begin to join in. Unfortunately for parents like yourselves, this will probably involve singing the same song over and over again, or reading the same story night after night. Sorry.

After the Simple Stage, progress will be rapid. Soon it’ll be fully formed sentences and before you know it, your child will be answering back and refusing to load the dish washer- but let’s not worry about that just yet. Old McDonald may not be your favourite tune, but it’s worth it in the end.  

Media Text: Preliminary Activity

Women’s Magazine:

Flicking through this magazine you will see articles and advertisements that use language. It sounds like an obvious point to make, but the way language is used today is very different to how it was used 50 years ago. The popularity of a word changes, and just like the clothes in this magazine, words come in and out of fashion very quickly.

150 years ago women dressed very formally. Long skirts, tight corsets and high neck lines dictated a woman’s wardrobe and this formality seems, to us, completely over the top for everyday life. A pair of jeans and a t-shirt seems much more practical for nipping to the shops in the morning, but this is just how fashion has changed the way we dress. But why did it change? Like everything, fashion evolves, and it is for this very reason that the language we use has changed. Just like the evolution of fashion, it seems that our language is becoming more, and more informal.

Scientific Magazine:

                Language is constantly evolving. Fortunately, the language we use, and have used in the past, is well documented and recorded. We can source data from many aspects of our society, from books or magazines, from ancient documents, or perhaps even from social networking posts. We are surrounded by language and we can track how language has evolved. Norman Fairclough, an English specialist, theorised that language has become increasingly informal.