LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL CONTEXT Assessment item: Student ID: Word count: Need to do any 4Qs out of 5Qs| In-text citations must be properly attributed. Include a reference list (of no more than 6 references) at the end of this assignment. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: Below are five questions or prompts from which you are required to choose four to respond to. Respond to the chosen prompts directly and concisely, referring to the contents of the first four lectures and tutorials, and the various readings, as appropriate. You may also refer to sources beyond the reading list if necessary. Your response for each question should be between 250 and 300 words in continuous text. Do not respond in bullet points. Please include the question on the page with your response. You may find it easier to simply insert your responses into this document. Please use standard margins (2.54 cm on each side) and 1.5 line spacing throughout. Save and submit your assignment as a Word document. In-text citations must be properly attributed. Include a reference list (of no more than 6 references) at the end of this assignment. OURIGINAL: You should upload a draft of your assignment through “Draft submissions” on Canvas to ensure that you have provided references for quotes, and that your assignment is your original work. Code-switching You are in your first month of a 12-month volunteer teaching position in the Pacific. You teach primary school children English and Social Science in a school where everything is taught in English and all the books and materials are in English. The children all speak another local language at home and none of their parents speak English well, although most of them have completed primary school education in English. Even though the children are asked to use English in the classroom, you notice that most of them use words and phrases from their own language when they speak to one another and when they talk about their culture. Explain this phenomenon in the context of code-switching. Bilingualism and language maintenance For bilingual parents in a predominantly monolingual society like Australia, encouraging their children to maintain the language of their parents can be challenging. Why is this the case? What are some of the strategies that their parents (and teachers) can use? Diglossia This table represents a stable diglossic situation in India concerning two varieties of Bengali. Use the table to describe the functional distribution of the ‘High’ (H) and ‘Low’ (L) varieties in Bengali. Based on the information contained in this table, describe the key factors that speakers use to decide which of the varieties they should use. Distribution of the use of High Colit Bhasa (HCB) and Low Colit Bhasa (LCB) FUNCTION HCB LCB Public address of all kinds X Scripted speech X News broadcast X Newspapers X Creative literature except novels, dramas and short stories X Narrative descriptions in novels and short stories X Formal letters X Class lectures X Dialogue in novels, dramas and short stories X Informal personal letters X Conversation with family members X Instructions given to workmen, servants and subordinates X Adapted from Chaterjee, S. (1986). Diglossia in Bengali. In Krishnamurti, B. (ed.), South Asian languages: Structure, convergence and diglossia (pp. 294-311). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. 4. World Englishes Using your own variety of English as the basis of your response and as a point of comparison, discuss your attitude to (a) your own variety of English and (b) another variety of English. The other variety of English could be one that is perceived to have more prestige than yours or to have lower prestige than yours. (Make sure you identify your variety of English. In this response, you can use terms such as ‘prestige’ and ‘identity’ in addition to others you feel are relevant.) 5. Global English Examine the proposition below and write a response to it. (Note that you can agree or disagree with this – or partially agree or disagree. Whatever position you take, you need to support your argument with concrete examples.) The global spread of English has been a largely positive development because it has given the world a common working language in international trade and diplomacy. Furthermore, competence in English has given many outer-circle and expanding-circle countries access to western knowledge, and scientific and technological advances. 3