...Investigating the presentation of speech, writing and thought in spoken British English: A corpus-based approach1 Dan McIntyre a, Carol Bellard-Thomson b, John Heywood c, Tony McEnery c, Elena Semino c and Mick Short c a Liverpool Hope University College, UK, b University of Kent at Canterbury, UK, c Lancaster University, UK Abstract In this paper we describe the Lancaster Speech, Writing and Thought Presentation (SW&TP2) Spoken Corpus. We have constructed this corpus to investigate the ways in which speakers present speech, thought and writing in contemporary spoken British English, with the associated aim of comparing our findings with the patterns revealed by the previous Lancaster corpus-based investigation of SW&TP in written texts. We describe the structure of the corpus and the archives from which its composite texts are taken. These are the spoken section of the British National Corpus, and archives currently housed in the Centre for North West Regional Studies (CNWRS) at Lancaster University. We discuss the decisions that we made concerning the selection of suitable extracts from the archives, the re-transcription that was necessary in order to use the original CNWRS archive texts in our corpus, and the problems associated with the original archived transcripts. Having described the sources of our corpus, we move on to consider issues surrounding the mark-up of our data with TEI-conformant SGML, and the problems associated with capturing in electronic form the CNWRS...
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...give many critics reason to believe that this generation’s writing skills are diminishing. In this day and age, we have numerous opportunities for creative writing. The most popular by far is the use of the Internet. On the Internet, an individual can chat in a chat room, instant message an old friend, email a funny story, and even blog about the day’s events. However, are all these new writing outlooks improving this generation’s writing or is the prominent use of slang making it worse? This all depends on the person, what she is doing on the internet, and how she communicates with others. Although, most critics argue that writing on the internet does not improve writing skills, writing on the Internet can have both a positive and negative effect. Anyone can improve her writing simply by practicing. A healthy way to practice writing is by jotting down short stories, daily events, or just simple conversations in a notebook. Blogging is just like writing in a notebook, a collection of a person’s thoughts and ideas, except it is done electronically on the Internet. At first, a blog can start off as boring, mundane, everyday life stories, but as the writer becomes comfortable writing, the entries become more personal. A blog doesn’t exist to keep “an actual factual record” (Didion 81) of instances in someone’s life but rather her personal thoughts and feelings. More times than not, a blog entry is a reoccurring thought rolling around and around in the writer’s mind. The blog allows...
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...Proprioceptive Writing In Writing the Mind Alive, the authors assert that “[i]f you practice Proprioceptive Writing, you’ll develop an awareness of the sound of your thinking. You’ll begin to imagine your thoughts as a persona with a voice” (Metcalf & Simon 16). Although Proprioceptive Writing should provide some benefit to everyone who uses the writing practice as taught in Writing the Mind Alive, the assertion that it will result in your thoughts becoming a persona with a voice is not universal outcome, as Metcalf and Simon failed to account for differences in individual personalities. What is Proprioceptive Writing? The definition from Proprioceptive Writing Centre website includes the following: Proprioceptive Writing is a method for facilitating emotional health, spiritual awakening, creative breakthroughs, and better writing. Proprioceptive Writing teaches you to listen to your thoughts with empathy and curiosity and reflect on them in writing, with the objective of achieving self-trust. Other frequently reported benefits include: deepened powers of attention, increased self-confidence, greater intimacy and spontaneity in relationships, enhanced emotional health, awakened spirituality. Through Proprioceptive Writing, people increase their creativity and feel their minds expand, one of life's greatest pleasures. (Proprioceptive Writing Center) Metcalf and Simon claim that each student they teach Proprioceptive Writing to believes “writing is profoundly linked...
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...Journal Writing What is Journal Writing? Journal writing is a series of written passages that document the personal events, thoughts, feelings, memories, and perceptions in one’s journey throughout life. Through journal writing you can sort through problems and come to a deeper understanding of yourself or the issues that a person may be dealing with. The word journal comes from the French word journee, which means from sunrise to sunset. It is important to remember that this technique is used to strengthen the bond of honesty between your mind and soul. By being able to read your journal, the writer is able to perceive experiences more clearly and feel less stressed, having both mental and physical health benefits Journal writing should be used in conjunction with other techniques and not solely in order to effectively cope with a stressor. Used by many different professionals such as: psychologists, life coaches, and health educators as a tool for self- exploration, soul searching and the enhancement of personal development. History: * Originally started as a record of orientation on long trips to find a safe return. * History is based on the journal writings of many different travelers and explorers. These include Columbus, Admiral Perry, astronauts etc. * Journals were used as a way to calculate the passage of time and distance. * Originally mostly men did journal writing because women were not educated to read and write, however when...
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...Technical The Basics of Technical Writing for Management Information Systems Professionals David J. Donahoo Associate Professor, Liberty University Lynchburg, Virginia Submitted in Accordance With Guidance in the CSIS 100 Syllabus Abstract This paper provides students in the CSIS 100 course with an introduction to technical writing—one of the critical success factors for their future employment and career advancement. In this paper, students will be exposed to Four basic skills that will improve your technical writing. These include: flow and format, writing in complete thoughts, proper use of white space, and readability. This paper provides various tips to help you be successful in your college research writing and your follow-on professional life. Table of Contents Abstract 3 Introduction 6 General Concepts 6 Flow and Format 7 Flow 7 Flow Tips and Pointers 7 TIP 1: Body 8 TIP 2: Introduction 8 TIP 3: Conclusion 8 Format 9 Complete Thoughts 9 White Space 10 Readability 11 Conclusion 12 Sample References 13 Introduction No matter where you are at in your life-long educational or professional career you will benefit from honing your technical writing skills. Believe me when I say this; technical writing takes your normal writing skills in a different direction. Some of the things you received praise from in high school composition classes will draw scorn in...
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...Fitzgerald’s use of smooth, flowing sentences and continuous dialogue differs greatly compared to the terse dialogue and almost an insufficient writing style of Hemingway, which affects the portrayal of the characters in each of their novels. The differences in sentence structure and the wording the authors use in their novels conveys different imitations of the characters’ actions or appearances. For example, Hemingway’s use of the Iceberg Principle in his writing in contrast with Fitzgerald’s descriptive and rolling sentences requires different levels of investment from the reader in order to determine the characteristics of each of the characters. Furthermore, the scarcity or abundance of dialogue, depending on the author, influences the...
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...Composition-Eng 115 Section Number 14 Writing Exercise 1: Pre-Writing/Invention Strategies Gordon’s Pre-Writing Experience My Pre-Writing Experience When writing an essay, it is important to organize your thoughts in a meaningful way. The purpose of the essay is to examine and reflect on the effects and experience of the prewriting strategies that I used for week two discussion board on finding a career. The prewriting strategies discussed in this essay are brainstorming, questioning, and freewriting. I will also explain which strategies were the most effective to me, how they were effective, and why they were effective. I will also include an explanation about which strategy was least effective, and how and why it was ineffective. Prewriting is the first and most important step in the writing process. Prewriting is a technique that is used to gather information and put it on paper about what the writer is going to write about. This technique is used as a guideline to strategically give the writer ideas and to keep the writer focused when writing. When beginning an essay, my first strategy is to jot down all of my thoughts on the topic, brainstorm. By taking a few minutes to record my thoughts, I can determine if I will generate enough thoughts to support the topic. The process was easy and painless because I was able to list my ideas without worrying about spelling, grammar, or connecting my thoughts into complete sentences. When writing, I usually brainstorm my ideas...
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...began the recording of my transcript around midday on Sunday, February 5th. In that time, I recorded 30 minutes of writing, since I wished to have access to the largest transcript available. The assignment I chose to focus on was the first journal entry for EDU 406, partially because I had yet to be assigned any writing assignments. However, I also selected my first journal entry because I believed analyzing how I function as a writer through a transcript focused on being a writer tutor would create interesting dialogue. In my transcript I hoped to discover new information about me and my writing process, perhaps some information would have previously escaped the view of my consciousness. While I was creating the transcript I found that this assignment held certain constraints not present in other writing projects. For example, the...
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...Writing about literature can be scary, especially when students are not equipped to fully understand the text and then write about it. Before any writing can be do, students first have to understand the text. That does not mean writing cannot take place prior to reading, and in fact, writing about elements in the text prior to reading may facilitate a better understanding. To prepare students to do such writing, teachers need to structure their classes in such a way that is conducive to maximizing learning. The first step is to understand writing meaningfully about literature can be difficult for young students because what is meant by meaningful is not always abundantly clear to them. One possibility that causes such confusion is that students may think what is deemed meaningful changes with the type of writing. But, for all types of writing, meaningful writing retains similar elements. Students need to know that writing meaningfully about literature includes their personal reactions and thoughts, but that it has to be supported by evidence, through their own analyses of the text or using scholarly analyses. Developing students to understand that writing meaningfully does include their own thoughts is difficult because students are hesitant to trust their own opinions as many teachers want students to arrive at the same conclusions about text they have. When students arrive at their own conclusions, teachers tell them they are wrong, leading students to distrust...
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...great deal of work required, in writing. Throughout my lifetime, I have been required to write numerous essays and papers for various subjects, all requiring different styles and techniques. Before immersing myself in the writing process I would try and think of whom I am writing to and what I am writing about. I always assumed I was writing for the audience of my teacher. Writing an argumentative research paper is something I had yet to accomplish in my college career, not only was it thought provoking, this paper also challenged me in numerous ways, such as, understanding who I should be directing my thoughts towards throughout the essay, as well as the simple steps of organizing my thoughts...
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...with the thought in my head that I was quiter proficient at writing essays. In high school I winged most of my essays and still received high grades, but I was taught in this class that just writing the essay wasn’t all that I needed to do. In the beginning of the class with essay 1 I just wrote it in one sequence, never stopping to try and reorganizing it. My organization skills were off balance and I had trouble with mistaking my corrections for revising. As I made my way to essay 2 and received an 81% I realized that writing in sequential order and not paying attention to the organization of my essay wasn’t going to cut it. I took the criticism on essay 2 and applied it to my essay 3. I wrote essay 3 from start to finish like I normally did because writing out of order still confuses my train of thought. After I finished writing it though, I took it to peer review and really tried to gain something out of it. By participating in the peer review, I got to get constructive feedback that actually helped me revise my essay once I revisited it. Peer review was a positive experience that truly helped me. By the time I finished essay 3, my writing process had become more thorough,...
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...ignorant way I was writing before. Before taking AP English 12, I knew nothing about proper writing styles and literary devices such as allegories, paradoxes, and stream of consciousness. I now know how drastically a paper can change when using the right devices. Not only have I learned proper devices, but I have learned to keep my ideas and pen flowing through a timed essay. I feel as though I have grown exceedingly in the knowledge of not only writing, but also knowing myself as a writer. In the beginning of this class, I knew little to nothing about genuine writing and how it should be done. I once believed it was simply writing your thoughts down on paper. However, I realize now that writing a stunning essay is so much more than random thoughts. The use of proper literary devices can seriously turn a bland idea into an extravagant, eye opening concept. I have learned that writing an allegory is so much more than...
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...Everyone has different uses for writing. Some use it to channel their creativity, some use it as a means of making money and some, like me, use it to vent. I always had writing assignments in school but none of them really had an impact on my life until the summer before junior year in high school. That summer was a terrible summer for me. Nothing went the way I had hoped and I was unhappy. My boyfriend and I broke up the night before my last exam. I would talk to my friends about it but I felt like it became too much for them. I knew they wanted to make me happy so they would listen but I didn’t feel right about putting them through it so I started writing. Whenever I needed a break from everyone around me, I would grab a piece of paper and a pen and just start pouring my thoughts onto paper. It was usually about how I was going through a tough time, which now seems increasingly petty, but at that time paper was my confidant. I wrote everything, even if it was a paragraph, or even barely a line. I used to transfer all the bad thoughts in my mind onto paper and just leave it there. I substituted my friends for paper. Paper wouldn’t talk back or tell me that it wasn’t god for me. It would just listen, absorb, and always be there. And that’s when I fell in love with writing. This is when writing became a habit. When I got over irrelevant boyfriend issues, I still had that craving to write something, anything, so I started writing about my day. If I had had a bad day, I would...
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...My Writing Process in Contrast Writing is a skill required for many aspects of life and being able to write well can set you up for success. Although my writing process is not always the most efficient, as I further my education my abilities strengthen and my writing becomes more proficient. One of the first things I do when I begin a written assignment is put myself in my ideal situation for focus. Weirdly enough for me that setting is most commonly a coffee shop or occasionally a public library. Being in the comfort of my home is too relaxing for me to manage getting any work done. I never write at a lightning fast pace, actually, I might write a little more slowly then I should. When I am writing I typically do not have a long stream...
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...throughout the school year. By doing this he/she has to be motivated to get good grades in assignments, quizzes, and tests. As for me, becoming a better writer means to have my point clear enough so that a reader can comprehend what is written. In order for me to become a better writer motivation is important in order to improve my weaknesses. My main weaknesses in writing are making sure my sentence structure is correct and putting my thoughts together so that they flow. Having motivation to improve will help me look at my sentences and take a step back so that I can make sure they are right. Also, so I can see where my mistakes are being made. It will also help me to do brainstorming exercise when writing papers so that I can make sure my thoughts are executed on paper as well as they are in my head. The first step in becoming a better writer is knowing what needs work and understanding that even our strengths can use some improvement as well. My strengths include good thoughts and understating what I am writing about. My thought process is good when writing and I can easily put together a good essay with good thoughts....
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