Phatic and Transactional speech

One semi-helpful definition would be:

What is the difference between transactional and interactional language? Brown and
Yule (1983: 1) suggest that, whereas transactional language expresses “content”, the
task in hand, interactional language has the function of “expressing social relations
and personal attitudes”. I take it that this very broad definition of interactional talk,
includes ritualised politeness, and other forms of attention to the face needs of others,
as well as more directly relational language such as small talk or gossip.

- taken from http://www.ling.ed.ac.uk/~pgc/archive/2002/proc02/hewlett02.pdf


You can also find definitions at http://www.teachit.co.uk/attachments/spoklng2.pdf-- as part of a handy-dandy definitions checklist!

Hope this helps!

U6 English Language-- Acquisition

An excellent Language Acquisition website--

http://www.routledge.com/textbooks/0415281032/links/language.asp

-- this links to a lot of obtuse university-level papers; but you can also use it to navigate through QCA and school-based sites, which will provide you with a lot of data, especially on children's writing. A good start for a couple of hour's Internet research!

I amaze my teaching friends!

This post was posted to verify the fact that all my fellow teachers are throughly impressed with me. Honest!

GCSE Mock Examinations-- Revision Sites

Hey y'all!

A few online resources to help you on your way:

http://www.englishbiz.co.uk/

Once you get past the cheesy lingo-- "this is the biz!"-- this is a pretty comprehensive website.

http://www.gcse.com/english/

I get the feeling that a lot of this site is advice for the "just-squeakin'-over-the-C-grade-borderline" brigade, but there might be something of use for you here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/

You just can't beat a bit of BBC Bitesize-- though again, some of the advice is pretty basic. That said, there's lots of interactive features here, which can make for a refreshing change in your revision schedule.

Ther's plenty of other sites-- try typing the names of your texts into Google (UK sites only!) and you'll find plenty of school-based sites that offer extra help on all aspects of your GCSE English Language/ Literature.

Good luck on your mocks!

Punctuation Websites

If you need a general introduction, and some basic rules about punctuation, you can go to:
http://s170032534.websitehome.co.uk/punctuation.html-- it's a bit wordy, but covers all the basic stuff. The BBC also has a guide-- http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A597143, which does the same thing.

Another good 'all-round' guide is http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/.

Commas

For specific resources on comma use, try to the following:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/punctuation/commas/

This is the BBC 'skills' website-- it's quite interactive, and relatively straightforward to use.

http://www.ssdd.uce.ac.uk/learner/grammar/commas.htm

A bit 'wordy', but covers everything.

Punctuating Speech

http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7/Fanzines/punctuate.html

This one's got a few basic rules.

I'll post more sites if needed, but these should be enough to get you started!