By Miss Perri (English Teacher)

Our Sixth Form English Language students had an exciting end to the last half-term, welcoming Professors Rodney Jones and Jane Setter from the University of Reading.

To complement their studies of language and technology, students were gripped by a lecture on the sociolinguistics of TikTok, exploring how identities are constructed online, how indexical meanings create humour, and the complexities of cultural appropriation. Students were encouraged to view their social media content with a fresh perspective, developing their critical thinking skills: ‘I learnt how apparent cultural appropriation is in the media and how it usually goes unnoticed’.

The second lecture focused on the experiences of studying linguistics at university level. Students were given a taster of the topics they might expect to study, such as how language works on a grammatical and phonological level; how people adapt their language for different contexts; how people learn languages; and how ideas and policies about language can affect wider issues of social inclusion, equality and social justice.

We look forward to welcoming the University of Reading back to BGS in the future to further enrich the knowledge of our budding linguists!