Photo – students pictured with educator, Dan Clayton

Miss Perri (English Teacher)

On Wednesday 2nd March, our A Level linguists had the pleasure of visiting Friends House, London, to listen to an array of fascinating speakers.

The day kicked off with a talk on accentism, where students learnt about studies involving participants rating personality traits such as friendliness and intelligence, purely based on the sound of someone’s voice. Next on the schedule was a discussion into the most commonly spoken word in the English language – ‘the’ – and all its nuances, zooming in, in particular, on the language of Donald Trump!

A quick break was followed by a poignant session which encouraged students to look at headlines through a critical lens, and recognise how racial stereotypes are reinforced by the media. In the afternoon, students learnt about how we use language to navigate the world and move in and out of social spaces, code-switching and adapting according to particular contexts.

Finally, the keynote speaker was welcomed with resounding applause. Deborah Cameron gave an illuminating lecture about what makes studies into language and gender newsworthy, picking apart interesting findings such as MRI scans supposedly proving the differences in genetic makeup between the sexes, and how this impacts upon interpretations of language. 

Students were very positive about the day and were able to make clear connections between the conference and their units of study. They have made insightful contributions in lessons since attending, and have had lots of fun completing Blooket quizzes to consolidate all of the information!