News A Level English Language Conference 23.01.2020

On Tuesday, two Upper Sixth English Language students listened to lectures from academics at the forefront of language and linguistics study when they attended a conference at Notting Hill and Ealing School.

The three wide-ranging lectures began with a discussion of inherent cultural and historical bias in the OED from Professor Charlotte Brewer of Hertford College, Oxford, followed by a lively discussion on how their lexicographers are working to rectify this imbalance.  Dr Sophie Holmes-Elliot of Southampton University shared fascinating data from her studies into why teenagers are the leaders of language change, with sound clips ranging from Stormzy’s use of the invariant tag ‘is it’ to clips from The Crown to investigate developments in Received Pronunciation. The day ended with Dr Rebecca Woods’ (University of Newcastle) discussion of her cutting-edge research into child language development and how toddlers know more about grammar than we all think!

It was a fascinating day and a great opportunity to hear from academics at the forefront of English Language and Linguistics study.