PART 1 LANGUAGE IN CULTURAL CONTEXT

Language and Gender

1. How can language be gender-biased? 2. How does language reinforce stereotypes or culturally received ideas about what different genders do, and don't do, think and don't think? 3. Does language reflect our world, or does it create it? Is English really a non-sexist language because it has no masculine and feminine forms? 4. Is there a difference in the way men and women use language to achieve the same things? What are things that men can get away with saying but women can't (or viceversa)?
Language and Communities

1. 2. 3. 4.

How do people express their allegiance to a particular community through language? How is language used to define a particular community? What kinds of practices define a community? Who owns English?

Language and the Individual

1. How is language used to construct one's identity? 2. How do people use one or more languages in various contexts to express their individual identity? 3. How do individuals define themselves according to the practices of a community? Language and Social relations 1. How is language used as an instrument to show social, racial and class differences in various texts? 2. Why are certain forms of language associated with certain social statuses? 3. When is language used to exclude? to include? Why? Language and Taboo 1. Why is a certain audience shocked by the use of certain language? 2. What do taboos say about cultural values and shared beliefs? 3. How is language used to break taboos? Fairy Tales and Cultural Context 1. Why are there marked similarities in fairytales across different cultures and countries? 2. What has influenced the changes that have taken place in fairy tales?

3. What do fairy tales tell us about cultural values and beliefs? 4. How do symbolic representations in fairy tales reflect their differing cultural contexts?

PART 2 language language and mass communication

1. 2. 3. 4. How can we determine the influence of the media? Why is colour important in visual texts? Why is context important? To what extent do features (e.g. form, style, context) in texts suggest the intended audience? 5. How does the form and style of a text reflect its purpose? 6. How does context affect formal elements, structure and content? 7. In what ways do texts manipulate and shape our thinking? 8. To what extent do the media have the potential for educational, political or ideological influence? 9. How can we learn to identify biased language? 10. How does the context of a text help us understand its biased use of language? 11. Bias has a fairly bad reputation. Does good bias also exist? 12. Is it even possible to avoid bias? 13. How are the media trying to persuade and shape the public opinion or a culture?

PART 3 LITERATURE -TEXTS AND CONTEXTS

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. How essential is the setting (historical, cultural, social) to the content? How would this text differ were the setting / environment / context to change? What role does environment play in the development of the plot and of characters? How is the text influenced by the time in which it was set and/or written? How can we assess the reliability of narrative? How important a vehicle is imagery in advancing the themes of the text? In what ways do the circumstances of production and reception affect the meanings of texts? 8. To what extent are the formal elements of the text, genre and structure responsible for influencing meaning and context?

PART 4 LITERATURE - critical study

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. How does the writer explore the main themes of the text? How is Form used to further the writers ideas? What is the effect of the figurative language on the reader? How does the writer create sympathy or empathy? What role does language play in the development of key ideas and themes?