Language Matters - Genre Analysis: Book Reviews


Look at the following book review. How many typical features of the genre can you identify? Think   about things such as layout, organisation, content, style, and language features.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/20/the-well-catherine-chanter-review-novel

Now compare your own analysis with that below.

 

Layout and Content

1. The article headline is : a) printed in large bold font and b) gives the book title and author’s name and indicates that the article is a review possibly adding a comment on the book which may be part of the headline or in a “teaser” summarising the content immmediately underneath. Example –the review headline and the three lines following.

2. Under the headline there is a photo of the author (eg: this text) and/or the book cover (see the texts listed below).

3The text is divided into relatively long paragraphs in comparison to other journalistic genres. They may have 6 or more sentences, (eg paragraph 2 has 10).


Content and Organisation

1. The review starts with a comment on the book (paragraph 1), the setting is described, the plot summarised and the characters introduced (paragraphs 2 and 3), and the article concludes with the writer’s opinion on its quality (paragraphs 4 and 5).

2. After the main body of the article, there are details of how the reader can buy the book. Example: The final sentence with a large bullet point.

3. Quotations from the book are included to back up points the reviewer is making. Example:  In the final chapter, her narrator, Ruth, goes in search of “a book of British wild flowers, because I think I may not know the right names for some of the things I have seen”.

4. The writer attempts to place the book within a specific genre and indicate what type of reader would enjoy it. Examples:  What manner of book is this? Murder mystery? Science fiction? / Fans of the once-upon a time, read on.

5. References to other writers and comparisons with other works abound – the reviewer knows   s/he is writing for an educated, literary audience and presumes these references will be understood. Example: While from a distance, the story of a country in which the rain stops falling looks like environmental SF in the mould of Margaret Atwood, or John Christopher’s The Death of Grass,... 


Style and Linguistic Features

1. Frequent use of apposition when characters are described - eg:  Ruth’s wayward daughter, Angie, and their beloved grandson, Lucien

2.  Direct personal style using  first and second person pronouns, and possessive adjectives 

a) Comments on the book are given using the first person and the reader is addressed directly. Example:  The extent to which the novel works for you will depend on your ability to do soIn the end, I fell short. The lack of rigour felt to me like...

 

b) In addition, first person plural pronouns are often used to indicate that the reviewer   identifies him/herself with the reader. Example It’s Chanter’s steadfast refusal to provide us with straight answers that gives…

3. Rhetorical questions are used. Example:  What manner of book is this?

4. Literary style with eg frequent use of metaphor and imagery. Example: the odds are stacked against him. 


If you missed any of the features, have a look at the following reviews and see if you can find examples of the same feature. Find some other examples too from any newspapers or magazines which you have access to.  The more articles each feature occurs in, the more sure you can be that it is a “typical” feature of the genre.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/widows--orphans-by- michael-arditti-book-review-tale-with-a-bleakly-comic-dark-side-10111654.html

https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/jan/30/review-the-catalyst-helena-coggan

There is also a further feature not present in the first review, but which is a common linguistic feature of the genre:

5. Adjectives with evaluative meaning are used to give the reviewer's opinion, sometimes premodified by intensifying adverbs. Example (from the review of The Catalyst): ...became unique and intensely gripping


 




Using the Phonemic Script in the Classroom

This article looks at the use of the phonemic script in the classroom. It discusses and provides references to sources which discuss the following questions:

  • What are the advantages of using the phonemic script in the classroom?
  • What are the disadvantages? With which learner types and in which learning contexts might it not be appropriate?
  •  If phonemic symbols are used in the classroom, how can they be introduced and taught?

 

a) What are the advantages of using the phonemic script in the classroom?

1.  The frequent lack of correspondence between the written and spoken forms of words in English means that the pronunciation of each word must be explained and practised as it is introduced – and the phonemic script gives the teacher a time efficient way of demonstrating any differences between the spelling and the pronunciation. . For example, learners can easily be shown how the addition of the letter “e” in the spelling can change a preceding vowel (eg not vs note - /nɒt nəʊt/); or how some letter sequences are unpredictable in their pronunciation  (eg cough /kɒf/. though /ðəʊ/, through /θruː/, ought /ɔːt/ etc).

2.  If the phonemic script is used as explained above, the learners can also note it in their vocabulary records. This means that when they revise the word, they can also revise the pronunciation – which by then they may have forgotten

3.  If the phonemic script is used in the classroom, Ls will gradually become familiar with it. This will increase their autonomy as they will be able to check the pronunciation of new words met outside the c/r with the help of a dictionary (though see point 10 below).

4.  Any Ls who need to understand native speakers of English will need to understand (though not necessarily produce)  the features of connected speech (vowel weakening, elision, assimilation, gemination etc) in order to decode reduced forms of utterances such as “He won’t be expecting it” /iː wəʊmp bɪjɪkspektɪnɪt/. The use of the phonemic script again allows the teacher to demonstrate the changes between the pronunciation if the words in their citation form and the connected speech version.

5.  Feedback : The phonemic script is again a fast and efficient way of following up on errors in pronunciation overheard by the teacher. The teacher can use the board to contrast the learner’s pronunciation and the correct pronunciation.

6.  The phonemic script also “enables the students to comprehend the elements of pronunciation visually as well as aurally” (Celce-Murcia et al., p. 54). Providing a visual representation of the pronunciation of the word, may make it more “concrete” and memorable – especially for learners with a visual learning preference.

 

b) What are the disadvantages? With which learner types and in which learning contexts might it not be appropriate?

7.  It is time consuming, and if pronunciation is not a course priority, the time needed may be better spent on other areas which reflect the analysis of the learners’ needs. This might be particularly important on short courses.

8. There are a number of learner types who will be learning the Roman script for the first time. To introduce a second set of symbols will only cause confusion. This includes:

a)  Beginner learners whose L1 does not use the Roman script – eg Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic speakers.

b)  Some ESOL learners who may not even be literate in their own language and are therefore learning to read and write for the first time.

c)  Very young learners who are unable to or just starting to learn to read and write in their own language (kindergarten and early primary learners).

9.  Additionally, these young learners are not analytic and will be acquiring rather than learning the language. Accurate pronunciation will therefore develop though mimicry and repetition rather than explanation.

10.  There are several different versions of the IPA symbols used to represent English sounds. The one most usually used in the classroom is, in my experience, Adrian Underhill’s phonemic chart. However, dictionaries often use different symbols and this can confuse students. For example, the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English transcribes the vowel in bed  as /e/ while the online dictionary Vocabulary.com transcribes it as /ɛ/.  This can confuse students.

 

c) If phonemic symbols are used in the classroom, how can they be              introduced and taught?

See the following:

Adrian Underhill,  How to Introduce the Pronunciation Chart to your Class

Teaching English, Using the phonemic chart for autonomous learning

Teaching English, Young Learners and the Phonemic Chart

Teaching English, Remembering the phonemes

Teaching English, Vocabulary Recycling and Revision of Phonemic Symbols


If you need to learn to read and write the phonemic script, whether for classroom use or a TEFL exam such as the Cambridge CELTA or DELTA, and the Trinity College Cert TESOL and DipTESOL, this post and the tasks it includes will help: Learning the phonemic script