Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/21456
Browse
2 results
Search Results
Item The evolution of Received Pronunciation over time: An acoustic analysis of the Queen‟s Christmas broadcasts(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Ilfa, I.; Chandrasekera, N.This study presents a longitudinal analysis of some vowels from the annual Christmas broadcasts produced by Queen Elizabeth II over a period of 70 years in order to investigate whether adults adapt to sound changes taking place in the community. The sound changes that were analyzed in this study concern the tensing of the final vowel in words like “happy” which is sometimes known as “happY tensing” in British English Received Pronunciation over a period of 70 years. The sample of this study was Queen‟s 7 Christmas broadcasts: 1957(the first recording), 1967, 1977, 1987, 1997, and 2007 and 2017 where there was a gap of 10 years between each recording. The rationalebehind selecting this sample is that the Christmas broadcasts are one of the very few recordings of the same person producing similar materials under similar recording conditions annually over a period of almost 70 years. In order to come into conclusions, the chosen words from the recordings were phonetically transcribed and compared. The findings of the study showed that Queen‟s 1950s happY vowel is less tense compared to recent years. It was noticeable that there was a change of open vowels /ɑ,ʌ,ɒand ӕ/, change of /ɒ/ sound to /ɔ:/ and change of final /I :/ sound words to /i/ at present compared to the past.According to the findings of this study, it can be concluded that there is evidence of accent change within the same individual over time and that the Queen‟s vowels in the Christmas broadcasts have shifted in the direction of a more mainstream form of Received Pronunciation. These findings could be utilized in the field of sociolinguistics to develop an awareness of how an individual‟s accent changes over time.Item Awareness and Perceptions on Politically Correct Language among University Undergraduates(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya. Sri Lanka, 2019) Randhuli, I.; Ilfa, I.Politically Correct Language which is commonly known as PC is among one of the neglected areas in the society. However, Politically Correct Language is vital because it avoids offence of any form, discrimination, judgment, especially concerning ethnicity and gender. Due to several reasons, in present Sri Lanka there are many parties who promote politically incorrect- racist, sexist content to achieve personal agendas. Hence significantly, this research intended to investigate instances where politically incorrect language is used in various domains of society. When concerning media, in the recent past, there were several instances where politically incorrect language, which is offensive to many parties, has been used. Many people are unaware of the language they use being as such. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the awareness and perceptions of this issue among fifty undergraduates in Sri Lankan universities. The rationale behind the sample was the assumption that the participants belong to a group which possesses a considerable level of education and therefore possesses the knowledge to detect such language in use. An online survey and face to face interviews were conducted in order to obtain data. Thus, both qualitative and quantitative methods were utilized to gather data. The obtained data was analyzed using SPSS and thematic analysis. The study considered (i) whether or not the participant identifies the problem with the content (ii) whether the participants identifies the exact terminology/ meaning of the content (iii) whether or not he/she possesses the knowledge to choose an alternative correct substitute. The findings revealed that most of the undergraduates were able to identify certain politically incorrect terms and content regardless of the categories. They also suggested that politically correct language is important and should be implemented in certain fields. However, it should be noted that some posts were not recognized and those issues need attention. The findings are useful to develop the use of English with political correctness in society, to objectify politically correct language and to promote the importance of politically correct language.