English Language Framework

LANGUAGE

FRAMEWORK

LEXIS

• Lexis means vocabulary of a spoken language - the total stock of words 

• When you're analysing spoken and written language you'll notice words that share a similar topic or focus. For example, in an advert for mobile phones you'd find words such as SMS, text-messaging and battery life. Words that are linked together in this way are known as a lexical field.

SEMANTICS

• Semantics is the study of how meaning is created through words and phrases. Sometimes the meaning is implicit. A word will have a literal meaning but can also be associated with other meanings

• For example, the word red, refers to a colour, but it can also be associated with danger.

GRAMMAR

Grammar is the system of rules that governs how words and sentences are constructed.There are three parts to this:

1) A system that groups words into clauses according to their function (e.g. nouns or verbs).

2) A system that rules about how these types of words function in relation to each other (syntax).

3) The individual units that make up whole words (morphology).

PHONOLOGY

• Phonology is the study of sounds in English - how they're pronounced and how they're combined to make words.

  This framework included Non-Verbal Aspects of Speech (NVAS) or prosody - features of spoken language such as pace, stress, rhythm and intonation.

PRAGMATICS

• Pragmatics is sometimes called language in use. It's about how social conventions, context, personality and relationships influence the choices people make about their language.

• For example, how you address other people shows levels of formality and social conventions - a student might address a teacher as Miss Rogers or as Lizzie depending on what the school expects, and what the teacher find acceptable.

GRAPHOLOGY

• Graphology is the study of the appearance of the writing and the effect this has on a text.

•   When you discuss a text's graphology you describe and analyse features like the typeface, the positioning of text on a page and the relationship between text and images

DISCOURSE

• Discourse is an extended  piece of spoken or written language, made up of more than one utterance (in spoken language), or one sentence (in written language)