World Englishes: Lesson 5

Hi everyone, 

In today's lesson, we learned about Australian English. This will be the last "inner circle" variety we'll learn about in our course. From next week, we're going to learn about the "expanding circle" varieties. 

Social Varieties of AusE:
One of the most distinguishing features of Australian English (AusE) is that there are three distinct dialects: Standard, Broad and Cultivated. Remember that this does not include the different varieties spoken by Australia's Aboriginal peoples. 

​We completed an activity that classified the features of these three dialects, and then listened to different dialect samples. 

We didn't go into the phonological features of AusE. However, it's important to know about the "high rising tone," and the negative and positive connotations associated with it. You can review this feature using the slide presentation. 

Vocabulary:
For the last part of class, we learned some culture-specific vocabulary. Also, we focused on the use of "clippings" in AusE. These are like abbreviations, but have diminutive suffixes added to them. For example, the word sunglasses becomes "sunnies" and lipstick because "hippie." 

Homework:
1. Lecture preparation #5

• chapter 7 notes on Indian English (download the worksheet for questions in the Lecture Preparation section)

2. Listening Task #3: Standard and Broad Dialects

• watch the two videos and complete the two worksheets for each dialect (see the Listening Homework section for videos, etc.)