ACADEMIC ORACY, Spring 2012 Location and time: D31, Thu 10:50-12:20, odd weeks. Weeks with no tuition, even weeks: preparation of performance, tutor’s office, Gorkého 7, 3rd floor, Thursdays 10-12. Facilitator: Kateřina Tomková, 2060@mail.muni.cz. Office hours: Tue 1230-13, Wed 14-16 and Thu 14-1530. Assessment: active attendance 3pts a session; *assigned presentation up to 10pts; **students’ own initiative presentations up to 20pts; participation in the skit up to 50 pts, final test max. 50 pts. Preliminary Syllabus Date AWARENESS SKILLS Mch 1 Delimitation of the subject. Introduction of projects: 1) Oracy topics below, 2) Skit to perform in early May; 3) Election of best speakers to invite on May 10. Academic contexts. University hierarchy. Films and books set in the Academia (Changing Places, Small World, Educating Rita, Possession, Arcadia, Social Network). *Course administrator: V. Šimůnková. Consistent accent. Segmental sounds. Pronunciation errors. Collection of errors taboo game. Tongue twisters, stress patterns. The most frequent mistakes made by Czech academics. Ideas for skit (links for 2010 and 2011 skits). Mch 15 Election of best speakers. Tomková: Perceptions of Non-Native Pronunciation of English by Native Speakers. **Academic Slang M. Hradilová. **Presentation technicalities and skills V.Hradilová. *M.Ježek: Upton’s Model of RP (Master’s diss.) F. De Smijter *I.Headlandová Kalischová: Intonation Centre (PhD. diss.) Mch 29 The result of best speakers poll; the skit Tomková: Intonation Centre, Investigating English Style. *A.Launer: Social Dialects P. Řeholová, V. Sladkayová . *Katie Fox: Watching the English J. Tomešová *Sociolinguistics V. Šimunková, P. Vyhnálek Apr. 12 **Argumentation skills R. Klimíčková. **Presentation skills II V. Iszáková *Gender H. Šimečková Apr. 26 **Political correctness & research for T. Chýlová T. Tkáčová. **Writing versus speaking R. Ibrahim. **Academic debate A. Halfarová. ** Rhetorics Z. Kanioková. **Academic Style P. Míša Wed., May 2 CREATIVITY ********** NIGHT ********** May 10 Final test. 11:30 Discussion with the elected speakers. . SUGGESTION FOR CREATIVITY NIGHT: An English and American studies konference A new idea, maybe for next year: The Clash of Philosophies. ACADEMIC ORACY CONFERENCE SKIT Beginning. Music of Hallelujah starts playing… Petra and Veronika sing in slightly different clothing than they will have for their speeches: I hope that I – maybe one day Will learn to speak – in a proper way Will master stress – and good pronunci – ation The future though – still seems so far There hasn’t been - such seminar I wish there were – a syllabus to guide me (silent voices, everybody) Academic – Oracy course And now we can – every other week Get lectured ‘bout – how wrong we speak (But) the hell with it – we do embrace – criticism Chomsky would - be proud of us And Jakobson – would join the class If he heard the im - proving stress and rhythm (everybody) Academic Oracy, Academic Oracy Music goes silent. Veronika and Petra go sit on their chairs and change their clothes for speeches. Veronika Hradilová as LaFree Genderziel (LFG) comes to the pulpit. Clears her throat, taps on the microphone and otherwise signals her intention to speak. When the audience is quiet she makes her announcement slowly using pause --- for the audience’s understanding and reactions. LFG: Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, Spectabilis the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Honorabilis the Rector of Masaryk University, your Excellencies Ambassadors, dear participants --- I’m LaFree Genderziel --- the Head of the organizing body --- and it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Back to the Roots English, American, Canadian, ------Australian --- New Zealand --- South African --- Jamaican --- and Pidgin \Studies conference. Professor Doctor Annalaura Margherita Usai-Coccone --- of the Dolce Vita University in San Reno, Nevada, sorry, San Remo, Italy will now address you in her opening speech --- after which this conference’s plenary lectures will be delivered. Jan Chamo- nikolas --- will present his latest paper on FSP, i.e. Functional Sexual Practices, Kidia Ryzlink --- will disclose the state-of- the-art investigations of the --- Queens of Prime --- Katka Prize Nerova --- will inform us about her research in Environmental /Terrorism --- and Steven Hardly will lecture to us on critical and hybrid readings of computer texts/telephone directories . --- Dottorei Professorei Usai-Cocconei, per favorei. AMU-C comes as a stiff academic- hair in a bun, black coat. La ringrazio, Signora Free Sexappeal -------- ---------- Ténk you for inviting me to dís magnífičent évento and I announce da conferenza off Eeenglish, Ameeerican, Canaaadian, ------Austraaalian --- New Zeealand --- South Aaafrican --- Jamaaaican --- and Pidgin Stuuudies as opeeeneda and I ópe it is suck--- (drops notes) fuck---sexeeessfula (throving away her stiff clothes, walking offstage model-style, to music from Godfather. When she sits next to LFG, if there’s no other mic, returns to say it at the pulpit: Oh Goda, it’s so óta eer, can sooomebody redúče the eating? JCh comes, outraged by AMU-C, realizing her folly following the music’s rhythm. Professorei Dottorei Dolcei Vida, the buf/fet lunch is served after the plenary speeches. God, it’s odd now hot it is in here, can you reduce the heating, please? Well now --- Let’s get back to like /conference mood guys, stall we… (tapping the pulpit) I’m Jan Chamonikolas. Anyways, I thank my like predecessor for opening the conference. Now to my topic. The paper I’m about to deliver is a revolutionary contribution to FSP and based on my lifelong research in Functional Sexual Practices. --- For the audience to fully comprehend its relevance I need to tell you about my background. Born in the Prague linguistic circle, --- the illegitimate child of two of its members --- and a surrogate mother --- one of the first such cases of assisted reproduction --- I strongly felt the urge, throughout my childhood, to disclose the correlation between sexual and linguistic behavior in humans. Studying at this department only increased my interest in the degree of communicative dynamism. However, with all due respect to the Brno school, I developed the hypothesis that it all depends on a person’s sex. Thus, to prove this and be able to do fieldwork on both sides of the Atlantic, I had two sex changes done --- and have collected a vast corpus, or rather, corpora, male and female. And you ain’t seen nothin‘ yet! According to Elizabeth Taylor and Lafree Genderziel there are 7 genders //ref. Hana Šimáčková//. Still enormous amount of work to be done. A lot depends on MGA, mental gender arrangement, --- which closely coincides with articulatory settings ---as defined by Honikman and redefined by Boam Tomski. --- I’ve found out that with the upcoming climax, at lest in certain positions, --- women tend to switch thematic and rhematic elements… Petra Řeholová as Kidia Ryzlink comes Kidia Ryzlink, the floor is mine for another 75 minutes… KR (Pushing Jan away) If I may, I simply have to step in here. It’s my academic duty to put things in proportions here. My research on the Queens of Prime has proved that your investigations have been carried out in completely erratic directions. You haven’t considered the diachronic literary and cultural ‘studies points of view at all. JCh There’s no such science, just sex. KR You base your results on your sexuality, and very vaguely defined sexuality at that… Did you say you had a gender reassignment? JR You mean, a sex change? Yeah, twice. From a gal to a man and then back again. --- For the sake of my research. KR And the male sex organ… You still have one? JCh Yeah, I’ve kept the dick for future use. KR Do you think you could possibly use some political correctness? JCh Let’s call things their proper names. I don’t care for such bullshit. KR Chroist, Oi aven’t eiven ad my cuppa tsei. Oim so addzikted tso tsei! JCh The British. They spend half their day drinking tea and the rest doing atrocities to it. So. KR So? JCh So there! KR Ooooaaaaaaaargh!!!!! JCh Interesting. I see here an interesting shift of communicative dynamism to … Heard from the Italian presenter at the back of stage: Mangiare, fumare, far l’amore!!! LFG So… well now… Thank you for this wonderful acedemic exchange of opinions. Laura from the back: Andiamo far l’amore!!! LFG Our Italian colleague requires food, cigarettes and lesbian sex. --- I suggest we all have lunch. --- Let’s sing the conference jingle song! Sing: It’s wonderful, it’s marvelous To be on the linguistic team, oh yes It enhances your self-esteem. It’s wonderful, it’s marvelous To join the culture studies gang, oh yes I wouldn’t know where else to hang.