On 21 March Lower IV English Language students headed to London for the emagazine Language Conference in order to listen to a number of speakers on topics related to our A level studies. We learnt the importance of having a stylistics toolkit in order to approach a literary text from a linguistic perspective.

We then listened to speakers with a range of accents to determine how we identify different accent features and the assumptions that we make about the speaker. After a quick break we segued smoothly into forensic linguistics with examples of how language can be used to investigate crime.

After lunch Michael Rosen led us on a hunt through texts to discover conventions and requirements of written Standard English.

Our final speaker was a neuroscientist who was adamant that swearing has a distinct place in both our society and in our brains. A day with definite food for thought.

Dr Lois Beaver