Types of language: ‘Singh Song - English Tuition London



Types of language: ‘Singh Song!’

Teaching notes

You might want to begin this work after an initial reading of the text, as a way of exploring students’ attitudes towards non-Standard forms of English. Canvass their opinions – and ask for honest responses. Do they like this style of poetry? What do they think about Nagra’s use of English? Why do they think he has used this form of language?

Differentiation

Two versions of the student worksheet are included here: page 3 is intended for Higher Tier students and pages 4–5 for Foundation Tier students. The cards on pages 6–7 are for use with either Tier: ideally, enlarge these before cutting them out.

Higher Tier students

1. After the pair work tasks have been completed (tasks 1–3), divide the class into six groups and give each group one of the terms to define. If necessary, allow students access to dictionaries, or to computers (if available) for web research. There will probably be some overlap between the quotations chosen by groups who are defining accent, Punglish and dialect/idiolect and it will be interesting to see the extent to which students can identify the similarities and differences.

2. Next ask students to complete the language scale task. When students have explored their own ideas on the worksheet, you could go on to share these ideas as a class with the following activity:

• Create a space in the centre of the classroom or on a wall to create a language continuum like this:

• A long roll of paper works best (wallpaper or wrapping paper with a white side is ideal), but you can make do with several sheets of A3 or flip chart paper taped together.

• Ask a student from each group to represent the term their group was given. They should have their term, definition and quotations written on a piece of paper, ready to put on the scale. The class will decide where each student should stick their term on the language scale.

• Give the quotation cards on pages 6–7 out, diving them among the rest of the class – some students may need to share. Each student should decide where to place the quotation on the scale and be prepared to explain their ideas.

• When you’ve finished the activity, ask students to mark the position of each term on the scale on their worksheet. Then return to the initial discussion about what they think about Nagra’s use of English, and why they think he has used this form of language. Have their ideas about the poem changed from learning more about the language?

Foundation Tier students

1. Students complete the tasks on the worksheets (pages 4–5). Questions 1–3 are designed to be worked on individually or in pairs, questions 4 and 5 are group tasks and question 6 is for individual response.

2. When students have completed questions 1–3, divide the class into six groups to work on questions 4 and 5. When they have explored their ideas on the worksheet as a group, students should then complete question 6 individually.

3. You might like to call the class back together to share these ideas with the following activity.

• Create a space in the centre of the classroom or on a wall to create a language scale like this:

• A long roll of paper works best (wallpaper or wrapping paper with a white side is ideal), but you can make do with several sheets of A3 or flip chart paper taped together.

• Ask a student from each group to represent the term their group was given. They should have their term, definition and quotations written on a piece of paper, ready to put on the scale. The class will decide where each student should stick their term on the language scale.

• The rest of the class should then bring their ‘attitude’ card and stick it next to their chosen term on the scale, to chart their perceptions of the ‘status’ of these forms of language in society (‘proper’, ‘uneducated’, ‘funny’, or ‘everyday’ might represent some of these attitudes, for example).

• When you’ve finished the activity, return to the initial discussion about what they think about Nagra’s use of English, and why they think he has used this form of language. Have their ideas about the poem changed from learning more about the language?

Types of language: ‘Singh Song!’

Read the poem and, in pairs, discuss your responses to these questions:

1. Do you like this style of poetry?

2. What do you think about Daljit Nagra’s use of English?

3. Why do you think he has used this form of language?

4. In groups, write a definition of one of the following terms, and find two quotations as examples from the poem:

• accent

• colloquialisms

• Punglish

• Dialect / idiolect

• slang

• Standard English.

Be prepared to share your ideas in class.

5. When you have listened to the definitions of the terms in class, decide where on this line you think each term should go – for example, is slang closer to Standard or non-Standard English?

6. Now make a note of either your own or society’s attitudes towards each type of language on the continuum.

Types of language: ‘Singh Song!’

Read the poem and, in pairs, discuss your responses to these questions:

1. Do you like this style of poetry?

2. What do you think about Daljit Nagra’s use of English?

3. Why do you think he has used this type of language?

4. In groups, match up the following terms with their definitions and find an example of each term in the poem. Be prepared to share your ideas in class.

|Term | |Muddled definitions |Examples from |

| | | |the poem |

|Accent | |Very informal words and phrases | |

| | | | |

|Colloquialisms | |A way of pronouncing or saying words that is | |

| | |typical of a place or person, eg a London accent| |

|Punglish | |Everyday or informal words or phrases | |

| | | | |

|Dialect | |The variety of written and spoken English that | |

| | |is generally considered the ‘correct’ form | |

|Slang | |A variety of language (including different | |

| | |sentence structure and vocabulary) which is | |

| | |typical of an area of the country | |

|Standard English | |A language used by some British Asians – a | |

| | |mixture of English and Punjabi | |

5. Now write down where on this line you think each term should go – for example, is slang closer to Standard or non-Standard English?

6. Choose one term and use a piece of A4 paper to create an attitude card, writing down your attitude towards this type of language. Is it ‘proper’ English? Is it everyday or modern or easy to understand, for example? Make sure your writing is big enough to be read by the whole class from the front of the room.

Quotation cards

(

|making fun at my daddy |

|I run just one ov my daddy’s shops |

|she effing at my mum |

|but ven nobody in, I do di lock – |

|cos up di stairs is my newly bride |

|she book dem for di meat at di cheese ov her price – |

|and she wear a Tartan sari |

|on di squeak ov di girls dat are pinching my sweeties – |

|Hey Singh, ver yoo bin? |

|and sit on my silver stool, |

|ven yoo shoppers are wrap up quiet |

|How much do yoo charge for dat moon baby? |

|Late in di midnight hour |

|di tings yoo hav on offer yoo hav never got in stock |

|as my vife on di web is playing wid di mouse |

|from 9 o’clock to 9 o’clock |

|vee share in di chutney |

|at di beaches ov di UK in di brightey moon – |

|a donkey jacket and some pumps |

|Ven I return from di tickle ov my bride |

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non-Standard English

Standard English

A language scale

non-Standard English

Standard English

A language scale

non-Standard English

Standard English

Standard English

non-Standard English

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