Do you think you could assess my essay? i really like the way you give feedback and am learning from your feedback to others so thanks!
here is my essy: - 55 mins 795 words -- also if you could provide a ballpark marking for it thatd be awesome (i know its hard to do and doesnt matter if youre way off or anything but just wanna know)
TOPIC: What does Australian English look and sound like today, and how does it reflect our identity as a nation?
[STIMULUS SHOULD BE ATTACHED]
Australian English is a major variety of English used across Australia, containing many distinct linguistic features making it look and sound unique to other Englishes. It serves as a fundamental token of the Australian national identity and is forever adapting to reflect this ever-changing notion. The Australian accent is arguably our most salient feature which has undergone great change and is an important bearer of history in regards to our identity. Australia’s use of slang and taboo language contribute to manifesting the national identity. The multiculturalism of Australia has bred many ethnolect varieties enriching the perceived Australian identity. Language use in Australia has adapted and currently is indubitably an important medium to express the modern Australian identity.
The Australian English vernacular reflects the history of the nation and the values that are instilled in Australians. The abstract noun ‘mateship’ or the common noun ‘larrikin’ are examples of distinctly Australian lexis which reflect the self-perception of the Australian identity as they value solidarity and comradery (mateship) and actually endorse boisterousness and cheekiness within a good hearted person (the modern idea of a larrikin). Instead of adopting the rhotic emphasis on /r/ that Americans are characterised by, Australians have continued to pronounce words like butter as /bʌtə/ showing the Australian perception of being laid back, easy going and unwilling to conform to American pronunciation. The broad Australian accent is internationally recognised as being iconically Australian, despite it only being spoken by the minority today. The accent veered up the continuum towards the more prestigious cultivated accent late 19th century as an inflow of British immigrants arrived and the Received Pronunciation became prominent. Then during the First World War, in order to distinguish Australians from the British the accent moved away from cultivated towards broad again which played a significant part in developing the Australian identity. The general accent is the middle ground and is the most popular accent spoken nowadays in Australia by roughly 80 per cent of the population. This accent is as Bruce Moore describes it, our “bearer of history” and maintains our identity by still sounding undeniably Australian but avoids the negative stigma often associated with the broad accent.
An underlying aspect of Australian English is the inventive and spontaneous use of colloquial language particularly in regards to swearing allowing us to invoke humour and reflect our values of informality and mateship. Australians take pride and show morphological innovation in their use of diminutives such as ‘servo’ for service station and the more taboo word formations such as ‘shit-faced’ for drunk. Dave Hughes demonstrated this bold sense of humour in last year’s Melbourne Comedy Festival when he employed the innovative expletive ‘whoop-de-fucking-do’. Our fondness for such colloquial usage transcends our counterparts in British and American English, which demonstrates the Australian identity and how easy-going and laid-back we are in the way we see humour from irreverent language. One only has to look at the plethora of idioms used in Australian English to sense our colloquial and humorous personalities. At a recent funeral I attended, the idiomatic expression “even though he’s carked it, he’s still here with us,” was used, showing that even in the most formal and sincere of contexts this characteristic of Australian English is present and playful colloquial language is therefore an innate characteristic of our identity.
Australia has developed becoming increasingly multicultural morphing our national identity to an egalitarian society. Waves of immigration entering Australia late in the 20th century brought many different cultures and ethnolects into Australian English. These ethnolects have entrenched themselves into Australian society deriving many of their linguistic features from the speaker’s first language. One example is the South Asian ethnolect which is characterised by the monophthongisation of the phonemes [oʊ] and [eɪ] to [ɔ:] and [e:] respectively, given that the South Asian languages are devoid of diphthongs. These differences mark group boundaries and symbolise identity by differentiating them from other English varieties. As a nation, the numerous accents and ethnolects present help shape the Australian identity as diverse and welcoming of other cultures. Many film-makers fail to recognise how Australian English looks and sounds today and continue to display Australia with the one iconic Australian accent. However, the modern egalitarian identity has been recognised by the Australian community and pleas for a wider array of accents to be represented have been seen. This strongly demonstrates how the large abundance of varieties in Australian English reflects the diverse and multicultural identity of the nation.
Australian English contains its own distinct look and sound. Its unique look regarding lexis, taboo language and idioms reflect the united, relaxed and humorous nature of the Australian identity. The iconic sound of the Australian accent and the myriad of ethnolects hold the essence of Australian history and construct the egalitarian national identity.
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