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13PECULIARITIES OF COLLOQUIAL ENGLISH IN TV SERIES
The Internet has opened up a great number of sites for watching TV series, cartoons, shows, movies. Since then learning English through TV series has become one of the most popular and effective activities for learning a foreign language. The purpose of the article is to study some modern characteristics of colloquial English through TV series which are an ideal source of linguistic material. The colloquial style of speech is a dynamic phenomenon, it never stops in its development, therefore changes in lexis, grammar and phonetics are everyday occurrence. While watching TV series the authors have revealed three main groups of characteristics of the colloquial style of English speech. They are lexical expressive, grammatical and phonetic. The largest of them has turned out to be a lexical expressive group. In addition to the main purpose of the article, we have considered the educational potential of some colloquial expressions and words in the classroom.
Keywords
colloquial, spoken, series, grammatical, lexical, phonetic
AUTHORS Yulia V. Novikova
Candidate of philology, Associated Professor of the Chair for Humanities and Foreign Languages in the Azov-Black Sea Engineering Institute 28, Sovetskaya Street, Zernograd, 347740, Russia julienovikova@yandex.ru
Danil A. Sevostianov
First-year Student of the Department for Energy
in the Azov-Black Sea Engineering Institute 28, Sovetskaya Street, Zernograd, 347740, Russia danil240400@list.ru
1. Introduction
Providing foreign languages training in secondary and higher education, it is necessary to take into account their development trends. The modern student needs not only to master classical literary forms and means of a foreign language, but also to sound like a modern native English speaker. Any language being continuously transformed, the main forces of this process are all native speakers. This process is largely facilitated by changes in the conditions of language functioning, which causes the need for constant monitoring of the linguistic and stylistic features of the spoken style of a foreign language. The study of the linguistic and stylistic features of the speech of modern speakers should be firstly aimed at positive changes in the preparation of both schoolchildren and future specialists in various spheres of activity, contributing to their further integration in the globalizing world.
2. Materials and methods
The purpose of paper is to identify the linguistic features of the spoken English discovered in the TV series, the differences of the colloquial style as a functional style of language from other styles of speech.
The achievement of this goal is aimed at solving the following interrelated tasks:
- to give an update on the latest most commonly used expressions we have come across while watching the TV series;
- to provide information about the benefits of watching TV series and some facts about the colloquial style;
- to study the linguistic means expressing the colloquial style in the TV series.
The material for the paper was mostly taken from such American and British series as «How to get away with murder», «Younger», «Animal Kingdom», «Happy Valley» and some others.
The authors used the following methods: analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, empirical method, comparative method, quantitative and qualitative methods of mathematical linguistics.
3. Research
Being aged thirty years old, one strange idea suddenly struck me. I can't formulate some elementary English phrases covering day-to-day communication. I realized that I am not able to say some elementary Russian phrases in English like «Подвинься, пожалуйста», «Запиши меня к врачу». Some time later, I've discovered the world of English and American TV series. Since those times the foreign TV series have become an infinite source of a quite a number of different words, expressions, phrases, situations dealing with colloquial English.
To begin with, I'd like to say that learning English through fiction series is becoming more popular nowadays. There are many reasons for this. The actors and actresses are native speakers (though they have a perfect diction and pronunciation but their speech is best cared for live speech), repetition of characters, setting, or plot structure are effective ways of improving your colloquial speech. All of this often provides additional support for TV viewers. Besides, you can learn and entertain yourself at the same time. You can also develop your listening skills in English and you can easily enlarge your vocabulary.
It is known that English fiction series are characterized by the colloquial style of speech. It is described as «one of the functional styles of the literary language used only in an informal communication or as a stylized means in literary texts» (Sirotinina). Besides the colloquial speech possesses some distinct features. They are dialogic manner, unpreparedness, spontaneity, incompleteness (Kolesnikova). All of them inevitably lead to the changes in all levels of the language system. The colloquial style is usually realized in a form of a dialogue. So it is often influenced by extralinguistic factors. Among them there must be mentioned mimics, gestures and environment. Apart from this, the colloquial style is emotional, picturesque, concrete and simple. It is also notable for a number of deviations from the established norms. It contains contracted forms (don't, won't, shan't), rapid spontaneous speech, possible repetitions (It was very, very good!), phraseological units (to take oneself in hand - взять себя в руки), conjunctionless subordinate clauses (I know he is in the laboratory.), fillers like well, so, the use of slang, the change in the syntactic structure of the sentence, as well as the use of suffixes with a subjective evaluation (childish, reddish) and some other characteristics (Dose).
This leads directly to the next part of our research. We are going to talk about some grammar peculiarities of the English colloquial language. To illustrate this, we will give some examples of grammar peculiarities of the colloquial English:
1. there is a frequent omission of the subject in the colloquial speech:
- Are you busy? Yes, reading the book. - Ты занят? Да, читаю книгу.
2. interrogative sentences are structured in the affirmative ones:
- You're Tim's friend? - Ты друг Тима?
3. the omission of the auxiliary verb in interrogative sentences is often observed:
- Your mother looks after this garden? - Твоя мама следит за садом?
4. the English spoken language is often rich in contractions: a phone instead of a telephone
cause instead of because an exam instead of an examination
5. the Americans contract the whole grammar structures. I'm gonna instead of I'm going
getcha instead of get you
How come... instead of «How did it come about that...?» «Meaning?» instead of «What do you mean?»
5. the use of an intensifying construction. For example, the adverb that has a greater emotional expressiveness and replaces a more neutral so, mostly in negative sentences:
- It is not that simple. - Это не так просто.
6. the use of a double negation. It is considered to be a mistake, especially in writing. According to the rule, there can be only one negative element in a sentence:
- I can't get no benefit. - Я не могу получить никакой выгоды.
- I don't see nothing. - Я ничего не вижу.
7. conjunctionless subordinate clauses:
- I know he is in the laboratory. - Я знаю, что он в лаборатории.
8. the use of the Past Simple instead of the Present Perfect. Giving up the Present Perfect in favour of the Past Simple has become so commonly used that the use of the Present Perfect has been reduced to a minimum in the everyday communication (King). For example, «Did you go see «Red heat» with Arnold?»
9. The English colloquial spoken speech is also characterized by the use of a question in the form of an affirmative sentence:
- You have been to school? - Ты был в школе?
10. the frequent use of the modal verb would in different kinds of sentences especially in the interrogative ones:
- Why'd you do it? -Почему же ты так поступил?
In the given example and many others would has a meaning of astonishment or distrust.
11. the use of the Present Continuous Tense to talk about future plans and arrangements:
- I'm going to Spain (on Friday). - Я уеду в Испанию (в пятницу).
Before moving on, we should sum up what we've already presented by so far. The colloquial English language is characteristic of quite a number of grammar peculiarities. In our opinion, all of them tend to economize language means.
Apart from some grammar perculiarities of the colloquial English speech there are a lot of lexical perculiarities of the colloquial speech characteristic of TV series. Here are some of those ones we've revealed while watching TV shows.
1. the use of phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs are very important in colloquial English because they are often used instead of more formal standard words. Here are some examples of their using for citing: find out instead of discover turn up instead of arrive let down instead of disappoint fall out instead of argue break down instead of stop working (machine) take smth out on smb instead of vent one's anger
2. get is a verb with many different meanings in the colloquial English. Here are just a few of the more common ones: receive, understand, become, arrive, take, fetch.
3. in the colloquial English we do not use much and many on their own, except in negative sentences, instead we say a lot of:
There's a lot of food on the table. There are a lot of people at the meeting.
But! In the negative sentences we should use much and many, but not a lot of: There isn't much food on the table. There aren't many people at the meeting.
4. the use of neologisms:
In the colloquial English a 10 note is called a tenner. A 5 note is called a fiver.
«It's a reach» instead of another informal expression «it's all talk and no action». («How to get away with a murder»)
She does four days on, four off. instead of She works four days, then she rests four days.
- Why are you so mean? instead of Why are so angry?
5. the use of idioms and set phrases:
Shall I apply for this job? - Go for it! (meaning to try to attain a goal)
Speak of the devil. (it is said when a person appears just after being mentioned)
Duty calls. (said when a person has to get it back on the track)
pour salt in the wounds - сыпать соль на раны
You have nothing but skin and bones. - Кожа да кости.
- May I review? - Take your time. - Можно я повторю? - Не торопитесь. Not to see the forest for the trees. - Не видеть дальше своего носа. Let's not beat around the bush. - Давайте не ходить вокруг да около. Leave first thing tomorrow. - Уехать завтра первым делом.
5. telling the time. English-speaking people often say ten instead of ten o'clock: I'll meet you at ten.
half ten instead of half past ten
6. three ways of talking about obligation have to, have got to, must but must is not so common in the colloquial English - have to and have got to are more usual:
- We have to go now.
- We've got to go now.
7. there has been also observed the frequent use of interjections.
8. the use of slang phrases:
I'll kick your ass. - Я надеру тебе задницу. Don't mess with me. - Не связывайся со мной. Give me a break! - Не гони! Man up! - Выше нос! («Younger»)
9. the use of dialect words. Some series we have seen are of British origin. The best example of it is «Happy Valley». It has been possible to understand it only with subs. There are two reasons for it: dialect words and their pronunciation. As for the latter, we will deal with it a bit later in our paper. Here are some dialect words we have discovered.
me instead of my - It's me son. - Это мой сын.
10. the use of swear words:
Informal speech would be incomplete without a mention of curse words. Words such аs damn, shit, and fuck show up in casual speech. Depending on the context and the speakers, profanity can be humorous, awkward, offensive, or insulting.
As one could witness the lexical peculiarities of the casual English speech are as common as the grammar ones. It is difficult to say which ones of them are more specific of the spoken English. It mostly depends on the type of a series. If it is a British series it
is most likely to come across some dialect words and neologisms. If it is a series of American production it is likely to hear a lot of swear words and phrasal verbs.
The third part of our paper will cover up some pronunciation peculiarities of the colloquial English. Here is a list of a number of them we have discovered in the watched series.
1. the pronunciation of the days of the week: ['s^tedei] formal instead of ['s^tedi] informal
2. going is often pronounced as [gene];
3. examples of relaxed pronunciation in English are wouldja (for would you), it'd (for it would, often pronounced as id). By the way, the notion of the relaxed pronunciation which we have just mentioned is a phenomenon that happens when the syllables of common words are slurred together (en.wikipedia).
4. the open-mid back unrounded vowel [a] turns into the open back rounded vowel («Happy valley»). Compare:
disgusting [dis'gAstiQ] instead of [dis'gostiQ] upset[Apset] instead of [opset] troubled[trAbled] instead of [trobled] with me brother ['brAde] instead of ['brode] come this far [kAm] instead of [kom] touch [tAfl] instead of [to£|
5. the h-dropping is the deletion of the «h», which is often observed in the words her, heat, and hangover.
6. One can not help mentioning the American version of pronouncing the word hurry [h3:ri] versus its British pronunciation ['hAri]
7. In all words which have the [o] in the British received pronunciation turns into the [A] phoneme in the general American (ex. hot [hAt], rock [rAk], bother [bAde]).
Before passing to Conclusion, we would like to recap the main points of the third part of our research. So the TV series are characterized by a large number of pronunciation peculiarities. The most important of them are a consequence of slurred forms. The others should be considered as particular cases.
4. Discussion
It should be also necessary to raise the issue of the importance of studying the colloquial style of communication in practical foreign language classes in Russian non-linguistic universities. This problem is not new and has repeatedly become the subject of research interest from different perspectives (Lilienthal, 2017, Yakobson, 2017, Babarykina, 2013, Tsaryova, 2015, Popova, 2014, Bagdadyan, 2014). As Solovyova has noted, referencing to educational standards, to teach communication in a foreign language is mostly the task of secondary school (Solovyova, 2011). However, teaching to speak English in general and its conversational style, in particular, although it is not a priority task of higher education. Nevertheless, it could introduce significant diversity in the educational process and arouse considerable interest among the youth audience. The small number of hours allocated to the study of foreign languages, as well as the task of forming professionally oriented language competence among students in non-linguistic universities, do not allow them to fully realize the preparation for real communication in the language through colloquial expressions. However, some additions could be made to the structure of the lesson. As you know, depending on its goals and objectives, the lesson includes organization moment, checking up the homework, new material, class work, summing up, giving the homework. It would be quite appropriate to create non-standard communicative situations at the stage of he organization moment. Instead of the usual topics about the weather and the absent, it would be possible in a conversational style to ask students
questions about their lives, health, important events, interests (What's up? How are you keeping?; What are you busy with? - Reading for my exams/Getting ready for the League of the Institute.). In addition, during the lesson various spontaneous situations often arise (It's hot. I'll open the window. - Don't worry, I'll get it; Could you do me a favour? - Sure, no problem.; Where on earth is Lena? - She's at the dean's office. I'll go to get her. etc.) In addition, expressions of students'work, approval or disapproval of the results of their work could also become more conversational: Hurray! You've made it! Keep it up! Oh, boy! Oh, dear! Sounds great!) A positive response from students may also be expressed in using various kinds of colloquial abbreviations: university - uni, laboratory - lab, midterm examinations - midterms, consultation - consult, student's record-book - record-book. Thus, there are many ways to create a natural language environment and communication situations without harm for the implementation of general cultural and professional competences in a non-linguistic university in foreign language classes for learning a non-traditional vocabulary for such higher educational institutions.
5. Conclusion
The key issues of our paper are leading do realizing the educational importance of watching English and American series because they are a rich source of quite a number of linguistic peculiarities of expressing the colloquial English. The most commonly used of them are grammatical and lexical ones. This is mostly due to linguistic and extralinguistic factors. Renewing life, scientific discoveries constantly require a new name, and the language as a living system responds to it. On the whole, one could state that they enrich our vocabulary, make our speech richer, let us speak in the same English language as the natives do and also get to know better another culture. The only disadvantage about some of these colloquial phenomena is that sometimes they make it difficult understand native English speakers. But it is worth struggling for.
On the whole, we strongly recommend to regularly watch TV series paying attention to the different peculiarities of the spoken language.
REFERENCES
Babarykina, T.S. (2013) Elective course «Spoken English» for pupils of senior high school. Scientific and methodical electronic journal «Concept», 3, 11-15. https://e-koncept.ru/2013/13526.htm.
Dose, S. (2013) Describing and Teaching Spoken English: An Educational-linguistic Study of Scripted Speech. Retrieved March 18, 2019, from Geb-uni-giessen.de (access date: 18.03.2019).
King, G. (2005) Colloquial English: A Complete English Language Course / Edited by Routledge. New York. Retrieved March 20, 2019, from https://www.twirpx.com (access date: 20.03.2019).
Kolesnikova, K.T. (2018) English and German languages: peculiarities of speaking speech. Electronic scientific and practical journal «Youth Scientific Herald». Philological sciences. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://docviewer.yandex.ru (access date: 13.03.2019).
Lilienthal, N.N., Jacobson, A.A. (2017) From sustainable speech structures to mastering English spoken language. Collection of publications on the results of the international scientific and practical conference of lEiK. Under the general editorship of V.D. Seryakova. Retrieved March 10, 2019, from https://www.twirpx.com/file/2641061 (access date: 10.03.2019).
Relaxed pronunciation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relaxed_pronunciation (access date: 19.03.2019).
Popova, A.S., Bagdadyan, I.V. (2014) Features of teaching English taking into account social and cultural relations. International Journal of Experimental Education. 4-1. 216-219. http://expeducation.ru/ru/article/view?id=5389 (access date: 19.03.2019).
Sirotinina, O.B. (2014) Dictionary reference. Electronic edition. Siberian Federal University; Edited by A.P. Skovorodnikova. Krasnoyarsk.
Solovyova, I.V. (2011) Spoken practice of teaching English in the classroom to non-linguistic universities.
Pedagogical Sciences. 4. (123-130) Tsareva, A.V. (2015) The development of speaking skills in teaching English. Science and Education in Transport.1, 289-291. Retrieved March 30, 2019, from https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=25609326 (access date: 30.03.2019).
MONETARY INCENTIVES FOR SCIENTISTS OF HIGH-TECH ENTERPRISES IN RUSSIA
The increasing global competition in world markets, the development of high-tech industries based on the latest scientific achievements require increasing the share of innovations to maintain the competitiveness of goods, works and services, as well as to accelerate scientific and technological progress. In order to achieve results and increase the dynamics of economic growth in the context of sanctions, the state and large companies need to form new principles of human resources management and purposefully stimulate scientific research. The authors have proposed criteria for evaluating the results of scientific activities in order to stimulate the efforts of scientists financially by setting a premium for their scientific degree. The mechanism of formation of the allowance is based on the fulfillment of a set of criteria and has not only a stimulating function, but also a strategic one - increasing the publication activity of employees and creating an innovative image of the organization through the accumulation of scientific potential. The mechanism is especially relevant for innovative enterprises of high-tech industries in Russia.
Keywords
criteria for evaluating the results of scientific and intellectual activity, enterprises of high-tech industries, science, mechanism for evaluating the results of the work of scientists, premiums for academic degrees, financial incentives for scientists
AUTHORS
Olga N. Rimskaya
PhD in Economics, Associate professor Head of the Department of Scientific and Technical Information Joint Stock Company "Russian Space Systems", Moscow 53, st. Aviamotornaya, Moscow, 111250, Russia olgarim@mail.ru
Irina Y. Kalgannikova PhD in Philology, Associate professor Lead Consultant of Department of Military Education of the Central Personnel Administration of the Ministry of Defense of Russia Counsellor, 2nd class, RF civil service, Moscow kalgannikova@yandex. ru
Vladislav S. Kranbikhler
Postgraduate, legal counsel Joint Stock Company «Mikran», Tomsk 51-d, st. Prospect Kirova, Tomsk, 634041, Russia pro85@list.ru
