- Clothes make the person: to what extent are we what we wear?
- Speak that I might see you: the relationship between personal language use 9idiolect) and personal identity.
- Good Tase/Bad Taste: in what ways are we defined by what we like?
Examples of INVESTIGATION TITLES and chief examiner’s comments
‘How will I speak to you?’ (Speak that I may see you’)
My investigation is into how I use language and mode of address in different contexts and how they influence the way I am perceived by others. I did this by examining how I speak in three different situations creating different types of feedback. Here are my findings
Fine. Useful idea to include the concept of feedback in self-perception.
‘Me and You-tube’ (Good taste..)
My investigation is into the relationship between the internet and a person’s attitudes and values. I did this by examining how You tube is influencing my persona and my attitude to others in my group of friends. Here are my findings.
Danger! You tube is a very big phenomenon. You really should tighten down the focus on, say, specific elements of You tube.
‘Me and the X Factor’ (Good taste,,)
My investigation is into the impact of the way the media, by disseminating ideological attitudes, affect self concept and self esteem. I did this by examining how the mode of address of presenters in the ‘The X Factor’ influences my and my friends’ values and attitude towards others. Here are my findings.
Yes, Clear focus on specific programme.
‘Celebrity style and me’ (Good taste..)
My investigation is into how celebrity style can affect an individual’s persona and behaviour. I did this by focusing on the ‘performances’ (Goffman) of the contestants in ‘I’m a celebrity get me out of here’ and analysing their influence on the way I relate to others. Here are my findings.
Very topical, but could be simply too much material; you may have to limit the number of contestants. The main focus is you and your relationships!
‘Jordan and a clash of cultures’ (Good taste..)
I investigated into how perceptions of beauty and glamour change over time according to cultural attitudes and values. I did this by analysing and comparing how celebrity role model Jordan has influenced my ideal self with how Maria Callas influenced my grandmother.
Very interesting idea! I think the historical dimension will be interesting as a comparison but be careful to keep to 500 words!
‘Top bloke on Top Gear’ (Good taste…)
My investigation is into how representations of masculinity are projected and amplified by the media and their effect on cultural attitudes to gender. I did this by analysing how my and my friends’ self concept and attitude to others are being influenced by Jeremy Clarkson’s public persona. Here are my findings.
Be careful that this isn’t just a media impact analysis. Evaluate the different degrees that the Clarkson persona affects self-concept between the three of you. He also writes for the Times!
‘We don’t speak language; language speaks us’ (Speak)
My investigation is into the gate-keeping process of using different linguistic paradigms in different contexts. I did this by analysing the registers used by three teachers and their effect on the students and myself. Here are my findings.
Good clear focus on specifics.
Celebrity style and me
My investigation is into the impact of celebrity style on self esteem. I did this by looking at how fashion retailers replicated celebrity style and its impact towards young people and self esteem. Here are my findings.
· The meaning of self esteem (high and low)
· My style and identification with others (how I perceive people through their style)
· The impact of celebrity style and the acceptance of others on my self esteem
Perhaps even better if focused on a few specific celebs
“The Voices of Me”
My investigation is into how I use language in different situations and how that affects the way people perceive me. I did this by analysing how I speak in two different situations and people’s reactions to me. Here are my findings.
· Idiolect - Register, how I talk normally.
· Work – Less pronounced accent, RP/Standard English. Polite, new paralanguage, no taboo, professional.
· Friends – More pronounced, dialect variety, taboo, more outgoing.
Fashion vs. me
My investigation is into how fashion changes a individual’s image and how different fashion styles change the way those people behave. Who decides what is fashion? And who decides what and why we wear certain clothes? Here are my findings .
· Self image / esteem and fashion
· Why does fashion impact on me so much?
· How does fashion adapt my image and what does it do
Gaming on line
My investigation is into the relationship between how I speak whilst online gaming and true identity. I did this by considering my speech patterns during games and comparing them to how I speak with my parents . Here are my findings.
-Communication during games and parents
-My personal identity
-Links between the communication and my personal identity
Excellent idea; personal and focused
Me and The Kings Of Leon
My investigation is into how Kings Of Leon affect my appearance and my persona. I did this by comparing myself to them and seeing what similarities we have. Here are my findings:
· My Clothing style and theirs
· My Body image and theirs
· My persona and theirs
Me & My Shoes under 'Good taste, bad taste'? No problem! Making the sharp link with personal identity. 'I am what I wear' - it's a good, close focus.
My family and our language - again good personal close focus on that one aspect of language (idiolect) with an interesting challenge built in is it idiolect or sociolect within a family? There could be a comparative element, as in 'compared to... other families, compared to language use among my friends, etc.'. All that Language and identity stuff is fertile ground..........Toys'r'us is a nice idea! Again, under 'Good taste, bad taste'? Ideas about taste are important - family tastes as markers of class are very important. The close focus, the personal focus, always important. The theoretical bits can emerge from work on identity, personae, self--concept, perception, etc.
Lynne: Good Taste/Bad taste - Are we judged by our image? How important are the opinions of others? Do we do this for ourselves or others?
Mark: Speak That I might See You: the relationship between personal language and identity. He has 2 very different sides to his family one very posh the other not so. And he is expected to behave and talk differently whichever he is with. And how this affects his identity.
Char: Good Taste/Bad Taste: how her belongings reflect her personality. Looking particularly at her bedroom, and what this says about her. Or she could do this topic related to her taste in friends.
Ben: Speak That I might see You: the language used between groups in his secondary school and how that helped shape identity. Looking at the different sub-cultural groups e.g. chavs, sporty, emos, surfers/skaters, nerds, boffs etc.
Mackie: Speak that I might see you: the difference in language use between the 3 rols he plays: student, teaching assistant, son/sibling. How this affects his identity. Using Goffman.
Roshni: Speak that I might see you: She is bi-lingual - born in Nepal but married to an Englishman. How language affects her identity, given that she is 2 different people in different arenas.
Danny: Speak that I might see you: language and gesture and how these shape identity. In formal and non-formal situations.
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