THEME H: LANGUAGE IN INDIVIDUAL RELATIONSHIPS
The units in this theme look at the ways in which individuals use language to relate themselves to each other. The first three units consider what names reveal about the relationships to which they refer. 'Family names' looks at the way in which the pattern of names used in a family indicates to its members how they stand in relation to each other. 'Personal names' and 'Playing many parts' offer two contrasted ways of exploring how we use names to indicate the nature of our relationships with people of all kinds. They consider the fact that names involve the question of people's status in relation to each other, and that the use of a particular name will be tied to a particular situation and circumstance. In effect, they enable a class to begin to explore the concept of role and the part language plays in differentiating one role from another.
The next four units offer different -ways of exploring language in relation to an individual's social position and the range of roles that lie takes up. 'Changing jobs' considers the degree to which an individual has to adopt new ways of speaking in order to meet the needs of new situations like going to secondary school or taking up a first job. 'Keeping up appearances' is concerned with the use we make of stock notions about particular roles like 'teacher' or 'Student' in order to place people that we meet; and it considers the part language plays in creating and maintaining those stock notions.
'Being natural' focuses upon the degree to which our choice of words is influenced by the people we are talking to and our relative standing in relation to them. Meeting people in a particular place can influence our attitudes towards them because we form expectations about who will turn up where in our own community. 'Pub and club' examines both the part played by language in helping to form these expectations and their subsequent effect upon our response to the way people talk.
The last three units explore two crucial features of individual relationships, the degree of formality involved and the exercise of tact. Keeping one's distance' looks at the ways in which we use language to indicate to others how distant or close we intend our relationship with them to be. 'Being tactful' examines how we use language to show deliberate consideration for the feelings of others, while 'Taking a hint looks at the way in which we use non-verbal means like intonation and gesture to indicate that our words do not mean exactly what they say.