Question 1. (3 marks) Consider the following statement: “Language X is dying more quickly than Language Y.” Give three possible reasons why Language X might be dying more quickly than Language Y....

Question 1. (3 marks)
Consider the following statement:
“Language X is dying more quickly than Language Y.”
Give three possible reasons why Language X might be dying more quickly than Language Y.

Question 2. (4 marks)
Consider the following examples:
1. Stop talking so loudly.
2. It’s a bit hard to hear what’s going on in here.
3. Sorry but could you possibly speak a little more quietly?
(A) Explain the differences between these three strategies in terms of how they each function as
requests for somebody to speak more quietly. Be specific about the mechanisms involved. (3 marks)
(B) For what reasons might these different strategies be selected? (1 mark)
Note: Your answer to (B) should not be just a rephrasing of your answer to (A).

Question 3. (4 marks)
This question is about the documentary Buckskin:
(A) Why did the German missionaries compile a description of Kaurna? (1 mark)
(B) How long did it take the missionaries to compile their book and what did they document first?
(1 mark)
(C) Why is such missionary language documentation important for Jack Buckskin’s (and others’)
revival of the language? (2 marks)

Question 4. (9 marks)
1.
1 Eddy Oh I’m sure we can get on at San Juan Hills.
2 That’s a nice course, I only played it once.
3 Guy Uh huh.
4 (1.0)
5 Guy It’s not too bad,
6 Eddy Huh?
7 Guy ’s not too bad,
8 Eddy Oh.
9 (1.0)
10 Eddy What time you wanna go.
2.
1 A and she stole five hundred from Jodie
2 B from who?
3 A Jodie
4 (0.3)
5 B She did
3.
1 P Can we turn to Indo-China for which you received the Nobel
2 Peace Prize in nineteen-seventy three. That deal did not
3 bring peace to Indo-China. Was there any part of you felt a
4 fraud in accepting it?
5 (0.2)
6 K Felt a what?
7 P A fraud in accepting the Nobel Peace Prize.
8 (0.5)
9 K I wonder what you do when you do a hostile interview
There is an instance of an ‘other-initiated repair’ sequence in each of these examples. For each
example:
(A) Identify the ‘trouble source’ (.5 marks x3)
(B) Identify the ‘repair initiator’ (.5 marks x3)
(C) Identify the ‘repair solution’ (.5 marks x3)

Note: your answers to (A-C) can cite the relevant piece of text, or just mention the line number(s).
(D) Explain how the repair initiation used in each example led to the specific repair solution that
was given. Be specific, using evidence from the example to support your answer. (4.5 marks)

Question 5. (4 marks)
1.
38 Viv: It’s not done? the potato
39 Sha: Ah don’t think so,
40 (2.2)
41 Nan: -> Seems done to me how about you Mi[chael, ]
42 Sha: [Alright] who cooked
43 this meal
44 Mic: Little bit of it isn’t done
45 Sha: Thats right.
2.
01 Wes: Did Beth and Legette dance any?
02 Vir: No Beth danced with Paul most of the time.
04 (0.9)
05 PR: -> Oh Paul was there too?
07 Vir: Yeah.
For the arrowed line in each example, answer the following questions:
(A) How was the speaker of the arrowed line ‘selected’? (1 mark x2)
(B) Did the arrowed line then ‘select’ a subsequent speaker, and if so how? (1 mark x2)
Note:
Make clear which example you are talking about (quote the number of the example in your answer).
Question 6. (4 marks)
A survey was taken of people between 18-25 years old who speak Language A. It was found that a
specific subset of these people use a sociolinguistic variable ‘X’. Many sociolinguistic variables are
known to be markers of socioeconomic status or class. However, this survey found no correlation
between the use of variable ‘X’ and the socioeconomic status or class of the speakers or of their
parents.
(A) What are three possible explanations of the significance of this variable? (3 marks)
(B) How would you find out which of these possible explanations is the right one? Be specific. (1
mark)

Question 7. (8 marks)
Suppose that 50 people from completely different parts of the world were brought to an isolated
island where they would stay indefinitely. Each of these people speaks a language completely
unrelated to everybody else’s. On the first day, nobody could understand a single word anybody else
said. Imagine what would happen over the next 100 years. Now answer the following questions:
(A) What would be the likely properties of the communication system used by the first generation
people (that is, the first arrivals)? (2 marks)
(B) What would be the likely properties of the communication system used by the second
generation people (that is, the first people born on the island)? (2 marks)
(C) How would this situation be different from the known historical development of languages in
colonial history? (2 marks)
(D) If one of the original languages gained prestige, what would be the likely properties of the
communication system used by inhabitants of the island after 100 years? (2 marks)