II Международный конкурс научно-исследовательских и творческих работ учащихся
Старт в науке
CAREFULLY: SPEAKING CLOTHES
Автор работы награжден дипломом победителя III степени
Полная версия работы доступна во вкладке "Файлы работы" в формате PDF
Nowadays, young people like to stand out. This also applies to teenagers. One of the excretory features is inscriptions on the clothes. Now teenagers try to buy things with bright large foreign words.
The hypothesis is that not everyone knows the meaning of the words written on the clothes.
My work is about the content of the English inscriptions on clothes of teenagers.
The relevance of the chosen theme is that our clothes have become like the podium with the help of which a person has an opportunity to tell the world about the personality traits.
The Purpose of our research work is to establish the connection between meaning of these inscriptions on the clothes and the level of English.
Our tasks are:
1. To explore the origin and peculiarities of perception of English inscriptions on the clothes.
2. To translate popular English inscriptions on clothes into Russian and present the items.
3. To find out if the choice of the contents of English inscriptions on the clothes depends on a person`s age and a good command of the English language.
4. To analyze the results of the survey and make a conclusion.
The Object of our study is the English inscriptions on the clothes of pupils.
The Subject of this study is the information given by English inscriptions on the clothes.
The scientific novelty of this research is determined by the contents of the examination and identification of English inscriptions on clothes. We worked out the materials for the research part, conducted the survey and presented the analysis of its results.
The practical significance of our research work is that after meeting with it people will think about English inscriptions on their clothes. Also our work can be used for extra English courses.
We used such methods as:
-
The analysis of the theoretical literature;
-
The method of the public opinion poll
-
The method of comparison
-
The research method
-
The classification method
Chapter 1
«Historical and semantic characteristics of inscriptions on clothes»
-
-
The "Evolution" of labels on the clothes
-
A T-shirt is a style of fabric shirt, named after the T shape of the body and sleeves. It is normally associated with short sleeves, a round neck line known as a crew neck, with no collar Typically made of cotton fibers knitted in a jersey stitch, they have a distinctive soft texture compared to woven shirts. The majority of modern versions have a body made from a continuously woven tube, on a circular loom, so that the torso has no side seams. The manufacture of T-shirts has become highly automated, and may include fabric cutting by laser or water jet.
Inscriptions on the clothes appeared many centuries ago. And the earliest ones were originated in ancient Greece. Then they could be seen on a variety of Italian and German portraits of the XV and XVI centuries, inscriptions woven into the pattern of men's shirts, women's dresses in corsages which were typically written in Latin. The inscriptions were also presented in mottos of a noble family, or names of the owners of these portraits or dresses.
The word T-shirt became part of American English by the 1920s, and appeared in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Following World War II, it became common to see veterans wearing their uniform trousers with their T-shirts as casual clothing (see application №1). The shirts became even more popular in the 1950s after Marlon Brando wore one in A Streetcar Named Desire, finally achieving status as fashionable, stand-alone, outerwear garments. Often boys wore them while doing chores and playing outside, eventually opening up the idea of wearing them as general-purpose casual clothing.
Printed T-shirts were in limited use by 1942 when an Air Corps Gunnery School T-shirt appeared on the cover of Life magazine. In the 1960s, printed T-shirts gained popularity for self-expression as well for advertisements, protests, and souvenirs. T-shirts with bold slogans were popular in the UK in the 1980s (see application №2).
Current versions are available in many different designs and fabrics, and styles include crew-neck and V-neck shirts.
1.2 Expressive messages
Since the 1980s, T-shirts have flourished as a form of personal expression. Screen printed T-shirts have been a standard form of marketing for major consumer products, such as Coca-Cola and Mickey Mouse, since the 1970s (see application №3). However, since the 1990s, it has become common practice for companies of all sizes to produce T-shirts with their corporate logos or messages as part of their overall advertising campaigns. Since the late 1980s and especially the 1990s, T-shirts with prominent designer-name logos have become popular, especially with teenagers and young adults. These garments allow consumers to flaunt their taste for designer brands in an inexpensive way, in addition to being decorative. Examples of designer T-shirt branding include Calvin Klein, FUBU, Ralph Lauren, American Apparel, and The Gap(see application №4). These examples also include representations of rock bands, among other obscure pop-culture references. Licensed T-shirts are also extremely popular. Movie and TV T-shirts can have images of the actors, logos, and funny quotations from the movie or TV show. Often, the most popular T-shirts are those that characters wore in the film itself. Designer Katharine Hamnett, in the early 1980s, pioneered outsize T-shirts with large-print slogans, launched in 1983, were adopted by pop bands including Wham!, with her "CHOOSE LIFE" slogan prominently displayed in the music video for "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" and somewhat less prominently in Queen's video for "Hammer To Fall". Taylor also wore a "WORLDWIDE NUCLEAR BAN NOW" shirt during Queen's historical appearance at the first edition of Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.At one point, Hamnett met with then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wearing her own t-shirt with the slogan "58% DON'T WANT PERSHING" (The Pershing was a heavy tank of the United States Army), a reference to polls showing public opposition in the United Kingdom against the basing of Pershing missiles in the country. In 2003, at a London fashion show, Hamnett's catwalk models wore shirts with "STOP WAR, BLAIR OUT", a reference to the looming invasion of Iraq.In 2013, Hamnett designed two different t-shirts for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament: "EDUCATION NOT TRIDENT" and "NHS NOT TRIDENT" (NHS - National Health Service). As an additional sign of her commitment to the anti-nuclear cause (application №5).
The early first decade of the 21st century saw the renewed popularity of T-shirts with slogans and designs with a strong inclination to the humorous and/or ironic. The trend has only increased later in this decade, embraced by celebrities, such as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, and reflected back on them, too (see application №6). The political and social statements that T-shirts often display have become, since the first decade of the 21st century, one of the reasons that they have so deeply permeated different levels of culture and society. The statements also may be found to be offensive and shocking. Many different organizations have caught on to the statement-making trend, including chain and independent stores, websites, and schools. A popular phrase on the front of T-shirts demonstrating the popularity of T-shirts among tourists is the humorous phrase "I did _____ and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." Examples include "My parents went to Las Vegas and all I got was this lousy T-shirt"(see application №7). T-shirt exchange is an activity where people trade the T-shirts that they are wearing.
-
-
Semantic classification labels on clothes.
-
The inscription on the clothes - it's not just a decorative element, is the means of communication, which has a variety of semantic content. All labels on clothing (shirts), we tried to be divided into several semantic groups(see application №8).Line, having in its composition:
1. The name of brand. Popular among young people is a symbolism of sportswear as «Nike», «Adidas», «Puma», «Reebok», and so on. T-shirts are popular brands and the fact that, by surrounding them to judge the material well-being of man.
2. Title bands or just directions in music, the names of sports teams. Often you can find T-shirts with slogans:«Metallica», «Linkin Park», «Manchester United». This is one of the easiest ways to meet people, or, on the contrary, people with opposing views.
3. Negative, abusive, obscene words and expressions. This is another proof that the inscription on the dress - it is a way of expression and relationship to others, in this case - the negative, the possibility of not pronouncing the words to express his displeasure, contempt, frustration. For example: «Devilish girls», «Don't copy me!», «Minimum of the contact with surrounding».
4. Funny words or phrases. People with humor opt for: «Princesses don't do dishes and take out garbage», «Same Shirt different day», «Space for free advertisement». This person seems positive and sociable, we instinctively reach for people with humor. In this case, the inscription on the clothes - it's a way to cheer up themselves and others.
5. The expression of a personal relationship to politics, the world around them, and ecology. People who want to express their opinion about the surrounding reality, prefer shirts with calls: «Stop pollution», «Save the earth!», «Stop and think», «Peace and love», «Don` t worry! Be happy!»
6. The call to establish contact with the opposite sex, become acquainted:«Call me!», «Take me to paradise», «Follow me», «My boyfriend is out of town».
7. Neutral value line, which brings no concrete information, and therefore does not comply fully with its communicative task: «Sunday», «Space», «Summer time», «Butterfly».
8. Human characteristics.For example: «Forever Young», «Legendary», «I was born to be blond», «The best kisser in the world», «People like people but I am the Queen», «Born to be Free». That is why it is so important to know how to translate their own label, not to be in the absurd position.
9. Quote. Basically, it is the string of popular songs: «Diamonds are best Girls' Friends», «All you need is rock-n-roll».
10. Challenge to society: «Boxing match between you and me», «Trouble here I come», «Catch me if you can».
Of course, being a product of society, labels on clothes are dynamic, that is, in a state of constant change. Often they reflect some short-term problems.
That is, as can be seen from the above classification, the semantic load labels on clothing is very diverse. In addition, the label has a very powerful communicative potential, and therefore to the inscriptions should be treated with caution.
1.4 Functions of the inscriptions
The inscriptions are very different. They can tell us a lot about a person, in particular, and that this person does not understand what is written on his clothes. Adults, realizing that something can be written not for their age, try to choose clothes without labels. It is a right decision, as opposed to teens who just look at the beautiful style and funny letters.
The strength of the psychological influence of the text is determined not only by the meaning of the inscription, but also by the graphic design of the inscription: style, print, size, color and decoration of letters. Words should be written beautifully, so they are read better.
The color has important influence to perception of inscriptions. Red is a color of leadership and power. It is a strong eye stopper. Saturated colors (crimson, brown, burgundy) convince the client in a success of a company. Pink generates an aura of refinement around the product(see application №9).
1.5 News and scandals connected with inscriptions on clothes.
Over the last couple of years nearly twenty cases were fixed, when because of strange inscriptions on T-shirts, some passengers were not allowed to go by plane. There were jokes about bombs on their T-shirts. Such a case happened with 28-year-old Raed Jarrar. He was dressed in a T-shirt with the inscription in English "We will not be silent" on that day and he was going to sit down at Airport in New York on board the plane. As the channel said, he was told that "to arrive at the airport in a such T-shirt is the same thing that to come to the bank in a T-shirt with the inscription "I am a robber." He was offered to take off the T-shirt and wear it in a wrong side, but Jarrar refused, then he was given another T-shirt that he wore over the first one, because he realized that they really will not allow him to go to the plane.
The famous inscription «don’t worry be happy» appeared in the 80th. This hit by Bobby McFerrin caused the frenzy, which appeared in fashion, clothes of all styles and sizes were adorned with this optimistic inscription.
Chapter2. Sociolinguistic aspect labels on clothes.
2.1. Language of the inscriptions on the clothes.
The inscription on the clothes, as verbal information carrier, has its linguistic features. It must be assumed that the language of inscriptions will be similar in style, choice of words with spoken language, are often determined by the contents of the inscription carrier, regardless of education. That is, one can hardly speak about censorship, the wealth of stylistic devices, expression and diversity of language.
The object of investigation linguistic aspect, we chose T-shirts of students grades 10-11 School №102and members of our online - offline. In the process, it was found that for the linguistic labels on clothing design characterized by the following:
1) Reduced forms: «It's show time», «Don` t forget me »,« Let `s up the volume», «Wanna get you now». The abundance of abbreviated forms confirms the fact that the label on the clothes - it a form of speaking.
It should be noted that the simplification of the language - a modern trend. The modern man in a huge stream of information tends to accelerate, and thus simplify everything, even language, and format clothing creates an enabling environment.
2) The abundance of grammatical and lexical errors: «Two special girl», «I can to fly», «Stop and thinks». Often very difficult to understand the inscription, or at all, it consists of a set of words: «Trouble here I come», «Camal Brain city Design».
3) The prevalence of interrogative and exclamatory sentences:
«Don` t worry! Be happy!», «Have you found me?», «CAN you find a rabbit?», «War is over?». Mandatory, incentive proposals show further communicative orientation labels on clothes, because in such inscriptions surrounding inadvertently overlooked
4) A broken into pieces, which brings no sense:
«Principle of success», «fantastic» (phrase or phrase should be read together). Such cases are extremely rare, but the person who knows the language, be sure to be interested in such inscriptions.
2.2. Reflection of modern society in the inscriptions on clothes.
As a universal means of interaction of man and society, the inscriptions on the clothes reflect many social trends. "Social" means "relating to the lives of people and their relationship to society". According to our survey, it was found that 30% of respondents drew attention to the funny words on the clothes and know how they are transferred. This reaffirms our point made in the first chapter, that the choice of signs should be treated with caution. About 25% of students do not have the slightest idea of the meaning of what is written on their clothes. There is nothing wrong with the content of the inscriptions neutral. The problem is that the manufacturers of T-shirts have long since ceased to worry about the ethics of the inscriptions, which is another characteristic of our society not at its best. Here is an example: T-shirt girls from fifth grade was an inscription: «Kill Barbie». What does find such a call? Unfortunately, the spiritual decline of our society, of some cynicism. After all, the name of Barbie has long been a household name and synonymous with beautiful, pretty girl or a girl. The word has a positive value is placed on a par with a word that has a sharp, negative.
The inscriptions on the clothes in English should be treated carefully because a smart idea sounds ridiculous, if it isn’t properly formulated in a foreign language. During our research, we came to the following conclusions:
-
Diverse semantic content label on the shirt obliges its owner to know not only translation but also be responsible for the basic idea of the utterance.
-
Language of the inscriptions is one species and speaking.
-
Language content label reflects the level of modern language
-
Interests of modern people and their level of culture are reflected in the inscription.
Chapter 3
«Research»
3.1 Methodology of the study
Pupils of our school were tested on:
-
wearing clothes with English words;
-
knowledge of the meaning of written inscriptions on their clothes;
-
paying attention to the English inscriptions on the clothes;
-
information about possible grammatical and spelling errors in the inscriptions;
-
preferences in choice of clothes with inscriptions in English.
Online questionnaire:
-
Name of the respondent.
-
Do you wear clothes with inscriptions in English?
-
Do you know the translation of the text on your t-shirts?
-
Do you pay attention to the English inscriptions on the clothes?
-
Translate the text presented on your clothes
3.2 Findings of investigation
While doing the research on the Internet, I suddenly came up with an idea to ask my Russian schoolmates about the translation of inscriptions on the clothes. 12 people were asked. Students gave 12 wrong answers from 49 (25%).
According to results of my online-poll, where 19-22 people were asked, about 91% of respondents wear clothes with inscriptions in English (see application №10).
All of asked people think that they know the translation of the text on their t-shirts. But pursuant to other questionnaire, 12 from 49 inscriptions were translated wrongly (25%), that tell us that fourth of respondents do not know what clothes “speak”.
About an equal number of respondents pay or don’t pay attention to the English inscriptions on the clothes. About an equal number of asked people choose their t-shirts according to the brand/human characteristics or choose clothes with funny words/with the names of music or sport groups.
Conclusion
Clothes with inscriptions are one of the most popular garments. Almost everyone has it.
The inscriptions on the clothes existed many centuries ago. Both children and adults all perceive English words on the clothes as a stylish finishing element. And it is really a tribute to fashion. The inscriptions on the clothes in English should be treated carefully because a smart idea sounds ridiculous, if it isn’t properly formulated in a foreign language.
The analysis of the collected material showed that the level of English knowledge is connected with using English inscriptions on clothes. We cannot tell about a great valid of our research but our study also showed the inextricable link with the culture of the language level of the individual.
Nowadays, English is everywhere: on the goods and signs of stores, electrical, clothing, on the Internet. It is taught in schools, universities and courses. Inscriptions in English can be thus express way which will help quickly, cheaply and effectively replenish your vocabulary.
It`s important to remember that we are responsible for information on our clothes.
So our hypothesis has been proved. Not everyone knows the meaning of the words written on the clothes in spite of good language level.
Sources of information
I. Used literature
1. Беликов В.И. Социолингвистика / В.И. Беликов, Л.П. Крысин. – М.: РГГУ, 2001. – 317 с.
2. Funnyshirts [Електронный ресурс] – Режим доступа к странице:http://feel-your-fashion.de/
3. Аракин В.Д. История английского языка.- М.(Высшая школа, 1968.-420с.)
4. Борисова Л.М. Из истории английских слов (Книга для учащихся старших классов.- М.(Просвещение, 1994.-95 с.)
5. Иванова И.А. Этимология английских слов. 2000 г. (Интернет)
6. Медведев Я. История английского языка. 1999 (Интернет)
7. Смирницкий А.И. Лексикология английского языка. М.( 2000. –260 с.)
8. Булыко А.Н. Большой словарь иностранных слов.- Мартин, 2007
II. Internet resourses
9. http://www.uni-erfurt.de/eestudies/eese/artic20/witte/6_2000.html#comp
10. http://www.britishcouncil.org/ru/goingglobal-streams-english-language.htm
11. http://www.english-uk.ru/31.php
12. http://www1.worldbank.org/economicpolicy/globalization/
Application №1
Application №2
Application №3
Application №3
Application №5
Application №6
Application №7
Application №8
Application №9
Application №10
19