Metalanguage is a most sophisticated critical thinking skill used in the analysis of language itself. (“Broadly, any metalanguage is language or symbols used when language itself is being discussed or examined.”) The “Circularity” of metalanguage can be confusing in principle, but not so much in practice. That is to say, we use metalanguage all the time, usually unaware that we are doing so. (Think of a favorite book or television commercial, then trying to explain to a friend WHY that book or advertisement is good–THAT’s metalanguage. Now, think of how difficult it is to try to convince someone why they should read that book or like that television commercial–THAT’S why metalanguage is such a sophisticated and important critical thinking skill in Higher Education.) In the FOUR USES OF LANGUAGE in our last lesson, CONNOTATION or FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE is what’s most often thought of as metalanguage.
Assingment
Choose a favorite TV commercial. Submit the URL link for this assignment on top of first page of your written assignment below.
Writing Assignment (at least 600 words)
1. Provide link
2. Describe the commercial in detail. (one full page or 300 words)
3. EXPLAIN WHY this commercial is so EFFECTIVE (300 words)
Some metalinguistic terms to help with your assignment: 1. TARGET AUDIENCE (for example, beer commercials have two dominant target audiences: Young people and Heavy drinkers or Alcoholics). 2. Other terms and methods of analysis (that is, metalanguage) are nicely covered in the following YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8qxE_pFJ7U
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