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Video

Can We Help?: 'Bought' or 'brought' and radio code

Changes in the use, pronunciation, and meaning of common everyday English words happen all the time. Professor Kate Burridge explains that we can see this in the way people increasingly switch the past tense of the verbs 'buy' and 'bring'. She also answers a viewer's question about why 'Roger' is used on two-way and CB radios.

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Can We Help?: Got or gotten? What a nightmare!

Words have a history. Knowing their history helps us to understand what they mean and why some people use them in different ways. Professor Kate Burridge explains how the use of the past tense of the verb 'get' (gotten) has changed, but is still in use by many people. She also discusses the history of the word 'nightmare'.

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Can We Help?: From possessive apostrophes to discombobulation!

People often worry about the use of apostrophes. See how Professor Kate Burridge answers a question about how to use the apostrophes after certain names, telling us how the rule has changed over time. She also explains the origins of the word 'discombobulate' and why the plural of house is not 'hice'.

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Can We Help?: Word histories: how extraordinary!

Words can change over time and so can their meanings. The word 'extra' broke away from other words to become a word on its own. Professor Kate Burridge explains how this impacts on words like 'extraordinary'. She also explains the origins and meanings of the words 'hearse' and 'rehearse''.

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Voice of the People: The Aussie Accent: Whaddya reckon, mate?

Imagine a world where everybody sounded exactly the same when they spoke. What might that be like? Are there 'good' and 'bad' ways to speak? In this clip, listen to the opinions of many people about whether Australians have a bad accent.

Video

Can We Help?: Challenging grammar rules, darlings and crowbars

Find out that what appears to be a straightforward grammar rule behind the use of the words 'fewer' and 'less' may not be as straightforward as it seems! Professor Kate Burridge explains that this grammar rule has been under challenge for centuries. She also explains the origins of the word 'darling' and why the 'crow' ...

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Can We Help?: Changing letter sounds and butterflies

Have you ever wondered why you can't just add a prefix such as 'in-' to the beginning of a word to make its opposite? Professor Kate Burridge explains how a prefix is influenced by the sound of the letters that come after it. She also gives two explanations about the origins of the word 'butterfly'.

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A resourceful guide to prefixes and suffixes

Do you know what a prefix and a suffix is? Watch this clip as it explains what they are. Can you think of some words that have been created using a prefix or a suffix that are not included in this clip?

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How many versions of the English language are there?

Did you know that in Australia the way we use, pronounce and spell some words is different from the way they are used, pronounced and spelt in America? Can you list all the countries in the world where English is used? See if you can think of countries not mentioned in this clip.  

Audio

Big Ideas: Evolving English and the role of social media

How many times have you heard teenagers berated for using the term 'like'? Yet this term has existed at least since 1586 when the term, 'Yon man is like out of his mind' was written into history. The truth is, our language is constantly evolving, with new words added, others dying off and some resurfacing again. In this ...

Video

Can We Help?: Why do we say the words the way we do?

What kinds of things might influence the way we pronounce words in English? Professor Kate Burridge explains why knowing when 'kilometre' came into English helps us to understand why it is pronounced differently from similar words such as 'kilogram' and 'centimetre'. She also explains what it means to 'barrack' for a team.

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Can We Help?: Words and sayings over time

Have you ever wondered where sayings like 'hanging by the skin of your teeth' come from? Professor Kate Burridge explains the origin and meaning of this saying. She also explains the opposite word (antonym) to 'misogynist' (someone who hates or has a long and deep prejudice against women) and the origins of the word 'goodbye'.

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Can We Help?: Dude: American words and pronunciations

Where does the word 'dude' come from? Why do speakers of English often pronounce words differently depending on their country of origin - not only because of their accent? Find out with Professor Kate Burridge when she takes on these questions from viewers.

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Can We Help?: Vanishing words: the process of language change

The English language is full of strange contradictions and vanishing words. Have you ever wondered why we sometimes put words together that contradict each other, such as 'pretty awful' or 'terribly good'? If we can be 'ruthless', can we be 'ruthly' as well? Watch as Professor Kate Burridge explains these curious irregularities ...

Online

CEOWA early literacy intervention

This teacher resource describes the Catholic Education Office of Western Australia's (CEOWA's) successful Early Literacy Intervention strategy, which provides intensive daily individual reading and writing intervention for the lowest-achieving students in year 1. Organised in nine sections: Summary; Target student group; ...

Online

Making the links: literacy across learning areas in secondary school settings

This teacher resource describes a collaborative learning strategy sponsored by the Catholic Education Office of Western Australia to improve the ways literacy across the curriculum is perceived and taught. The strategy was implemented in up to nine schools and involved six mentor teachers, 70 teachers and 600 students. ...

Interactive

Words and pictures: beginning letters

Meet Di, an artist who paints phrases. Help Di paint three pictures by matching words that begin with the same two consonants. Choose two words that begin with the same letter pattern such as sheep and shoe. Select a third word to make a phrase, for example a sheep under a shoe. Watch as Di paints a picture of the phrase.

Interactive

Letter planet: sh, ch, th

Help a stranded space traveller return home by filling three fuel tanks with words that have the same letter pattern. Select words with combinations of 'sh', 'ch' or 'th'. Read and listen to model words. Select similar words with the same pattern and place them in the fuel tank. Then construct sentences by putting words ...

Interactive

Words and pictures: final letters

Meet Di, an artist who paints phrases. Help Di paint three pictures by matching words that end with the same two letters. Choose two words that end with the same letter pattern such as lamb and comb. Select a third word to make a phrase, for example a lamb under a comb. Watch as Di paints a picture of the phrase.

Online

Smarter Schools approach to teaching beginning reading and spelling

This is a teacher resource about the Smarter Schools strategy successful implemented by 30 Catholic and independent schools in Tasmania to improve the progress of students in reading and spelling. The strategy uses mainly an oral language approach to teaching phonics and phonemic awareness in an integrated and systematic ...