James Duncan’s Web Page

I (to my shame) only speak English, and have done so from birth. My language development was quite unusual in terms of most children, with initial language development from around the age of one, recognising a British Rail sign and saying the word “train, train” at around 15 months, reading child level texts (eg Meg and Mog) at 24 months, and frequently read to other children at playgroup. By the age of four, I had acquired the ability to read adult level technical texts about trains, the Arthur Ransome Swallows and Amazons series, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by the time I started school. This had obvious benefits in terms of ability to reason and my vocabulary, but set me up for a certain level of conflict in normal education.

An example of this was my interaction with my first school teacher, Mrs Dalquin. Mrs Dalquin was a teacher who seemingly had no truck with any kind of input into education beyond the provision of both worksheets and fairly arbitrarily directed acts of retribution to maintain discipline. As a result of this, I was told that I had to read the provided The Village with Three Corners series, and read the first. I was massively bored, proceeded to read the hardest book in the series and was told that I had to read them all. This was an early example of my language causing conflicts, and this continued throughout my school life.

Another interesting facet of my acquisition of language by reading 3-4 books a week as opposed to through a more normal imitation of the speech of peers was that I was unable to pronounce many words which I was happy both reading and writing, something that caused me considerable embarrassment in adult company at this age. An example of this was my pronunciation of the word “chaos” with tʃ (as in chin (/tʃɪn/)) as opposed to the more normal /ˈkeɪɒs/. This naturally decreased with increased use of these in normal conversation as my peer group increased in age. In addition to this, my best friend’s mother and father were both academics and so this use of technical terms and reasoning was encouraged by frequent dinner table debates with both the two of them and visiting Dons. I do sometimes wonder if I would have become used to using these terms so much if I was purely exposed to a social circle of my own age, as I recall frequently thinking that my infant school peer groups’ use of language and reasoning was extremely poor.

My school development then proceeded fairly normally, although I note that my local schools had somewhat economically deprived catchment areas. This brought in elements of class conflict, and my use of a wider vocabulary was perceived as ‘posh’, even though I was ironically myself from a single parent family at the time and entitled to free school meals. In response to this and the divorce of my parents, I went through a period of both misbehaving in school and using swear words and slang somewhat more in my speech in an attempt to fit in with the children of my junior and two initial secondary schools. It was also noticeable that my ability with language brought me some power in these environments - as a child able to argue points with teachers in the classroom, I was somewhat prone to do so as I liked being able to outargue teachers I disliked. I then moved to an entirely different school through achieving a scholarship to Michael Hall Steiner School, a private boarding school. In this environment, my class status was reversed into being the most urban pupil present. I was still in a fairly rebellious phase (see my previous two expulsions) and so retained the aggressive use of expletives and slang, but this time as a symbol of rejection. This was somewhat mitigated as I got older, and I then left school.

The next major change in my language use was caused by my military service in the TA, where the prevalent sociolect was simultaneously jargon filled, obscene and clipped. The most interesting thing in terms of language was the way that clipped speech indicated a low level of rank, with a noticeable class system. As a lowly new recruit, my speech was supposed to be simplistic and obedient, with a “Yes sir! No sir!” quality. As I was able to discuss things at a somewhat higher level then this, I was told that this marked me out as officer material. The assumption that articulacy indicated a class was also present here, and I was referred to on occasion as a “Rupert”, an Army slang term for an upper class officer. My speech somewhat altered during this time, and I came to learn the tone of command. The tone of command that truly denotes power is not one of explicit demand, more that of a complete assurance that such a thing will be done when you order it and comfort in that role. In this respect, it would seem to bear comparison with the persona of the stage hypnotist - as in this situation, the hypnotist first needs to convince the subject of their authority, and then use that. It would seem that in a high stress situation, similar social assertions and modes of speech are needed for command.

The last major change in my vocabulary came with the move into a sales career, starting off with a business-to-business telesales job selling telecoms products. This necessitates several major skills, but principally those of being able to control a conversation and also to quickly build rapport. I shall detail some of the changes in language needed to do so, although a full explanation would require several volumes. My language became more positive, even to the point of slight coercion through an assumption that my goal would happen. An example of this is the shift from “If we install” to “When we install”, something that helps build up an emotional commitment from the mark if repeatedly unchallenged. Rapport building also helps to create a sense that any contradiction of these assumptions may lead to the removal of that apparently proffered relationship, and so insecure people can often be pressured into a sale. It also foisted the ability to quickly summarise the benefits to the mark of any particular action, and so the realisation that people are interested in benefits to them rather then specific knowledge of features changed my social interactions and ability to persuade others even outside of the sales environment.