Plenary session by David Crystal

This plenary talk looks at some of the linguistic differences in blogs and songs.

About the session

The world in which we live in: Beatles, blends, and blogs

In this talk, David Crystal will take us on a journey from the perspective of linguistic analysis, indicating similarities between blogs and songs as a genre, and the differences between these genres and other modes of written expression.

About the speaker

David Crystal is honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Bangor, and works from his home in Holyhead, North Wales, as a writer, editor, lecturer, and broadcaster. He read English at University College London, specialized in English language studies, then joined academic life as a lecturer in linguistics, first at Bangor, then at Reading, where he became professor of linguistics. He received an OBE for services to the English language in 1995. His books include The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language and The Stories of English. Internet Linguistics: A Student Guide and The Story of English in 100 Words were published in 2011, and Spell it out: the singular story of English spelling in 2012.

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