15 July 2010

RP and register


I am having the damnedest time talking/ writing recently. I'm not sure who I am to whom right now. Do I say 'quite like' to an American friend? Why did I start saying 'quite like': am I just trying to sound British? And 'proper'. I feel like I purposely started using phrases, writing e-mails in certain ways, spelling with 's' instead of 'z, but now I can't tell why I'm doing it and how other people perceive it.

I have to do it when I mark (or wait, should I say 'grade' here?). I have to do it when I write for my supervisors and publications in England. I don't have to do it here, but I find myself doing it.

If only I knew someone in academic literacies research who could sort this out for me... If only...

Unrelated, I also have had a couple of bizarre instances of stuttering the last month. Like I just can't get my words out.