Students learn about Local Dialect - Young Reporter Tom Robinson

Students from the City of Stoke-On-Trent Sixth Form College learn about Local Dialect. On the 15th of December students from the City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College studying A-Level English Language attended a Lecture at the Brampton Museum in Newcastle-Under-Lyme lead by Dr Catherine Burgess who was one of the Guest curators putting on an exhibition about local history. Throughout the morning, students read many different texts published by writers from the potteries and explored the different language and slang words that people from the previous generation spoke the Potteries Dialect. Throughout the morning Students were able to read and discuss about the different poets and the different slang words that people in the ‘Potteries’ used and the different views of the potteries at the time. When talking to Dr Catherine Burgess she said: That she was inspired to create the exhibition about Stoke-on-Trent because the collections officer at the Brampton Museum had asked her to show the literature that was written in the potteries and Stoke-on-Trent is different to other areas because of the characterization of the potteries through the deprivation and the people who lived there. Being able to learn about the local dialect was important because we were able to understand why people speak the way they do in Stoke-on-Trent, and we also get an understanding into why there are phrases such as ‘Aye up me duck’ that is a famous saying from the potteries area. Without knowing where different dialects would come from would mean that we are not able to learn about our local history and how people lived during the mining and potteries era within Stoke – on – Trent. The Brampton Museum holds a lot of exhibitions throughout the year and in December Dr. Catherine Burgess curated and is open on Tuesdays to Saturdays at 10:00-17:00 and 13:30 – 17:00 on a Sunday to find out more about the exhibitions going on in The Brampton Museum visit https://www.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk/museum to find out which exhibitions are being curated throughout the museum.