NCC Home Learning and pleased to announce the release of several new courses across various sectors.
All these courses are now live on our website and are open to enrolment.
Please find a list of these courses below:
Business and Administration Knowledge Certificate Level 2 QCF
Common Health Conditions Certificate Level 2 QCF
Contact Centre Operations Certificate Level 2 QCF
Dementia Care Certificate Level 2 QCF
Education and Training Award Level 3 QCF
Forensic Linguistics Diploma
Infection Control in Heath Care Settings Certificate Level 2 QCF
Information, Advice or Guidance Certificate Level 2 QCF
Learning Disabilities Certificate Level 2 QCF
Interested in one of these courses? Then why not speak to a course advisor who will be happy to assist you over the phone 0800 970 2522
“Usually, we like to promote education, home-learning and our courses. However, every now and again there’s a story that’s so good it needs to be shared. What makes this story so much better is the fact it’s so close to home; this is the story of one of our NCC team members and their quest to discover their roots – it really is amazing what you can find…”
Some say that the subject of Genealogy (researching your family tree) is boring. I beg to differ. Let me tell you the story of “The Crime of The Century.”
In the late 1920’s and early 30’s Charles Lindbergh was the most famous man on the planet. Otherwise known as the Lone Eagle, Lindbergh became famous almost overnight when, aged just 25, he became the first person to fly single handed from New York to Paris, in May 1927.
Following his sudden success, his fame spread and newspapers would report his every move. He was the Kim Kardashian or Justin Bieber of his day. He could not walk down a street without being besieged by fans, clamouring for his autograph.
Then, suddenly in 1932, his life took a sudden downward turn. On the evening of 1st March, his young 20 month old son, Charles Augustus, was kidnapped from the family home in East Amwell, New Jersey. After being alerted to the fact that the boy was missing, Lindbergh instructed his butler to phone the police, and also to inform the media.
After the arrival of the police, a ransom note was found on the window sill outside the boy’s nursery. It was crudely written and in very poor English it asked for $50,000. Rather than letting the police take over, Lindbergh himself took charge of the subsequent investigation in what the papers were calling “The Crime Of The Century.” He appointed Mickey Rosner, a Broadway hoodlum rumoured to know mobsters, to assist in the investigation. He even exchanged mail with Al Capone and Willie Moretti, two notorious imprisoned gangsters, in an attempt to prove that the kidnapping had been carried out by organised criminals.
The ransom was paid, using marked bills and redeemable gold bonds but the infant was not returned. Then, two months after the kidnapping, the child’s body was discovered, just four miles from the Lindbergh mansion. The body was identified by Lindbergh himself, despite evidence of the body having been attacked and partially eaten by animals.
No progress was made for two and a half years, but in September 1934, Mr Richard Hauptmann, a German-born carpenter, attempted to convert one of the gold bonds into cash in a New York bank. He was arrested and a further $15,000 of the ransom money was found in his house.
His trial was held in October 1934 and, following evidence from Lindbergh, his relatives and his servants, together with numerous handwriting experts, Hauptmann was found guilty of kidnap and murder and subsequently electrocuted in April 1936 – four years after the crime was committed. Following Hauptmann’s death, reporters and other investigators came up with a number of questions regarding the way the investigation was run and the fairness of the trial. Questions were raised concerning issues from witness tampering to the planting of evidence. Twice during the 1980s, Anna Hauptmann sued the state of New Jersey for the unjust execution of her husband.
Both times the suits were dismissed on grounds unknown. Even now some experts are still convinced that Hauptmann was innocent. Some even speculate that Lindbergh accidentally killed his own son and then faked evidence to make it look like a kidnap.
The transcript of the trial is fascinating, showing various prejudices and celebrity worship, evident in the 1930s.
Why should this intriguing story particularly fascinate me? Well Charles Lindberg’s butler was English. He and his young wife had emigrated from Birmingham to the USA in the early 1920’s and, after a number of jobs, was employed by Lindberg in 1930 (as was his wife). Some genealogical research carried out by me, revealed that the butler, Oliver Whateley, was my great-uncle! The man who had called the police to inform them of the kidnapping and who also gave extensive evidence at the “Trial of the Century” was related to me!
© – Steve Whateley, Programme Manager
“Some linguists believe that it is possible to identify a person’s ‘linguistic fingerprint’, as unique as an actual fingerprint. That notion is heavily debated within linguistics, but it is certainly true that when we write, we unconsciously leave traces of our personality, place of origin and educational background.”
The term, Forensic Linguistics was first coined by Swedish linguist Jan Svartvik in 1968 in his case study The Evans Statements: A case for Forensic Linguistics. In this study Svartvik analysed several statements supposedly made by Timothy John Evans, who was executed in 1950 for the murders of his wife and baby daughter. Svartvik demonstrated that there were a number of stylistic differences between the statements and this raised serious questions regarding their authorship.
Although there is evidence of questioning of language use in relation to legal contexts as far back as the Judgment of Solomon in the Bible, It is only recently that forensic linguistics has become established as a branch of applied linguistics in its own right. Therefore Forensic linguistics, legal linguistics, or language and the law, can be defined as the application of linguistic knowledge, methods and insights to the forensic context of law, language, crime investigation, trial, and judicial procedure. It should be noted that this definition does not limit the use of forensic linguistics to the solving of crimes but can include the study of the language of the law, courtroom discourses and the language of legal documents such as wills etc.
Examples
In forensic linguistics, we often have to consider what a person meant in a communication: was a threat made, did a person intend to cause offence to someone? In a spoken interaction, we use body language, intonation, gestures and facial expressions to help the addressee understand what we intend to say. Consider intonation in the examples below:
I didn’t say you stole my purse. (someone else did)
I didn’t say you stole my purse. (I said something else)
I didn’t say you stole my purse. (I just thought it)
I didn’t say you stole my purse. (I said someone else stole it)
I didn’t say you stole my purse. (maybe borrowed it)
I didn’t say you stole my purse. (I said you stole someone else’s)
I didn’t say you stole my purse. (I said you stole something else)”
Each example is slightly different depending on which word you stress. It is this kind of subtle difference that is explored in Forensic Linguistics.
Our Course
NCC Homelearning have just released a dedicated Forensic Linguistics course which aims to introduce learners to the discipline of forensic linguistics using examples from real life cases.
Included in the courses are the following:
What is forensic Linguistics?
This provides learners with a historical background and contemporary context of forensic linguistics. Learners will explore the role of the forensic linguist within the legal system and the investigation of crime as well as gaining some understanding of the different disciplines employed within this area.
A framework for analysing language
It will refresh learners’ knowledge of basic structures of grammar and punctuation. It will also introduce concepts and terminology such as semantic and pragmatic meaning, lexical field, morphology and syntax as well as some linguistic sub-disciplines such as sociolinguistics, conversation theory and discourse analysis as well as related theorists.
Language of the Law
It will introduce learners to the unique way in which the law and legal documents are written. Learners will learn how the language of the law has developed in tandem with the historical development of the English language. In addition, learners will concentrate of two types of written legal texts: Acts of Parliament and Wills.
Author identification/forensic stylistics
Some linguists believe that it is possible to identify a person’s ‘linguistic fingerprint’, as unique as an actual fingerprint. That notion is heavily debated within linguistics, but it is certainly true that when we write, we unconsciously leave traces of our personality, place of origin, educational background etc. In this module students will examine the notion of uniqueness by examining the work of linguists in cases such as Bridgewater Four case and the Derek Bentley appeal. Students will carry out authorship attribution tasks by comparing suspect documents to those of known writers. In addition, students will also examine the role of forensic stylistics in suspect profiling and will examine documents from criminal cases to explore what certain features might tell us about the writers.
Courtroom and police discourses
Learners will explore how power asymmetry is manifested in courtroom questioning as well as in police interviews.
- In the courtroom
In order to contextualise these discourses, students will explore the unique setting and formality of the courtroom in Britain as well as the structure of a trial. Students will examine the language of participants in famous trials to discover how power is wielded, who controls the questioning and the impact of question types on the answers given. Students will also consider the notion of whether in linguistics terms ‘we are all equal before the law’, with reference to the work of Diana Eades. - The police interview
Students will examine the context of police interviews by considering police interview transcripts, both pre and post PACE (1984). They will analyse transcripts for turn taking and topic control as well as how recording of evidence affects the questioning process.
Language crimes
It introduces students to the notion of language itself as a crime. Students will be introduced to the laws related to slander, libel, hate crime, bribery, plagiarism etc and will examine and analyse a variety of texts to discuss how far they might be considered language crime.
Please find a link to our course below:
A good manager needs to be able to motivate a workforce to work at their maximum potential. Purely having ‘manager’ added to your job title doesn’t necessarily mean that you have this capability. The difficulty here is that there are certain traits that every effective manager needs to have. If you don’t know what to look for when hiring a manager or you don’t know the skills you need to be a successful manager, then it could lead to failure for the entire company.
Although certain managerial skills can be learnt and improved over time as experience increases, there are certain natural talents that all good managers hold, and unfortunately these cannot be taught in a classroom. Do you have what it takes to be successful in management?
Leadership
This is possibly the most important attribute all good managers possess, but it’s also the one that a lot of managers lack. The issue with the majority of companies is that those in-line for promotion are generally those with the highest personal results. In some respects this is understandable but, generally, it’s not these people that go on to make great managers.
A true leader usually exists a little more under the radar but they’re able to gain trust, provide direction and delegate responsibility. If a manager cannot perform these three tasks they will not make a strong leader.
Although certain leadership skills can be gained over time, a true leader will pick these skills up quickly and use them naturally, rather than as a way of asserting their authority. Every successful manager needs also to be a successful leader, in order to make their team work better, more productively and more effectively.
Communication
Strong communication skills are imperative for all managers. You need to be able to understand and relay the vision of the organisation in a manner that will motivate team members and maintain productivity. You also need to be able to display your appreciation for their work; without this acknowledgement, they’ll lose motivation and willingness to progress.
If a manager is an ineffective communicator, then team members are unlikely to understand what’s expected of them. This can lead to a low team morale and reduced productivity and efficiency, which has the potential to create major problems for a company in the future.
Adaptability
A strong manager needs to be able to adapt to unexpected situations. Business rarely goes as expected and a successful leader will be able to adapt their approach while maintaining team motivation and productivity, even when things aren’t going to plan. If a manager can guide their team through the unexpected, not only will the team be led to even more success in the future, the manager will also display the necessary creative ability to find a solution to any problem.
Developing Others
Allowing employees to stay still and essentially go stagnant isn’t healthy for any kind of business. An effective manager will be able to spot the talents and abilities of their employees and ensure they improve and progress over time. The successful development of other people is an important part of being a good manager and as well as developing skills and talents, it’s about nurturing said talents and channelling them towards improved productivity.
Relationships
An effective manager must have the ability to build strong relationships with employees and potential new clients. However, this is an attribute that many managers still don’t value, despite its benefits being obvious. Establishing good relationships with employees ensures they feel valued in their position and will work hard to put in the extra effort to bring positive results.
If a manager can build empathy and trust in the ability of their team, people will love working under their guidance. In order to build these relationships it’s important to find out as much as you can about employees’ working ability – their strong points and their weak points.
Ongoing Development
The successful manager is the one that acknowledges that there are always problems in business and is constantly working to solve them. Remember that as well as encouraging the development of your team, you need to focus on your own development too, in order to be able to successfully lead your team.
If you don’t progress, the team doesn’t progress. But if you learn how to continue to grow, you’ll also learn how to use the aforementioned natural attributes successfully. Being a good manager isn’t easy, despite what many people believe, because it’s not a skill that can be learnt.