...Jeanne Kelly Guieb Kenneth De Torres Use of the Dictionary A dictionary is a very important tool for anyone who is learning a new language. With a good dictionary you can do the following: * look up the meaning of an English word you see or hear * find the English translation of a word in your language * check the spelling of a word * check the plural of a noun or past tense of a verb * find out other grammatical information about a word * find the synonym or antonym of a word * look up the collocations of a word * check the part of speech of a word * find out how to say a word * find out about the register of a word * find examples of the use of a word in natural language Kinds of Dictionary Descriptive Dictionaries The truth of the matter is that today virtually all English language dictionaries are descriptive. The editors will usually say that they are simply recording the language and how its words are used and spelled. True, there may be some guidance. For example, most Merriam-Webster dictionaries will note if certain words are deemed nonstandard or offensive by most users; however, the words are still included. Of modern dictionaries, only the Funk and Wagnall's contain a certain amount of prescriptive advice. All the major dictionary publishers - Merriam-Webster, Times-Mirror, World Book, and Funk and Wagnall's - will tell you that they are primarily descriptive. Historically, Dictionaries were Prescriptive This was...
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...English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and is now a global lingua franca.[4][5] It is an official language of almost 60 sovereign states and the most commonly spoken language in sovereign states including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and a number of Caribbean nations. It is the third-most-common native language in the world, after Mandarin and Spanish.[6] It is widely learned as a second language and is an official language of the European Union and of the United Nations, as well as of many world organisations. English arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England as a fusion of closely related dialects, now collectively termed Old English. These dialects had been brought to the south-eastern coast of Great Britain by Anglo-Saxons settlers by the 5th century. The word English is the modern spelling of englisc, the name used by the Angles and Saxons for their language, after the Angles' ancestral region of Angeln. The language was also influenced early on by the Old Norse language through Viking invasions in the 9th and 10th centuries. The Norman conquest of England in the 11th century gave rise to heavy borrowings from Norman French: thus a layer of elaborate vocabulary, particularly in the field of governance, and some Romance-language spelling conventions were added to what had by then become Middle English.[7] The Great Vowel Shift that began in the south of England in the 15th...
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...of private study. It does not allow the copying of entire books or the making of multiple copies of extracts. Written permission for any such copying must always be obtained from the publisher in advance. iv Contents Acknowledgements iv Introduction 1 Practice Test 1 12 Practice Test 2 34 Practice Test 3 54 Practice Test 4 75 General Training Reading and Writing Modules Tapescripts Answer keys 94 107 130 Sample answer sheets 153 iii v Acknowledgements We would like to thank the staff and students of the following institutions for their assistance in trialling these materials: Wollongong English Language Centre; Australian College of English, Sydney; Hong Kong Polytechnic; Waratah Education Centre, Sydney; International House, Queensland; Milton English Language Centre, Sydney;...
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...Question Using suitable examples, describe and comment upon some of the reasons for language change. Language changes, as do all things in the living world, as language reflects and affects the society which uses it. The mechanics of language change show language as a system with larger and larger scale trends, which allows us to examine the conditions necessary for change. The process of change occurs gradually, and the rate of this change does conform to a pattern. For instance, if you get an influx of foreign words, few people use them, and they spread slowly until people have become familiar with them. When they have, the word usage stabilizes. Another factor affecting language change is hyper-correction. This occurs when a sentence is corrected so frequently that the deviant form becomes the norm in spoken English. For example, the sentence Jill and me went to the fair is often corrected to Jill and I went to the fair. The result of this is that the phrase and me has become disdainful and unacceptable. The ultimate effect of this is an exaggerated use of the term and I. For example, Mother gave the book to John and I is a deviant form which has become the norm in spoken English. Research has also discovered many other reasons why language changes. William Labov conducted a study in America investigating the use of the letter r. He used three sets of shop assistants from high-class, middle-class, and lower-class stores and found that all three sets consciously...
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...History of the English Language English Language is one of the oldest Languages in the world. To become what it is today it has been through a series of changes in the course of history. The three main periods have been characterized by different influences which have made English a rich and complex language. During the 5th Century AD three Germanic tribes came to the British Isles from various parts of northwest Germany as well as Denmark. Through the years, the Saxons, Angles and Jutes mixed their different Germanic dialects. This group of dialects forms what linguists refer to as Old English or Anglo-Saxon. The arrival of St. Augustine in 597 and the introduction of Christianity into Saxon England brought more Latin words into the English language. Around 878 AD Danes and Norsemen, also called Vikings, invaded the country and English got many Norse words into the language. The most famous is a heroic epic poem called "Beowulf". It is the oldest known English poem and it is notable for its length - 3,183 lines. Experts say "Beowulf" was written in Britain more than one thousand years ago. The name of the person who wrote it is unknown. After William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, invaded and conquered England in 1066 AD he brought his nobles, who spoke French, to be the new government. By about 1200, England and France had split. English changed a lot, because it was mostly being spoken instead of written for about 300 years. The use of Old English came back, but with...
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...Psychology Project 1 The Change of The English Language Dmitry Shkolnik Tesst College of Technology In the course of human language, it becomes necessary for people to create or redefine, words or phrases to express an object or an action; and to assume, among society, the acceptance and usage of these words and their definitions, in one’s own language, or idiolect. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind, requires that Americans should recognize slang adopted into language. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that language is expression of thought, in the form of speech or written symbols, that have agreed-upon meanings. That, many large speaking languages contain dialects, or other versions of languages within a community, that are different in some aspects of grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary. That, because language is a form of one’s own ideas and expression, everyone possesses his or her own individual language, or idiolect. That, not only does perception change language, but that language changes perception. That, through the course of history, idiolects have shaped dialects, which have shaped language, which in turn, have shaped concepts. Conservatives, indeed, will dictate that languages will follow a narrow path toward a standard language. And accordingly, expression will follow the rules and guidelines that limit thought, rather than the ability to rethink old vocabulary and enrich new ones. When we speak, write...
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...English Language Forrest Partlow Unemployment HUMA215 Unit 2 Individual Project October 20, 2013 English Language I am choosing to use the English language of Britain for this paper mainly because I can speak it, read it, and understand it. Well modern English I can speak, read, and understand. I was in the Navy for 12 years. My job in the navy was a Hospital Corpsman. In the medical field we still use a lot of words that have Latin origins. This is the same generally speaking of the early English language. English broke into three categories when we are speaking about the history of the English language. There is Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. I think it funny how in the 1990’s everyone wanted tattoos of their own name on them in Old English. It is funny because if they actually tried to read some Old English they would have a hard time making any words out. So the beginning of the English language is Old English and it was developed by people of the Germanic tribes migrated to Britain. This happened before the 12th century. It had a lot of Latin, French, and Old Norse influence. While if you read it you may figure out a few words it is very different from today’s spoken language. You would know such words as he, him, for and some others. You could figure out such words as name, was, were, and come, these are just some examples. From the 12th century on into the 15th...
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...Characteristics of English Language Among the different languages of the world, English is the most widely spoken and written languages of the world. Today, English occupies the prestigious place of an International language. It is utilized by the largest number of the people of many nations in all the five continents in the world. The reason, which comes to our notice is that, it is not due to the qualities of its own but there are important historical, political and economical reasons for its worldwide popularity. The other obvious reason is that English speaking nations, like England and America have made it prominent. However, no language can become so important, unless it has some outstanding and special characteristics for its phenomenal growth and popularity. The main characteristics for this stride of English language are as under: * Receptiveness * Heterogeneousness * Simplicity of Inflexion * Fixed Word Order * Use of Periphrasis * Growth of Intonation. * Receptiveness The first outstanding characteristic of English language is receptiveness. This is regarded as extra-ordinary feature of the language. It has accepted and adopted words from Asian, European, African, Indian, Japanese, Chinese and other languages. English has kept open-door policy of accepting words from classical languages like Latin, Greek and Sanskrit. * Heterogeneousness Heterogeneousness means mixed form or the lack of purity. English language contains...
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...To teach this paragraph to English Language Learners in this particular classroom may not be an easy task. The main reason for is because a significant number of students are at the Intermediate CELDT. For that reason I will begin with vocabulary instruction. This will help students to have a basic understanding of the content and in the words of Zwier, (2011) “tools for understanding and for communicating meaning in our content areas” (p. 188). Then I will continue with a Read-Aloud. This will give an opportunity to the students to begin interest in the text. This is essential for ELLs so they can begin to start comprehending what they are listening, exposed to academic language and “figurative language” (p. 190). It also exposes them to “ text and concepts that are above student’s current independent comprehension levels” (p. 190). While reading aloud, I will stop to explain about whom the presidents in Mount Rushmore are and their contributions to the American History, why did it take many years to finish Mount Rushmore? After, this activity, I will give students an opportunity to do some partner reading, where they will get to read to each other...
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...English around the world No one can deny that the English language is acknowledged as the dominant language all over the globe. It’s a language known for being easy to be learned, flexible towards new word entries, and its rich content. In fact, about 1.5 to 2 billion people worldwide speak English. It’s considered the language of education, communication, business, and politics. Actually, it took many centuries for the English language to develop into its modern form. In this essay, more focus is put on the English language through its formation and development, its status as an international language, its role in all life’s aspects, and the variety of English around the world. The diversity between the original version of English and...
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...Unit 2 Individual Project October 20, 2013 English Language I am choosing to use the English language of Britain for this paper mainly because I can speak it, read it, and understand it. Well modern English I can speak, read, and understand. I was in the Navy for 12 years. My job in the navy was a Hospital Corpsman. In the medical field we still use a lot of words that have Latin origins. This is the same generally speaking of the early English language. English broke into three categories when we are speaking about the history of the English language. There is Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. I think it funny how in the 1990’s everyone wanted tattoos of their own name on them in Old English. It is funny because if they actually tried to read some Old English they would have a hard time making any words out. So the beginning of the English language is Old English and it was developed by people of the Germanic tribes migrated to Britain. This happened before the 12th century. It had a lot of Latin, French, and Old Norse influence. While if you read it you may figure out a few words it is very different from today’s spoken language. You would know such words as he, him, for and some others. You could figure out such words as name, was, were, and come, these are just some examples. From the 12th century on into the 15th century they spoke Middle English. This has a lot more French and Latin influence than anything...
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...English Language Importance Do you think learning English is important?English is currently the most wide spread language in the world, it is second only to Mandarin Chinese in terms of the amount of people which speak it, but second to none in terms of the number of people learning it. It is currently the primary language used on the World Wide Web, in the political and business arenas. It has even become the language of today's pop culture. So yes, I definitely think that learning English is important.While English may not have as large a quantity of speakers as Mandarin it is still more widespread and herein lays its importance. Mandarin Chinese is hardly spoken outside Chinese communities, however in many regions of the world where English is not the native language, it is still widely spoken and integrated in the curriculums of educational institutions. In many countries Malaysia, for example, where there various ethnic groups with their own unique language, English is used as a means of communications between all of them. So we see that the importance of English doesn't lie in the quantity of people that speak it but in way we use it. Today the USA's influence on world information is dominant, English, being their native tongue, the same is true for Britain. The music and other types of media that come out of these two countries are broadcast around the world. Most of the world's largest pop stars record English albums, which are played and requested in all the corners...
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...world now speak English? English is the language of globalization-of international business, politics, commerce and communication. It is also the language of computers and the Internet. Obviously, English has achieved some sort of global status. It is a widely spoken language. It is being used by a lot of people with different nationalities. Many people can understand it than any other languages. Because of this, I can say that English is our universal language. We now have a lot of mediums available for communication. There’s the telephone, computer, mobile phones, fax machines, television and etc. The world is becoming more globally oriented. Families, friends, businesses and many other groups are able to transcend geographic boundaries. But despite the very high-tech form of communication nowadays, it is useless if it can’t be processed and understood. So in order to achieve a true and complete globalization, we would have to eliminate language barriers and develop a universal standard according to which everyone could interact at the same level of understanding. In many ways, this is already happening in that English is becoming the universal language of this global era. A very good example is the internet. You see, internet is used by almost all people across the globe. And the Internet is basically English oriented. This alone has been a huge effect on globalization. When people go to other countries and aren’t familiar with the language, what do they...
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...Texting and technology while evolving has not taken over the English language if you asked my opinion. it has however added a different dimension to the way we interact as people....Let's be honest most Americans have spoken a broken English Long before text messages where ever thought of ...whether it was shorthand in written form or the chronic use of slang during oral communications. The English language has always seen challenges in it's purity and correctness. Many writers understand that most common communicators don't is that the thoughts and Idea's conveyed are only as strong as the creative nature of the individual expressing him or her self. The English language is never a finished product, though it's existence has allowed it to cover a great range in matters of communication, while technology and texting remains a fast growing substitute. The technological advances comes with it's fare share of glitches when it comes to expression much like the English language when used improperly you run a high risk of being Misinterpreted or misunderstood in a arena where cap locks are used to express emotion their lies great room for error. This is the reason for the use of things like emoji's Meme's and the array of tech jargon used to better express human emotion our ability as a civilization to articulate thoughts and Idea's as well as relay emotion is a skill we all must have so as technology grows and we adapt and master the skills necessary (When in Rome) we must keep in...
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...What do I know now about the module ? Different types of written languages are studied by linguists, the logograms including both pictograms (pictures or symbols that represent an object or an idea) and ideograms (symbol that represent an idea) still used today in languages like Chinese, phonograms including syllabaries (system of writing based on syllable sounds) used today for Japanese or Cree, and to finish alphabets. The last category, alphabets, comes from the Sumerian script that was later replaced by the Phoneician Alphabet which is itself the ancestor of both Semitic (Arabic and Hebrew) and Greek writing system. The English spelling started to be development in Old English with the introduction of the Latin Alphabet, when the...
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