...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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...A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE GUIDE Professor Michael D.C. Drout WHEATON COLLEGE A History of the English Language Professor Michael D.C. Drout Wheaton College Recorded Books™ is a trademark of Recorded Books, LLC. All rights reserved. A History of the English Language Professor Michael D.C. Drout Executive Producer John J. Alexander Executive Editor Donna F. Carnahan RECORDING Producer - David Markowitz Director - Matthew Cavnar COURSE GUIDE Editor - James Gallagher Design - Ed White Lecture content ©2006 by Michael D.C. Drout Course guide ©2006 by Recorded Books, LLC 72006 by Recorded Books, LLC Cover image: © PhotoDisc #UT088 ISBN: 978-1-4281-1730-3 All beliefs and opinions expressed in this audio/video program and accompanying course guide are those of the author and not of Recorded Books, LLC, or its employees. Course Syllabus A History of the English Language About Your Professor...................................................................................................4 Introduction Lecture 1 ...............................................................................................................5 The Foundations of Language: Brain, Development, Acquisition ......................................................................6 Signs and Meanings: Semantics .........................................................13 Sounds of Language: Phonetics..........................................................20 Sound...
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...History of the English language NAME:Do Huong Giang GROUP: K18A1.1 Question 1:Why do historians of English tend to divide the stages of the language ‘s development into Old,Middle and Early Modern English? What distinguishes these different forms of the language from each other? ANSWER: Historians of English divided the stages of the language ‘s development into Old,Middle and Early Mordern English for some reasons.First,it was based on the Foundation of the UK.Old English was established when the invading Germanic tribles move down from Scandinavia and spread over Center Europe.1066 was the year ended the old English and started the Middle English.William the Conqueror invaded and conquered England.At that time,there was a kind of linguistic language between English and French.The Early Modern English started in the sudden and distint change in pronunciation(The Great Vowel Shift) and the Renaissance of Classical learning. Second,the development of the language connected closely with the English literature.The history of Old English was oral tradition literature.the famous poem was the song of Beowulf.The middle English associated with the printing house of William Caxton,beginning of the long process of standardization of spelling.The Early Modern English with Shakespeare ,a genius of the English language. We can distinguish these different forms of the language from each other by some factors such as spelling,pronunciation,grammar and vocabulary. ...
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...Are you a winner? This training course is called English for Winners, and before you delve into it, we should find out together if it is for you. Do you want to be a winner? Most English learners are unhappy with their English ability. If you ask the average English learner to assess their skills, you're very likely to get one of these answers: "I studied English at school for more than 5 years, but my English is not so good." "I speak a little English, but I think it's just 'school English'." "I understand it a little, but I can't speak it fluently." "My grammar is very bad. I've often tried to learn the grammar rules, but they're too complicated for me." "I had good school grades in English but I still can't speak it very well." These are typical complaints, and they make it clear that very few learners are really happy with the quality of their English. Most of them realize that their efforts are not yielding the results they expect. But instead of changing their strategy and trying to find the right learning methods and techniques, they simply give up. They think that they "just don't have a talent for learning languages". The winners, however, are those English learners who have taken control of their own programs. They know that acquiring English is an ongoing process. It is something that happens every day, day in and day out. They also understand that when it comes to learning English any progress is success. ©EnglishForWinners, Page 1 of 34 Dear Listener, since you...
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...Act to see our roots in bilingual education. We will examine both the advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism and it’s effect on the brain. Also, we will attempt to shed some needed light on just why this is such a hot political topic. Why do Americans still seem unwilling to accept bilingual education as a necessity for their children? Bilingual Education: Friend or Foe? Bilingual education is a polarizing topic in America. Torn between preserving American culture and what makes us American, and providing immigrant children with the same access to education that all Americans deserve, bilingual education is now a political topic in America. There have been many attempts to make positive changes in our education system concerning bilingual education. Even for those who agree that bilingual education is important, arriving at the answer to the best approach is on a meandering path. With decades of studies, opinions and speculation as to the right way to best educate English language learners, it is not unlikely that many Americans wonder if bilingual education is friend or foe? Answers to these questions can best be answered by looking deeper into the history of the Bilingual Education Act, statistics concerning bilingual education, and looking into why the American public could be mislead about what bilingual education really is. Answering the question, “Bilingual Education: Friend or Foe?”, should start by making clear what bilingual education...
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...'youth' of India, homogenizing the two in disturbing ways. This essay interrogates this homogenization and elicits a very necessary debate. The authors are speakers of several languages, including a code-switched Hinglish. Their reflection is caught here in 'speaking' voices to provide a minimally edited and unmediated view on this subject. The authors are also professionals in their early twenties. They studied communications management at Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA), the institution that pioneered the discussion on Hinglish in an academics–practitioners forum. Its student profile embraces all the linguistic regions of India. The authors situate Hinglish in their learning at MICA and its relationship with the seductive power of brands and the interpellation of human subjects through brands. Through voices that suggest resistance as well as acknowledgment of the branded value of Hinglish, they provide profound insights and an 'on-ground' view of Hinglish. Editors Siddharth Mishra English in modern India has always been associated with the middle class, from which have also emanated most modifications to the language. Belonging to that class myself, I have carried its genes since childhood. Born into a family totally into academics, the obsession with ‘purity’ of language has been of great significance in my life. Academics usually frown upon anything ‘adulteration’ in the...
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...Language Myths Language Myths: My own LA-reading journal. 1. Myth 2: "Some Languages Are Just Not Good Enough" by Ray Harlow Some people have the idea that some languages are just not good enough. They believe this for several different reasons, it is because the language is not structured in terms of forming words, the language doesn't contain enough compounds and it can't be used as official language in areas such as administration, business communication, international air traffic etc. Sometimes people dislike a certain language because they think it is ugly. I disagree with this myth. I believe that every language is precious to the people who speak the language. Harlow says: ‘Most languages are the first language of some community and serve the everyday functions of that community perfectly well.’ Communication is the most important aspect of a language. If a language serves this purpose it is good enough. 2. Myth 5: "English Spelling Is Kattastroffik" by Edward Carney Edward Carney believes that people shouldn't blame the English spelling system just because there are more speech- sounds than letters in English spelling. It is important to separate sounds and letters in English spelling. After studying Phonetics, spelling and pronunciation became easier for me. I learnt that one speech-sound can have different spelling and that one spelling may stand for different speech-sounds. Sounds very complicated at first, but after a while I started to understand why. This...
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...100% in line with the trend that “English is now the global Language of Business” Englishnization of global corporations: Strategy is Needed by Sebastian Reiche blog.iese.edu It still doesn’t mean an easy transition. People naturally oppose any changes and that can lead to higher costs especially in the beginning stages. The way Mikitani announced the “Englishnization” policy, without consulting with his management team did not prepare any employees for this change. The employers were immediately put under a lot of stress and experience a lot of pressure. Also linking the worker’s salaries to their English results and improvements increases the stress and uncertainty among employers. Higher stress levels normally have a negative impact on your efficiency and result in lower productivity. Poor communication (because of the immediate ban on any other language) also leads to lower productivity due to misunderstandings and waste of time. Despite these original costs in the short term, this Englishnization policy will have a lot more benefits for the company in the long way. As mentioned above English is the Global language of Business and this policy will lead to better communication between all international business. Being English efficient, managers will understand their competitors strategies better and will also be able to communicate this better to their workers. Workers who are really motivated will improve their English skills and those who are not will...
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...Press 1 for English…. Press 2 for Spanish… Why English Should Be Declared the Official Language of the Unites States of America Declaring English as the official language of the United States is a very controversial issue. We have one flag, one government, however no official language. Making English the official language would unite all Americans, no matter the race, creed, culture, heritage or ancestry. In 1907, US President Theodore Roosevelt wrote, “We have room for but one language in this country, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationally and not dwellers in a polyglot boarding house” (English-only movement/Wikipedia). There were as many as twenty different languages that could be heard around the time of our founding fathers. Today, there are presently three hundred twenty nine languages in the United States (US Census 2010). Immigrants of many nationalities have built our nation. Just look our nations motto, E pluribus Unum, (Latin meaning – out of many, one) which was adapted by the committee of Congress on July 4, 1776 to design “a seal for the United States of America”, which is carried by the American eagle. The nation has but one flag which we “pledge our allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” (MacAuthur). However, 236 years later the...
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... TSEDAL NEELEY Language and Globalization: "Englishnization" at Rakuten (A) Our goal is not becoming No. 1 in Japan but becoming the No. 1 Internet services company in the world. By 2050, Japanese GDP as a portion of global GDP will shrink from 12% in 2006 to 3%. As we consider the future potential growth of the Japanese market and our company, global implementation is not a nice-to-have but a must-do. — Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman and CEO, Rakuten Group With less than a year to go before his self-imposed deadline of migrating to the exclusive use of English at Rakuten, Japan’s largest online retailer, CEO Hiroshi Mikitani (HBS ‘93) found himself seated outside Paris at the May 2011 e-G8 summit1. Seated alongside Internet, political, and business luminaries, Mikitani was among those shaping technology’s future agenda. But his future, his company’s future, was closing in on him. In a matter of days he would announce his acquisition of Ikeda in Brazil, marking another step in his company’s global ascent. And in a matter of months, he would evaluate its most critical stride toward becoming the world’s No. 1 Internet services company: the transition of his 7,100 Tokyo employees from their native Japanese to English, the global language of business. The future of his company lay in the success of his boldest step yet. Mikitani’s vision rested with his Japanese employees, who had fifteen months to respond to his controversial two-year English proficiency mandate...
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.......... D. SCIENTIFIC ASSIGNMENT............................................................ TABLE OF CONTENT CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Part 1: Introduction Rationale Aims and objectives Scope of the study Research questions Methods of the study Part 2: Development Chaper 1: Theoretical Background 1.Wh- questions in English . 2.1 What is a Wh- question?. 2.2 The semantic and pragmatic approach to English Wh-questions . Chapter 2: A contrastive analysis of the English and Vietnamese Wh-questions 1. A contrastive analysis of Wh- questions in English and Vietnamese equivalents. 1.1 Introduction . 1.2 Structures. . Chapter 3: Common errors made by HOU students in using English Wh- questions and suggested solutions 1. Introduction . 2. Research background and Methodology 2.1 The subjects 2.2 Instrument . 2.3 Procedures . 2.4 Findings . 3. Some suggestions to correct common errors . Part 3. Conclusion 1. Summary of the findings . 2. Implication for teaching and learning . 3. Suggestion for further studies. Appendix 1: Questionnaire. II.SCIENTIFIC NOTE Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University 11st,April,2016 NOTICE Scientific research presentations On the occasion annual scientific meeting, the school has decided organize scientific research presentations...
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...In George Orwell’s Politics and the English Language and Anne Curzan’s Teaching the Politics of Standard English, they both explain that a language becomes the standard way of speaking and writing due to social and political factors as well as the words infused in the language evolve with the social events that follow. The term for this Salafi Jihadist Militant group (ISIS) was first conceived in 1999, but it was not until it began affecting the surrounding countries that it peeked global interest. Rather than understand the implications and evolution of our language, we just adapt it free-willingly, without accounting for the previous forms of its use as well as taking the time to truly comprehend how our society adopted these words and evolved their uses in contemporary syntax and semantics, which will lead for one to question the significance of language on the way one perceives their societal environment....
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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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...early and mid-sixteenth century, the English people began to think of colonizing America because it serves as a source for goods and raw materials and provides a market for finished product. In the year 1607, England established its first permanent settlement was called Jamestown. But to the territory itself, they gave it the name Virginia, honoring England’s late virgin queen. After a disease that killed most of them, England appointed John Smith with several other men to serve the colony’s council. Later, the Dutch were given a monopoly to trade and make colonies, but instead they worked in piracy. Some separatists, later known as Pilgrims, escaped to Holland running away from corruption. All the early settlers started writing letters to their families and friends back in England, and these letters developed into diaries that later served as the first American literature. Shortly after, black slavery began in America slowly, mostly of slaves coming from Africa. This colonization gave rise to a language hierarchy in which the language of the colonizers, the British, was considered as the most prestigious languages and came to dominate the governmental and commercial formation of each colony....
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...TAGORE THE WORLD OVER: ENGLISH AS THE VEHICLE William Radice I delivered this speech at the Commonwealth Club in London on 22 March 2006, at an evening function entitled ‘Tagore’s Gifts to English’. The function was sponsored by the English-Speaking Union and the Royal Commonwealth Society, and masterminded by Mr Michael Marland, CBE, a retired London headteacher and keen admirer of Tagore. There were readings of poems from Gitanjali and other texts; a performance of Frank Bridge’s gloriously passionate settings for tenor voice and piano of two poems from The Gardener (composed in 1922: the poems are Nos. 29 and 30, ‘Speak to me, my love’ and ‘Dweller in my deathless dreams’); a presentation on Sriniketan and Dartington (Tagore and Elmhirst) by the The Tagoreans, an old-established London-based group; and a song and dance sequence called ‘The Golden Boat’, designed and performed by the Tagore Centre UK. Also, poem No. 9 from ‘Prantik’ was read in the original Bengali and in English, French, German and Slovenian, to illustrate the ‘third Tagore’ – not the Bengali Rabindranath, not the English Tagore, but the new and fuller impression that is emerging the world over through new translations. One particular memory I shall keep from the evening is the way the two poems I chose from Gitanjali came wonderfully alive as read by my PhD student Mayurika Chakravorty. Listening to her highly dramatic reading in her Calcutta-accented English of Nos. 48 (‘The morning...
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