In the article “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, a Chinese-American writer, shares her idea that we all speak a different kind of “Englishes” unconsciously and that we are sometimes categorized by the way we speak. Tan supports her argument by giving examples of her family's cultural background and describing how her mother was discriminated by retailers, stockbrokers, and doctors because her mother’s English seemed improper. Tan explains that language does not have to be uniformed and completely structured to be understood, but can be simple, filled with passion and meaning. Tan admits that at a certain point in her life, she saw her mother’s language as “broken” and embarrassing to listen to. However, Tan's opinion changed when she realized that…
The language we use is constantly evolving. Our dictionry is constantly being updated with new words, old outdated words are constantly fading away. According to linguist…
You find yourself struggling to understand the English being used by your new classmate. Have you ever wondered why people speak English differently, and who has established what is correct or incorrect? In David F. Wallace’s “Authority and American Usage (2001)” published in Harper’s Magazine, he is able to explore the answers behind these issues and uncover the “Usage Wars”. Author David F. Wallace loosely reviews Bryan A. Garner’s…
What function does language have? What role does it play? Can language reflect an individual or even a culture? Can slight changes in diction completely change the meaning? Through history, language has always been the central focus of communication; however, it also entails a factor of influence in the daily lives of not just individuals, but also societies, cultures and communities.…
This quote establishes a positive view of what modern English is becoming. This quote also reflects on his own behalf that he too is part of the continuing transformation. It helps mark that everything and everyone has an effect in how English is now spoken. But that in the end that this change is actually for the better. “What appears to be the determining force in whether regional dialects,survive or disappear is not media influence, but rather the movements of people(313).”…
Human language can come in many different forms, tones, sounds and is found everywhere around the world.…
When a large group of people share similar lifestyles, they can all relate to each other. When people speak the same language, they can verbally communicate. In My English, when Alvarez first moved to New York, she thought New Yorkers “must be smarter.” It was only later she “began to understand more and more—not less and less.” With Alvarez’s struggle to conform with a nations national language, she gained a better understanding on not only English, but the people who speak English.…
What is a discourse community? A discourse community is a group composed of people that come together or are connected by similarities, and these shared characteristics can be endless, things such as language, religion, and skin color are only the tip of the iceberg. While the possibilities may be endless most people think that they’re only part of one or two, which is far from true because individuals from all over the world come together and relate over the most miniscule things. I myself am part of several different communities that pertain to my tastes in music, style, and age. Although the list for me could be endless, two that affect me the most is being in the millennial community and being part of the young adults all around the world that are in college or out of high school.…
Edward Finegan argues that there is no right or wrong when it comes to language. Finegan says that, “English is now changing in exactly the same ways that have contributed to making it the rich, flexible, and adaptable language so popular throughout the world today.” Finegan describes descriptive and prescriptive views of language to argue that English is not falling apart, but simply changing as time progresses. John Simon, on the other hand, argues that “good English” needs to be preserved because any other form of English is a product of ignorance. Finegan starts off his argument by analyzing descriptive and prescriptive grammar.…
Code-switching is a normal part of everyday language and is often overlooked, but through this assignment it became more apparent than ever before, most notably when code switching occurred between languages and within each separate languages. For this field report, I analyzed code-switching in my native language-Polish and then English as they both took place in the same context, my sister’s kitchen. It was a rather peaceful and relaxed saturday afternoon when the communication event took place. My sister was in the kitchen, her two kids were in the adjoining playroom and her husband had just returned from work not too long ago. My sister had also just put dinner in the oven and started cleaning up the kitchen when she got a call from her…
The Shakespeare Legacy Report Language: As the world is constantly changing so does the human language, as it continues to grow and adapt to identify new objects and products. Constant change creates an atmosphere where everything is moving at high speed, “As long as the needs of language users continue to change, so will the language” (Birner). Shakespeare has influenced many words we use today such as, “compromise”, “advertising” and “champion”. Furthermore, most of the words in English used today are shorter or simpler variations of original words derive from both Olde and Modern English. The change of language comes from the influence of popular sources such as book, newspapers, public figures and humans in general.…
The PBS website, “Do You Speak American” is broken off into four sections with interesting topics. The first section is titled “Words That Shouldn’t Be.” The title is not only meant to intrigue the reader, but it also gives us an idea of what we will find when we click on this section. This section’s primary focus is the invention of new words and the way language is a social phenomenon. In the subsection titled, “ Sez Who” Walt Wolfram says that language changes, “not by the media; it’s the middle class.”…
In conclusion, the languages have been through a number of changes and the Great Vowel Shift explains in great detail how the sound of words and the way people…
When language is used, variations happen since there is “scope for creativity and invention” (Wareing, 1999). While we are teaching English, one of our purposes should be focused on how to encourage free language expression without judgment. We need to work on providing the space “where Standard English could be acquired while at the same time respecting and reinforcing the children’s pride in their own variety” (Van Lier & Corson, 1997, p. 237). In addition, we need to be mindful and open-minded when perceiving language since language is not isolated from the society; it is interdependent to the social, political and cultural aspects of the world. Another important point is that perceiving other people by the way they speak is sometimes dangerous since often times our perception is biased because of the concept of language prestige we receive from the popular culture and media.…
However, it has been actively involved in popularizing constant evolution of language, particularly English. Description Before we move forward, some facts can be highlighted to present the dominance of social…