Targets from the mock exam:
- Go over Language Change theories.
- Revise Piaget and Lenneberg's theories.
- Go over key features to use in CLA essays other than theorists.
Language Change Theories/Theorists:
To fix my first target, I have researched two well known Language Change theories and theorists.
Erin McKean
- Erin McKean is a lexicographer who has performed a few TED Talks, a significant one being: 'The Joy of Lexicography'. She's described her job as 'directing traffic of words'.
- She said that online dictionaries are pretty much replica's of physical dictionaries except it has a search engine. She went on to say that physical dictionaries soon won't be the 'physical shape' of the dictionary.
- She also said that we are 'in the dark' about language and the amount of words that are actually used.
David Crystal
- He believes in the theory that says people have the ability to use two dialects of the same
language, with people about to adapt their language to meet the needs of
different situations.
- He also said that 'the popularity of abbreviating words as our liking of 'linguistic economy' space constraints and technological limits are motivations to help us i.e. texting acronyms and initialisms usually convey message without wasting characters.'
CLA:
Piaget's Theory-Stages of Cognitive Development:
- Piaget stated that children won't learn concept that they don't understand unless they are ready to learn it and understand it.
- He came up with four stages of cognitive development: Sensori-motor, pre-operational, concrete operational and formal operational.
Lenneberg's Theory- Critical Period Hypothesis:
- Lenneberg said that there is a critical period where a child can learn rapidly.
- He stated that after this critical period language development becomes a lot harder.
- An example to prove his theory would be the famous case of 'Genie: the feral child'.
Key Features to use in CLA essays:
- Hallidays Functions
- Over/under generalisation
- Over/under extension
The following poem is written by Jonathan Swift, it shows how he uses language in a non-standard way.
On Stella's Birth-Day 1719 by Jonathan Swift
Stella this Day is thirty four,
(We shan't dispute a Year or more)
However Stella, be not troubled,
Although thy Size and Years are doubled,
Since first I saw Thee at Sixteen
The brightest Virgin on the Green,
So little is thy Form declin'd
Made up so largely in thy Mind.
Oh, woud it please the Gods to split
Thy Beauty, Size, and Years, and Wit,
No Age could furnish out a Pair
Of Nymphs so graceful, Wise and fair
With half the Lustre of your Eyes,
With half your Wit, your Years and Size:
And then before it grew too late,
How should I beg of gentle Fate,
(That either Nymph might have her Swain,)
To split my Worship too in twain.
The poem shows language used in a different way to modern standard English. One example would be when he says: "Stella this Day is thirty four". I'm assuming that he's saying that it is Stella's thirty fourth birthday. The structure of the line causes a difficulty in figuring out what it is meant to say. It's quite an old-fashioned way of writing it and it even has the sense of a love letter with the use of the words "beauty" and "brightest". This isn't uncommon as back in the Swift's day, a lot of writing was about love. There are other lines that have structures that are uncommon in modern day:"Since first I saw Thee at Sixteen".
The noun 'birthday' that is in the title is split in to two with the two words being split by a hyphen. This shows that language is always changing mainly due to what is easier. What was before two words is now one word (a compound word), this makes it easier to both say and write. It is also capitalised which is interesting as back when Swift write the poem, birthday's weren't a big celebration like they are today. It is now more common to capitalise it now than back then.
It's also interesting that 'Day' has been capitalised in "Birth-Day". The reason for this could be to show the significance of the particular day. It could also be because there wasn't a particular/ standard way of writing the word(s). It isn't just the title that use odd capitalisation, it also used in the text eg: "Size and Years". I find it odd as there isn't a special significance to the two words. It almost seems like they are randomly put there as there are more than one capitalized word in every line.
Dr. Johnson:
Dr Johnson's dictionary was published in the 18th century in 1755. He has been described as "a driver of standardising English"- he was specifically interested in spelling. At the time when Johnson published his dictionary, there was a large "explosion of popular print" like newspapers and magazines. Through this "explosion", Dr. Johnson "embalming English for all time, but he soon recognised that language has a plastic nature that can't be set in aspic."
Dr. Johnson's Dictionary wasn't the first dictionary to be created, there were many dictionaries that were created but none were more recognised as Johnson's. The dictionaries didn't have the same rules and the popular ones were those that were written by people who were respected for the literary world. In fact the first "word reference books" can be dated back to as early as the 8th century. Johnson provided etymologies for every word and a list of multiple meanings for the words. He also excluded obsolete terms and names.
He helped to "drive" the standardisation of English by doing many things. He helped pronunciation by showing how important stress was as a rule. He also cited words with similar vowel sounds. He quoted prestigious authors that were most popular to show the more standard way to write. The dictionary then created a space for future works like the Oxford English Dictionary, which is one of the most used at the moment.
Robert Lowth:
Robert Lowth was an Oxford professor that published his book 'Short Introduction to English Grammar' in 1762, around the same time as Dr. Johnson published his dictionary. His book was really influential in school education and had 45 editions by 1800.
Lowth's book created the 'do's' and 'don'ts's' of English Language. An example of one of the rules he created was using the word 'whom' correctly as the object form of 'who'.
Bibliography:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8255720.stm
https://prezi.com/imlh1dgypzho/samuel-johnsons-dictionary-and-its-contribution-to-the-standardisation-of-the-english-language/
http://www.1066andallthat.com/english_modern/standardising_03.asp
https://www.uni-due.de/SHE/HE_Standardisation.htm#grammars
