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ENB6 - Language Change and Lang Acquisition

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Geminus

That's probably it lol!!

Maybe I can't get my head out of thinking about legends etc following the Editorial Writing exam :wink:

Thought it was a bit bizarre!

slightly bizarre lol, but im sure stranger things have happened lol. All these exams mess with your head!! :p:

Reply 21

Finishing Touches

What's everyone revising for Lang Change? Can someone post up a summary, please?

Reply 22

Geminus

violetviolin

As for Lang Change, is it best to focus on the frameworks like pragmatics, semantics, graphology etc etc and get in some facts about history, like printing press was introudced by william caxton in 1476...?xx

Yep, stick to frameworks. Get as much context as you can in - eg look at the date and try to think what would have been happening at the time.

A key period is following the introduction of the printing press (1476) and the introduction of the first dictionary (1755 - Samuel Johnson). Also remember the grammar books that appeared at the time - the writers that tried to "fix" the language (Robert Lowth's Short Introduction to English Grammar was written 1762). All these had an influence on the language, and helped it to become standardised (slowly - remember it didn't all happen at once).

Maybe also consider the social factors that cause language to change. A few which I can think of at the moment (but they really need revising - so please add any if anyone can think of any more!!):

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Blurring of the class structure - fewer extremes

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Proliferation of TV and film

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Education

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New technology

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Rise of youth culture

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Media & public broadcasting

Hmm...can't really think of much else for language change....which is a bit worrying :frown:

Reply 23

nvidia17

What the hell!

I didn't realise we had to know all this...

Reply 24

Geminus

slober

No problem!

Stages of negatives.

Aged 0-15months - Gestures are used to indicate a negative
15-18months - single words "no" "not" are used
2-2 1/2 yrs - "no" and "not" are used either at the beginning or end of a sentance e.g. "no eat" "going not"
3yrs - negatives are used with the correct syntax i.e. intergrated into the sentance
4/5/6yrs - more subtle negatives i.e hardly, are used, more "n't"'s as well, "can't" "won't" etc. Implied negatives are understood, i.e. "we'll go later"

Hope this helps!
Sx

That's great - thank you muchly :biggrin:

Does anyone know if we are expected to know the ages at which these things happen? Or is it ok if we roughly know the order in which different areas of language develop??

(If that makes any sense!)

Reply 25

*loz*

revising:

terms - like amelioration,perjoration, broadening/narrowing etc.
people like caxton, bailey, louth etc.

thats it really - hope it helps! :smile:

Reply 26

Finishing Touches

That's wicked - thanks! :biggrin:

I think that, along with the frameworks is enough to cover a question on Language Change so I wouldn't worry too much if you can't find anything else! :smile:

Reply 27

slober

Geminus

Hmm...can't really think of much else for language change....which is a bit worrying :frown:

why not talk about how language is still changing? through media, travel, politics, etc. also you could talk about the different veiws on how language is decaying... crumbling castle veiw, damp spoon theory. prescriptivists also and the idea of setting up a college to resurrect language?
Sx

Reply 28

Geminus

Finishing Touches

What's everyone revising for Lang Change? Can someone post up a summary, please?

I don't really know what to revise :confused:

I don't really seem to have many notes as such, apart from how new words are formed, and how meaning can change. Most of the things that we have done in class seem to be looking at examples of different texts.

Reply 29

Geminus

slober

Ooh, attitudes to language change! Not really done that, keep meaning to look it up. Thanks for reminding me :biggrin:

What's the damp spoon theory? Sounds pretty interesting! *googles*

EDIT: Google doesn't like the damp spoon theory!

Reply 30

slober

Geminus

What's the damp spoon theory? Sounds pretty interesting! *googles*

is based on like how u stick a damp spoon in a bowl of sugar and it makes the person who made up the theory feel like icky--- the same way they feel about how language is today.....weird.

'I must own to a queasy distaste for the vulgarity of "between you and I", "these sort", "the media is" ... precisely the kind of distaste I feel at seeing a damp spoon dipped in the sugar bowl or butter spread with the breadknife' (Guardian 9-9-1968)

http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~maynell/Apr.02.03.pdf

Sx

EDIT - try "damp spoon language" in google

Reply 31

Geminus

Weeeeird. But interesting.

Thanks for the link :smile:

Does anyone have any advice on the best approach for a reading question? My teachers seem to think that there's a possibility of a reading q coming this time!

Reply 32

Lis xxx

This is my last exam- WHOOP!!!!

Feeling a lot more confident about change than acquisition. I seem to really struggle with transcripts, never know what to write about them. Panicing that two come up like they did a year or so back- EEK!!!
With Change, I'm revising:
-impact of foreign invasion (Norse, Norman French)
-Printing
-rise of merchant classes
-education
-scientific development/technology
-King James Bible
-academy to regulate change
-good old Johnson!
-contemporary lang change- estuary english, slang etc
-reactions to lang change, issues
-why lang changes- coining, neolisms etc

Hope that helps, any advice on transcipts would be much appreciated! :smile:

Reply 33

Geminus

This academy to regulate language, is this it:

Daniel Defoe proposes the creation of an Academy (as in France) to supervise and regulate the language.

As for advice on transcripts... look at how much is said by each person, who controls what is being said, who takes the lead, pragmatics, social context, as well as the actual things that are being said!

Reply 34

Lis xxx

Defoe, Swift and Johnson all attempted to regulate the language.

Any one got any other ideas?
Thanks for the tips of transcripts!

Reply 35

violetviolin

thnx for the rep, and thnx for the help guys!

as for child acq... i think by reading we should be looking at writing? so we could apply our knowledge of how children learn how to speak certain words, how it's harder to spell homophones (learning how to spell meat and meet), complex consonant vowel constructions etc?

xx

Reply 36

magic_unicorn

For the language acqusition question is there a choice between a spoken or written transcript: as I haven't been taught on written.
But I feel confident with Spoken

Reply 37

mrmike06

Hey violetviolen are you gonna keep updating the 1st post as peeps keep adding to it, as will be of great help and ease. Cheers :smile:

Reply 38

SugarExplosion

just so you don't thinking you're going mad...we've been told about some boy (?) who was raised by wolves and the impact it had on his speech. I've concentrated too much on ENB5 to even look at ENB6 but if I come across it I'll let you know