Preview

Where Is the English Language Heading?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
638 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Where Is the English Language Heading?
The Future of the English Language

Throughout history, the English language has evolved in many ways through different countries. Anglo Saxon spoken from Tribes in Britain became the common language, what we call Old English. Although modern English may sound different from Old English, there are several words that are recognizable and similar. However, there are also a great amount of changes that were made throughout the past and till this day. In today’s generations, media such as, Internet, music, movies and television has significantly influenced the English language. Most people would argue that English is continuing to evolve for the better; others would say that English is devolving. As I see it, the English language is declining based on the observation in the film, Black Knight. Is the English language dying? That is a question to really think about. Some experts such as Gene Weingarten, has studied and obtained an English degree and argues that the English language is essentially devolving. “It's getting simpler, our vocabularies are shrinking and our ability to form complex sentences is dwindling.” I agree with this statement because our society is depending more and more on social networks, for instance, Twitter, Facebook and general technology. Texting is one of the most widely used forms of communication today, and its popularity only continues to rise. Most people use them in our day-to-day lives, using acronyms, abbreviations and short cuts. People are starting become lazy. The deterioration of Old English is transpiring over time due to lexical and pronunciation changes. By lexical and pronunciation changes, I mean that adoption of new words occur are different sounds are changed. Although, the meaning of the word would still stay the same, they were just appropriated by different groups of speakers. In the movie, Black Knight, we can see a clear distinction between the modern world and the medieval times. In particular, Jamal, a man from

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Jesse Sheidlower does not agree with Simons but he doesn’t disagree either. He states, “No, it is not being ruined. Language is what it is.” He points out the fact that it is technology that is changing language. He believes that language has always been informal to a point but it is the fact that language is becoming informal in publications that is leading people to believe language is in decline. Sheidlower believes that people like Simon’s that believe language is in decline are misguided because “language change happens and there’s nothing you can do about it.”…

    • 1157 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Like other languages, English is not growing and evolving. It is complete and now must be mastered.…

    • 436 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    To an extent the English language is suffering because of technology. Technology is not all the fault though. I feel that it is the fault of the society too because they have indulged text language in more than one setting. Whereas it should be kept in the phone realm it has drifted into homework and essays that are handed in for a grade in schools. I do not think that text language or any other short hand is bad if it is kept in an appropriate setting and not used as a substitute for spelling words in the English language. Text language is like hanging out with friends. In that setting you are comfortable and may not use proper English all of the time but the minute you step foot into a situation with someone of prestige (i.e. a professor) you began to utilize your knowledge for grammar and other important factors that help make up the English language. We just have to remedy the fact that people feel that text language or anything similar can be used anywhere by providing guidelines as to the appropriate use and the appropriate settings this short hand can be…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The English language is a subject that has arisen as controversial over the last few decades. Many believe it is being slaughtered by the youth in our country while others believe that it is merely evolving to the ever changing world that we live in. Only one thing can be for sure though; it is defiantly something that is worth taking a deeper look at to get some true facts and opinions.…

    • 892 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another main cause to the English language changing over the years is down to technology. Due to a mass illiteracy Old and Middle English was a solely spoken language and was learnt by ear and through festivals. There was a lack of…

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Final Essay Vuws

    • 1284 Words
    • 4 Pages

    English had started to be known as a lingua franca around the period of World War II. After reading the English Effect report by the British council written by Howson (2013) it can be estimated that approximately 1.75 billion people use English worldwide, in other words, approximately one in four people speak English at a “useful level”. The main people who are learning and speaking English are “the economically active, the thought leaders, the business decision-makers, the young, the movers and shakers present and future” (Howson, 2013). There are more non-native speakers of English than there are native speakers therefore it can be said that English…

    • 1284 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Being able to understand English has its advantages, such as applying for health insurance, doing paper work, voting, or any government operations. All the necessities in an American lifestyle are to obtain the English language. Anything people do in the U.S traced back to speaking, reading, and writing in the English Language. Countries around Europe and Asia are slowly learning English, too. Even if individuals are code switching, style shifting, covert or overt prestige, some aspects of English language is developing or have a small taste learning…

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    To understand the possibility of English taking over, we must first see the extent of its growth and how far it has reached. It is important to see the areas of society it affects the most. According to Henry Hitchings the author of The Language Wars: A History of Proper English, “In the twenty-first century the world is becoming more urban and more middle class, and the adoption of English is a symptom of this, for increasingly English serves as the lingua franca of business and popular culture.”…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The development of the English language has been influenced by other languages, such as Celtic, Old Norse and Danish, and Anglo- Norman French. So much influence did not destroy the language, but made it even more interesting.…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The English language seems to be deteriorating more and more each day. So many examples can be given to justify this observation. Three different writers have pointed out some examples of the butchering of the language. Martha Brokenbrough states that the constant use of instant messaging jargon and internetism can certainly be a good way to reshape the way we communicate. At the same time she writes it can also affect the way we communicate properly and professionally. Author, George Orwell, speaks about how we have developed words in the English language to disguise the true meaning for political causes. Orwell points out that we mask what we truly want to say, and at the same time, we confuse the reader by not making sense of what we write. Speechwriter, Clark Whelton, pointed out that vagueness is a growing problem in our mother language; therefore, college students don’t know how to stop being vague while trying to communicate. Even though all three writers make different points about English decaying as a language, they all concur in the cause of this problem, laziness.…

    • 1305 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "The nature of language change." Studying the History of English. Universitat Dussenberg, n.d. Web. 11 Apr 2014. .…

    • 587 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    years ago! Some are seeing this is a sign of the decline of the English…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Although dialects are the ethnical languages of our heritage, it is not enough for us to solely rely on them as the main language in our lives. The English language is rapidly…

    • 1610 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Modern English period has already lasted longer than either of its predecessors. As the English language continues to develop, it also became the second language of many countries therefore bringing the different dialects of the English language.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyday languages are dying. This is due to the fact that they no longer become of use to their speakers who would find it more convenient to use more mainstream languages. In many countries, languages of cultural significance exist or have existed. In the USA, the Native American languages are rapidly disappearing under the influence of the practicality of the English language. In the UK, long enduring versions of French, such as Norman and Gaelic, are also becoming in danger of being erased from the memory of the British. In all and every country such a language exists, whose use has diminished due to it’s lessening use.…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays