language change

language change has been influencd by a wide ariety of sources. such as religion, race, cutlture and even travelling and exploring the world led us to borrowings from other languages. many factors today still influence this like the impact from war, scientific development, modern technology etc.
technology has been a hughe influence on our language as things such as instant messenger makes it alot easier and quicker for us to communicate around the world. This can change how we structure our sentences, whether we use standard-english and punctuation.......

change through inernal factors- adapting the words slightly
change through external factors-brininging new words from other languages such as borrowing
(notes unfinished)

 Attitudes towards language changes in this article have been compared to fashion as in the fact it is ever changing. However fashion 'trends' come in and out of popularity with the public which is similar to language however if language changes such as new words being formed they are more likely to be linked to the public’s use and demand of the word and due to the persons dialect or area they are from they cannot escape the use of it. similarly with fashion you can choose what you wear and due to social influence and media there is somewhat a little bit of pressure to represent these new 'trends' which shows progression in language or fashion to remain within the modern era.

 Simon Heffer " Even when armed with fine intentions, one can still fall into traps" this can show that even in our best intension to not "be a sheep" and follow the trends of language we make mistakes and from popularity we fall in to the loop of ever changing language following trends, dropping words we no longer use of deem to be outdated and continually use the upcoming more frequently used language.

Prescriptivists favour rules that identify ‘correct’ language usage. They disapprove of uses of language that breaks these rules.

 Jean Aitchison is a descriptivist. She attacks the prescriptivist view in her three language myths that she feels are false

 The Crumbling Castle myth suggests that English was a once great castle, but over time it has decayed and crumbled into the sea. She states this is false because the description of English as a ‘once fine language ‘is a particularly inaccurate one, as language is constantly changing and evolving. “No year,” she said, “can be found when language achieved some peak of perfection.”

The Damp Spoon myth suggests that ‘bad English’ sticks to people who are lazy and passive. The laziness is reflected by the people that put the damp spoon into the sugar bowl. Aitchison, though, states that “the only lazy speech is drunken speech” and that speaking quickly, for example, isn’t a sign of laziness – it is anything but. However from this theory laziness of language has come to develop and change words in which we use daily which can be a quicker more informative way of communicating, so being lazy may not necessarily be a bad thing as it has also enhanced our language and contributed to language change.

The Infectious Disease myth suggests that ‘bad English’ is like a horrible disease, like herpes, that spreads from person to person. We have no control or vaccine. It is coming to get you! Aitchison suggests that the idea that changes are ‘caught’ and ‘spread’ is technically correct, but it is no disease. People pick up changes in language because they want to. It is a personal decision to use the changing langugae however we may be heavily influenced through media, socially and popularity this can easily sway us to use this new language and the more common use of this makes it normal to sue the changed language so sometimes it may be more unusual to not use the new changes.

 “Random fluctuation can also occur subconsciously, and during this process, the sounds gradually drift from their original pronunciation - missing the 'target' of the bull's eye."

 Through Jean Aitcheson’s metaphors it is suggested change is like and "infectious disease” through a wide use of changed language it spreads, becomes more widely and frequently used. 

 https://a2englishlanguagerevision.wikispaces.com/Attitudes+towards+Change+and+Variation

- Instrumental: Language used to fulfil a need on the part of the speaker. Directly concerned with obtaining food, drink and comfort.


- Regulatory: Language used to influence the behaviour of others. Concerned with persuading / commanding / requesting other people to do things you want.


- Interactional: Language used to develop social relationships and ease the process of interaction. Concerned with the phatic dimension of talk.


- Personal: Language used to express the personal preferences and identity of the speaker. Sometimes referred to as the ‘Here I am!’ function – announcing oneself to the world.


- Representational: Language used to exchange information. Concerned with relaying or requesting information.


- Heuristic: Language used to learn and explore the environment. Child uses language to learn; this may be questions and answers, or the kind of running commentary that frequently accompanies children’s play.


- Imaginative: Language used to explore the imagination. May also accompany play as children create imaginary worlds, or may arise from storytelling.

I am interested in looking at the difference in male and female language through the use of technology and if there are any significant differences.

I will collect 10 messages from two boys and two girls picked at random through Facebook messenger and will then pick every third message to avoid bias and so I do not choose data that will support or disprove my hypothesis.

There may be limitations to my chosen data as two men and two women are not representative of the entire population who would use this form of social media.

Mix modality

Emoticons

Non standard English

Non standard punctuation

Images/ videos

Slang

To measure my data I will analyse and count the above techniques and compare if one gender uses more of these than another and analyse the possibilities why this would be.

Power in advertising
Fairclough
1. Synthetic Personalisation - build relationship between text producer and text reciever by using personal pronouns e.g 'you' or 'you'
2. Members' Resources - creating image of text using shared knowledge or the background knowledge of reader
3. Building Consumer - positioning the reciever as the ideal reader and therefore consumer of product

For this coursework my idea would be to analyse how power in advertising is used through the use of synthetic personalisation and/or building the consumer. I can do this by looking at magazine adverts that were produced at similar times and compare the language they use and how they engage their audiences to achieve these theories. 
I can look at magazines and maybe even newspapers to find these adverts however there might be a slightly different audience that the adverts are aimed at in both sources so it may be more reliable to just collect data from on type of source.

Nativist theories - These theories suggest that all humans have an inbuilt or innate capacity for language acquisition.

Social Interaction theories - These theories suggest that to acquire and develop language skills a child must have social and verbal interaction.

Cognitive theorists - The cognitive theorist believes that language is acquired as part of a wider development of understanding and cognitive ability.

BF Skinner (1957) having performed experiments using rats and pigeons discovered that they could perform a variety of tasks, as long as they were broken into stages, and received rewards for 'correct' actions.  From this Skinner formed his 'Operant Conditioning Theory'.  This was then applied to human learning, claiming that children learn language through the simple process of imitation and reinforcement.  Skinner also claimed that no complicated internal mechanisms were needed for language acquisition and that children learning language was virtually the same as lab rats learning to complete tasks.

Eric Lenneburg (1962) argued against Skinner's theory, in that children who are unable to speak due to illness are able to gain a normal comprehension of language without the ability to imitate adults, or by having their utterances reinforced.  Hart and Risley (1995) argued that differences in social classes in the USA and the verbal interaction received by children in these classes can have an influence on their social and economic development in their later life. 

Noam Chomsky - is a linguist and nativist theorist.  He argued against Skinner's interactional theory and suggested that children acquire language because all humans have an innate ability to speak.  Essentially he stated that the human brain is 'hard-wired' for language.  The LAD (Language Acquisition Device) enables a child to hear and extrapolate the rules of their own language and understand the words and structures.  Chomsky suggested that all languages have a Universal Grammar, stating that under the surface of all languages a similar grammatical structure is present.  Looking at features of child language acquisition, such as virtuous errors and overgeneralization, Chomsky noted that all children created these features without having heard adults use the same language and he concluded that there must be more than interaction and imitation at work to explain this phenomenon. 

Theorist Steven Pinker, looked at Chomsky's work and further developed the LAD idea and created his own PPT (Principles and Parameter Theory).  This theory essentially states that by hearing the principles and parameters of the individual’s native language, the rules become fixed.  In a sense Pinker is saying that the PPT is the software used by the LAD hardware to create language.  Once the parameters are defined through hearing speech, the principles become defined and are retained.  In the light of cognitive theories about child language acquisition, Chomsky has reflected on his own work and moved towards the ideas put forward by cognitive theorists.

Lenneburg, who worked as Chomsky's colleague added to the LAD theory stating that there must also be a 'critical period' when the LAD needs to be 'activated' with a sufficient amount of input, or the child's language development may be impaired.  This relates to 'feral - children', such as 'Genie'.  A child who was 'found' in 1970 and who had never had any positive interaction to develop language acquisition.  Forced to keep quiet, she never developed the ability to vocalise langauge properly, suggesting as per Lenneburg's idea, that she had passed the 'critical period' of activation and input; however, it should be noted that she did acquire the ability to communicate through sign language.  ASL (American Sign Language) does have grammatical rules, not the same as English, but still as Genie was able to acquire this ability and communicate with those around her, the interactional theory by Skinner is given more weight, as she would have learnt ASL through imitation and positive reinforcement by her care givers.

Jean Piaget - a cognitive theorist suggested that language development is due to a wider development in cognitive ability and that a child cannot articulate ides or concepts that they are uanble to understand.   Piaget argued that if a child needs to understand a concept such as the past, to be able to use language terms to refer to it.  Also the concept of seriation ( the ability to place items in a series, such as ascending or decending orders) needs to be understood before a child could learn to use superlatives and comparatives.  Object permanence features in this idea too.  The idea that the object still exists even if it is not visible needs to be understood too, so that the child comprehends that everything has it's own separate identity and will still exist even when the child cannot see it.

Lee Vygotsky -  a Russian pyschologist had similar views to Piaget.  He stated that langauge has two roles, one for communication and the other as a tool for further developing understanding, as he believed that language and thought become related in a relatively short period of time.  He also believed that collaborative play has an influence and essential part in a child's early development.  In instances where the emphasis is put more on play than teaching a child is required to stretch their cognitive abilities in and understanding new concepts or ideas without even realising  they are being taught.  Vygotsky said "What a child can do in co-operation today, he can do alone tomorrow".

(theorist research from another blog) 

I will look at the language change in modern writing from TV programs set in older eras such as around the 1920’s and I will look at comparable issues within these programs and comparable audiences.

 I am planning to collect three scenes from three different TV programs that are period dramas these could be selected from a few options such as:

Downton abbey

Mr. Selfridge

Peaky blinders

House of Elliot

 I am planning to pick a comparable scene from three programs such as a pregnancy or a family feud and see how the scenes compare to each other as the characters may be of different class and wealth. They must have comparable audiences so that the show would be aimed at the same type of people otherwise the writing would change and be suited to another type of audience. This will also help me see the language change in modern writing from an older era. I plan to collect this data by searching the Internet for scripts of the shows however these may not be accessible and if not then I will have to watch the scene myself and transcribe it and I could even use the subtitles for aid however these may not always be accurate.

As my data will be collected from different tv channels there may be a slight difference in the type/style of program that I am collecting data from and the programmes will have different subjects to them and will therfore may make it hard to get similar issues throughout all of these shows.