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A-Level English Language - Language and Change Opinion Article
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An opinion article I completed about Language and Change.
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Write an opinion article about the way that the English Language is changing.It’s about time we stop worrying about ‘the decline of the English Language!’
The 21st century presents us with an ever-growing list of potential threats to society: climate
crisis, financial ruin, cyber terrorism. Amidst this list of prospective problems lies the demise
of the English Language. Is our language shaping the future of our society? Is our language
deteriorating? Is our language at risk from becoming far less effective?
An influx of new social phenomena, the rise of technology and the growing identity of youth
speak has shaped the variety of English that we know and love today. Arguably, language
experts seem to point to the evolution of the English Language being a direct result of the
diversity of society; they suggest the ever-changing nature correlates with the our mongrel
nation: a nation created by an influx of different nationalities as a result of invasions,
settlements, immigration and war. On the other side of the fence, many prescriptivists claim
that this so-called ‘linguistic decline’ cause ‘confusion’, chaos and ultimately, contributes to
a loss of ‘shades of meaning’, according to the Queen’s English Society. Therefore, it seems
they feel our precious language is ‘at risk’ and they argue that we’re in danger of
demolishing the very fabric of a language that represents a rich diversity and a heritage that
will never be reclaimed!
Reassuringly, however, many language experts admit this ‘apocalypse’ may take time,
possibly decades, but the subsequent direction of language is clear. The upsurge of ‘youth
speak’ has coined new terms and also, regional dialects across the country have broken
down the façade of BBC English or better known as R.P English which many prescriptivists
see as a huge ‘decline’. Linguist, Marie Clair of the ‘Plain English Campaign’, argues that
‘language is deteriorating … Our language is flying off at all tangents, without an anchor of a
solid foundation’. The Daily Mail readers clutch their dictionaries protectively and believing,
like John Humphrys, that we are developing a linguistic epidemic of obesity; we are lazy in
our food habits, lifestyles and, most importantly, our language habits!
Supporting this view, in the New York Times, a columnist argued that, ‘Without grammar,
we lose the agreed-upon standards about what means what’ and eventually, this leads to a
loss of ‘precision’. Language is reflective of the society we live in and the technology around
us has infiltrated into our language. Just as fast food has made us lazy, ordering and having a
meal delivered, via Deliveroo, in 20 minutes, texting is increasing our linguistic obesity and
polluting our verbal palettes! Textism! On a par with sexism, perhaps not! But to some,
textism is equally damaging. Shortenings of words (elision to the language experts), such as
‘gonna’, ‘u’ and ‘tho’ are creeping into our everyday vernacular. Why say ‘going to’, when
you can merge the two words and just say ‘gonna’? The shift of culture has encouraged a
subsequent shift in lexis and pronunciation. For many, this multi-modality of the 21 st century
has prompted the decline of the English Language. The consequence of feeding our children
on junk words is producing an ‘infectious Disease theory’ that’s spreading faster than Covid.
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