Language Programs and Policies in Multilingual Societies ELT 215

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 Language Programs and Policies in Multilingual Societies ELT 215

INTRODUCTION

English has been used as a means of

contact in the world. The diverse
backgrounds of each user have led to the
formation of the numerous different varieties of
English. Throughout this lesson, you will be
introduced to the numerous varieties of English
and the factors that gave rise to these varieties.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lesson, through the activities and discussions

provided in this module, you will be able to:

a. describe language change

b. cite reasons why language undergo change

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 Language Programs and Policies in Multilingual Societies ELT 215

Activating Prior Knowledge

Research Work

Directions: Read the example of Old English from Beowulf's opening as well as
its Modern English translation. Make a contrastive analysis on the difference of
the Old English and the Modern English in terms of pronunciation and word
formation (spelling). Follow the comparative analysis format in the previous
lesson.

Old English:

Hwæt! Wé Gárdena in géardagum

þéodcyninga þrym gefrúnon·
hú ðá æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scéfing sceaþena þréatum
monegum maégþum meodosetla oftéah·
egsode Eorle syððan aérest wearð
féasceaft funden hé þæs frófre gebád·
wéox under wolcnum weorðmyndum þáh
oð þæt him aéghwylc þára ymbsittendra
fer hronráde hýran scolde,
gomban gyldan· þæt wæs gód cyning.

Modern English:

Listen! We of the Spear-Danes in the days of yore,

of those clan-kings heard of their glory.
how those nobles performed courageous deeds.
Often Scyld, Scef’s son, from enemy hosts
from many peoples seized mead-benches;
and terrorised the fearsome Heruli after first he was
found helpless and destitute, he then knew recompense for that:
he waxed under the clouds, throve in honours,
until to him each of the bordering tribes
beyond the whale-road had to submit,
and yield tribute: that was a good king!

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 Language Programs and Policies in Multilingual Societies ELT 215

TOPIC NO. 7
Language Change

Let us analyze!

Question: Based on the result of your comparative analysis, what are the
similarities and differences between the Old English and Modern English?
Answer briefly.

OLD ENGLISH SIMILARITIES MODERN ENGLISH

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 Language Programs and Policies in Multilingual Societies ELT 215

Let us learn from here!

Definition

 What is Language Change?

It is a phenomenon that permanently alters the features and uses of
language over time (Nordquist, 2019).
It is the modification of language forms over a period of time and/or
physical distance (Encyclopedia.com, 2020).

 Diachronic Change

Modern
Old English Middle English
English

Diachronic Linguistics is concerned with the development and

evolution of language through history.

 Synchronic Change

Synchronic linguistics aims to describe a language at a particular

point of time.

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 Language Programs and Policies in Multilingual Societies ELT 215

Causes of Language Change

Connecting the Past to Present!

Directions: Outline the changes that the following words went through
before it became the current word that we know.

1. English (the word, not the language)

2. Emoji
3. Sudems (gay lingo)
4. Crayola (gay lingo)
5. Teacher

Let us learn from here!

Why does language change over time?

1. Trade and Migration

When cultures interact, blend and trade with each other,
language shifts to accommodate these changes.
English, for example, is frequently borrowed from other
languages. These borrowed words are called the "loanwords".
Avatar, tsunami, banquet and sudoku are examples of
loanwords.

2. Technology and New Inventions

New words and phrases are often invented to explain things
that never existed before.
These invented words are a combination of two words that
existed before, known as “portmanteau words”.
Clickbait, selfies, podcast, and vlog are examples of invented
words.

3. Old Words Acquiring New Meaning

Mouse, surf and web are examples of words that acquire new
meaning because of the emergence of the technology.

4. Social Status of Speakers

People with higher social status introduce changes in the
language

5. Dialectal Change
The difference in dialects causes difference in vocabulary and
pronunciation

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 Language Programs and Policies in Multilingual Societies ELT 215

6. Gender
The difference between the gender identities of speakers causes
change in the language.

Aspects of Language Change

1. Lexical
Borrowing
Language are avid borrowers
40% of common words in English are loan words
Direct/Indirect borrowing
Phonological and morphological treatment of loans
A loan word is a word used directly from another
language with little or no translation
Examples: Ballet (French), café (French),
Kindergarten (German), waltz (German),
patio (Spanish), plaza (Spanish), karaoke
(Japanese)
Coining new words
New words can be formed using the basic resources of
the language through a number of processes:
Compounding
Combining two or more words to form new
words
Examples: Blackboard, girlfriend,
gingerbread, shopkeeper
Derivation
Using affixes to create new words
Examples: warmth, freedom, miniskirt
Clipping
Forming a word by extracting an arbitrary
portion of a word of an identical meaning
Example: phone (telephone), gym
(gymnasium), flu (influenza)
Blending
Pieces of existing words are combined to
form new words
Example: motel, smog, brunch
Acronyms
The reduction of long phrases to a few
letters
Examples: NASA, NATO, SPAMAST, SCUBA

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Language Programs and Policies in Multilingual Societies ELT 215

2. Semantic
Broadening
Words acquire more meanings beside the original one
Examples:
Mouse
It is a small rodent with a sharp snout,
moderately large ears and paws, and a long
tail.
It is a small handheld gadget that is moved
over a flat surface to move the cursor to a
computer screen, normally with buttons
that are pushed to monitor the functions.
Virus
It is an infectious agent that usually consists
of a nucleic acid molecule in a protein coat,
is too small to be detected by light
microscopy, and is capable of spreading
only inside the host's living cells.
It is a piece of code that is capable of
repeating itself and usually has negative
consequences, such as machine
manipulation or data loss.
Narrowing
The meaning of a word becomes less general or
inclusive than its earlier meaning.
Examples:
Deer
Originally had the general meaning 'animal'
Meat
Originally had the general meaning 'food
Girl
Originally had the general meaning 'a
young person'
Shifts of meaning
Words cease to mean what they used to, and take on
new semantic representations
3. Phonetic and Phonological
Loss of phonemes
Wednesday  wɛnzdeɪ
Chocolate  ʧɒkəlɪt
Time  taɪm
Knot  nɒt
Know  nəʊ
Dive  daɪv

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 Language Programs and Policies in Multilingual Societies ELT 215

Addition of phonemes
Latin
Scala, snob, smeralda, spatha
Spanish
Escala, esnob, esmerada, espada
Middle English
Amonges  amongst
Amiddes  amidst
Betwix  betwixt
Metathesis
It occurs when two sounds switch places
4. Syntactic
It occurs in the grammatical notions that govern languages
Slow and in need of further investigation
Word order
Old English
SOV and SVO
Modern English
SVO
Re-analysis
A process whereby grammatical notions which has
one particular function comes to be perceived by
the speakers of a language as having a second.
Grammaticalization
The process whereby lexical items are reduced to
grammatical items without entirely losing their
function as words.

Deepening Understanding

Directions: Record a video of yourself reciting the Old English version of

Beowulf's opening stanza as well as its Modern English translation. You may
refer to the activating prior knowledge activity of this lesson. Post your
recorded video in our facebook group with a caption stating the changes that
the Old and Modern English undergone. You may refer to the aspects of
language change for your guidance. This activity is for 80pts.

Criteria:

Video/Recitation Caption/Explanation
Emotion - 20pts Content - 20pts
Pronunciation - 15pts Organization of idea - 10pts
Creativity - 5pts Grammar and Mechanics - 10pts
TOTAL - 40pts TOTAL - 40pts

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 Language Programs and Policies in Multilingual Societies ELT 215

Assessment

Part I. True or False

Directions: Read each statement carefully before answering. Write T if the

statement is true and do not write anything if it is false. Write your answer on
the space provided before the number.

_____ 1. Language change is a phenomenon that permanently alters the

features and uses of language.
_____ 2. Historical Linguists defines language change as synchronic change.
_____ 3. The difference in dialects causes difference in vocabulary and
pronunciation.
_____ 4. The difference between the gender identities of speakers does not
cause change in the language.
_____ 5. Narrowing is when words acquire more meanings beside the original
one.

Part II. Identification

Directions: Identify the type of coining new words or lexical change that the
words have undergone. Write your answer on the space provided before the
number.

_____________ 1. GIF
_____________ 2. Lab
_____________ 3. Sunflower
_____________ 4. Smog
_____________ 5. Chillax
_____________ 6. SIM
_____________ 7. fab
_____________ 8. DIY
_____________ 9. Motel
_____________ 10. Info
_____________ 11. Makeup
_____________ 12. Emoticon
_____________ 13. Groundhog
_____________ 14. Bionic
_____________ 15. Globish

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 Language Programs and Policies in Multilingual Societies ELT 215

Reflection

Directions: Reflect on what you have learned in this lesson through writing a
reflection paper in CERAE format on the insights you’ve gained in the
discussion and activities that you’ve performed or accomplished.

Content
(in not more than 1
paragraph,
summarize the
content of this
lesson)

Experience
(in not more than 1
paragraph, share
your experiences in
reading the
discussions and
performing or
accomplishing the
tasks of this lesson)

Reflection
(in not more than 1
paragraph, reflect
on the content of
the lesson and
connect it with your
experiences)

Analysis
(in not more than 1
paragraph, provide
possible reasons
why this topic is
important and why
this topic is not
important)

Evaluation
(in not more than 1
paragraph, discuss
how will you apply
what you have
learned in this
lesson to your
future endeavors)

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 Language Programs and Policies in Multilingual Societies ELT 215

REFERENCES

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https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/english_as_a_second_language/world_en
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Coulmas, F. (2013). Sociolinguistics: The Study of Speakers’ Choices

Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.

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Mallinson, C. (2015). Sociolinguistics. Retrieved from Oxford Research

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