The Language Battle Essays - Sociolinguistics, English Grammar

The Language Battle The Language Battle In todays society there are two philosophical views that have become enemies and are constantly battling it out. These two views are from the prescriptivists and the descriptivists. The prescriptivists believe that there is a certain way that language should be written, and that language follows a certain set of rules believed to be prestigious. The descriptivists believe that language is described with the use of certain use of words and syntax. Since, todays society has had many technological advances many tend to lean more towards the descriptivists way of thinking. Many people believe that if a person has a higher educational level that they would most likely have a higher prestige in the way that they talked or presented themselves. In a survey that was recently taken on dialect 100% of the people said that the sentence The land was given to Susan and me. Is correct. The prescriptivists way of thinking prevailed in this form of dialect. One sentence that made most people think was This is the play in which he preformed in. The prescriptivists point of view was put into play in this situation. Only 40% of the people picked up on the fact that this sentence ended with a preposition and 60% said that there was nothing wrong and that is how they would say it. The other speech form that was most diverse was the plural of you. The prescriptivists say that the correct answer is you all. Only 30% of the people got this question right. The most common was the answer yall by 40% of the people. 20% of the people said you guys and 10% said your. Again wi th educational level the descriptivists way seems to prevail. Since the times have changed so much with all the technological advances language has changed in time too. As people started to age the answers started to be very different. On the question that asked what is the name of the object that a baby is brought home in from the hospital if it had wheels and could be taken for a walk. I found that the age groups from 15-20, 21-30, and 31-40 100% called it a stroller. In the 41-50 age group 50% said buggy and 50% called it a pram. The older people in the 60+ group 100% called it a carriage. The term carriage is one that is a lot older and not used very often. When asked, what utensil is used to fry food in? The older 60+ age group 100% said it was called a skillet, but the other age groups referr Speech and Communications

Descriptive Piece Essays - Free Essays

Childhood Memory/ Descriptive Piece Essays - Free Essays Childhood Memory/ Descriptive Piece Every fortnight I was faced with the taunting experience of retrieving the eggs and every fortnight the task became more and more daring. Each morning at Nonis (grandmother) house a war between the chickens and I emerged from the normally silent yard, a war that separated all good from the world and emphasized death, destruction and danger. Every morning at Nonis house the boy that I was turned into a manly structure, ready for battle. The sun beamed through the old wooden shutters as the light splashed across his dormant eyes, beckoning him to awaken and absorb the early morning warmth. Each ray of light produced a comforting sensation persuading the boy to emerge from his overnight coma and venture out beneath the newborn sun. The warmth soon turned to a chill as a noise from the far corner of the backyard seized everything that was pleasant. The chicken sounds were calling him, reminding him of his duty..tempting him. Awakening very slowly the boy began to prepare himself for battle, just the way his grandfather had told of his experiences. The boy began to prepare himself both physically and mentall, knowing that one mistake could be the difference between failure and success. The young boy was ready and the beast that lived inside of him was to be exposed to a morning of frightful duties. The young boy was now the beast and the beast was the young boy and with the two minds combined a war was about to begin. He marched with enormous confidence until he reached the large back door that was the gateway to either treasures or torment. A fear inside him was released as he opened the door and proceeded with his mission to recover the prized treasure. He had all senses alert and functioning, ready for any enemy attack from the large, distrustful chickens. His knees and elbows slid along the wet dew of the morning grass like a snake carefully maneuvering its body, hiding from any danger. In front of him was a large cluster of grapevines that blocked any vision or path towards the enemies' barracks. There was no way around the large tangled knot, as this method would expose his route of attack to the enemy. Having no other option the cunning boy had no choice but to go through the vines. His body becoming a large grapevine, ducking and weaving through the tangled domain. The vines did not appreciate his presence and every meter he gained a new gash tore open the bare skin on his legs. He sensed the pressure build as he reached the forefront of the enemy barracks. Before him was a large rusted structure which foreshadowed any positive aspects which had arisen from the attack. The enemy headquarters oozed with a vibe of danger and evil. He decided not to turn back and thus moved onwards. His mission was established and all his knowledge and expertise was then crafted into an attempt to conquer what was rightfully his. He slowly invaded the enemy fortress that was covered by a wide expanse of rust and debree. Slowly and quietly he maneuvered his way around the shed, carefully he did not to make any sudden movements or sounds so as to alert the enemy. He held his position momentarily and observed if there was any movement evident inside the enemy fortress. He stalked the enemy and he felt the enemy stalking him. He then reached the opening of the fortress. A large corrugated iron door separated the young boy from victory and this large barrier to entry was an unexpected obstacle and delay. The door was so big that the latch to grant access into the disgusting pit was not accessible. His plans were disrupted and so he used all of his knowledge to overcome this unexpected occurrence. There wasn't into the fortress and this small dilemma began to be extremely costly time-wise. Due to this loss in time my enemy slowly began to gain advantage over me and I knew that I had to act quickly in order to save my mission. In the far bottom corner of the shed I could see a small opening. Obviously my