informal language Flashcards
paragraph plans:
- Lindsay Johns + jobs
- MLE
- David Crystal
- code switching
intro:
Language is one of the most powerful tools on planet Earth. Used to communicate wants and needs and express emotion, the ability to speak enables people with the freedom to share their thoughts with the world. Teenagers are frequently held responsible for the linguistic standards being lowered as the English language changes and new phrases become more common. Should this be the case?
Lindsay Johns model paragraph:
Prescriptivist Lindsay Johns would agree with the statement, as he claimed in the Evening Standard that “Ghetto grammar robs the young of a proper voice”. Like so many other arguments about accent, slang and non-standard English, after researching the objections against young people using slang, it becomes clear that there are many others who are willing to join in the discussion and express their own personal opinions regarding language use. John’s is one of many prescriptivists that is pro RP and believes it is important that everyone can understand each other and that basic standards are important.
As time went on, RP was regarded as the “proper” English accent. It made no difference where in England they were from. People who lacked the “correct” accent had less employment opportunities. Research has shown that people who speak RP, are more likely to be recruited, despite being spoken by only 3% of the population, it is also classed as the most ‘trustworthy’ accent in the UK. Therefore, if teens carry on speaking like modernised cavemen, best believe they won’t get too far in life.
MLE model paragraph:
An example of this so-called ‘ghetto grammar’ would be MLE (MultiCultural London English), or as now referred to UBE (Urban British English). MLE is a dialect spoken by young, working-class Londoners who grew up in neighbourhoods with significant immigration rates. It originated in dialect spoken by Caribbean migrants who arrived in London after WWII, but has since spread rapidly. Not familiar? Let me give you a crash course: “innit” means “isn’t it”, “peng” means “good”, “wagwan” means “what’s going on?”, and “shook” means “scared”. You might be thinking, ‘this sounds like a disgrace’, however let me enlighten you on how unharmful language change really is.
Slang has been around since humans first evolved; it should not be looked down upon because of its widespread prevalence among younger generations worldwide, on social media, and in every aspect of language. I’m not joking, even Shakespeare got down with the slang terms, using ‘coz’ instead of ‘cousin’ in his famous play Romeo and Juliet.
David Crystal model paragraph:
David Crystal, language guru and descriptivist, expresses his views on the evolution of language. He claimed ‘Where a lot of people see deterioration, I see expressive development’. Slang demonstrates its relevance in language and communication by providing individuality to those who use it, the impact it has in educational settings, and its presence on social media. Slang, whether used by younger or older generations, is continuously changing and evolving, and it is constantly changed to produce new terms. This constant cycle is what keeps slang relevant.
code-switching model paragraph:
Although, If I still haven’t convinced you, maybe code-switching will. Don’t get me wrong, it is evident that many young people adopt a casual tone, which is acceptable, especially if they are among friends or relatives. The issue is that some of them do not know when to adjust their tone
and slang vocabulary to fit a more formal or appropriate context. Instead, they continue to speak in informal, slang-filled colloquialism, because of this, teens may experience difficulties in conversations with unfamiliar adults or during job interviews. Which is something they need to be prepared for in their upcoming life. Code-switching, or the habit of changing dialects according to the situation, is ingrained in civilization. Although the term “code-switching” can sometimes relate to quickly switching between languages, it more frequently describes a practice of changing one’s dialect to fit in with the dominant culture. It is a wide-spread belief that children and teens should be able to code-switch.
Michael Rosen, language descriptivist, shares this belief and emphasises the importance of code-switching in modern day society. For example, in a range of different scenarios, being; at school, with friends or in a job interview, it is vital to understand the skill of knowing what language is appropriate to use. In a job interview, using a sociolect that belongs to a teens friend group or background may have an effect on how they are perceived. Most adults are against the use of slang terminology as it is ‘lazy’ and doesn’t sound professional, which can lead to teenagers being negatively distinguished as unprofessional and immature. And I agree, using words such as ‘innit’ and ‘like’ every 5 seconds aren’t going to benefit teens in these circumstances.
However, although slang can appear ‘lazy’ and ‘informal’, as long as we know when and how to use it, it’s really not that damaging, in fact it appears to almost be contributing to the development of the English language. Therefore there is no point in opposing change prematurely.
