Essay Assignment 1

Followin" rel="nofollow">ing is a list of suggested topics for the first essay assignment. Answer any one of these questions, which relate to the material presented in" rel="nofollow">in Units 1 through 5. 1. Descriptive grammarians ask, “What is English (or any other language) like, that is, what are its forms, and how do these forms function in" rel="nofollow">in various situations?” By contrast, prescriptive grammarians ask, “What should English (or any other language) be like, that is, what forms should people use, and what functions should these forms serve?” In language, who is right and who is wrong, and who decides? 2. Speech errors that move, substitute, add, or delete sounds, words, or phrases in" rel="nofollow">indicate the existence of units of speech. Speech errors also tell us a great deal about the structure and organization of a person’s mental dictionary—the warehouse of all the words a speaker of a language knows. Discuss the usefulness of speech errors for research purposes. Include examples of speech errors; describe the phonological, lexical, or developmental problem that each error illustrates; and explain" rel="nofollow">in what each error reveals about correct speech. 3. Comparisons of different languages cause us to pay attention to language “universals”—the ways in" rel="nofollow">in which all languages are similar, and to language “particulars”—the ways in" rel="nofollow">in which each language (or type of language) is special or unique. Lin" rel="nofollow">inguists and anthropologists who study language universals have formulated theories to describe and explain" rel="nofollow">in human language and human language behaviour in" rel="nofollow">in general terms as the “species-specific capacities of humans.” However, the idea that different languages may in" rel="nofollow">influence thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in different ways is present in" rel="nofollow">in many cultures, and the concept has given rise to various philosophical treatises. The issue remain" rel="nofollow">ins unresolved, largely because of the difficulty in" rel="nofollow">in pin" rel="nofollow">innin" rel="nofollow">ing down the effects of a particular language on a particular thought pattern. Nevertheless, this concept goes in" rel="nofollow">in and out of fashion and often, considerable energy is spent on efforts to either confirm or refute it. Discuss or argue the case either for or again" rel="nofollow">inst the idea that language in" rel="nofollow">influences thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing. 4. Language change in" rel="nofollow">inevitably leads to variation, and variation within" rel="nofollow">in a speech community often leads to placin" rel="nofollow">ing a social value, such as “good” or “bad”, on the change. “Good” variants are generally considered to be superior, venerable, or both, while “bad” variants are considered illogical and/or recent in" rel="nofollow">inventions by the vulgar. Discuss these assumptions as well as the political implications of placin" rel="nofollow">ing values within" rel="nofollow">in language. 5. It appears that language contact situations are subject to two often conflictin" rel="nofollow">ing forces—the need to achieve communicative efficiency adequate for the purpose of in" rel="nofollow">interaction (dynamics of accommodation), and the need to preserve a distin" rel="nofollow">inct sense of group identity (group loyalty). The former encourages convergence or compromise between languages, while the latter encourages divergence or the preservation of language boundaries. Identify a case of language contact, and describe the subsequent specifics of language accommodations or divergences. MARGINS Use margin" rel="nofollow">ins on both sides of the page JUSTIFY Left justify the paper and Reference/Work Cited page. Centre the in" rel="nofollow">information on the title page. SPACING Use 1.5 or double spacin" rel="nofollow">ing. INDENTS Indent each new paragraph five to seven spaces or double space between paragraphs. FONTS Use ten or twelve-poin" rel="nofollow">int type such as Times New Roman PAGES Do not use a page number for the title page. Do use page numbers on all other pages. Page numbers appear in" rel="nofollow">in the upper right corner of the essay. TITLE PAGE Provide a title page with title, author’s name and ID number, course name and number. *Always provide a Reference Page/Work Cited page and always be sure your name is on any material submitted. Please use Textbooks Hickerson, Nancy Parrott 2010 Lin" rel="nofollow">inguistic Anthropology. Custom edition. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College Publishers. Rowe, Bruce M., and Diane P. Levin" rel="nofollow">ine 2012 A Concise Introduction to Lin" rel="nofollow">inguistics. 3rd edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education as the two sources. And the other four sources please fin" rel="nofollow">ind it by yourself. Make sure to cited the sentences properly and use your own words and own idea. Do not cited too much.