Blog lesson. - Wasn't uploaded during lesson time - finished 8th March.

Jean Aitchinson and John Humphrey's - Descriptivism and Prescriptivism -


Prescriptivism:
A prescriptive attitude is described as giving a judgement about whether language use/change is good or bad, correct or incorrect.


John Humphrey's has written an article about language and technology on the Mail Online. It is evident that John Humphrey's has a prescriptive attitude towards language and technology and how our language is evolving. His prescriptive attitude demonstrates he is unhappy about the developments in English and is also very disapproving of the evolving English language.
John's prescriptive attitude is present in the title of the article 'I h8 txt msgs', this gives an immediate example of the fact John has a prescriptive attitude as he is clearly unhappy with the development of the technology and emphasises the use of abbreviations in the title.


Descriptivism:
Happy to explore and embrace the change in English.


An example of these behaviours in action is in the use of double negatives. Jean Aitchinson, who is a descriptivist, suggests that the use of double negatives is a way of emphasising a point. In contrast, prescriptivists would argue that by using double negatives, you are expressing a positive. They view language in a logical manner.
Jean Aitchinson is a descriptivist. She attacks the prescriptivist view in her three language myths that she feels are false:
The Crumbling Castle myth suggests that the English language was once a great castle, but over time it has decayed and crumbled into the sea. She states this is false because the description of English as a 'once fine language' is a particularly inaccurate one, as language is constantly changing and evolving.
The Damp Spoon myth suggests that 'bad English' sticks to people who are lazy and passive. This laziness is reflected by the people that put the damp spoon into the sugar bowl. Aitchinson though, states that 'the only lazy speech is drunken speech' and that speaking quickly, for example, isn't a sign of laziness.
The Infectious Disease myth suggests that 'bad English' is like a horrible disease, that spreads from person to person. We have no control or vaccine. Aitchinson suggests that the idea that changes are caught and spread is technically correct, but it is no disease. People pick up changes in language because they want to.