Note: Please read the discussions guidelines and the reading for this week before completing the assignment below. Also, do not forget to post your response below and submit it in the Assignments, Test and Surveys (ATS) section of the site.
The readings for this week:
“Watch Your Language” by Carmen Fought: http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/reveal/
“What is ‘Correct’ Language?” by Edward Finegan
http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/correct/prescriptivism/
“They Speak Really Bad English Down South and in New York City” by
Dennis R. Preston: http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/prejudice/attitudes/
In the song “Words Crimes” by “Weird Al” Yankovic, he addresses the topic of language from the perspective of prescriptivism, which the novelist and former television news anchor Robert MacNeil defines as “the view that there is a right and a wrong way to speak a language and that there are certain correct forms that should be used.” Many linguists, however, approach the topic of language from a descriptivist view, which MacNeil defines as “the objective description of the way people actually speak without judgment about how they ‘should’ speak.” I want you to give the topic of language exploration some thought after reading the articles and viewing the video for Yankovic’s song “Word Crimes.”
Please choose ONE of the writing prompts below, and write a complete response of at least 300 words and include evidence (i.e., quote a sentence or two) from at least 2 of the articles you have read this week and the lyrics of Weird Al’s song. Please include the number that you are responding to or the entire question before your response. Also, please return to the discussion board to read and respond to at least 2 of your classmates’ posts.
How do you think at least 2 of the writers of the articles that we read this week would respond to Yankovic’s song? Which views would they agree or disagree with, and why? Which views do you agree with the most: Yankovic’s or the authors, and why?
Do you consider yourself to be more of a prescriptivist like Yankovic or a descriptivist like the authors, and why? If you are a prescriptivist, what aspects of Yankovic’s song do you agree with (please cite the lyrics), and what parts of the articles do you disagree with (please cite at least 2 of the articles)? If you are a descriptivist, what aspects of the articles do you agree with (please cite at least 2 of the articles), and what aspects of Yankovic’s song do you disagree with (please cite the lyrics)?