For our final project this nine weeks, we are going to examine the changes that have been the greatest influences on our ‘modern English’. For this assignment each group will randomly select one of the following important influences on the English Language:
- Shakespeare
- Colonalism
- Science
- The Dictionary
- Globalization
- The Internet and Technology
You will need to research how one of the topics above has influenced or changes our language, and then work to create a mini lesson and presentation for your classmates, so you can share what you’ve researched with them.
- Background information on your topic (this can include time period, important people or events, history).
- An explanation of how it specifically has changed and influenced the English language
- Examples that illustrate this change in the English language.
- Visuals that aid your classmates’ understanding of the factor’s impact on English (videos, images, skits, maps, charts, graphs, ect.)
- Guided Notes or Worksheets that they can fill out that go along with your lesson (these should focus more on ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions that ‘what’ and ‘when’ questions).
- Three seminar ‘questions to think about’ – one literal, one evaluative and one interpretive.
With these resources you have created, you will then teach your classmates about your topic. As you teach I will be looking to make sure:
- Everyone in the group participates using traits of an effective communicator.
- You ‘use the room’ and teach to everyone (no standing in the front, not moving).
- You ask the class questions throughout the presentation to engage them.
Finally, you will demonstrate your understanding of how these topics have changed our language by participating in a Socratic seminar after all of the groups have presented. Each group will present three questions for consideration at the end of their presentation (literal, evaluative, and informative) and these will guide our Socratic discussion.
Click here for the assignment sheet and grading rubric for this project.
Below you will find a series of resources I have already complied for your for this project – use them, and be sure to add two of your own to the list!
Shakespeare
- 20 Words We Owe To Shakespeare
- How Shakespeare Influences the Way We Speak Now
- Yes, Shakespeare coined words. But that’s just the start of his contribution to the English language
- Shakespeare’s Dictionary One Playwrights Influence on the Modern English Language
- How Shakespeare changed the English language
Colonialism
- The Effect of Colonialism on the English Language
- Colonialism and Imperialism and Its Effect on the English Language
- The Spread of English During the Colonial Period
- British Colonialism and Its Linguistic Consequences
- The Spread of English Across the Globe
Science
- How did English Become the Language of Science
- English as the Universal Language of Science
- How English Became the Dominate Language in Science
- English is the Language of Science – and that isn’t always a good thing
- The Language of Science
The Dictionary
- A Brief History of English Spelling
- Johnson’s Dictionary
- What Samuel Johnson Really Did for English
- Noah Webster Moves Away from British English
- Five Way Noah Webster Changed the English Language
- The Oxford English Dictionary
Globalization
- Across cultures, English is the word
- What Global Language?
- EnglishNext
- Globalization of English
- English As A Global Language
The Internet and Technology
- 4 Ways the Internet Has Changed the English Language
- English grammar is changing…because Internet
- Are Digital Media Changing Language?
- 5 Ways Social Media Benefits Writing and Language
- Evolution of English in the Internet age
Students, please find your classmates’ presentations for this assignment linked below:
