Samuel Johnson: The Development Of The Standardization Of English Language

In the article “Should English Be the Law?” the author Robert D. King tell us about several civilizations that were influenced by all different types of language. The point is there are countries out there that don’t want a singular language. Some countries such as India in their constitution nineteen different languages are recognized. But then other countries like America a bill was passed in 1996 making English the national language. Truth is every country is different some want a national language and some don’t I feel no one should be forced. The government should just do as the people request.

Author Bryan A. Garner, in his article “Making Peace in the Language Wars” (published in Garner’s Modern American Usage 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 2009), seeks to negotiate a cease-fire between two fighting countries, the prescriptivists and the descriptivists, by dispelling myths about each of their camps. First and foremost, Garner outlines the war is happening between the lines of our favorite novels and poetry, and he describes what each camp stands for. Prescriptivists desire to instruct the world around them on how to use the language by enforcing, or at the very least informing the general public about the rules of grammar. They are sometimes described as conservative and are very concerned

“Authority and American Usage” written by David Foster Wallace, poses an argument about the English language, and the different beliefs of its usage. This essay was written in defense of Bryan A. Garner’s, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage. His argument in “Authority and American Usage” is the difference the between prescriptivism perception and the descriptivism perception (Linguistic terms that could easily be made into smaller, more understandable words for people like me). Since the beginning of time, language has evolved. From biblical times, to Shakespearean times, to present day; the English language has been continuously changing since it’s birth and has no intentions on stopping.

“Among these unhappy mortals is the writer of dictionaries; whom mankind have considered, not as the pupil, but the slave of science, the pioneer of literature, doomed only to remove rubbish and clear obstructions from the path of Learning and Genius, who press forward to conquest and glory, without bestowing a smile on the humble drudge that facilitates their progress. Every other authour may aspire to praise; the lexicographer can only hope to escape reproach, and even this negative recompense has been yet granted to very few” (Johnson, 3).

“Others among you, perhaps fewer in number, will say to yourselves: quite so, there is such a thing as Standard English, or purity of speech, or correctness of expression- something worth safeguarding and fostering; but how the devil is one to accomplish that under the prevailing conditions: in a democratic society full of minorities that have their own dialects or linguistic preferences, and in a world in which television, advertising, and other mass media manage daily to corrupt the language

Noah Webster, familiar to most Americans as the writer of the first American dictionary, worked as a schoolteacher in the late eighteenth century. As he taught, he came to realize that there were some major problems with the way English was taught in the American schools. The United States of America had recently declared its independence from England, and was struggling to form its own identity. The schools were still using textbooks from England, and these books varied in consistency when it came to spelling, pronunciation and grammar (Short Summary Website). As a teacher, and as a patriot, Webster felt a need for an American textbook. He wanted consistency and he wanted it to reflect that there was an American

ENGL 2322 – British Literature to 1800 (English IV) ENGL 2323 – British Literature since 1800 (English IV) ENGL 2327 – American Literature to 1865

In the first part of this essay, David Wallace, the author, explains the theories of both a Descriptivist and Prescriptivist. Wallace discusses Garner’s book, “A Dictionary of Modern American Usage”, and the issues on language usage. He also gives us some of the advantages and disadvantages on both the Descriptivist and Prescriptivist. He uses footnotes to expand on his ideas. I believe, he uses footnotes to help the reader understand his perspective. His footnotes are not the usual footnotes we see in an original text but, then again, this is Wallace we are talking about. They often include personal anecdotes like how he became a "SNOOT” or how he ends up teaching on every term a “Three week Emergency Remedial Usage and Grammar Unit” because

William Tyndale has been called “the hidden father of the English language.” He was the first person to translate the Bible into the English, and in doing so, he changed the English language forever. Before Tyndale’s translation some English words had three different spelling. Tyndale helped to formalize both the spellings and speech patterns of different words and phrases. Tyndale spoke seven different languages, and he was proficient in both Hebrew and Greek. He was a priest who worked his whole life mastering his intellectual gifts and making use of them. Tyndale was disciplined and efficient. He could have went a long way in the church had he not worked so hard to defy the current authority, but he did all of this to make sure men

I also read up on what it means to make English the official language as opposed to being an “English only” state. I agree with you that making English official does make our government institutions not only run more efficiently, but keeps them organized and productive. The way I look at it is if a group of people go into a meeting with a stack of documents all in different languages, how long is it going to take them to go over them and how much longer is that meeting going to take because it is in multiple languages? I feel it is important to keep it simple. I also agree with you that the language barrier could make many things ineffective. Where you state in business (and I agree) the first thing I think of is how the larger government

He argues that in order to save the English language, extreme measures have to be taken. He explains that “ And dams are precisely what we can construct to prevent floods of ignorance from eroding our language, and beyond that, to provide irrigation for areas that would otherwise remain linguistically arid.” Those who impose the use of proper language will create dams as a means of purification for other people's ignorance. People will be corrected for their misuse of language, pronunciation of words, and grammatical errors. Promoting good English and correcting bad English will be the beginning of improved successful commutation.

George Orwell states that, “our civilization is decadent and our language…must inevitably share in the general collapse” (Orwell 2000, 1), when he argues for prescriptivism (though toned down from what was taught and accepted in his day). While Garner posits that, “describers, meanwhile, remind us that linguistic change is a fact of life – and conclude that it’s therefore not worth opposing” (Garner, Making Peace in the Language Wars 2008, 272). When David Foster Wallace discusses descriptivism, he makes a historical reference to, “Philip Gove’s now classic introduction to Webster’s Third [which] outlines this type of Descriptivism’s five basic edicts: ‘1 – Language changes constantly; 2 – change is normal; 3 – spoken language is the language; 4 – correctness rests upon usage; 5 – All usage is relative.’” (Wallace 2005, 83). Wallace himself argues against most of these edicts, proving himself to uphold his snootitude. Bryan A. Garner creates a list similar to that of Gove’s, while addressing the argument that “learning grammar may seem like an exercise in pedantry,” which is a point argued by many descriptivists:

Schools are constantly changing and standards must change and adapt too. I had the opportunity to review the 6 ISLLC Standards and the PSEL 2015 standards. The biggest difference between the two standards was whom the standards impacted. I noticed the ISLLC Standards provided more guidance on what leaders need to know and how to improve instruction. However, the PSEL Standards concentrated on creating challenging, caring and supportive conditions to boost student learning. Educators now 
have a better understanding of how effective leadership contributes to
 student success.

Think of things that morph over time. What comes to mind? People may think about a music artist’s change from YouTube videos recorded on iPhones to sold-out concerts. Or, they may think about the changes an athlete makes from childhood to becoming a professional athlete. However, did you think about how much a language changes over a couple of years? Every year words are added to and taken from the dictionary. Words are formed and forgotten. Language changes because of a person’s vocabulary and location, but what happens to a language, like the English language, that is spread across the whole world?

One of the best things about Samuel Johnson is that he had a goal to invent a dictionary of his own and he successfully achieved his goals and now his dictionary is one of the most well know dictionary around the world. Therefore, that’s why the lexicographical people fought with grammarians because the grammarians only depended on summing the rules so they added some resources to it. I, personally, agree with many others that the dictionary is way better than the grammar