“Spoken English and Broken English” is a transcript of a radio talk recorded in 1927, but is mislabeled as a prose by countless people across the globe. George Bernard Shaw, spoke on the topic “Spoken English and Broken English” on a gramophone recording for the Linguaphone Institute. The recording was broadcasted over Manhattan’s radio station WNEW. This radio talk was a part of a series of talks called, A Treasure of the Spoken World. Recorded in the backdrop of 1927’s politically unstable country, Shaw’s masterpiece highlighted the need for simple, good and powerful English. Due to the influx of migrants from different parts of the empire, even the mighty politicians had forgotten the true essence of the language, and now were not understandable …show more content…
However, he says, there is no such thing as ideally correct English, because no two British subjects speak English alike. He says that he is a member of a committee established by the British Broadcasting Corporation for the purpose of deciding a model of correct English speech for the British Islands. All the members of this Committee are educated, refined native speakers of English. Even, the Poet Laureates and the trained speakers of English language are its members. One of the members of this Committee is Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, a famous actor who is known for the beauty of his speech. All the members of this Committee know as much as anyone knows about English speech, but still they speak differently. Even the Poet Laureates and the educated and trained speakers of this Committee do not pronounce some of the simplest, commonest words in the English language exactly alike. They differ according to the country in which they were born. Now, as they all speak differently, it is non-sense to say that they all speak correctly. All they can claim is that they all speak presentably, and that if you speak as they do, you will be understood in any English speaking country and accepted as a person of good social understanding. So, Shaw advised his foreign listeners not to speak perfectly correct English but speak presentable English which is called as ‘Good …show more content…
B. Shaw explains that although it is an insult to the native speaker of English, who cannot understand his own language when it is too well spoken, times have changed and we simply have to accept the fact that ‘Good English’ is more important than ‘Correct English’. Although outdated in modern times, this piece has not yet become obsolete. Today’s modern times may have impacted our other senses in a positive way but our language skills have definitely suffered. This piece can surely help us understand the basics of the language and help in efficient communication process. A study of this recording can help people overcome their obsession for correct English and start focussing on the good aspect of
Having the insight as a former student and a present educator, Linda Christensen wrote about her views on the way English is taught to students in her essay“Teaching Standard English: Whose Standard?” Christensen
Amy Tan, a Chinese-American immigrant, classifies and divides in order to bring awareness to the linguistic struggles immigrants face. She does so through a personal and didactic tone to convey a theme of cultural rejection and prejudice against immigrants. Tan utilizes the rhetorical appeals through her strong emotion, enlightening diction, and personal and didactic tone, parallelism (repetition), and antithesis to emanate the mode of classification and division. To begin with, Tan's usage of rhetorical appeals is conveyed through her strong emotion, enlightening diction, and personal and didactic tone. "... the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended
George Orwell, in an essay from Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays titled “Politics and the English Language” (1950), argues that the English language, through a cyclical process of sloven language and foolish thought, has become “ugly and inaccurate.” He supports his argument by using expert opinion, metaphors, and historical context. Orwell’s purpose is to demonstrate the debasement of the English language in order to prompt writers to make a conscious change in their writing . He adopts an informal tone (“Look back throughout this essay, and for certain you will find that I have again and again committed the very faults I am protesting against”) for writers in a time of political turnover and rising superpowers.
English 111 has made a positive impact on me as a student. I have learned a lot in English considering the short amount of time I have spent in the class. English has always been one of my strong points, but I have always looked to find ways to improve my English skills. During the class I learned several new techniques and skills to improve myself as a student. I am glad I had a smart professor to help guide me along the way.
George Orwell’s essay, Politics and the English Language, first published in 1946, talks about some “bad habits”, which have driven the English language in the wrong direction, that is, away from communicating ideas. In his essay he quotes five passages, each from a different author, which embody the faults he is talking about. He lists dying metaphors, operators, pretentious diction, and meaningless words as things to look out for in your own writing and the writing of others (593-595). He talks about political uses of the English language. Our language has become ugly and the ugliness impedes upon communication. Ugly uses of language have been reinforced and passed down in the population “even among people who should and do know
In George Orwell’s essay, “Politics And The English Language” Orwell discusses how the English language is changing negatively. His purpose is to show how modern writers, especially in politics, has become bogged down with the poor use of language. Orwell does this by using examples, critiques, and inductive reasoning. The author also has a serious tone that shows what he is talking about is very important to him and should be to his audience.
Tan wrote about her frustration over the term Broken English, not once but twice. Tan stated, "As if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness" (21). She also stated, “The English she used with me, which for lack of a better term might be described as ‘broken’” (23). Having said something twice puts emphasis on its importance. Tan
He feels a deep sense of guilt and pain because of the condition of society
Time and time again, Tan’s mother’s inability to speak proper English is seen by standard English speakers as a sign that she is unintelligent; they believe that the way she speaks is wrong and therefore the things she has to say are not important. This belief is so pervasive that as a teen, Tan herself used to believe that her mother was not smart because of how she spoke. Because Tan’s mother’s speech did not follow the rules of traditional English, Tan “believed that her [mother’s] English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is, because she expressed them imperfectly, her thoughts were imperfect” (146). Because Tan’s mother speaks in ways that are described as “broken” and “limited”, as a teen Tan felt her mother’s language indicated that her mom was simple minded. However, as Tan grew up, she came to appreciate the beauty and intellect behind her mother’s words. While Tan’s friends comment that they cannot understand a majority of what Tan’s mother says, Tan hears her mother’s speech as “perfectly clear, perfectly natural”, and remarks that “her language, as [she] hear[s] it, is vivid, direct, full of observations and imagery” (146). Tan’s friends seem to hear Tan’s mother’s speech on a surface level; since they cannot understand what she is trying to say, they cannot understand how rich her language is. Just because Tan’s friends do not understand her mother, it does not make the intricacies of how she speaks any less unique. The tendency of standard English
The author’s purpose in writing this essay is to show that there are different forms of English – there is no one way of speaking the language. The moment of realization for Tan occurs when she is speaking to a group of professionals and notices that she is speaking to them differently than she would her mother. Tan obviously sees the difference in her speech pattern when she notes, “Just last week, as I was walking down the street with her, I again found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with her.” (Tan, 2006) In spotting her different versions of English with her mother, Tan proves the point of her essay. She is correct in her theory that we speak to different people in our lives in a variety of different manners. She brings to light an occasion with her mother’s stockbroker where her mother’s “broken” English would have caused confusion and Tan had to represent her mother with a clearer English to make the point adequately. In that one memory, Tan integrates the English people believe they should hear and the English that exists in her life.
George Bernard Shaw and John Edwards seem to share some quite similar beliefs regarding language and identity. More specifically, how language alters one’s identity. Edwards uses discussions involving class, gender, and dialect; while Shaw uses his character, Eliza Doolittle to discuss these connections between language and identity. Both authors debunk the stereotypical perception about language and groups, just in two separate ways. Edwards explains it over several chapters of his text “Language and Identity”, whereas Shaw demonstrates it through one person.
My father spoke only English when he was at home with us because he believed strongly that his child should be well educated and must learn to speak English the Queen’s way. No vernacular was permitted at home whatsoever (Dibia 106).
His fifth claim is that different forms of speech do not equate to differing levels of achievement in school. As a sixth claim, he argues that ethnographic assumptions offered by Deutsch, Bereiter, Engelmann are wrong. His final claim, is that training a child to learn the logical manner of Standard English doesn’t guarantee that he’ll succeed. Nonstandard English isn’t the problem to learning; it’s the ignorance of the language and the belief that it’s inferior.
Nowadays, the roles of English around the world have changed rapidly. English only served as the first or the second language of certain countries some years ago. Recently, English has a new role as a language which is used as a means of communication between people with different
Anglo-Saxon period, from 5th century to 1066, became the “ancestor” of our modern literature. There is a big difference from then and now including our language and culture.