Transcript book McWhorter, John, (John Hamilton) V 1965- creator Teaching Company mixed material vau Chantilly, Virginia The Teaching Company 2012 monographic eng vi, 435 pages ; 19 cm Is English broken? Do bad grammar, slang, and illogical constructions signal a decline in standards of usage? Do e-mail and text messages corrupt the art of writing? In short, is our language going to the dogs? Taught by acclaimed linguist, author, and Professor John McWhorter of Columbia University, this course dispels the cloud of confusion that clings to English, giving you a crystal-clear view of why we use it the way we do and where it fits into the diverse languages of the world. After completing these 24 lectures, you will think about how you use English in a new way, listen to others with discernment and fascination, and take joy in speaking such a wonderfully idiosyncratic tongue. Alarm over the decay of English -- Surprises in the ancestry of Old English -- Not exactly Anglo-Saxon -- Don't forget the Celtic connection -- From insider language to Lingua Franca -- English as easy German -- The Viking conquest of English -- How the words of modern English emerged -- Black English-- the streamlining continues -- Honored conceits of blackboard grammar -- Pronoun fashions come and go -- Wrong then, proper now-- and vice versa -- A procession of accidents and fossils -- The pursuit of logic in language -- Clarity as the logic of language -- 20th-century fashions from Strunk & White -- The kinds of grammar you don't hear about -- Linguists uncovering grammar we all use -- Speech versus writing-- different languages -- Speechmaking-- from oratory to plain speaking -- The old and new styles of writing -- Got poetry? Language with spice -- Why texting is misunderstood -- The living past and future of English. John McWhorter. Course no. 2212. The length of each lecture is: ca. 30 min. The entire program consists of 36 lectures. "Topic: Literature & language; subtopic: Linguistics Education Teaching Educación Enseñanza Linguística histórica Lenguaje y lenguas en la literatura Lingüística LB 14.6 M478m 2012 370 Literature & language 9781598038224 1598038222 190627 20230411090130.0 spa