1b.The+Story+of+English+videos

===[|History of Reading News (Spring 2005) //Why Johnny Can't Read: 50 Years of Controversy//] ===

Film Analysis Worksheet


Plus Minus Interesting Strategy


Film Comprehension Graphic Organizer


Just the Facts Graphic Organizer


Film Response Sentence Stems


[|Episode 1: The English Speaking World]
An English Speaking World is said to explore the development of modern English, and it illustrates English as the language of choice for technology, diplomacy, business and popular culture for many nations. Brief piece on a conference of French speaking countries to create French words for invading English words. At the end of the video, they promote the idea of English bubbling up from below.

[|Episode 2: The Mother Tongue]
Surveys the history of the English language from the Anglo-Saxon invasion and its impact on the language to the Norman French influence on Chaucer and the English language as a whole. The impact of Old Norse and Scandinavian place names is discussed. The impact of William Caxton's first printing press in England is discussed, especially with respect to standardization of spelling. The following notables are mentioned: Sir William Jones.

[|Episode 3: A Muse of Fire]
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Shows the enormous influences that Shakespeare (diction of common life) and the King James Bible had on the development of the English language. The King James Bible, translated by a committee, had more influence than Shakespeare. Puritans limited their use of language to the 8000 words found in the King James Bible. Examines Shakespeare's creative use of the language and the varieties of English that spread to America's colonies. Also explores the expansion of the English language through borrowing from numerous other languages, including Latin, Greek, and American Indian languages. Mentions the creative freedom in spelling and usage that were part of the early use of modern English and illustrates how Shakespeare's pronunciation is different from today's. Mentions that there was no idea of standard speech in Shakespeare's time. Provides a little on some of the accents still heard in the English countryside.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14pt;">[|Episode 4: The Guid Scots Tongue]
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 13pt;">The Guid Scots Tongue traces the influence of Scottish and Irish Gaelic on the English language. James I's move from Scotland to London put an end to Scottish as a fully independent language. Many Scots-Irish came to North America, adding to the American accent and playing a big role in spreading English in the US. Discusses the English spoken in the Appalachian region of the US.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14pt;">[|Episode 5: Black on White]
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Probes the roots of Black English, including the American slave trade, plantation life, the Creole influence, and Harlem's jive talk. Discusses influence of this variety of English on white American speech and literature, particularly that of the south. Mentions the use of different kinds of speech in different situations. Notables are: J.L. Dillard on plantation creole. Numerous speech samples of English-based pidgins and creoles in Africa. Ends with modern manifestations of African-American tradition of the man of words.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14pt;">[|Episode 6: Pioneers O Pioneers]
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Describes the evolution of American English from the Revolutionary War through the 1920s and the contribution of slang terms from segments of the population along with the influence of 1900s immigrants. Discusses the origin of a distinctive Canadian English when British Loyalists left the US for Canada after the American Revolution. This video is more about influences on American English vocabulary than differences in pronunciation and so there are not very many speech samples on this video. Ascribes heavy importance to too many different segments of the population for their influence on shaping a distinctive American English. These include: riverboat gambler English ([|13:20]), fur trapper speech ([|19:30]), influence of Spanish in the west ([|22:20]), Italian contribution to food words ([|40:00]). Discusses the role of the railroad's uniting the entire country in 1869 and the accents started merging. Notable figures are Alistaire Cooke ([|5:23]) talking about Noah Webster's dictionary.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14pt;">[|Episode 7: Muvver Tongue]
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Discusses Cockney English and its influence on Australian and New Zealand English. Plays a lot on the idea of English in exile. England's petty criminals were transported to Australia and the Australian Aborigines and convicts developed a pidgin for communication. In fact, greater than one-third of Australians have Cockney heritage. And in the 19th century, large numbers of Londoners left for all corners of globe. When Samuel Johnson's dictionary, containing about 40,000 definitions, appeared, it defined Cockney not as just another variety of English, but as an inferior variety.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 13pt;">[|Episode 8: The Loaded Weapon]
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Discusses the influence of Irish Gaelic on the English language in Ireland and the cultural and political differences with England. This tape is both touristy and political. The touristy part includes visits to the Blarney Stoney, a St. Patrick's Day Parade, and the family of an Irish American police officer. They show Irish Republican prisoners who are learning Gaelic in jail. They show a facsimile of Irish-English phrasebook prepared for Queen Elizabeth. They discuss the Potato Famine as cause of linguistic upheaval and near destruction of Irish language. There are some illustrative speech samples.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14pt;">[|Episode 9: Next Year's Words]
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Explores the use of English in the languages of other countries and provides samples of Pidgin English, patois and numerous other dialects of English, including Barbados English. English pidgins and creoles are found throughout the Pacific, Papua New Guinea highlands. Some linguists feel that English itself is a creole. Provides discussion of Jamaican dub poetry and reggae and discusses the emergence of Jamaican English as the dominant Caribbean English. Discusses the important and distinctive identity of English in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Has a wonderful segment on pidgin English in use by an agriculturalist.