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A
first approach to the subject of the development of
language can be a challenge to manage without it. In
pairs, students are given slips of paper with sentences
to communicate without words and take it in turns to
mime three messages of increasing difficulty, with the
partner trying to guess the message.
e.g. The box is on the shelf
The box of chess pieces is on the shelf The box of
chess pieces belonging to the ice-skating champion
is on the shelf…
By
which time the students have had enough and the point
can be made that language is a tool and that we need
to use that tool itself to examine how it has been used
and how it has changed over the centuries.
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Thinking
back over a thousand years in terms of double-generations
has proved a useful approach: only 20 grandparents ago,
Old English was being spoken. It brings it nearer to home
- is the equivalent of a Post Office queue. |
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Looking
up the same word in a range of dictionaries (old and new)
can be revealing. Students see that definitions can vary,
that meanings are not all fixed and absolute. |
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Local
History students might be interested in investigating
the origins of the place names in their studies. (Local
libraries can have useful booklets on this). |
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A
class timeline can be useful - using tape across a display
area, with labels to indicate the main framework (See
Timeline). Students can be encouraged to contribute names
and dates or pictures of authors and quotes, which they
can download from the Internet. |
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On
a 'Language Today' display space students can put up interesting
examples of current language they find in newspapers,
magazines or ephemera of all kinds. |
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There
are gaps on the site due to lack of time, e.g. looking
at how the meanings of words have changed, It is hoped
that, in the future, this project will look at how the
meanings of words have changed. |
