Language Change
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/radio4/transcripts/1996_reith1.pdf http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gx2dt http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/9137930/Meaning-of-literally-shrinking-away.html http://users.ox.ac.uk/~aitchiso/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gmvwx http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/radio4/transcripts/1996_reith1.pdf Sample from Jean Aitchinson Is our language sick? You might think so, judging from complaints in newspapers: “The standard of speech and pronunciation in England has declined so much . . . that one is almost ashamed to let foreigners hear it.” “The language the world is crying out to learn is diseased in its own country.” “We are plagued with idiots on radio and television who speak English like the dregs of humanity, to the detriment of our children.” But why? At a time when English is a major world language, is it really in need of hospital treatment? A wide web of worries; a cobweb o...