ESSENTIAL wider reading & research: Jean Aitchison's metaphors & British linguistic and historical timeline

Hi everyone,

Attached are the resources from our last 2 lessons, and a number of wider reading materials that I've gathered for you. As I mentioned in a previous lesson, as A2 students it is an expectation that you don't just simply stick to the syllabus and regurgitate everything that is presented to you in your lessons; at this point you should be using our lessons as a starting point and then doing your own research to fully understand the topic. In order to excel and get good grades (not just top i.e. A*-B, but certainly C grades) you need to demonstrate a clear degree of critical and independent thinking. Language change is a huge topic that we can't really even scratch the surface of in class, so the onus here is 100% on you to fill in the gaps.

Firstly, here is a link to Jean Aitchison's 'Language Web' lectures on Radio 4. We listened to the first lecture in the series which can be found here (and here is a link to the transcript so you can read along and take quotes). They are each only 30 minutes long and are an excellent resource for context, but also just to learn more about the language you are studying and I recommend you listen to all of them.

You copied down the historical and linguistic timeline for the UK from the textbook last lesson, so here is a link to a fantastic interactive timeline on the same topic from the British Library website, and here is a link to a PowerPoint which provides a detailed account of the history and development of the English language. Please use these resources to flesh out your timelines.


Please click here to find an eMagazine article on prescriptivism vs descriptivism. If you need to login to access, copy and paste the credentials below:

Username: stbren
Password: eMag16*

When you are logged in, take some time to explore the website for articles like this one which details the importance of context for language change, and not just on language change but CLA and all the AS topics.

Please make a point of ensuring you do at least 1 hour of dedicated wider reading and research for English every week as part of your study and revision. Those of you that do will see your confidence and understanding of the subject noticeably increase, and if you can see it, so will the examiner!