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**Language Trends and Current Issues** History of the English Language English Language Trends PPSMI issue Trends in English Language Teaching Today

__What is English?__  __**English Origins**__ English began in England, right? Wrong. Actually, the English language had its name long before the country. English was first brought to what is now known as England in the fourth century AD, when the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes arrived from Denmark and Germany. Several centuries later, England became known by its current name, which means " land of the English ". Since then, the English language has flourished. Now the internationally accepted language of business, English is becoming more important as world trade increases. The links below lead to information about the origins of the English language, as well as more recent developments.

=History of the English Language =

A short history of the origins and development of English
The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from Englaland and their language was called Englisc - from which the words England and English are derived.

Old English (450-1100 AD)
The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today. Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. The words //be//, //strong// and //water//, for example, derive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100.

Middle English (1100-1500)
In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy (part of modern France), invaded and conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with them a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. For a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer (c1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for native English speakers to understand today.

Early Modern English (1500-1800)
Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact with many peoples from around the world. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrases entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published.

Late Modern English (1800-Present)
The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.

Varieties of English
From around 1600, the English colonization of North America resulted in the creation of a distinct American variety of English. Some English pronunciations and words "froze" when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English is. Some expressions that the British call "Americanisms" are in fact original British expressions that were preserved in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain (for example //trash// for rubbish, //loan// as a verb instead of lend, and //fall// for autumn; another example, //frame-up//, was re-imported into Britain through Hollywood gangster movies). Spanish also had an influence on American English (and subsequently British English), with words like //canyon//, //ranch//, //stampede// and //vigilante// being examples of Spanish words that entered English through the settlement of the American West. French words (through Louisiana) and West African words (through the slave trade) also influenced American English (and so, to an extent, British English). Today, American English is particularly influential, due to the USA's dominance of cinema, television, popular music, trade and technology (including the Internet). But there are many other varieties of English around the world, including for example Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, Indian English and Caribbean English.


 * ~ A brief chronology of English ||
 * BC 55 || Roman invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar. || Local inhabitants speak Celtish ||
 * BC 43 || Roman invasion and occupation. Beginning of Roman rule of Britain. ||^  ||
 * 436 || Roman withdrawal from Britain complete. ||^  ||
 * 449 || Settlement of Britain by Germanic invaders begins ||^  ||
 * 450-480 || Earliest known Old English inscriptions. || Old English ||
 * 1066 || William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, invades and conquers England. ||^  ||
 * c1150 || Earliest surviving manuscripts in Middle English. || Middle English ||
 * 1348 || English replaces Latin as the language of instruction in most schools. ||^  ||
 * 1362 || English replaces French as the language of law. English is used in Parliament for the first time. ||^  ||
 * c1388 || Chaucer starts writing //The Canterbury Tales//. ||^  ||
 * c1400 || The Great Vowel Shift begins. ||^  ||
 * 1476 || William Caxton establishes the first English printing press. || Early Modern English ||
 * 1564 || Shakespeare is born. ||^  ||
 * 1604 || //Table Alphabeticall//, the first English dictionary, is published. ||^  ||
 * 1607 || The first permanent English settlement in the New World (Jamestown) is established. ||^  ||
 * 1616 || Shakespeare dies. ||^  ||
 * 1623 || Shakespeare's First Folio is published ||^  ||
 * 1702 || The first daily English-language newspaper, //The Daily Courant//, is published in London. ||^  ||
 * 1755 || Samuel Johnson publishes his English dictionary. ||^  ||
 * 1776 || Thomas Jefferson writes the American Declaration of Independence. ||^  ||
 * 1782 || Britain abandons its American colonies. ||^  ||
 * 1828 || Webster publishes his American English dictionary. || Late Modern English ||
 * 1922 || The British Broadcasting Corporation is founded. ||^  ||
 * 1928 || The //Oxford English Dictionary// is published. ||^  ||

=__ English Language Trends __= ===<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Now that learning the English language is becoming a popular trend, some may wonder what they would get out of it in addition to just improving their English ability. In English school New York, academic writing, academic reading and critical thinking, vocabulary for academic purposes, grammar for academic purposes, academic listening and note taking and academic communication skills are all highlighted in the English study. ===

= = = = =__Malaysian English__=
 * Malaysian English** (**MyE**), formally known as Malaysian Standard English (MySE), is a form of English used and spoken in Malaysia as a second language. Malaysian English should not be confused with Malaysian Colloquial English which is famously known as Manglish or Street English, a portmanteau of the word Malay and English.
 * Malaysian English is generally non-rhotic, regardless of the fact that all /r/s are pronounced in native Malay.
 * Malaysian English originates from British English as a result of British colonialism in present-day Malaysia.
 * It has components of American English, Malay, C hinese , Indian , and other languages: vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.
 * Like South-Eastern British English, Malaysian English employs a broad A accent, as such words like bath and chance appear with /ɑː/ and not /æ/.
 * The /t/ phoneme in words like butter is usually not flapped (as in some forms of American English) or realised as a glottal stop (as in many,many forms of British English, including Cockney ).
 * There is no h-dropping in words like head.
 * Malaysian English does not have yod-dropping after /n/, /t/ and /d/. Hence, for example, new, tune and dune are pronounced /njuː/, /tjuːn/ and /djuːn/ rather than /nuː/, /tuːn/ and /duːn/. This contrasts with many East Anglian and East Midland varieties of British English and with most forms of American English.

__**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Singapore Vernacular English **__
The vocabulary of Singlish consists of words originating from English, Malay (mainly Bahasa Melayu rather than Indonesian ), Hokkien , Teochew , Cantonese , Tamil , Bengali , Punjabi and to a lesser extent various other European, Indic and Sinitic languages , while Singlish syntax resembles southern varieties of Chinese. Also, elements of American and Australian slang have come through from imported television series and films. Recently, because Mandarin Chinese is taught to most Singaporean Chinese students in school, Mandarin words have also found their way into Singlish. Singlish is very similar to Manglish, the creole of neighbouring Malaysia. The Singaporean government currently discourages the use of Singlish in favour of formal "official" English, as it believes in the need for Singaporeans to be able to effectively communicate with the other English users in the world. The government runs the Speak Good English Movement to emphasise the point. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> There are slight regional variations in formal written English in the United Kingdom (for example, although the words wee and little are interchangeable in some contexts, one is more likely to see wee written by someone from northern Britain (and especially Scotland) or from Northern Ireland than by someone from Southern England or Wales ). Nevertheless, there is a meaningful degree of uniformity in written English within the United Kingdom, and this could be described as "British English". The forms of spoken English, however, vary considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English is spoken, and a uniform concept of "British English" is therefore more difficult to apply to the spoken language.
 * Singlish** is an English-based creole used in Singapore . According to the 2000 census, which does not distinguish between Singlish and English, "English" is the lingua franca of Singapore and 71% of Singaporeans are literate in the language. However, well-educated Singaporeans are able to code-switch between Singlish and standard English.
 * __<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">British English __ **
 * UK English** or English English, is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere. There is confusion whether the term refers to English as spoken in the British Isles or to English as spoken in Great Britain, though in the case of Ireland , there are further distinctions peculiar to Hiberno-English.

=__Standard English__= There are no official rules for "Standard English" because, unlike some other languages, English does not have a linguistic governance body such as the Accademia della Crusca, Real Academia Española , the Académie française or the Dansk Sprognævn to establish usage. The English language, which originated in England, is now spoken as a first or second language in many countries of the world, each of which has developed one or more "national standards" of pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. As the result of historical migrations of English-speaking populations and colonization, and the predominant use of English as the international language of trade and commerce ( lingua franca ), English has also become the most widely-used second language, and is therefore subject to alteration by non-native speakers. Numerous "non-native dialects" are developing their own standards – those, for example, of English language publications published in countries where English is generally learned as a foreign language. In countries where English is either not a native language or is not widely spoken, a native variant (typically English English or North American English ) might be considered "standard" for teaching purposes. The effects of local native languages on the creation of creoles or pidgins have contributed to the evolution of the many local and regional varieties of English. But they were not considered to be part of the language until the people that spoke them said that they should be.
 * Standard English** (often shortened to //S.E.// within linguistic circles) is a term generally applied to a form of the English language that is normative for educated speakers.

=__<span style="background-color: #000000; color: #ff0000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik Dalam Bahasa Inggeris** (**PPSMI**) issue. __=
 * is a government policy aimed at improving the command of the English language among pupils at primary and secondary schools in Malaysia. In accordance to this policy, the Science and Mathematics subjects are taught in the English medium as opposed to the Malay medium used before. This policy was introduced in 2003 by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir bin Mohamad. PPSMI has been the subject of debate among academics, politicians and the public alike, which culminated to the announcement of the policy's reversal in 2012 by the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

PPSMI's inception as a Malaysian Government policy was the result of the Cabinet meeting on July 19th, 2002 under the administration of the fourth Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad. According to the Malaysian Ministry of Education, the policy would be run in stages, starting with the 2003 school session, pioneered by the all students of Year 1 in primary education level, and Form 1 of the secondary education level. PPSMI was then fully implemented to all secondary students in 2007, and to all primary students in 2008.
 * History**

According to the statement regarding PPSMI in the Ministry of Education's website: The rationale for the decision to change the medium of instruction from the Malay Language to English for the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics subjects was made based on the government’s concern on the nation’s human capital development towards achieving the standard of a developed country, as well as an early preparation to compete in the era of globalization. It is widely known that the field of science and mathematics form the basis and have a crucial role in the progress and development of a country. Various innovations and discoveries in these two fields happen rapidly and information access is mostly in the English language. English language is also the language spoken internationally and mastery in this language would allow easy access to information in these fields. In conclusion, the policy decision to implement PPSMI was made to ensure students’ mastery in science and mathematics in view of the fact that most of the sources are available in the English language. Indirectly, it is also hoped that the implementation of PPSMI would contribute to the enhancing of students’ command of the language. When proposing the policy, Tun Dr. Mahathir was in the opinion that Malaysia's progress is declining in the age of globalization, and he had hoped that this policy gives a competitive edge to the nation, following the footsteps of Singapore and India which are moving forward because of their utilization of the English language.
 * Objective**

PPSMI was implemented for the 2003 school session students enrolling in Year 1 and Form 1 in primary and secondary schools respectively. Students of other grades are not affected, and continued to study Mathematics and Science in the mother tongue. PPSMI learning materials were offered in the form of packages consisting of these components: As for the implementation in Chinese schools, after a protest was made by the nation's union of Chinese schools Dong Jiao Zong, a compromise was reached where the teaching of Science and Mathematics was made done both in English and Mandarin.
 * Implementation**
 * **Textbooks**: Given to students as the basic source for learning on concepts and skills in Science and Mathematics.
 * **Activity Books**: Given as supplementary material for students to practice their understanding of the concepts learned from textbooks. These "Buku Latihan dan Aktiviti" or "BLA" were provided for students of Year 1 only.
 * **Teacher's Guide**: Material prepared for teachers as reference and guide to plan and implement effective teaching of the Science and Mathematics.
 * **MyCD** or "Pupil's CD-ROM": "BLA" in the form of multimedia presentations recorded in compacts discs and included with every Activity Book. The contents consist of an interactive games and simulators as well as electronic tests.
 * **Teacher's CD-ROM**: This material was meant to help teachers to plan and implement effective teaching of the Science and Mathematics. Among the contents are questions banks, additional activities as well as URLs to websites with relevance to the subject. These CDs are included in the Teacher's Guide.
 * **Science Practical Book**: Published to ensure that Science are taught not only in theory but also in practice.
 * **Glossary Book**: A reference guide containing definition to terms pervasive in Science and Mathematics.

<span style="background-color: #000000; color: #ff0000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 180%;"> Trends in English Language Teaching Today

__1 Networking, interest and support groups__ E-communication has made possible a huge range of networking possibilities, including special interest groups, support groups, discussion and chat rooms etc. One effect of this has been to give us access to the experiences of many others, and to enable us to locate and to create the 'local' knowledge that relates to our own needs. This in turn has enabled us to become a bit less dependent on knowledge generated by 'experts' in other contexts, and on the authority of 'the published book'. We are all able to participate in the generation of knowledge and knowledge itself becomes a process rather than finished product. __2 Learner centredness and learner needs__ Interest in learner centred approaches is high on many agendas. This includes attention to learner styles, self direction, self evaluation, multiple intelligences, affective factors in learning, etc. This agenda can be hijacked in a number of directions, for example by methodologies that espouse learner centredness (LC) at one level, yet are highly directive at another; or materials that take a limiting view of LC, or so-called learner training that has been hierarchically determined. But the growing interest in learner centredness indicates a new and emerging valuing of diversity and difference, which also links with the points I made about networking. __3 Reflective practice and teacher learning__ This is about teachers questioning and exploring their own practice of teaching. It is a sort of systematic curiosity about going beyond the edges of what we know and do, to find out how we could do things differently or better. Of particular interest are questions like 'Is there a discrepancy between what I say I do and what I actually do?' Action research might guide us to try to become more aware of our own beliefs and how they frame the way we teach and think about teaching. It brings an appreciation of the existence of this frame, and rigour about surfacing our unconscious slants, skews and biases if we want to make real changes to our practice.

__4 Portfolio development for teachers__ This is linked to reflective practice. I refer to a portfolio as the teachers' own statement of their teaching beliefs and values, and a profile of themselves in action. It consists of the teachers' own selection of whatever represents the best parts of their practice, including activities, materials designed, feedback from learners and peers, problems and difficulties faced and worked through, observation notes, test results, videos and audio tapes, anecdotes and stories, own reflections, plans, diary notes and so on. And all these selections are linked by a commentary saying why these selections were made and what they show. Portfolios encourage teachers to make their own meaning, define their own success, and to view their work consciously and critically from multiple perspectives. __5 Syllabus design/materials development/global and local publishing__ Some people say that the majority of 'blockbuster' courses indicate that there is not much innovation, but there have been noticeable and significant developments in content (becoming less ethnocentric, more intercultural; less stereotyped, more critical), in syllabus (reflecting new descriptive information about language) and in methodology (reflecting ideas of student learning style and self direction). There has also been an increasing tendency towards more locally relevant non-global publishing of courses and materials. __6 Criticism of published materials__ However, some of the criticisms of coursebooks and materials are opening up real areasfor future development, for example, criticisms that focus on banal content in materials,seen as insulting to learner intelligence and as missing golden opportunities for content learning (for example teaching school subjects in or through English) or for values-laden teaching (e.g. developing global citizenship as a core content in global language learning). Other criticisms focus not so much on the coursebook, as on the grip of 'coursebook methodology'. But many teachers point out the great benefits they derive in developing their own knowledge, skills and confidence through using modern coursebooks. __7 English as an International Language__ This debate relates to almost everything: Who owns English? Which English do we teach?Who are the best teachers: natives or non native speakers? Can you separate language from culture? Do you see English as an international language, or as a lingua franca? Andwhat about linguistic imperialism? Arguments are often accompanied by statistics that show, for example, that non-native speakers of English greatly outnumber native speakers, and that of the native speakers of English, those who speak RP English or Standard American are greatly outnumbered by speakers of other varieties. Many teachers who are aware of these and other trends taking place today, and for some of them the main trend seems to be frustration that they are not in a situation wherethey can go with these trends. This may be due to constraints in the place where they work,and it may be due to other conditions such as lack of learner motivation, discipline problems, interest in grades rather than learning and so on. So, these invitations to changemay frustrate those who feel restrained from changing.