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Essay / Essay on the English Language - 1720
Using language to communicate is one of the primary forms of connection and conversation with other humans. Every human being speaks a language and every language is unique. Languages are so unique that the way some of their words are pronounced varies compared to other languages. However, some words in one language may have been borrowed from those in another language. As Bucholtz, M. (2000) states: "English will continue to shape the youth styles of other cultures" and "the process of cultural and linguistic borrowing is moving in [two] directions...Asia [has] already a significant impact on American youth. , who regularly encounter mediated forms of international youth culture in music, cinema and fashion” p 280-283. This is why we have certain similarities between different languages. English is one of the major languages spoken in the world today. Most countries will require you to know some English to be able to communicate. Even though English is one of the major languages spoken in the world, there are variations in the language spoken from country to country. For example, there is American English, British English and Australian English. Although the primary language spoken in all three countries is English, each pronounces certain words differently. According to Allan & Burridge (2006), the style of our language can vary depending on “who we are and with whom we communicate; whether we speak or write; where we are and when the utterance takes place; what we are talking about; and how we feel about the whole situation” p 75. Even more, they also state “If any of these factors are changed, the style may very well change accordingly. For any given utterance, there is a wide variety of po...... middle of paper ......er would pronounce the [r] sound at the end of a word. Additionally, the 32-year-old Filipina was not as fluent as the other speakers. When speaking, she stuttered very often, which could be because she did not know English well enough and did not have it as a second language. Even more so, it meant that she was more likely to use slang words in her speech because she would learn from those around her. Compared to the other speakers, the second speaker, who is also much older than the others, would speak in a formal tone due to his political position, meaning he did not use any slang. Finally, based on the changes in the speech variations of each of the different speakers, it can be concluded that the study proves that the language is constantly evolving and that other cultures and countries influence the way the language evolves..