Lesson video
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Hello everyone.
How are you today?
<v ->Hope you're doing really well.
</v> My name is Ms. Afzal and I'll be your teacher for this lesson.
I'm feeling very pleased about that because we have an interesting topic ahead.
Looking at the history of the English language.
I wonder how much you've delved into this subject before.
Don't worry if you have or not, we will be getting into it today.
So that's the title of our lesson, the History of the English Language.
It comes from the unit of work, the history of language.
So if you're ready to find out all about this, if you have energy, focus, and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.
The outcome for today's lesson is, I can explain how the English language has been influenced by different historical events over time.
I hope that sounds interesting to you.
We have some keywords in our lesson, I'd like us to go through them one at a time, saying them out loud.
My turn, your turn.
Conquer.
Invade.
Colonization.
Adopt.
Good to hear those keywords.
And now I'd like you to share with someone, have you heard of any of these keywords before?
Do you know what any of these keywords mean?
Pause here and share with someone nearby.
Thanks for sharing your understanding of these keywords.
Let's find out what they mean.
To conquer means to take control of a particular place and its people by force.
To invade a country means to enter it by force with an army.
Colonization occurs when a country takes control of other lands and its people and create settlements there.
If a group adopt a new word, they start using it.
So these are our keywords.
Conquer, invade, colonization, and adopt.
Let's look out and listen out for them.
Listen carefully about these keywords that will be coming up in our lesson today.
Today's lesson is called A History of the English Language, and it has three learning cycles.
The Anglo-Saxons impact on English.
The Bible and Shakespeare's impact on English.
Empire and sciences, impact on English.
Let's begin by exploring the Anglo-Saxons impact on English.
Imagine five people are shipwrecked on a desert island.
They all speak different languages and are unable to understand each other.
However they need to work together in order to survive.
I'd like you to discuss what challenges will they face?
How will they communicate?
What might happen over time to their language?
Pause here and have this discussion with someone.
Thanks for having that discussion.
I wonder what you came up with.
Perhaps some things that we'll be exploring next.
I let your ears listening.
A similar thing has happened on a bigger scale in the development of English.
Throughout history, many different types of people with many different languages have colonized England.
By bringing their own languages, they have each shaped our language to the addition of many new words and phrases.
Pause here and share with someone, can you remember what the word colonized means?
It's one of our key words.
Thanks for sharing.
Perhaps you said something like, colonization is when a country takes control of other lands and its peoples and create settlements there.
Over time, this has led to the creation of a rich and diverse language, English that we speak today.
During the fifth and sixth centuries, England was invaded and conquered by several different Germanic tribes.
These tribes were called the Angles, Saxons and Jutes.
You may remember them from previous history lessons.
This period of time was known as Anglo-Saxon Britain.
I'd like you to have discussion.
How do you think language might have changed after this invasion?
Pause here and share with someone.
Thanks for sharing.
The Angles, Saxon and Jutes were ancient tribes that invaded England around 1500 years ago.
They conquered England and introduced around 4,500 words to the English language.
As part of their colonization, they introduced many common words we used to this day, such as house, food, sleep, and work.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Which of the following statements best describes the impact the Angles, Saxons and Jutes had on English?
Choose from this selection.
A, the Angle, Saxons and Jutes had a very small impact on the development of English.
B, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes had a big impact on the development of English, introducing many words to describe everyday things.
C, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes had a big impact on the development of English and added many words to our vocabulary.
Pause it while you decide which of these statements best describes the impact the Angles, Saxons and Jutes had on English.
Well done if you selected statement B.
Indeed the Angles, Saxons and Jutes had a big impact on the development of English, introducing many words to describe everyday things.
The Normans were a group of people who conquered England in the 11th century.
They spoke a sophisticated language called Norman French.
They use this for important things such as law and government, and this is where we get words like judge, jury, and government.
In fact, they added over 10,000 new words to the English language.
The Normans also introduced new food and cooking techniques to England, creating words like beef, lamb, and roast.
I'd like you to have a discussion.
Look closely at the words introduced by the Normans.
In what ways might their society have been different from the Anglo-Saxons?
Pause here and share with someone.
Thanks for having that discussion.
Let's have a check for understanding.
True or false?
Many words associated with law and government were influenced by the Normans.
Pause here while you decide is the statement true or false?
Well done if you selected true, and now I'd like you to justify your answer by choosing from one of these two statements.
A, the Normans continue to use Norman French for important things like law and government.
B, the Anglo-Saxons did not have a system of law and government, so did not need words for these things.
Pause it while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.
Well done if you selected statement A.
Indeed the Normans continued to use Norman French for important things like law and government.
This statement justifies your earlier answer and now it's time for your first task.
Using the sentence starters below, summarize the main differences between the Anglo-Saxon and Norman influence on the English language.
Whilst the Anglo-Saxons influenced around 4,500 English words, the Normans.
Whereas the Anglo-Saxons mainly influenced everyday words, the Normans.
So pause here while you use these sentence starters to summarize the main differences between the Anglo-Saxon and Norman influence on the English language.
I'll see you when you're finished.
It's good to be back with you.
How did you get on with that task of summarizing the main differences between the Anglo-Saxon and Norman influence on the English language?
Perhaps you said something like this.
Whilst the Anglo-Saxons influenced around 4,500 English words, the Normans introduced around 10,000 words.
And whereas the Anglo-Saxons mainly influence everyday words, the Normans influenced important words associated with law and government.
Well done if you summarize the main differences in this way.
Well done for having a go at this task.
And now we're onto our next learning cycle, the Bible and Shakespeare's impact on English.
Christian missionaries first brought the Bible to England in its second century AD.
This was written in Latin and influenced many English words we have today.
In fact, around 30% of all words are thought to have Latin roots.
These include words like salvation, redeem, and glorify.
I'd like you to have a discussion.
Look at the words highlighted above.
Where might you have seen these words before?
Pause here and shower with someone.
Thanks for sharing.
These words are all associated with the religion.
As Latin was used as the language of the Bible, many modern English words related to religion have their roots in Latin.
In 1611, the King James Bible was published.
This was an English language version of the Bible that had a big effect on the English language.
Let's take a look at why it was influential and what impact it had on the English language.
So it had widespread influence and the impact was that the Bible was read by people across society, meaning it influenced people in all walks of life.
Accessibility and the impact.
The creation of the printing press meant many more people were able to read it than ever before.
Religious authority and the impact.
The Bible held great moral authority and its stories and message were discussed widely.
And cultural significance, the impact.
The Bible stories became an integral part of English culture and and references to them became common.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Which two statements best outline why the Bible had a significant impact on the development of the English language.
Choose from this selection.
A, the Bible stories were culturally significant, meaning that they became part of everyday language.
B, people across society read the Bible, meaning it had a widespread impact on the language of all types of people.
C, bible study was compulsory, which meant that lots of people knew its stories.
D, nearly everyone went to church, so they were exposed to the language of the Bible regularly.
Pause here while you decide which two statements best outline why the Bible had a significant impact on the development of the English language.
Well done if you selected the first two statements.
Indeed, the Bible stories were culturally significant, meaning that it became part of everyday language and people across society read the Bible, meaning it had a widespread impact on the language of all types of people.
These statements best outline why the Bible had a significant impact on the development of the English language.
William Shakespeare was a famous English playwright who was born in the 16th century.
Despite being only one person, he had a huge impact on the English language.
I'd like you to discuss what do you already know about William Shakespeare and how do you think a playwright like Shakespeare might influence English?
Pause here while you have this discussion.
Thanks for having that discussion.
So how did Shakespeare influence the English language?
Let's take a look at some ideas.
He created 1700 new words including words like swagger, dwindle and lonely.
Shakespeare created lots of common expressions such as, break the ice.
His place contributed to the standardization of spelling and grammar across English and Shakespeare's poetry influenced how English was spoken through its rhyme and meter.
Shakespeare had quite an influence on the English language.
I think we can agree.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Which of these statements best explains the influence Shakespeare had on the development of the English language?
Choose from this selection.
A, Shakespeare's plays were widely read and introduced many common words and expressions we use today.
B, Shakespeare's stories were culturally significant and they influenced English as they were discussed widely.
C, Shakespeare invented new words and phrases, standardized grammar and spelling and even influenced the way we speak.
Pause here while you decide which of these statements best explains the influence Shakespeare had on the development of the English language.
Well done if you selected answer C.
Indeed Shakespeare invented new words and phrases, standardized grammar and spelling and even influence the way we speak.
This statement explains the influence Shakespeare had on the development of the English language.
And now it's time for your next task.
Using the sentence starters below, explain why Shakespeare had such a big impact on the English language.
Shakespeare influenced the English language because.
Shakespeare was only one person, but.
Shakespeare's plays were full of creative expressions, so.
And pause here while you explain why Shakespeare had such a big impact on the English language and use these sentence starters.
I'll see you when you're finished.
It's good to be back with you.
How did you get on with using the sentence starters to explain why Shakespeare had such a big impact on the English language.
You may have completed the sentences in this way.
Shakespeare influenced the English language because he contributed to a standardized system of grammar and spelling.
Shakespeare was only one person, but he was still able to contribute over 1700 words to the English language.
Shakespeare's play were full of creative expressions, so many of these became part of everyday language, like break the ice.
Well done for having a go at this task.
And now we're onto our final learning cycle.
Empire and sciences impact on English.
Did you know at its height the British Empire covered about one quarter of the world's land area?
During the 20th century, the population of the British Empire was around 450 million people.
There are 54 countries in the world that were formally part of the British Empire.
I'd like you to discuss why might new words have been added to English as a result of the British Empire?
Thanks for having this discussion.
And now let's make sure your ears are listening.
Many new words and phrases were added to English due to the scale of the British empire.
These included words such as, bungalow from Hindi.
This word for a single story house comes from the Hindi word bangla, which means Bengali-style house.
Jungle from Hindi Sanskrit.
This comes from the Hindi Sanskrit word, jangala, which means wild uncultivated land.
Tea from Chinese.
Tea is derived from the Chinese word cha.
Kangaroo from Australian aboriginal languages.
Kangaroo comes from the Australian Aboriginal word gangurru.
Let's have a check for understanding.
True or false?
Many new words and phrases were added to English as a result of the British empire.
Pause while you decide is the sentence true or false?
Well done if you selected true.
Now, I'd like you to justify your answer by choosing from one of these two options.
A, the British Empire scale meant that many new things were encountered that needed a name in English, e.
g.
kangaroo.
B, the British Empire encountered many other languages and some of their words were better than the English versions.
Pause here while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.
Well done if you selected statement A, the British Empire scale meant that many new things when encountered that needed a name in English, e.
g.
kangaroo.
This statement justifies your earlier answer.
Our language is changing all the time and new words are constantly being added.
I'd like you to discuss, can you think of any new words that have been added to English recently?
Pause while you do this.
Thanks for having that discussion.
Perhaps you talked about selfie, YouTuber, to Google, wi-fi, tweet, podcast.
What these words all have in common?
Why have they been added to English?
Pause here and share with someone.
Thanks for sharing.
These words are all related to technology.
As our technological knowledge increases, we invent more and more things which need naming.
A similar thing happened in the 17th century as part of the scientific revolution.
The scientific revolution was a time when scientists made big discoveries in science and started using a new way of thinking called the scientific method.
Let's have a look at why was it influential and how did this influence the English language.
New ideas and concepts.
Scientists needed lots of new words to name their recent discoveries of things like gravity and electricity.
Precision and clarity.
Scientists wanted to be very clear about their findings, so they used words like experiment and hypothesis.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Which of these is not a reason why the scientific revolution was influential in the development of English.
Choose from this selection.
A, the scientific revolution introduced lots of new words and concepts to English.
B, scientists were very educated and were able to introduce lots of words from other languages.
C, scientists needed precision and clarity for their findings, so introduce lots of words related to this.
Pause here while you decide which of these is not a reason why the scientific revolution was influential in the development of English.
Well done if you selected answer B.
Indeed scientists were very educated and were able to introduce lots of words from other languages.
This is not a reason why the scientific revolution was influential in the development of English.
And that's time for your final task.
I would like you to complete the timeline below by annotating it with key events that have influenced the development of English.
The first one has been done for you.
The Anglo-Saxons introduced lots of words for everyday things in the fifth and sixth centuries.
And here are some starters for you.
In the 11th century, the Normans.
Throughout the 16th century Shakespeare.
The introduction of the King James Bible in 1611.
The scientific revolution of the 17th century.
The growth of the British Empire in the 19th and 20th centuries.
So use the sentence starters to help you complete the timeline by annotating it with key events that have influenced the development of English.
Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.
It's good to be back with you.
How did you get on with completing the timeline by annotating it with key events that have influenced the development of English?
In in the 11th century, the Normans introduced lots of new words associated with law and politics.
Throughout the 16th century, Shakespeare introduced lots of new words and phrases.
The introduction of the King James Bible in 1611 influenced English with its stories and message.
The scientific revolution of the 17th century introduced many new words as human knowledge increased.
And the growth of the British Empire in the 19th and 20th centuries saw new words added from other places to English.
Well done if you completed the timeline in this way.
Well done for having a go at this task.
In our lesson, a history of the English language, we've covered the following.
The invading Angles, Saxons and Jutes brought useful language for describing everyday things.
Latin words were added to English through the Bible and French words through Norman colonization.
Both the King James Bible and Shakespeare influenced the development of English by adding new words and phrases.
The expansion of the British Empire led to many new words being adopted and English traveling widely.
The scientific revolution led to the creation of many new English words, including scientific ones.
Well done everyone for joining in with this lesson.
I thought it was so fascinating to learn about the history of the English language, so many influences from different parts of the world, and interesting for us to consider where the words that we use in our everyday language come from.
I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.
I certainly enjoyed teaching you, and I look forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.
Bye for now.
