A history of the English language
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how the English language has been influenced by different historical events over time.
Key learning points
- The invading Angles, Saxons and Jutes brought useful language, for describing everyday things.
- The English population adopted Latin words through the Church and French words through the Norman invasion.
- Both Shakespeare and the King James Bible gave the English language many of the phrases that we use today.
- Scientific developments led to the creation of many new words.
- The expansion of the British Empire led to new words being adopted and the English language travelling globally.
Keywords
Conquer - To conquer means to take control of a particular place and its people by force.
Invade - To invade a country means to enter it by force with an army.
Colonisation - Colonisation occurs when a country takes control of other lands and its people and creates settlements there.
Adopt - If a group adopt a new word, they start using it.
Common misconception
That the English language developed quickly.
The English that we speak today was shaped across many hundreds of years by lots of significant events in our history.
Teacher tip
The lesson includes a discussion of Shakespeare's influence on English. Consider bringing in any particular words and phrases from specific Shakespeare texts your students have studied.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Who invaded England first?
Q2.When the Bible first arrived in England, what language was it written in?
Q3.In what century was William Shakespeare born?
Q4.Which of the following is the definition of conquer? Here it is used in a sentence: The army was able to conquer their enemies.
Q5.Select the plays that were written by William Shakespeare.
Q6.Which of the following is the definition of adopt? Here it is used in a sentence: Over time, languages adopt new words.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Many words associated with law and government were introduced by the Normans.
Q2.The Anglo-Saxons mainly introduced words to describe ...
Q3.The Bible was very influential in the development of the English language. Which reasons below explain why?
Q4.Which of these did Shakespeare not do?
Q5.Which words below were added to the English language as a result of the British Empire?
Q6.Which examples below are words added to the English language as a result of the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century?
To help you plan your 8 English lesson on: A history of the English language, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 English lesson on: A history of the English language, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 English lessons from the A history of language unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.