1. Starter: examine these texts. Which do you think is the oldest and why?
Which words are most unfamiliar and why?
Can you work out what they mean?
Have the meanings of any of the words changed?
The Origins of English
Can you identify what is different in terms of spelling?
Extension: can you guess what the dates of these texts are?
LO: to understand some of the ways in which English has developed since the 5th century AD
Can you identify what is different in terms of syntax (sentence structure)?

2. The development of the English Language can be divided into four parts:
Old English: Middle English: Early Modern English: Late Modern English: 1700 – the present day
Our area of expertise!

3. Early Modern English – the bare essentials…
“Enormous variation, both synchronic and diachronic, is a key quality of Middle English, really defining this period of language change. Patterns of conquest, invasion and settlement had an enormous impact on people’s lives in the 8th and 11th centuries, but these were played out linguistically in Middle English, in texts from the 12th Century through to the middle of the 15th Century. At the turning point from Middle English to Early Modern English ( ), we need to consider what brought about the next phase of language change…”

4. The History of English…
For each section we watch (there are 10 in total), you should note down 5 different things you learn about the history of English.
After we have watched, you are going to be given a section each to summarise and present to the rest of the group.
NB: WHEN YOU PRESENT, YOU SHOULD ALSO ASK THE GROUP A QUESTION ABOUT THAT PARTICULAR PERIOD IN HISTORY.

5. Click on the image to access link
Click on the image to access link. In triads, sts must race to take notes on each section. Break after each section to consolidate ideas. In teams, sts must write down at least 5 bullet points from each section. When completed, meter out different sections of focus to each team – they have to feed back at least 5 different points – but other teams can pitch in, I they are short, and also earn additional points. The sections are: 1: Anglo Saxon; 2: The Norman Conquest; 3: Shakespeare; 4: King James Bible; 5: The English of Science; 6: English and Empire; 7: The Age of the Dictionary; 8. American English; 9.Internet English; 10. Global English.

6. What do you now understand?
In what ways is English a ‘hybrid’ language?
Which languages have played a particularly significant role in the development of English?
Which factors influenced the way language developed since the 5th century AD?
When did English become the language of administration, religion and law?
What are loan words?
When did prescriptivism start to emerge and what was it in response to?

7. Lesson 2

8. Looking in more detail at Old English
Early modern English
Old English
Middle English
Modern English
5th-12th Century
12th- 15th Century
15th- 18th Century
18th Century- Now

9. Old English
-Developed from the languages of the Anglo Saxons and the Vikings (check your time lines!)
-One of the most important texts that has survived from the time is ‘Beowulf’.
This is a long poem about a heroic warrior called Beowulf, who is a friend of King Hrothgar, and his battle to protect his people from a terrible monster called Grendel.
Any ideas what any of the words might be?

10. Beowulf
What do you notice about the kind of words that have survived in Modern English?

11. Viking invasion The Vikings invaded in ___________
They brought with them a language called Old Norse. This did not replace the Anglo Saxon Language but just added to what was already there. English was beginning to develop a very rich vocabulary. Look at the table of words below.
AD 793!
Anglo Saxon
Old Norse
Craft
Anger
Rear
ill
Sick
Raise
Wrath
Skill
Put the words into matching pairs. Write a sentence for each pair in which the words can be swapped without changing the overall meaning.
For example: My uncle rears/raises pigs on his farm.

12. Middle English The Normans invaded in _________.
William the Conquerer defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, and suddenly FRENCH people were in charge.
300 years later, English became the language of Great Britain again. But, with the influence of French, it had developed from Old English into what is now called Middle English.
The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, Middle English, end of 14th Century.
It is one of the first texts to show real people and their every day lives. It is a group of stories told by people making a journey to Canterbury.

13. Opening of The Canterbury TAles
Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open eye-
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke
That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seeke.
TASK 1: have a go at reading this aloud
TASK 2: can you identify any words which still exist in Modern English?
TASK 3: What do you notice about the syntax? How much has it changed from Old English (Beowulf)?
TASK 4: How is the past tense formed in Middle English? How was it formed in Old English?
TASK 5: How is the plural formed in Middle English? How is it similar/different to Old/Modern English?

14. Opening of The Canterbury TAles
Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open eye-
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke
That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seeke.
When April with his showers sweet with fruit
The drought of March has pierced unto the root
And bathed each vein with liquor that has power
To generate therein and sire the flower;
When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,
Quickened again, in every holt and heath,
The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun
Into the Ram one half his course has run,
And many little birds make melody
That sleep through all the night with open eye
(So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)-
Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage,
And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,
To distant shrines well known in sundry lands.
And specially from every shire's end
Of England they to Canterbury wend,
The holy blessed martyr there to seek
Who helped them when they lay so ill and weal

15. Homework
Write a summary of the ways in which the language of Old English, Middle English and Modern English are similar and different.
This can be in bullet point form.

16. Lesson 3

17. ‘William Caxton’
Before we even try to understand what Caxton is writing about in this passage, can you think of any problems with written English during the period of Early Modern English?

18. ‘Caxton’s Eggs’
Produce a written summary, in fluent, Standard English, of no more than 80 words, of the story that Caxton tells in this extract. What problems does Caxton identify with the language of his day? Stretch: What solutions would you have perhaps suggested to these problems if you were Caxton?

19. Who was William Caxton? Where was his birth place?
What was significant about his education?
What trade did he follow before becoming a printer?
What status did he gain in his initial career?
What was his relationship with the aristocracy?
What were his literary tastes?
What was his choice of location for printing?
What was his output as a printer?
Stretch: consider how these factors might have influenced his attitude towards the English Language.

20. Framework: Observation: Significance: Lexis Grammar Semantics
Use of archaic lexis (eg. ‘forlond’)
The fact this lexis is no longer frequently in use could suggests that names have to be more specific today (rather than ‘forland’), to prevent confusion, due to ever-increasing globalisation.
Grammar
Semantics
Phonology
Morphology
Pragmatics

22. Homework: Referring to the text in detail, and to relevant ideas from language study, explore how language has changed over time.
Write one paragraph, focusing on a different framework in as much detail as you can.