Assess How The Language Of Teenagers Has Changed Over Time Essay Example for Free

Assess How The Language Of Teenagers Has Changed Over Time Essay The language of teenagers has changed radically over time, the use of slang and clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s are now commonly used in everyday English Language, in particular amongst teenagers. For this essay I visited a local high school to gain evidence of how teenagers express themselves and converse with peers and adults, including adults in authority. I also observed an anger management session and listened to the language used in this setting and also at break times. The findings of these observations are on a tape recording enclosed. The language of teenagers is greatly affected by television and pop music and this contributes to the change in modern day English and the phrases and slang that teenagers use, for example in the high school I visited the teenage boys used a lot of phrases and words that are used in rap music, a boy referred to his friends as homies rather that mates of pals the word homies is used a lot within American rap music. This shows how teenagers are influenced and how these kinds of words become popular amongst teenagers. Swearing is also part of modern day language and is very common and has increased hugely over the years, swearing is now socially accepted amongst teenagers and their peers, swearing has always been frowned upon in the English Language but has increased drastically through the past ten years. The change in language is obvious amongst teenagers and adults, most of the teenagers in the school I visited said that they would never swear at parents and teachers and it is disrespectful, although they would not be as concerned about swearing at someone the same age as them as it is not offensive anymore to their generation. This is because when the teenagers parents and teachers were growing up, swearing was seen as very offensive and a sign of disrespect. Case studies I asked a 15-year-old girl to find the five euphemisms that she would use for the following: (a) to die, (b) to urinate (c) to be a drunk (d) to say hello to a friend. I also asked a 15-year-old boy to do the same exercise, these are my findings: Chloe To die: to pass away, to kick the bucket, to be no longer with us, to have slipped away, to have kiffed it. To urinate: to go for a wee, to do a number one, to have a piss, to wet the daisies, to relieve myself. To be drunk: pissed, bladdered, wasted, trollyed, out of it. To say Hello to a friend: alright, hi, hiya. Lee To die: to kiff it, kick the bucket, passed away, to have gone to the pearly gates, passed onto the other side. To urinate: to have a piss, to have a slash, to drain the main vain, to go the bog, to shake the snake. To be drunk: wasted, bladdered, pissed, out of if, wankered. To say hello to a friend: alright mate, alright, how do, hi, or a head nod with no speech. The findings show that gender influences teenagers speech slightly the girls language is slightly more polite than the boys and the boy used a lot of slang when referring to the above words and phrases, the most obvious ones were the words used when the male teenager refers to passing urine as shake the snake, and drain the main vain these sayings caused much amusement to Lees male and female peers. The teenagers are showing how they contribute to new meanings for words and linguistic change. Euphemisms are one of the most fertile sources of new meanings, things that were thought to be to nasty to talk about directly were given polite but roundabout expressions. An example of this is when indoor plumbing was first installed into houses in the eighteenth century the room were first called water closet, this was soon abbreviated to W.C and then replaced by toilet, which had previously meant dressing table. These words are still seen as crude by many people and other euphemisms have came into force such as toilet, bathroom. The teenagers regularly referred to the toilet as the loo and bog. Sex is another area where euphemisms flourish amongst teenagers, in the nineteenth century Jane Austin wrote in her novel they had no intercourse but what the commonest civility required , Jane Austin would of not of expected the effect that this sentence would have on the modern day reader, in her time the word intercourse meant dealings between people. In the twentieth century the phrase sexual intercourse arrived this was used as a delicate way to refer to sex. This has now been shortened to intercourse, and this sexual sense is now so common that the teenagers in the school I visited found it impossible to use the word intercourse in any other sense. They also have their own words for sexual intercourse these words are not seen as offensive and are common in teenagers language. This shows how teenagers influence the change in word meanings and euphemisms in society. The teenagers in the school I visited also use a lot of clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s which, again is another sign of language change in todays society, adults are also guilty of using clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s in modern day English, which is were the Influence could of came from for the teenagers to use clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s in their everday language, some of the most popular clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s I heard amongst the teenagers were at the end of the day, I hear what your saying and basically. The most common one was you know what I mean Another chacteristic of teenage language is rising intonation at the end of a sentence. This has long been noticed as a characteristic feature of Australian English, and is also favoured by some speakers of American English and is very popular within the language of teenagers, this was something that I noticed whilst speaking to the majority of the class. To me as a listener, a sentence ending on a rise sounds like a question as if the speaker is saying She comes from Sydney?, rather than making a declarative statement. But in the last ten years or so, the popularity of Australian soap operas among British teenagers has led to the widespread adoption of this feature among younger people in the UK. It is too early to say whether this is short-term or whether rising intonation will become standard practice for a significant number of British speakers and the teenagers will make it more popular the more they use it. The increasing popularity of the rising intonation can be traced back to a specific event: the arrival in the UK of Australian programmes like Neighbours and Home and Away. Teenagers are big fans of these type of soap operas mean exposure to repeated instances of this feature has had measurable effects on the linguistic behaviour of quite large numbers of British speakers of all ages. Music such as rapping also influences teenagers and many adopt this way of speech some of these words appear below with the translations taken from a book of slang words: Bluh slurred pronunciation of Blood, meaning homie or friend. Bredren meaning mate, or ones audience. It derives from the Jamaican ragga scene, not the German. Buggin Acting weird or upset. Same as acting bug. Herb spliff, bud, dodo, doja, ganja, weed, etc. Wack Awful, cheap, stupid, weak, etc. Rarely spelled whack. Only preceded by wiggedy by the tragically ancient. Murk Murder. Also leave, as in Im finna murk. Peace. Punk Coward or arsehole (not in the anatomical sense). Bling excessively showy or expensive jewellery, cars, etc. From the supposed sound made by light bouncing off diamonds. Its first known usage was in The Silvertones Bling Bling Christmas. (Fo) shizzle, my nizzle (For) sure, my nigger, or alternatively, yes, dear. -izzle is a standard suffix. So shizzle could also mean shit (meaning good), shoes, shirt or shed. (Slang a bluffers guide.1999.pg22) Wigga a white nigger, a wannabe. This way of speaking seems very common nowadays, but I suspect if we were to listen to teenagers from London we would hear a lot more of these words as Londons rap scene is a lot more popular than that of the North West. David Crystal says Its very recent, this new rhythm that comes from rapping, Until recently, people have spoken in the rhythms of Shakespeare: tum te tum te tum. But this new hip-hop accent is rat tat tat tat tat. Its more common than Received Pronunciation these days. Hardly anyone speaks traditional RP any more maybe one or two per cent. (The language revolution pg22) As the language of teenagers changes there will be many linguistic changes and different features introduced over time, as teenagers are very impressionable it is easy to see why these changes spread so quickly. Bibligraphy The language revolution. 2002. David Crystal(Cambridge: Polity Press), Flappers to rappers- American youth slang-.Tom Dalzell (Merriam-Webster / Springfield, Massachusetts. 1996.) Socialinguistics : Nikolas Coupland and Adam Jaworski. Palgrave (1997)

generalized anxiety disorder Essay -- essays research papers

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic and often disabling condition that is associated with uncontrollable worry and tension. The vicious cycle of anxiety and worry interferes with relationships, careers, and education, and often leads to depression. This disorder is much more than the normal anxiety that everyone experiences from time to time, and can be crippling in its severity. GAD is unlikely to disappear without proper treatment, and often worsens over time. Physical manifestations of GAD often include headaches, trembling, twitching, fatigue, irritability, frustration, muscle tension, and inability to concentrate. Sleep disturbances may also occur. Individuals suffering from this disorder may appear to be always tense and unable to relax, or may startle more easily than others. Often they might seem to be constantly moving or fidgeting, unable to sit comfortably through a movie without worrying about something else that needs to be done. Some research suggests that GAD may run in families, and it Generalized Anxiety Disorder may grow worse during times of stress. Symptoms can begin at any age, but the risk is highest between childhood and middle age. GAD affects about 4 million adult Americans. Women are twice as likely to be affected than men. The disorder usually comes on gradually, although it can be suddenly triggered by a childhood psychological trauma, the death of a loved one, divorce, and losing or changing a job. DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Excessive anxiety and worry (apprehensive expectation), occurring more days than not for at least 6 months, about a number of events or activities (such as work or school performance). 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The person finds it difficult to control the worry. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The anxiety and worry are associated with three (or more) of the following six symptoms (with at least some symptoms present for more days than not for the past 6 months). Note: Only one item is required in children. -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  being easily fatigued -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  difficulty concentrating or mind going blank -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  irritability -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  muscle tension -  Ã‚  Ã‚  &nb... ...he anxiety the patient is having. There are many studies pertaining to generalized anxiety disorder. The studies examine the genetic and environmental risks for major anxiety disorders, their course-both alone and when they occur along with other diseases such as depression-and their treatment. Like heart disease and diabetes, these brain disorders are complex and probably result from a combination of genetic, behavioral, developmental, and other factors. Much of the research of anxiety centers on the amygdale, an almond-shaped structure deep within the brain. The amygdale is believed to serve as a communications hub between the parts of the brain that process incoming sensory signals and the parts that interpret them. Other research focuses on the hippocampus, another brain structure that is responsible for processing threatening or traumatic stimuli. By learning more about brain circuitry involved in fear and anxiety, scientists may be able to devise new and more specific treatments for anxiety disorders. Researche rs are attempting to learn how genetics and experience interact in each of the anxiety disorders-information they hope will yield clues to prevention and treatment.

Case Analysis of “Which is Higher”

In the northeastern part of the United States, the Queen’s Island School District caters senior high school education to a large urban area wherein about one third of the students’ population is of cultural minority. The school district has six senior high schools, from grades ten to twelve, wherein one representative was selected to comprise the committee on revising the curriculum for secondary history. Meanwhile, Dr. Tom Blakely, the head for social studies curriculum was appointed to spearhead the committee on revision. The chosen members of the committee were Luis Garcia of Garfield High, Eric Tannenbaum of Central High, Lois Blakely of Van Buren High; Lee Cheng of Kennedy High, Delicia Jackson of South Point High, and Michelle McMurray of Westside High. These members are all history teachers in their respective schools. They were tasked to scrutinize the existing curriculum in social studies for their school district. Thus, the committee is expected in the end to come up with the most plausible instructional objectives, teaching methods, evaluation tools, and set of references for the revised social studies curriculum. Two Main Positions Eric Tannenbaum favored the time-tested lecture-discussion as his primary method in teaching history. Sometimes he also uses group work and current event discussion in his class. He believed that lecture-discussion method is the most appropriate in presenting lessons with wide coverage. By using it, he can tackle lessons within the allotted time. In terms of evaluation, he used to administer teacher-made tests which for the most part have objective type items. In addition, essay questions are also provided in his tests. Tannenbaum thought that the first two levels of the Bloom’s taxonomy of learning objectives should be first attained by students in order to prepare them for higher-order learning. Michelle McMurray advocated the problem-solving approach in teaching history. She believed that a facts-oriented subject would just give burdens on the part of the students. She added that for the students to appreciate history, the method should be focused on principles through meaningful learning experiences rather than memorization of dates, places, and people. To be able to do this, learning objectives that utilize problem-solving and creativity should be formulated. In her class, she employs methods to connect historical facts to the present knowledge of the students and its relevance to the contemporary time. For every unit, she encourages students individually or by group to identify problems of their interest to work on. Given the appropriate time to prepare, the students will present their reports. With these, learning experiences become meaningful to the students leading to a long time memory of learned facts. Based on the presented output, she formulates essay-type questions that correspond to the high-order level of Bloom’s taxonomy. She also allows students to write questions that can possibly be used as test questions. The two members of the committee supported the notion of Tannenbaum concerning curriculum design for social studies. Luis Garcia and Cheng Lee both agreed with Tannenbaum propositions for those are conveniently used by most history teachers. On the other hand, Lois Blakely and Delicia Jackson supported the ideas of McMurray. For them, learning can only be meaningful when students’ interest and active participation are harnessed for every learning activity. Analysis Bloom’s Taxonomy Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives is a hierarchy of learning objectives from simple to a more complex (Huitt, 2004). Most of the time, it is described as a ladder where students need to climb from the low to higher level. Knowledge, comprehension, and application belong to the low-level cognitive domain while analysis, synthesis and evaluation are high-order thinking level (Huitt, 2004). Based on McMurray’s analysis, Tannenbaum’s objectives were merely just at the low level of the Bloom’s taxonomy. Even though he has essay questions in the evaluation, those questions also require simple recall of data or information. Conversely, McMurray favored essay-type questions that require students to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information. She allows students to identify interesting topic for research in every unit of the subject then give them freedom to rigorously research on their chosen topics and present their outputs on the class. Additionally, the other groups are also encouraged to raise their questions concerning the presented report. Based on their presentation of outputs, she patterns questions for assessment. With these, McMurray were able to give independence to her students by working and discovering new things on their own, thus, leading the students to higher-order of thinking. Ausubel’s Meaningful Reception Learning The meaningful learning of Ausubel denotes the absorption of new information and acquisition of new meanings (Elliot, Kratochwill, Cook, and Travers, 2000). As a student internalizes new information, he patterns and fits this to his existing cognitive structure. By anchoring this new information to his existing schemata, renewal or adjustment of the schema results leading to the acquisition of new meaning, hence, the term meaningful learning (Elliot, Kratochwill, Cook, and Travers, 2000). Looking back at the case analysis, since Tannenbaum used to employ lecture-discussion on his class, students will just tend to memorize and depend on the details of his lecture. Although absorption of new information occurs but the internalization and transformation of the information into new memory unit is deterred. As such, the learned facts only remain in students’ mind in a short period of time. On the contrary, through the methods of McMurray students may have the chance to work independently and present their output based on their own plan. By anchoring the subject matter into the present thinking level of the students, the teacher motivates them and incites them for further learning. Discovery Learning. Jerome Bruner postulated that the active engagement of learners in every learning activity would result to a long mind-retention of learned facts or principles (Dandapani, 2004). Environmental stimuli arouse learners’ interests that trigger them to find solution for a perplexing situation. In finding the most plausible explanation for the perceived difficulty, one may exhaust all possible resources in his environments. In this process, learners internalize information, fit this to their existing cognitive structure, and create or adjust schemata (Dandapani, 2004). Since, problem-solving approach is under discovery learning, McMurray utilizes the process of discovery in her teaching approach. Information Processing Theory Information Processing Theory emphasized the roles of attention, perception, thinking, memory, and problem-solving processes in learning (Lachman, Lachman, and Butterfield, 1979). Every individual observes a lot of environmental stimuli but the brain mechanisms selectively limit the absorption of information in such way that the new information would systematically organized with the existing cognitive structure (Lachman, Lachman, and Butterfield, 1979). By giving attention on a particular stimulus, one may be able to perceive what has been observed. Then, the role of memory takes place by organizing this new information with the existing schemata. In this assimilation process, once the newly absorbed information is unable to be fitted into the existing schema, either this will be lost in the memory or adjustment in the existing cognitive structures results (Lachman, Lachman, and Butterfield, 1979). This means that the mind does not only fit the newly absorbed information into existing schemata but also adjust to accommodate it. In the case analysis, Tannenbaum often used lecture-discussion method for he can cover a lot of topics within the allotted time. However, as firmly stated by McMurray, lecture-discussion would only provide numerous facts that most of the time give burden to the students because of their difficulty in memorization and their inability to organize, relate and integrate different information, and unable to see its connections and relevance to everyday living. McMurray proposed that by formulating learning objectives which will utilize problem-solving skills and develop creativity, learning will be meaningful for every student and a longer retention of learning is foreseen. My Opinion Tannenbaum is not entirely wrong with his method of choice. He just failed to address individual differences by integrating several methods of instruction to cater the lesson to the different needs, interest, and abilities of the learners. His method is inclined solely to rigorous memorization of facts giving way to rote learning. Even though he has a genuine purpose of accomplishing the time-bound topics prescribed for the course, he is actually delimiting the subject into low-level of thinking resulting to failure in developing multiple intelligences. McMurray’s approach in teaching is anchored on Ausubel’s reception learning, Bruner’s discovery learning, and information processing theory. As such, we may infer then that her approach in teaching is more democratic and student-centered. She encouraged active participation among her students and allowed them to work on the topic of their choice. By means of this, she actually harnessed the interest of students towards problem-solving and incited them to find ways to accomplish their tasks. Moreover, she patterned her evaluation based on students’ outputs and even encouraged students to formulate test questions. With these, learning becomes meaningful for every student that may propel them for further learning. Nevertheless, with regards to the possible content gaps or topics that are not able to tackle up due to time constraints in employing problem-solving approach, as what McMurray did, teacher may supplement the report of the students by bringing up the topics that students’ failed to choose. We also need to admit the inevitable truth that our minds tend to forget and only limited facts stay in our long-term memory. Therefore, it is much better to incur content gaps in a subject if the tackled topics retain longer in our memory rather than to cover all prescribed topics in the absence of authentic learning.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - 1386 Words

The memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiography written by Maya Angelou as she grew up in the mid-20th century, where being a black girl and facing racial issues in society, had to overcome many problems that show the larger issue of the time period. I chose this book over the other nineteen memoirs because of the strong recommendations I received from my fellow class mates, and because of my interest in racial issues during the terrible times of segregation. Life was not fair, and Maya Angelou had to face a lot during the 30’s and 40’s in order to try to live a normal lifestyle and become a confident person. Maya shares her story with us to increase our knowledge of racism, prejudice, unequal treatment of women, and sexual†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"The needs of a society determine its ethics, and in the black American ghettos the hero is that man who is offered only the crumbs from his country s table but by ingenuity and courage is able to ta ke for himself a Lucullan feast. Hence the janitor who lives in one room but sports a robin s-egg-blue Cadillac is not laughed at but admired, and the domestic who buys forty-dollar shoes is not criticized but is appreciated. We know that they have put to use their full mental and physical powers. Each single gain feeds into the gains of the body collective† (Angelou 218). Maya believes that blacks are being robbed of their lives and freedom to explore, grow, and succeed. This statement shows that ones with the very little they have will utilize it completely and have that to their advantage, and then they will succeed. Racism and prejudice are large factors that shapes Maya’s autobiography and eventually motivate her to ignore all of the negative influences and build her confidence. There are also many violent events towards blacks that show Maya the severity of prejudice in her society. One day when Maya was at the store a fight was on the radio where a black man and white man were battling in a boxing ring. When the black fighter Louis was getting beaten Maya thought, â€Å"It was our people falling. It was another