Standardisation of Language

The introduction of Johnson's Dictionary in 1755 created a almost standardisation of the English language. People sought to 'fix' the English language and define what is 'correct', this was Johnson's primary goal at first when writing the dictionary but by the end realised that English is constantly changing by nature and that the best he could do is record the language of the day rather than form it. As well as Johnson's dictionary attempting to create a standardisation in English, Robert Lowth also created a book called 'A Short Introduction to English Grammar' which was published in 1765. This book was heavily inspired by the grammar used in Latin and as such Lowth admitted that it was problematic and he condemned "forcing the English under the rules of a foreign Language".


In modern society, the idea of standardising the English language is the cause of many debates, particularly between people with prescriptive and descriptive attitudes. Prescriptivists believe that the English language should be standardised and that the adaptation and change of language shouldn't be encouraged. While descriptivists believe that language is as used by the speaker and that an idea of standard English is impossible as language is ever changing. Descriptivists believe that the use of standardising English will remove some uniqueness in a person and that dialects are beneficial to a society. Prescriptivists see the use of a standard English as being uniform and allowing texts to be read and understood with everyone. Some believe that the use of standard English should be a addition to their current repertoire and should be used in formal situations, this allows people to keep their dialectal individuality while also understanding and being able to follow a standardised English.


Bibliographyhttps://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elltankw/history/standardisation/c.htm
http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/dic/johnson/1755johnsonsdictionary.html
http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item126709.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lowth#Notes
http://grammar.about.com/od/basicsentencegrammar/f/descpresgrammar.htm
https://languagedebates.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/jessica-holmes-discusses-the-pros-and-cons-of-using-standard-english-in-education/