This fourth collection of students’ pearls of wisdom, laboriously digitised from hand-written test answers, demonstrates once again how students new to the study of language speculate about grammar after having imperfectly absorbed what their teachers think they have taught them.

The English language—Global English

• First, I shall like to look at the factors behind the colonial expansion of the British whose English is their native language.
• Native English speakers are those such as in the United Kingdoms, USA and Australasia.
• The global spread makes English a uniformed language.
• The use of English, in contrast to mother dialects, commands more power.
• There is a prosperity belief in English.
• English is an important source of mechanism responsible for the social structures of inequalities and it has been used as a vehicle for intra-European communications across all social groups.
• The idea of a world united by global spread of English seems a bit far fetched. Yet with the influence of English many continents and its people have lost their culture and minority language. For example, European culture is characterised by drinking and gambling.
• Ironically, although German is the largest European native language, English is favoured as a national language for Britain and Ireland.
• As one looks towards the future of English, one may have noticed the loss or lesser use of languages. However, English is not a threat to global diversity because in many countries where English is the official language endangered languages also exist.
• There are many native languages that are on the verge of non-existence.
• The development and growth of global media would continue to be an important factor in the spread of global culture whether or not there is culture or linguistic homogeneity.
• The spread of English also created the world of dubbing but even so the influence cannot be stopped, for there is still a need to follow lip movement from a labia point of view.
• English has been associated with universalism, liberalism, secularism and internationalism. Global culture emerges encouraged by activities of transitional companies. It’s a lingua franca among the world inhabitants.
• 80% of information in the electronic retrieval system and two-third of the world’s scientists are written in English.

Test question—Articulatory Descriptions

Question.

Describe the articulation of [w].

Answers.

• The articulators come into contact but do not touch.
• The back of tongue makes a complete contact with the tongue.
• The tongue of the body is retracted, then the body moves upwards.
• The lower lips and the upper lips come close together. The body of the tongue is then raised, though still at the back of the tongue.
• The hard palate of the tongue comes into contact with the back of the tongue.
• Upper lip and the back of the tongue come into close approximation.
• The tongue is lowered and advanced towards the hard palate.
• The back of the tongue touches the velum in quick succession.
• The body of the tongue is lowered and moves towards the mid, back section of the tongue.
• The back of the tongue is raised towards the velum to form a gap. The air passes out smoothly until the lips are lowered.
• The tongue is backward.
• The articulators are not close enough together to allow air to pass through.
• The back of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge.
• The sides of the tongue are rounded so they come into contact with the hard palate.

More to come...

	On Logophoric Pronouns—John Miaou
	Simplificational Onomastics—Cletus McGraw
	SpecGram Vol CLVII, No 4 Contents