EXO 1 - Real English and Standard English Using interviews from the "What do you hope to achieve before you die?" video. Read the introduction, watch the short video of James immediately below. Allow the page to load. This is a presentation, not a quiz.
This presentation is inspired by David Crystal, a clear thinking British linguist. Here is an extract
from
an interview (http://www.eltnews.com/features/interviews/028_david_crystal1.shtml):
Interviewer: Your next book, 'The Stories of English...(snip)
David: Once upon a time, we all knew where we were, there was British English and American English and that's fine. But now, it's all in the melting pot, with new styles, new varieties happening all over the place…
So my book is an attempt to retell the story of the language from the point of view of nonstandard English. In my book, all dialects are interesting - standard English is one of them. A very important one, the one we use for education, for standard intelligibility, the one most people think of as "correct." But what about the rest? Those poor students around the world who learn the standard form and then go out into the streets and they just don't hear it. They haven't been taught that the rules change from one part of the world to another, even from part of a country to another."
Video 1/6
Click on the video play button.
Watch the video. Listen carefully to James.
Text Window 1/6
This is James's complete answer. Is it "Standard English"?
James might surprise you.
Let's look at the dialogue in detail, keeping David Crystal's distinctions
in mind. Click on the "Click Here*" button again (twice to have both boxes
which make up the pair).
Video 2/6 .
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Watch the video. Listen carefully to my friend Paul, an interviewer.
Text Window 2/6
First, the question: What do you hope to accomplish before you die?
The spoken and written versions are the same. This is Standard American English with its regional accent.
Video 3/6 .
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Watch the video. Listen carefully to James.
Text Window 3/6
Secondly, a "perfect answer" (Standard English) from James: I always have had a dream of industrializing Africa.
The spoken and written versions are the same. James speaks clearly and uses the present perfect tense correctly in the context.
This is also Standard American English with its regional accent. So far so good! But
let's look at video # 4/6 now.
Video 4/6 .
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Watch the video. Listen carefully to James.
Text Window 4/6
Thirdly, an "imperfect answer" typical of informal speech. It seems a lot, a real broad, you know...
The spoken and written versions are not the same. James says "a lot" but a lot of what?
"Broad" is an adjective, but he does not say what noun he is describing. This type of speech is very common. The listener (the interviewer in this case) reacts by nodding his head, showing that he has "filled in the missing words" himself.
Scroll Down for
Video 5/6
I can't figure out how to
get it up to the top with the text. Help! .
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Watch the video. Listen carefully to James.
Text Window 5/6 (a long column)
Fourthly, an answer typical of informal
speech.
As Fernanda pointed out, James makes a "grammar mistake".
But, I really, I really believe, that if I get a lot of money like that, I'll do it, I'll really do it. I'll go over there and make Africa just like the United States.
So what is the grammar mistake? "if I get a lot of money like that, I'll (I WILL {I'll} or I WOULD {I'd} ??)
do it?...
Breaking News: this just in
from
Grammar Headquarters:
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 08:22:34
-0700 (PDT) From: Dr Elizabeth Hanson-Smith
Subject: Re: A point of grammar
Hi fellow grammarians--
Just one minor grammar point that Fernanda, I believe,
brought up.
Our native speaker says:
"I really believe that if I get a lot of money like
that, I'd really do it. I'd go over there and make
Africa just like the United States."
Fernanda writes:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I'm not a native speaker, but we usually consider
correct if clauses
those that have If + simple
present...............will....
or
If + simple past..............would
so in this case it would be got instead of get... or
wil, instead of
would.... what am I missing here?
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The "correct" sentence might be:
"If I got/had a lot of money...I would..."
However, American English speakers informally seldom
use the conditional in a contrary to fact if clause.
(Or the conditional is over-used to express emphasis.)
The conditional seems to be going the way of the now
abandoned shall/will distinction, which disappeared
from the SATs back in the early 1980s, I think.
Probably this use of if + present is in analogy to the
much more common use of the simple present if in
scientific "hypotheses":
"If you mix oxygen and hydrogen, you get water."
So we have with this speaker a very nice instance of
REAL (that is, authentic) English, as it is spoken
naturally. English learners are going to hear this
usage, but may not see it written anywhere for some
time. (end of Elizabeth's email - Cheers from
Elizabeth)
Hi Mike, Elizabeth and all
First, thanks for having found my "feedback" helpful.
As for the grammar issue, I'm confused now. And as you completely
changed the structure of the exercise, it is no longer there. But what I
was quoting was not James' s sentence, but a comment you had after it,
intended as an example of "Standard English"
++++
"Standard English: I really believe that if I get a lot of money like
that, I'd really do it. I'd go over there and make Africa just like
the United States."
+++++++
I know that you can mix tenses in a different way in if clauses, Simple
Present and would, but is it still considered "Standard English"?
When James says: "But, I really, I really believe, that if I get a lot
of money like that, I'll do it, I'll really do it. I'll go over there
and make Africa just like the United States."
you may consider that grammatically it is correct, but if we agree that
he is talking about a dream/wish/hypothesis/sth contrary to reality, he
should have used a conditional, right?
I promise I'll go back your site... after I have finished a million
things I have to do this week.
Cheers,
Fernanda"
The Times They are a
Changin' (again)? Maybe.
As I wrote earlier, it
was my stupid mistake of not noticing what is usually considered as a
"grammar mistake". Of course, to play on the safe side, the "Standard English" should
be:
"I really believe, that if I get a lot of money like that,
I'd
really do it.
I'd go over there and make Africa just like the United States."
This is an ongoing live workshop and it inevitably includes grammar.
A conclusion? IMHO, Fernanda and Elizabeth are both correct, which in the end, means to me that words only mean the way we use them...
This is not a cop-out. Saying that "words only mean the way we use them"
certainly relativizes the whole concept of grammar, but in a sense, those
cryptic words might be a good conclusion of what my friend Ludwig
Wittgenstein pointed out at his lectures. I
respect grammar of course as the
existing-whether-you-like-it-or-not fabric
of the language. This fabric seems to be tough and durable, yet very
flexible.
Getting back to another aspect of this
section of the video:
This dialogue also illustrates that
we often use repetition for hesitation, and to put emphasis on certain ideas or intentions.
The interviewer continues to nod his head, showing he understands. All native speakers of American English
would in fact understand, but what about "the poor student", as Professor Crystal put it?
Video 6/6 .
Click on the video play button.
Watch the video. Listen carefully to James.
Text Window 6/6
Lastly, another "imperfect answer" with grammar mistakes, also typical of informal speech.
So, I don't want no big power, you know,
I don't want no big position, I just want to be noticed for that, you know.
This example illustrates common grammar mistakes such as double negatives "...don't want no..." and the use of the present tense instead of the conditional "would" which is more logical in the context.
*
Click on the "Click Here" button for 6 pairs of
video window/text windows, side by side
(that makes 12 clicks).
Play each video in each of the 6
windows to watch the relevant
extracts.
Read the questions and comments.
BTW, this is an attempt to illustrate what
David Crystal is talking about.
EXO 1 - Real English and Standard English Using interviews from the "What do you hope to achieve before you die?" video. Read the introduction, watch the short video of James immediately below. Allow the page to load. This is a presentation, not a quiz.
