Start Date
17-12-2015 3:10 PM
Description
The United States of America has never had an official language, yet the majority of its populace speaks only English. This is true even in in cases where a second language is studied in school. While the multilingualism in the United States is mostly explainable due to historical events and geographical isolation, the United Kingdom is experiencing the same shortage of accomplished second-language speakers. Could the modern English language be at fault? English is the most simplified language in modern use, and lacks the grammatical complexity found in most European languages. I propose to study how exactly English is a simplified language and examine the effect of invisible grammar on native English speakers learning a second language.
Fool’s Paradise: The English language as a barrier to adult second-language acquisition
The United States of America has never had an official language, yet the majority of its populace speaks only English. This is true even in in cases where a second language is studied in school. While the multilingualism in the United States is mostly explainable due to historical events and geographical isolation, the United Kingdom is experiencing the same shortage of accomplished second-language speakers. Could the modern English language be at fault? English is the most simplified language in modern use, and lacks the grammatical complexity found in most European languages. I propose to study how exactly English is a simplified language and examine the effect of invisible grammar on native English speakers learning a second language.
