Language Myths:

Myth 1 - The meaning of words should not be allowed to vary or change

I agree with the conclusion of this chapter: ‘... none of us can unilaterally decide what a words means..’. After all, the meaning of the word lies in the communication between two or more parties. The true test is, is the meaning of the word in that context generally understood by all parties, and if yes, then there is no problem. If one believes in evolution, then one should also believe in the evolution of words, of language. I can understand the reluctance of some people who try to stop this process, as it is, after all, human nature to try to stop change when it affects what you believe to be right. Nevertheless, needs change over time and language with it. I don’t believe that you can stop that. 

Myth 2 - Some languages are just not good enough

Indeed, what is ‘good enough’? The word good is often coloured by personal taste, personal believe, personal experience. And if we ask ourselves, ‘good enough for what'? Then we have to remember that all languages have developed over time.  Both from within and by borrowing from other languages (English, for example, has apparently one of the highest levels of borrowing from the world’s leading languages). If we understand this, then we need to realise that no language is good enough by itself and will need to continually change to keep up with the changes of the world. Any language is capable of doing so, it may just be a case of some languages being further developed than others rather than some languages being better than others. 

Myth 4 - French is a logical language

Just the same as asking, ‘what is good?’, you could ask yourself, ’what is ‘logical?’. What’s logical to one might not be to another. Maths, for example, is supposed to be logical but to an alpha brain like mine it is anything but. Thinking back to when I was learning languages, German seemed far more logical to me than French. Saying therefore that ‘...where the differences of clarity and logic are to be found is not in the language itself but in the abilities of different users of the language to handle it effectively...’ makes perfect sense to me.  However, as the article explains, it is also our ‘perception’ and our perception is coloured by history, upbringing and our interests. I, for example, lived near the German border, so my interest was heightened and I was motivated to look upon the language favourably, colouring my perception of that language. Perhaps, therefore, I would suggest to add the following to the above sentence ‘...where the differences of clarity and logic are to be found is not in the language itself but in the abilities of different users of the language to handle it effectively... and their motivation for explaining these differences.’

Myth 5 - English Spelling is Kattastroffik

Catastrophic might be too strong a word and perhaps we could replace it with ‘difficult’ (or perhaps 'diffikult'). The article tries to explain that the language isn’t half as ‘kattastrofik’ as people think it is whilst at the same time showing that it is full of inconsistencies. The article doesn’t even touch on the spelling and pronunciation of towns (with Loughborough and Edinburgh) being perfect examples. And this is the paradox. The article is trying to provide excuses for these difficulties explaining, for instance, that the spelling system has to cater as best it can for phonetic differences between speakers, because, ‘if people were encouraged to spell as they spoke, there would emerge a number of different written dialects of English.’  This makes it sound as if they would be the only ones with this problem, whereas most other languages also have to deal with different dialects. At the same time, English has borrowed heavily from other languages over the years, so it stands to reason that this would create even more irregularities. Perhaps we could all just admit that English is a very difficult language to spell and that perhaps there are some things which could benefit from being made easier. 

Myth 6 - Women Talk Too Much

I could now go on and write a long essay on this myth, however, that may prove the myth! A very interesting theory, though, and one which I believed myself to be true. But now, reading the article, it is of course dependent on many different factors. On the whole it seems women seem to be more willing to talk in relaxed social contexts than in more public, formal contexts. If I reflect on my own experiences, then I believe that I have been exposed to this phenomena myself, as I am a very outspoken kind of girl in both contexts and have often seen my female colleagues close up in meetings and such, letting the men take charge. This has always frustrated me immensely. The research around the myth throws up many interesting questions that immediately link to the whole male/female equality struggle for balance in the world.  Perception and how it affects both parties is such an influencer and is in return influenced by so many things. What are those things, are they genetic, are they social, are they gender related or are there other influences? How do we deal with these differences, especially also as teachers?

Myth 7 - Some Languages are Harder than Others

Again, whether a language is hard or not depends on where you are coming from. By that, I mean not only in the physical sense but also in the mental sense. Whether something is hard or easy depends on many, many factors - both linguistically (ie style such as Germanic or Slavic, grammar rules, phonetics, size of vocabulary, inflection and derivation,  analytical or synthetic, etc), cultural (ie politeness) and personal (preference, etc). Perhaps you could argue that a pidgin language is less hard as it has an easier grammar, but then, it could be argued that it is only a simplified version of a language, even though some of them have turned into a creole language. Perhaps on the whole we can indeed conclude that some languages appear harder than others but as it is difficult to explain how or to what extend, it isn’t very useful. Perhaps we should just say, ..‘for me, some languages are harder than others’, as that way we have a chance of being able to explain why it is so.

Myth 8 - Children Can’t Speak or Write Properly Anymore

What do you compare it to? What is ‘properly’? Research shows that we have been complaining about this for centuries. Why? What standards are being used to compare against? It seems it is compared with the upper and upper-middle classes who are a, lets face it, a minority. There is a general notion that this so-called ‘moral decline’ is due to a lack of discipline and bad teaching but there is apparently no evidence that discipline and certain methods of teaching were particularly successful in the past. We must indeed remember that the modern world requires a much higher level of literacy from a greater part of the population than was needed in the past. Something the article doesn’t touch on, though, is that our culture is a fast one and uses computers, internet and sms to communicate - all of which either help us to spell (ie spell checker), write (ie google) or encourages us to use shorthand language, mirroring the spoken language. All of this has in turn influenced our spoken language. Our written and spoken language changes, indeed when compared with the past. You could also argue that children now have to learn more than one way of writing words and learn when to use them (L8 or late, to give just one example), which means they have to learn even more than we did when we were a child. Above all, we must remember that language is alive, and moves with the time. 

Myth 10 - Some Languages Have no Grammar

One can only assume that this myth has been thought up by those unfamiliar with what ‘grammar’ is. Without grammar, ie any set of language rules, the listener wouldn’t know what was intended. However, this is what all languages have in common - ie a means of communication, of verbally explaining what they mean. We therefore have to conclude that all languages have grammar. Perhaps some have a more clearly defined rulebook than others and some have just more rules than others. Whatever the differences between the languages, there will be rules and therefore grammar.

Myth 11 - Italian is Beautiful and German is Ugly

Beauty and ugliness are by definition relative. Beauty is, after all, in the eye, or in this case the ear, of the beholder. As said many times before, perception is key in our believe of the truth. However, some people do feel this is true for them. Knowing these prejudices, though, shouldn’t mean we have to ignore them as they do have their implications. In business, for example, it is commonly known that they favour Welsh and Irish accents in call centres as they tend to have a more soothing affect on customers. We do, therefore, have to understand that different languages do have a different effect on people. Instead of comparing its relative beauty we should be looking at these elements and at what influences them. It would be unwise to completely ignore the why’s and wherefore’s of this myth.

Myth 13 - Black Children are Verbally Deprived

If that was so, there wouldn’t be a Barrack Obama, a , a Martin Luther King, a Desmond Tutu or even, dare I say an Oprah Winfrey. Need I go on? This is more about ‘social judgment’ and comparing to ‘the norm’. When you start asking questions such as ‘which black children?’, ‘deprived of what?’ and ‘why specifically black children?’, I think you would immediately throw this myth out with the bathwater.

Myth 14 - Double Negatives are Illogical

As I said before, what’s logical to one is illogical to another. I think rather than whether double negatives are illogical we should perhaps look at whether they serve a purpose. In phrases such as “he’s not unkind”, more often than not the person wants to say sort of ‘kind’ but then in an understated way. A very British trade, using understatements, so you could argue it has a purpose. In the sentence “I won’t give you nothing”, more often than not the person isn’t trying to say I’ll actually give ‘something’, so you could argue that it serves no purpose and therefore shouldn’t be there. There are some, though, that believe that a double negative in this instance actually serves the purpose of emphasising the denial or rejection. In my mind, the question is, is the double negative used to create an effect, then you could argue it serves a purpose. If not, then it is unnecessary. Whether it would be illogical I can’t say as the use of double negatives stems from an extended use going way back in the English history. Again, you could argue that it would therefore be ‘logical’ that someone would use it.

Myth 15 - TV Makes People Sound the Same

Language Acquisition requires interaction and TV in most instances doesn’t provide that. Certainly catchphrases, etc can be taken from it (think of catchphrases from shows where we are stimulated to say it out loud with them whilst we are watching). We cannot ignore that TV has an influence. Think also of, for example, rap artists who inspire young people around the world to copy their spoken style. Kids then interact with each other to hone their skills. However, TV is only one influence. There are many more influences besides TV, and those tend to have a much greater part in how we sound - ie our social circle, our education, our profession. In addition to that, we could also argue that there isn’t just ‘one sound’ on TV, so how could TV even be thought to be responsible for us all sounding the same? It would seem impossible.

Myth 16 - You shouldn’t say ‘It is Me’ because ‘Me’ is Accusative

This myth is based on the assumption that, if we were to follow the grammar patterns of Latin, English would gain a similar ‘prestige’. However, the patterns of English language differ in many ways from Latin so who is to say we should follow this particular rule? I’m happy for people to use both, and lets face it, most people use ‘me’, as do I (and yes, here I do mean to say ‘I’!).

Myth 17 - They Speak Really Bad English Down South and in New York City

Much of my conclusions written about Myth 2 and 4 apply here also. This myth is based on personal taste, believe, experience, ie our ‘perception’, and our perception is coloured by history, upbringing and our interests. US culture has kept alive this thinking by portraying the South as rural, backward and uneducated, and NYC as being ‘full of of murderers’. It stands to reason, therefore, that these different characteristics have an influence on how the different accents of these areas are perceived.

Myth 18 - Some Languages are Spoken more Quickly than Others

An interesting myth and one I believed to be true. There is, however, still no irrefutable prove that it is or isn’t true as it depends on what you measure. It turns out that it is rather more difficult to measure than you would first believe. Do you measure speaking rate or articulation rate? Do you measure syllable rate or sound rate? Should we take the characteristics of rhythm, style of speech and social situations into account? In order to have a clearer picture, it appears more research will have to be done across a wide range of languages and social situations.

Myth 20 - Everyone has an Accent Except Me

I grew up in Hardenberg, in the east of the country, as a teenager and I was the one with an (ABN) accent in a environment of local dialect. Moving back west, I had gained some of the Hardenberg accent and again I was the one with the different accent. Then I went to England and this time I had a foreign accent. I worked hard to eliminate as much of it as possible, until it I became ‘accepted’ as a local. This, however, I believe had more to do with the fact that I blended into the culture, the behaviour, the gestures, etc, as I have always retained a very slight Dutch accent. All in all, we know that your accent can be ‘the norm’ in one place and ‘different’ in another. Either way, accents can influence how someone thinks about you. However, I feel strongly an accent doesn’t necessarily ‘define and communicate who we are’.  If you choose to accept that everyone has an accent, even you, you will stop judging people on their accent. Instead, you will embrace the differences and learn from them.