The creation of printing was, undoubtedly, one of the greatest inventions. It eased the writing process as the whole, and it also had a great deal of influence over language. Linguists claim that one of the most important things printing brought was a development of a “standard language” of symbols and codes that we use today.

Printing which was introduced into England by Caxton in 1476, helped
to increase the spread of knowledge and literacy level among the
British public as more and more people had better access to reading
materials. Over the centuries, as more English texts were printed,
such as novels, dictionaries, the Bible and other documents, the
English language gradually gained popularity and established itself as
the national language of England. Apart from the advent of printing,
political, social and economic factors also contributed to the
development of English as a national language. The speakers’ attitude
towards the language, the status of the language itself as well as
colonialism later enhanced English position as an international
language today.

Linguists Harris and Taylor have pointed out that through printing
Caxton played a very significant and instrumental role in establishing
English as the national language of England. They suggest that by
adopting ‘the dialect of London and the South-East as the English for
his books, Caxton took a decisive step forward in establishing that
particular variety as ‘the English language’.’ (Harris and Taylor,
1980). We get the idea that Caxton as the first printer in England was
highly responsible for imposing some form of uniformity to the English
language simply by default. His choice of the dialect of the southeast
Midlands has given us the present form of Standard English.

Before doing any printing, Caxton had to choose a variety of language,
which should be understood by a lot of people, and not an exclusive
language like Latin, which was the language of the elite. In Caxton’s
time, Latin, the lingua franca of Europe, was already a dying
language. Independent states throughout Europe no longer gave much
importance to Latin and Greek as in the past. The French, Italian,
Spanish, German, Portuguese and Dutch had established their national
identities and their own languages. Naturally, the British needed a
language to call their own too.

According to Harris and Taylor, when Caxton started printing he
realized that variations in English dialects posed some difficulties
for users of the language. But he also knew that a single dialect had
to be chosen to ‘unite’ the people of England. Despite the
difficulties he faced in terms of orthography and the lack of
authoritative guidance on the English grammars, Caxton managed to
produce many English translations of French works.

Paradoxically Caxton’s works would help to instill a consciousness of
national identity among the English people, as they would come across
and question some alien values in the translated works. Printing thus
opened up the minds of the people to foreign ideas and knowledge.

Harris and Taylor point out that ‘printing was the technological
foundation of the European Renaissance’. In other words, printing
revived the tradition of learning. Consequently, it led to
unprecedented mass communications and the dissemination of information
on a very wide scale. As printing became widespread, the Standard
variety of English also spread to all corners of England. As the
masses became familiar with the spelling system and grammar introduced
by Caxton, the language would become more nationalized.

The standardization of the English language or any language is an
issue which linguists always have to grapple with. Printing had
brought into focus problems regarding the variations in the English
language, which Caxton had observed. Nevertheless, printing provides a
way to reduce these variations in the language. As Caxton himself
showed, publishers would set their own system of spelling and somewhat
codify the language.

According to Harris and Taylor, many Renaissance men of letters held
the view that language ‘can be altered and improved by human design’.
As such, the Renaissance scholars worked towards standardizing the
language by producing English dictionaries and grammar books. John
Wallis, one of the last of the Renaissance scholars, published a
grammar of English in 1653 entitled Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae,
which is often regarded as the first systematic grammar of English. In
1755, Dr Samuel Johnson published his famous and very influential
Dictionary. Another famous dictionary is John Walker’s A Critical
Pronouncing Dictionary of 1791.

One thing to note is that, printing had to a great extent marginalized
other English dialects. This is because literary works in other
dialects were hardly printed. Moreover, following the Renaissance
period Standard English had become the language of science, as it was
used by every English scholar. Other English dialects simply lost
their importance at the national level.

Obviously, Caxton’s introduction of printing to Britain played an
instrumental role in the development of Standard English. But other
social and political factors also contributed to the development of
English as ‘a national language’. Of these, I would like to point out
the role of King Alfred (849-899). Scholars of the past generally
agree that Alfred’s major contribution lies in his victory over the
Vikings in a battle at Ethandun, Wiltshire in 878. If he had he been
defeated by the Vikings, perhaps England would have become part of
Scandinavia. As the argument goes, if that happened, perhaps English
as we know it today would not have become the national language in
England.

The growth of capitalism gave rise to a distinct class system in
England. A growing number of merchants moved socially upward as they
became wealthier. These people, who formerly lacked any formal
education which taught the ‘correct language’, now had the means to
improve their language by virtue of their wealth. They needed to speak
the correct English in order to appear more respectable and to
maintain their social status. They formed the bulk of buyers of
reading materials on English grammar. We should note that prices of
books were relatively high for the ordinary masses when printing was
first introduced. The upper and middle classes helped the printing
industry to thrive by their buying power. Consequently, the language
gained more prestige among the nobles in England.

In the 15th century many people had an inferiority complex with regard
to the English language. Greek and Latin were still regarded as
superior to English. But by the 16th century, through the activities
of Renaissance scholars who produced many grammar books on English, we
have seen that the language had now gained a higher status. The
British had changed their attitude towards the language. It was now
pursued and studied with fervor. During this period, English writers
developed a greater loyalty and pride in the English language. This
sense of pride was a direct result of the Reformation period.

In the early 1530s, when Henry VIII declared himself head of the
English church, there was a great excitement among the masses about
the waning influence of the Roman Catholic faith. Henry had decided to
break away from the institutional authority of the Roman Catholic
Church. For the first time, under his rule the Bible was translated
into English in 1526. The translation of the bible into English, which
was highly controversial then, was an important development in shaping
English as a national language. Latin dramatically ceased to be
important among the clergy.

More importantly, the public could now read and interpret the contents
of the Bible, which used to be exclusive to the clergy. A later
version of the English Bible and the Book of Common Prayer in 1549
became the focus of service in the new Church of England. The English
Bible itself became a main agent in standardizing the language. The
Authorized (King James) version in 1611 was acclaimed by some as
representative of the golden height achieved by early modern English.
Printing made the spread of a thick book like the Bible possible to a
wide audience within a short time. This helped to keep the language in
constant usage. In retrospect, the Reformation contributed to the
development of the English language as a national language by focusing
on the use of English rather than Latin or other European languages.

The birth of Puritanism and its subsequent rise in the 17th century
also contributed to the development of English as a national language
in England. Many puritans championed English over Latin and many were
involved in the study of Old English manuscripts. They perceived
English as a ‘national’ language ‘capable of uniting all English
people in the eyes of God.’ One of the notable Puritan
grammarians is John Wallis, whose book on English grammars challenged
the idea that grammar should start with categories and standards set
for Latin.

Colonialism is an important factor that helped to spread the English
language far and wide. English established itself on many parts of the
globe stretching from Australia, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, India,
Africa and North America. The British government established schools
in these countries, which helped the language to expand. The
governments of some of the former British colonies later adopted
English as their national language. This eventually led to more
varieties of English in the world. In England, the so-called Standard
English or ‘national language’ is used mostly in formal contexts as
represented by BBC newscasters and journalists.

If one were to ask whether English today can still be considered a
national language, the answer is yes and no. Yes it can still be
considered a ‘national language’ by the British since many Britons
still speak that language and the British government still recognizes
it as its national language. But for the rest of the world, it can no
longer be considered a national language for the British alone. Many
people of various bloods have adopted English as their mother tongue
or second language. English has become an international language or a
lingua franca for many people worldwide. It is now a national language
not only of England but of countries like Singapore, India and so on.

We have seen that today English has reached a status which not many
languages have achieved. Starting from its humble origin as a language
spoken by the Anglo Saxons who were not highly ‘civilized’ compared
with the Romans; the language has developed into what it is now, an
important language of science and the Internet. Caxton’s introduction
of printing into England remains a crucial turning point in the
development of the English language. Besides setting a standard, it
eventually turned English into an international language.

The article was produced by the member of masterpapers.com.
Sharon White is a 5-years experienced freelance writer and a senior manager of dissertation writing services support team. Contact her to get custom term paper tips and buy dissertations.

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What’s the key to success in learning a foreign language? Surely it’s a genuine desire to communicate with other people. I can’t think of another valid reason. That’s why in general women are better than men at learning languages. If you’re a man and you want to learn a language, I’m going to tell you why you will find it more difficult than a woman and what you can do about it.

I’m probably going to be accused of stereotyping men and women here, but time and time again studies have shown that generally, (there are always exceptions) men score higher in maths tests and women score higher in language tests. I’m not a scientist, and I don’t want to bore you with scientific detail, but my experiences as a teacher pretty much confirm the scientists’ view.

When I’m teaching a conversation class, it’s instantly obvious who are going to make the fastest progress because these are the ones who quickly get involved by asking questions. And more often than not, it’s the female members of the group that ask the most questions.

Women are simply more interested in human beings than men. They genuinely mean it when they ask “how are you?” Being wives and mothers may have something to do with it, I mean, they are conditioned by society to be the ones that care. Men, on the other hand, are less interested in people and more interested in things, notably, cars, computers, gadgets, etc.

If you are man reading this article, you have to get out of your macho cave and learn to be more interested in people. And swallow your pride when it comes to making mistakes. Women have fewer complexes about committing errors, because the important thing for them is to discover things about their interlocutors. We all learn by making mistakes, it’s a natural part of the process. Learning a language is not a competition - men sometimes see their limitations as a “defeat” so they prefer not to speak at all.

Winston Churchill once said, “jaw jaw is better than war war.” Learning to understand how other people think and what motivates them is the key to good communication, which can be even more difficult in a foreign language. So you guys, take a leaf out the girls’ book, and be more interested in the people around you!

Jon Lewis has a site about that helps students to improve their learning abilities, apprendre anglais, and a blog about learning English. The advice he offers is invaluable for anyone wishing to learn a language, not just French.

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We know that cataclysmic evolution can wipe out an entire tribe in Indonesia such as a major catastrophic event like a Volcano, Tsunami or a Major Typhoon. If an island tribe had its own language and dialect then that language may have died due to the last few inhabitants escaping to another island and perhaps joining a different tribe.

Over time eventually they would die and no one would be left with knowledge of that language. The major category hurricanes in the Atlantic can cause the same issues and may well have in the past eliminated island dialects and languages. For those that study language of the human species they know all too well that cataclysmic evolution has in fact changed many of the languages.

Today many of these lost languages may actually have words that have lived and grown with other languages and become part of those languages. Major weather events such as floods, Cyclones, Hurricanes and Typhoons have played a part in the evolution of language in the human species.

Other cataclysmic events such as Volcanoes, larger Earthquakes and Tsunamis will have also played a part in the changes of languages over the millenniums. Studying the history of languages is very important and it gives us insight into how we communicate naturally as a species and why. Perhaps you will consider all of this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

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