Gone are the days when much focus was placed on grammar and tenses in writing. A very fair percentage is still submitted for the use of correct and appropriate language for academic writings; however, there is a notable decline in the use of the English language in its proper way. The new, adaptive generation seems to be influenced by the language they hear on social media and televisions. A new developing trend of ‘Rap Music' has taught public the words that do not practically exist in the history of English Language, students are now found conversing in the most absurd dialects and linguistics. Another very influencing factor, that his interrupted with the accurate use of language and grammar, is the use of slangs on the Social Media platforms. The youth of 21st century has been noted to have a habit of taking shortcuts, and getting things done the easier way because the use of proper English requires a lot of time and effort, they rather use the shorter way in terms of slangs and newly developed words. The use of language and grammar seems to have been compromised over the past few years, and need to be revived for several purposes.
The Decline of Grammar
The use of correct language to convey what is meant to be said holds a very a great importance. But as the world combines from different areas and trends of language, variation in accents, choice of words and dialects is inevitable. The language English has evolved a lot from the history, and it is said to keep changing with the coming new era. Many linguists have been arguing for a quite a while now, that the grammar rules have no logic or scientific justification. Many linguists claim that standard grammar is basically other people protecting the language norms from the past, which have not changed over time (Deresiewic, You Talkin' to Me?). Many claim that the traditional or the Standard English is an act of racism, and class differentiation as the English spoken by educated middle class of is the correct English, and the language is spoken by an uneducated one automatically becomes the wrong one.
Many grammar rules do not give clear instructions, or logical explanations as to why they are supposed to be followed, an incorrect expression simply stated as incorrect, there are justifications provided (Nunberg, The Decline of Grammar). Such language restrictions do not convince the users to follow the application. Good English is assumed to be which is based on a few maxims, that is, whatever is being said or written should be logical, make sense, be understandable and direct. On the contrary, students' grades are measured on the use of language and its correct application. The expression and originality of text are completely disregarded of, and more percentage is given to the use of language, which follows the rules of the book. The use of correct language is also associated with the elite class of the country, and the color of racism is mixed with English standards.
Rather than teaching the basic foundations of the language, the new generation is being led to unnecessary competition and comparison of wrong and right. Researchers have charted changes in the language and its use; many progressions have been installed in the language and effectively improvised (Nunberg, The Decline of Grammar). However, recently a new problem is arising, that is even the graduates of top most universities do not have a good grasp over the use of language, it is stated that their writing language, as well as the spoken language, is full of fragments and sentence structure errors. The quality of the language English seems to be deteriorating with time, as more attention is paid to the history and theory of it. The focus of the linguists needs to be brought to this falling standard of the language, and incorrect use by the youngsters.
The revival in grammar can be brought down to a consistent rate with the other occurring changes so that a standard etiquette level of language delivery can be accomplished. Another emerging trend of the 21st century is that students are no more aligned with literature books, even if they do, they do not read classic literature to learn the use of Language, but merely to enjoy the reading (Cutler, Crossing Over). For students to accept and follow a rulebook or the history of the origination of the English language will not serve the purpose, the students will read about it and most probably forget. Neither is there a set of literature books that standardized and could be used for the purpose of setting language standards, hence the need of a modern era compatible technique to revive the use of effective language has been recognized as crucial by many language specialists.
The Role of Language in the Society
A Language has a very wide span of information in it, a single word could mean several things at the same time, and many expressions could mean different things respective of the time and moment they are said in. the choice of words is usually adaptive to the given situation and the identity of the speaker. There is a wide contrast between descriptive grammar and prescriptive grammar; descriptive grammar tells about the forms of English and their function in given scenarios, and perspective grammar deals with the forms of language that people should use, and what functions should they serve. Descriptive grammar is more commonly preferred worldwide and several modern grammarians and dictionary makers demand the descriptive accuracy of words and the sense that they carry out. A common argument between some famous linguistics that which of the above two perspectives is right, and the concluded answer is that the one which manipulates more language power is the correct one (Baron, Language " Society). They also agree that some extent of standardization is important to form a good usage of language; however, there are exceptions from the rule book of grammar and dictionary inclusive words. The purpose of specifications is only applicable under some circumstances; otherwise to broaden the communication aspect exceptions should be accepted.
Languages need to evolve like every other subject in the field of education does; changes should be made to make the language more situation friendly, adaptable and flexible. The languages which are not evolving are the languages those are not widely used or are in a state of flux, English is the most commonly used language worldwide cannot be remained constant as change is unavoidable. Over the years language has become more of a social phenomenon which is heavily influenced by cultural complexes (Fought, Gatekeeping) The delivery of a language is influenced by the social structure of the local speech community; furthermore, it represents the group where the conversation is being carried out. A conversation amongst two people may use an informal tone and use of words whereas public speech includes a powerful and effective choice of words, used mainly to convince other or prove an argument. Many times the use of language is referred to certain races, such as African Americans are automatically assumed to use Black English, although only the African living amongst the black Americans will use the same tone and accent. The society where one lives in and grows in effect the trends of language, people tend to adopt the language and word choice from their surroundings. Furthermore, there is a visible difference observed in the language used between the two different genders. Majority of men are not even aware of different shades of pink, and may not be able to differentiate between baby pink and coffee pink color. Moreover, women might not be aware of the names of the spare part of cars that men use on daily basis. This difference represents the conflict of interest and the community a person spends their most time in. to contradict with the above-mentioned scenario, a fashion designer male, will be very well aware of all the shades of pink, and a woman who has a dire interest in cars may be very well aware of all the spare parts of the cars which make them unique.
The Difference of Dialects will exist in the Long Run
The acceptability of difference in accents and words commonly used needs acknowledgment at this point, from the linguists. A certain community of people cannot be accused of speaking the wrong language. Also, the age group affects the variation of languages used worldwide, the adults tend to use a more formal and impersonal approach in conversations, keeping it sober and decent. On the contrary, the youth uses a ton of swear words mixed with several slangs that the adults are not even aware of. Yet again, the use of language by a person is the sole representative of the community he or she belongs to or spends the most time with. For example, biology students may use several medical terms that a business student might not even be aware of, and may have to look up a dictionary to find out; same is the case vice versa. Another very controversial argument that arose in the 21st century is the impact of the language used on television will end up leaving the worldwide population to talk alike. The youth usually watched Netflix series and music videos, which do not have a strong presence of the correct linguistics in the language of English. Many children have seemingly adapted accents and vocabulary form these series and movies. Researchers conclude, that as the areas of interest of these children will change they will adapt to other areas of speech (Fought, Are Dialects Fading). Therefore the way a person talks is a representation of its social group, interests, gender, and age.
Regardless of the wide acceptability of differentiation of language use that exists in different cultures, there are certain gatekeepers of language that must be followed universally. Such as the use of double negatives, the majority of times these are used to persuade or to win an argument, such a trend is highly discouraging and does not fall under the acceptability graph of language use globally (Finegan, State of American). Another aspect that has not received acceptance in the language standards is the abusive words; the use of curse words is highly discouraged worldwide and should be avoided at all ages, societies, and genders. Other stigmas in the language in English may be accepted if the speech is being delivered informally, however for formal situations, slangs, and fashion stigmas need to be avoided.
Conclusion
It is an established fact that language English is the most commonly used language all across the globe. It is widely used and accepted universally, another fact that has attained acceptability now is the variations in the language use. Every country, society and a community has developed their own dialects and accents that cannot be regarded as wrong. The use of language is highly influenced by the society a person belongs to, and the variations in the speech ways cannot be discarded. Hence it is not safe to say which community uses the correct language, but rather accept the differences as it is very difficult to set a standard of English language worldwide.
The influence of media on the use of language has been observed to increase in recent years, the youth being the most influenced. A clear line between formal and informal language needs to be built, and the youth needs to be made aware to avoid the use of slangs and unacceptable language academically. To conclude, the language needs an evolution and acceptability with certain gatekeepers.
Works Cited
Baron, Dennis. "Language " Society". Pbs.org, 2018. Online. Internet. 17 Nov. 2018. . Available: https://www.pbs.org/speak/words/sezwho/socialsetting/.
Cutler, Cecelia. "Crossing Over". Pbs.org, 2018. Online. Internet. 17 Nov. 2018. . Available: https://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/prestige/crossing/.
Deresiewicz, William. "You Talkin' to Me?" https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/books/review/you-talkin-to-me.html, 2005. Online. Internet. 17 Nov. 2018. . Available: http://tinyurl.com/q4eslve.
Finegan, Edward. "State of American". Pbs.org, 2018. Online. Internet. 17 Nov. 2018. . Available: https://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/correct/prescriptivism/.
Fought, Carmen. "Are Dialects Fading?". Pbs.org, 2018. Online. Internet. 17 Nov. 2018. . Available: https://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/tv/.
Fought, John. "Gatekeeping". Pbs.org, 2018. Online. Internet. 17 Nov. 2018. . Available: https://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/correct/gatekeeping/.
Nunberg, Geoffery. "The Decline of Grammar". The Atlantic, 2008. Online. Internet. 17 Nov. 2018. . Available: https://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2008/04/the-decline-of-grammar/218042/.
