Why Is English Like That"" : Historical Answers to Hard ELT Questions

Preface v Guide to the Phonetic Symbols Used in This Book x Why English? 1(15) Why Are We Teaching English and Not Some Other Language? The Importance of English in the World Today 1(8) How English Became a Global Language 9(1) English's Strengths and Weaknesses as a Language 9(3) Further Reading 12(1) Classroom Activity 1.1: The Importance of English in Today's World 13(1) Classroom Activity 1.2: How Does English Compare to Other Languages? 14(1) Classroom Activity 1.3: English Use around the World 15(1) A Brief History of the English Language 16(26) A Language Evolves in a Changing World Before English 17(3) Old English (c. 450--1100) 20(6) Middle English (c. 1100--1500) 26(4) Early Modern English (c. 1500--1700) 30(3) Modern English (c. 1700--Present Day) 33(5) Further Reading 38(2) Classroom Activity 2.1: The Development of English 40(2) English Grammar 42(36) Why Are There So Many Irregular Forms in English Grammar? What Is Grammar? 42(2) Describing Grammar 44(4) Irregularities in Morphology 48(15) Irregularities in Syntax 63(9) Modern Changes in Grammar 72(2) Further Reading 74(1) Classroom Activity 3.1: Irregular Verbs in English 75(2) Classroom Activity 3.2: Irregular Plural Nouns in English 77(1) English Vocabulary 78(33) Why Are There So Many Words, and Where Did They Come From? The Size of the English Lexicon 78(2) The Origins of the Modern English Lexicon 80(12) English Words That Have Been Created 92(8) Conclusion 100(1) Further Reading 101(1) Classroom Activity 4.1: Old English Vocabulary in Today's English 102(1) Classroom Activity 4.2: Where Did Old English Vocabulary Come From? 103(1) Classroom Activity 4.3: Where Did English Vocabulary Come From? 104(1) Classroom Handout: A List of Useful Latin Prefixes 105(1) The Vocabulary Levels Test 106(5) The Sounds of English 111(39) Why Does the Pronunciation of English Vary, and Why Doesn't It Always Match the Spelling? Variation in the Pronunciation of English 111(1) Mismatches between Pronunciation and Spelling in English 112(1) Describing the Sounds of English 113(8) Why Does Pronunciation Change? 121(7) Historical Sound Change and Its Effect on Modern English Pronunciation 128(8) Accent 136(6) Further Reading 142(2) Classroom Activity 5.1: When Did Words Come into English? 144(2) Classroom Activity 5.2: Find the Silent Letter 146(2) Classroom Activity 5.3: Many Spellings for One Sound 148(2) The Spelling of English 150(21) How Did the Writing System of English Develop? The Origins of the English Alphabet 150(6) The Standardization of English Spelling 156(6) Changing the Spellings of Words 162(5) Further Reading 167(2) Classroom Activity 6.1: Comparing British and American English (Spelling) 169(2) English around the World 171(36) How Is English Different in Various Countries around the World? The Uniformity of English around the World 171(2) Standard English 173(5) The Three Circles of Global English Usage 178(2) What Are the Differences between American and British English? 180(12) English in Non Native-Speaking Countries 192(8) Further Reading 200(2) Classroom Activity 7.1: Comparing British and American English (Vocabulary) 202(2) Classroom Activity 7.2: Comparing Different Kinds of English 204(3) English in the Future 207(10) Where Is English Going? Will English Become More Uniform, or Will It Fragment in the Future? 207(4) Will English Continue to Be a Prominent World Language? 211(3) What Will English Look Like in the Future? 214(2) Further Reading 216(1) Endnotes 217(9) Teacher's Notes and Answers to the Classroom Exercises 226(17) Index 243