Journal Response: Finegan

Key course concepts: Prescriptivism & descriptivism

Before reading: Skim & Scan the document!

1. Skim very quickly through the article. What are 5 key terms that Finegan frequently
uses?

A- Descriptive
B- Prescriptive
C- Grammarians
D- Linguistic variation
E- Inelegant

2. Pick three words from your list that are unfamiliar to you. Look these up in a dictionary
or translate them. In your own words, explain what they mean.
1- Grammarian : a person who study and write grammar
2- linguistic variation: when there is more than one way to say something
3- descriptive : describing something without expressing judgement or feeling

Take a closer look:

1. Finegan uses many examples to help show his points. What punctuation does he use to
show that some words/phrases are examples?

Quotation marks

2. Do you think that article is more formal than Wardaughs article, or less formal? Explain
briefly and then complete the chart below.

This article is less formal than Wardaughs article because, it used easier
language, a lot of examples, and shorter sentences.

Register Strategy Does this make it Example from the article of this strategy
(Refer to Tutorial 13 in LP) sound formal or (Find one example per strategy)
informal?

1) Idiomatic expression informal Is English falling apart

2) Formal formal About aint, if lexicographers find it in use in

the varieties of English they aim to represent

3) informal informal is that what the fuss is all about?

Interpreting the topic:

English 106 | University of Arizona

1. In 3-5 sentences, summarize the main idea(s) that Finegan presents in this article. (Use
your own words!)

The article is discscusing if the language changing will affect the language in a
bad way or not. Finegan think that the language change has no enormous impact
on the language. He also implied that the language change is the reason behind
why the language is rich now.

2. Which side do you agree with more: language prescriptivists or descriptivists? Briefly
explain your position using a few examples (from any language) from your own life.

I agree with the descriptivist side. This side does not take the language so strict
as the prescritivist side. For example, I do not drive my car in an insanely way

Recommended assignment length: 1.5-2 pages, double spaced

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English 106 | University of Arizona