Story Archives of 'Language'

The Washington Post suggested recently that “the English language has failed to produce a useful” name to call the outgoing decade. That we’ve discovered a semantic black hole. But was it the English language, or the English language users? Correspondent Sean Hurley tries to get to the root of the problem.

Your average college student can whip up an intriguing Facebook entry or dash off a clever tweet, but do those habits add up to quality prose?

Today, few college freshmen are required to take courses on rhetoric and grammar. Instead, many universities now offer Comp 101 courses that use history, literature, or politics as a springboard for better writing. Some research indicates that these courses help students craft stronger arguments and become more well-rounded writers.

Stanley Fish disagrees. He’s a professor of law at Florida International University and a blogger for The New York Times. He’s observed a steady decline in his students’ ability to write a clear, persuasive sentence, and he joins us with his thoughts on why that’s happening.

New York Times: What Should Colleges Teach?

Wired Magazine: Clive Thompson on the New Literacy

The Chronicle of Higher Education: Bad Student Writing? Not So Fast!

(Photo by Ken Stein via Flickr/Creative Commons)

There's no doubt that technology is changing the English language, what with Twitter and OMG text messaging. Whether that’s a good thing depends on your point of view, but clearly the internet has introduced a whole new world of slang. Urbandictionary.com is one of many sites that lists buzz words, catch phrases, and geek speak. The next time you wonder exactly what your kids are talking about, you can log on and start deciphering.

That's good news for you, bad news for them, and it may be bad news for slang in general. According to reporter Douglas Quenqua, the internet could be hurting underground language by spreading it around. He wrote on the topic for The New York Times, and he joins us to tell us more.

The New York Times: From Hip to Lame in All of 20 Seconds

(Photo by weeta via Flickr/Creative Commons)

Back in April – on April Fool’s Day, in fact – we spoke to the editor of the Dictionary of American Regional English, which collects the words and phrases unique to the forgotten corners of american speech. In the spirit of that day, we sent our correspondent Sean Hurley to capture some of those words in New Hampshire’s North Country.

We soon found out that someone is collecting real words native to the region. Rachelle Beaudoin is an artist from Berlin who now lives in Peterborough. She wants to maintain the dialect she grew up with, so she’s asking for contributions to a Berlin dictionary. We invited her to tell us about the project, and explain what the heck a tortiere is.

If you have ideas for the dictionary, either in French or English, contributors will be credited and cited. Contact Rachelle Beaudoin with submissions here, or mailed to: Berlin Dictionary, 46 Smyth St., Berlin, NH 03570.

LogJam: Back in Berlin Again

And if you live in Berlin and have stories to tell, the StoryCorps mobile recording booth will be in town from June 3rd through the 27th. Registered participants interview each other for 40 minutes in pairs, so two friends or family members, a parent and child, or a couple. Each conversation is recorded and a copy goes on file at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. NHPR will be running selected samples of recorded conversations as well.

(Photo by Maurice Huang via Flickr/Creative Commons)