Language
The text discusses whether English can remain as one of the world's most popular languages. The most important issue that the article talks about is the reality that China had more people that spoke English as their second language than people in the United states who had spoken English as their first language. The author had also emphasized the amount of people that had spoken english in China by saying “According to a study published by Cambridge University Press, up to 350 million people there have at least some knowledge of English – and at least another 100 million in India.” The author had also stated the number of people in India that had spoken English as a second language to show the large number of people around the world.
The English that is spoken around the world is most likely not perfect English and is most likely a mix of the native language of the individuals and the English that they are learning. This would be a mix of mandarin and english which could sound very different then what american english sounds and looks like. The English language is constantly changing as well as the rise of social media has led to American English using more slang such as “lol” which are easily teachable to non english speakers.
Another important issue that the article had brought up is the rise of translators which can translate English into any other language in seconds. The author had said “Thanks to advances in computer translation and voice-recognition technology, they can each speak their own language, and hear what their interlocutor is saying, machine-translated in real time.” This could end the rise of the English language that the author previously stated was taking over China, India and many other countries around the world. This also relates to the rise in technology around the world and would need to be constantly updated in order to keep up with the constant changes in the English language.
There is also the rise in technological communications which could cause customer service helplines to be unidentifiable as either a human or a robot speaking to you. The author states “In California, Wonkyum Lee, a South Korean computer scientist for Gridspace, is helping to develop translation and voice-recognition technology that will be so good that when
you call a customer service helpline, you won’t know whether you’re talking to a human
or a computer.” This would be in the future and could definitely be noticeable as the English language changes.
However, there is also an argument that the rise in online translators would not nearly provide any benefits from using a human translator. The author states “Christopher Manning, professor of machine learning, linguistics and computer science at Stanford University, insists there is no reason why, in the very near future, computer translation technology can’t be as good as, or better than, human translators.” They would provide benefits over human translators so that would prove some of these digital translators to be pointless in most cases.
English however is known as the world's favorite lingua franca which means English is “the language people are most likely to turn to when they don’t share a first language.” This allowed for people to have a language that was used for global communications and trading because the global leaders from various different countries did not speak the same exact language so they all knew English to converse about business.
Hi Colby!
ReplyDeleteYou have a great introduction sentence that summarizes the article. You do state what you believe “the most important issue” to be, but I don’t believe this. You state that this issue is that China had more people that spoke English as their second language, when a majority of the article was actually about the adaptations within technology. Due to this assumption, I found this sentence to be slightly off topic. Additionally, the quotes that you do use are quite long, which just feels like you are trying to male word count. You make another assumption at the end of your first paragraph that is to “show the large number of people around the world”, which I do not believe is true. The statistic within India is to show how many English speakers there are.
You continue to make assumptions using language like “most likely”. You then state that there would be a “mix” of languages, and this is actually a theory that David Crystal speaks about. This would have been a great opportunity for you to bring this up. Moreover, you did further research on translators for one of the assignments. This could have been used in your paragraph about translators.
Finally, I do believe that it was beneficial for you to describe the “lingua franca”, but you have no concluding sentence. This made it feel like your paper was unfinished.
AO1: 4/10
AO2: 2/5
AO4: 4/10
Total: 10/25
AO1) There is a clear understanding of text with clear reference to specific points. Most of the blog is quotes, so the reference is clear. 5 marks
ReplyDeleteAO2) There is clear expression with minor errors that do not impede communication. The ideas are developed with relevant content. 3 marks
AO4) There is clear understanding of linguistic issues, concepts, methods, and approaches. 6 marks
14/25
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ReplyDeleteColby's comments (other people in group 10 didnt turn the blog in.)
ReplyDeleteWhatsup colby Your first sentence was great and sumarized the entire text. You only brought a little theory and talked a bit about it however your quotes were well structured. You had a little bit of errors but not much in communications. You had great understanding of methods that the author used in the text as well as the concepts of purpose and audience.
AO1- 6 AO2- 4 AO4 - 6 marks
ReplyDeleteHi Colby
AO1- 5 marks. I can tell you have a clear understanding of the text since you mention multiple quotes from the text to support your claims. However, your quotes seemed too long and it was hard to tell what idea you were trying to focus on from the text. It felt like you were trying to simply to make word count and your ideas could’ve included more detail.
AO2- 2 marks. While reading some sentences you included english with no capital “e” as well as have long run on sentences. You also don’t feel certain of your ideas and say “most likely.” The sentences didn’t flow easily and it was hard to understand the general idea you were trying to make across.
AO4- 4 marks. You waited until the end to mention the Lingua Franca. Which you could’ve included more details and good more marks based on this idea. You also mention theories like a “mix of languages,” but never bring up the theorist names. You then have a limited understanding of the linguistic issues.
Your total would be 11/25 good job!