Dan Clayton- Prescriptivism and Descriptivism

Dan Clayton- Prescriptivism and Descriptivism

1. Plain English Campaign

   • War against Gobbledygook, Jargon and Misleading public information
   • Set up to get rid of this kind of corporate gibberish and make English Clearer

2. Policing Offensive Language

   • The political correctness movement
   • Removes Racist, Sexist and Disablist language
     • Words such as 'chairman', 'policeman', half-caste' and 'coloured'
   • Encourages people to think about the harm their words could cause

3. Prescriptivism

   • right or wrong english
   • Sticklerism
     • Finger-Wagging Approach
     • saying somones language is wrong because it is illogical or incorrect
     • grammar nazi's

4. Descriptivism

   • open-minded
   • non-judgemental
   • progressive way of thinking
   • calls usage 'non-standard' rather than 'incorrect'
   • Describe not judge

5. Rules- Custom or Correctness?

   • many 'rules' are just preferred customs of particular writers
   • Rules of English not set in stone and language changes and evolves, adapted by its users to suit their needs

6. Declinism

   • Greene believes that language is in an irreversible decline from a once great peak
   • its the fault of young people, vapid technology and pesky immigrants with broken english