Bagno asserts that if the grammar books do not account the innovative forms in them, the problem is entirely theirs not the populations. If purists chose to continue speaking in the traditional way, it is their right. Nobody is obliged to adopt innovations. “All we ask is that the other forms are also considerate correct”. (BAGNO, 2009). What our modern linguistics defend is the legitimately acceptance of many linguistic forms that are already fully incorporated into Brazilian Portuguese. This way the variations spoken in Brazil will be democratized.
In “Do You Speak American?” by Robert MacNeil, MacNeil uses outside sources, personal anecdotes, and familiar diction in attempts to prove that the transformation of American English is a positive outcome and should be accepted.
Contrary to the traditionalists who dominated the Brazilian music scene, Veloso and his friends wanted to “universalize” and modernize Brazilia...
The Portuguese were the first European settlers to arrive in the area. They were led by adventurous Pedro Cabral, who began the colonial period in 1500.
Due to its history Brazil is a multicultural country (intercultural disparity index of 143 = very high, based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions). Especially in the 19th and 20th centuries it attracted over 5 million European (mainly German, Poles, Italy, Portugal and Spain) and Japanese immigrants that today shape the culture of Brazil. Moreover, Brazil has a large black population, descended from African salves brought to the country in the 16th until the 19th century, mainly from Angora, Nigeria and Togo. Today the Japanese are the largest Asian minority in Brazil, and Japanese-Brazilians are the largest Japanese-population outside of Japan, accounting for appr. 1.5 million. The entire population speaks Portuguese while it is the only language used in schools. A moderate part of the Brazilians can speak English (mostly higher educated or people in high job positions) or any other second or third language. Some Brazilians may actually they take offence when talking to them in Spanish since they do not consider themselves as Hispanics. If foreigners try to learn Portuguese, it is often considered as a sign of sincere interest in the country's culture and therefore highly appreciated.
The author hopes that his audience will agree that these changes are advantageous and will become more open-minded on the idea of a diversified English. McNeil directs his article to classroom instructors, linguistic researchers and administrators devoted to the advancement of the teaching and learning of languages, particularly English.
The Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral arrived at present day Pôrto Seguro (Safe Harbor) in the state of Bahia on the Brazilian coast in April 1500 and named the new territory Ilha de Vera Cruz, Island of the True Cross, thinking he was on an island. A year later, Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci sailed to Brazil on a voyage commissioned by the Portuguese crown and returned home with a cargo of hard, reddish wood. The wood was similar to an East Indian variety called pau brasil, which was then popular in Europe for making cabinets and violin bows. Pau brasil (brazilwood), the first product to be exploited by the Portuguese in this new territory, is the origin of the country's name, Brazil (Ramaworldtours.com, 2014). Brazil is characterized by a diverse culture and geography, and historically it has been the source of important natural resources in its 510 years of history. It is the largest country in South America in both population (approximately199.321 million- “World Population Statistics”) and area (8.5 million square kilometers) and 5th largest country in the world. Brazil has several regional variations, and in spite of being mostly unified by a single language, some regions are so different from each other that they could have become different countries altogether. Brazil is composed by multicultural mixture: Africans, Europeans and Native Americans formed the bulk of Brazilian culture. This fact influences arts, literature, music or gastronomy, creating a heterogeneous mix of habits and patterns in society. (Noble J., Chandler G., & Clark G., 2008) Bossa Nova, Carnival and samba are some of the most popular exponents of this heterogeneous and rich culture. Brazil was colonized by the Por...
International observers warn the influence of the landowners' lobby is once again on the rise. Organization like Amnesty International are calling for attention of supranational action as the history of abusing indigenous people repeats and Brazilian administration is not doing any progress in this issue. Brazil should be inspired by other Latinamerican nations like Peru that made the indigenous heritage important part of their culture and attraction for tourism. With rising potential of democracy of the country that has been seen last year there is a hope that Brazlian people will defend rights of the indigenous and won´t let other tribes to get closed to the extintion.
The Brazilian culture is one of the world’s most wide ranged and diverse. This is a result due to it being a melting pot of nationalities, as a result of centuries of European domination as well as slavery, which brought large groups of African migrants across Brazil’s borders to live in and influence the local cultures with their ancient customs and ideas. The European settlers also brought ideas, innovations and belief systems with them, molding the local societies remarkably. All of these varying influences have made the modern-day Brazilian culture is unique and very elaborate (Meyer, 2010).
" Modern Language Association 111.3 (1996): 408-20. JSTOR.com - "The New York Times" Web. The Web. The Web. 11 June 2013.
Spanish and English may both be widely spoken languages, however English is becoming more and more prevalent as a second language. For this project I interviewed an acquaintance who speaks Spanish as a first language and English as a second language. Spanish and English are similar in aspects such as grammar (in that they are both SVO—subject, verb, object—languages) and vocabulary (since both were influenced by Latin) (Shoebottom n.d.), however they are also quite different, especially in their phonology. These differences are what made learning it as a second language a little more difficult for this interviewee.
The. Hopper, Paul. The. The “Emergent Grammar”. Berkeley Linguistic Society 13 (1987): Print.
The English language has evolved remarkably. The Great Vowel Shift between 1400 and 1700 shows a great discontinuity in pronunciation alone. Different attitudes towards language reached a height during the 17th and 18th Centuries with Prescriptivists such as Defoe, Swift and Louth. Prescriptivists believe that there is an approach which sets out rules for what is regarded as correct in language. Some prescriptivist rules for English include not splitting infinitives, resulting in sentences such as 'to go boldly where no man has gone before', rather than 'to boldly go'.
Trudgill, P., ‘Standard English: what it isn’t’, in Standard English: the widening debate, ed. by T. Bex & R.J. Watts (London: Routledge, 1999), pp. 117-128.
Miller, T. P, & Faigley, L. (1982). College English. National Council of teachers of English, 44(6). Retrieved from http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0010-
Written language is mostly linked with political and economic power and appreciated in literature in which grants high prestige among literate societies. Written language shifted in pursuit of gaining and the passing on academic and direct knowledge. An advantage that written language has over spoken language is that language change is nominal. Oral communication goes through the frequent change where speakers are oblivious. Written language is permanent and standardized, where the change is uncommon and slow. The knowledge gained from written language is undeniably constant and proper, whereas spoken language has many dialects among many domains and social groups that are vulnerable to frequent change. In the intricate societies we dwell in, it is essential to have one definite norm of written form for the means of communications. Governments and educational institutes have codified and standardized this written form of languages (Bright,