Answering Students' Questions about Words

Acknowledging that to study the development of a language is to study the history and culture of people and that English has been influenced by many geographic, political, economic, social, and linguistic forces, this booklet provides a ready reference for elementary and middle school/junior high school teachers confronted with students' questions about the characteristics of the language they speak and are learning to read and write. Since most questions are directed toward words and their spellings, the first section of the booklet emphasizes selected historical aspects of vocabulary growth and orthographic change. The second section of the booklet presents exercises designed around actual student questions, providing not only initial suggestions for vocabulary study activities, but also a rationale for the incongruities of English with an eye toward putting modern usage into a historical perspective. (HTH)