history and development of the English language

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

include references and citations following the research format of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA). This includes appropriate pagination, formatting, referencing, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

I expect you to use both electronic and non-electronic sources in doing your research. I also expect you to rely on, and reference, our course materials, from which I have created all the topics, as a basis for your research. I also expect all the sources you cite to be entered in the reference of your paper in strict accordance with the APA style. That list, a separate page at the end of your paper, will be titled References.

Except for exploratory and some basic information, such as definitions, I do expect you to use sources beyond dictionaries and encyclopedias, and I do not expect anyone to rely on and/or reference Wikipedia, as it is not a reliable academic research source.

Trace the history and development of the English language beginning with its Indo-European heritage, then discuss its Germanic roots, the Old English period, the Middle English period, and finally Modern English. You should also discuss the role of English as world lingua franca and explain how it affects you in on the job and in your daily life. These elements are to be clearly defined and discussed and should comprise separate sections of your paper (section headings must be included in accordance with the APA style).

Examine the societies and geographic regions involved in this historical development and those in which it is an important language today. In your discussion, be sure to present examples of the changes in morphology and syntax (grammar), phonology, vocabulary, and any other aspects of the language that are relevant. Also explain the influences other languages have had on English throughout history; such as Latin, French, and those from Scandinavia.

It is very important with this topic to cite all information that you get from your source materials, which means you will have many in-text citations because most of the content will not be your own. A tremendous amount of information exists on this topic, so I expect you will use several sources that you will cite and enter in the reference list at the end of your paper. All of your citing and referencing, and all other matters of style, must be done according to the APA style manual.

An abstract is optional, but I expect to see a very informative introduction and conclusion as part of the overall presentation of this topic. I expect you to support your discussion by citing several reliable sources that you will enter in the reference list at the end of your paper.

The following link may be used for your initial personal introduction to the topic, but it may not be included among your research sources:

http://www.anglik.net/englishlanguagehistory.htm