Please correct my essay about ''Attitude to language''
Often and however, when we think of a language, there is a common tendency to associate it to our vocabulary and school grammars. Actually, we should consider ‘‘language‘‘ every spoken or written manifestation of the human being at any moment of our life, due to the fact that we practically live in a ‘‘linguistic environment‘‘. Indeed, it could be argued that the language is the raw material of our experience, considering that it’s constantly present (from listening to a song to dreaming…)
Two are the positions taken by the linguistics: it can have both a prescriptive and a descriptive attitude. In the first case it tells us what should and shouldn’t be done in order to speak and write according to the rules. In the latter case, it doesn’t take sides on what is right or wrong but it tries to observe the real use of languages. If we approach a language with this ‘‘descriptive attitude‘‘, we immediately realize that the language is not really a rigid system and that there are so many ways to use the same language. In other words, the variation in the use of the language may depend on various factors, such as the situation, the speaker’s origin area , the speaker’s age, the social role, etc.
Therefore, on the one hand there are people who claim it is important to mantain linguistic standard in ordert to speak correctly. On the other hand, there are those who stands for linguistic equality: it doesn’t matter wheter you’re dealing with a language or dialect, they both have a dignity.
Moreover, langages continue to evolve, as a matter of fact and change is inevitable for any living language. Even if sometimes we fail to see its changes, they happen. Linguists who take a descriptive attitude accept those changes; it could either happen that new words can be borrowed or even invented, or some are likely to die.
To sum up, it must be recognized that all standard languages were in turn dialects of another language, and, as such, they both deserve an appropriate treatment
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1
Please correct my essay about ''Attitude to language''
Often and however,[1] when we think of a language, there is a common tendency to associate it towith our vocabulary and school grammars. Actually [or: "Instead"], we should consider "language" every spoken or written manifestation of the human being at any moment of our life, due to the fact that we practically ["practically" could be removed for brevity here] live in a "linguistic environment". Indeed, it could be argued that the language is the raw material of our experience, considering that it’s constantly present (from listening to a song to dreaming…).
Therefore, on the one hand, there are people who claim it is important to maintain linguistic standard in ordert to speak correctly. On the other hand, there are those who stands for linguistic equality: it doesn’t matter whether you’re dealing with a language or dialect, they both have a dignity.
Moreover, languages continue to evolve, as a matter of fact, and change is inevitable for any living language. Even if sometimes we fail to see its changes, they happen. Linguists who take a descriptive attitude accept those changes; it could either happen that new words can be borrowed or even invented, or some are likely to die [or: "... it could either happen that new words can be borrowed or invented, or even that some are likely to die."].
To sum up, it must be recognized that all standard languages were in turn dialects of another language, and, as such, they both deserve an appropriate treatment
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[1]: "However" doesn't make sense in this context. You could use it if there were other paragraphs before your first paragraph, which you were contrasting to what comes next. But then you would say something like: "Often, however, when we think of...", not "and however". "And however" isn't a phrase that makes sense with "often" before it (though there are sentences that could begin with "And, however,...").
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