Analysis of the relevance of learning old English at school.

 

To prove that learning old English at school is current, we conducted a survey among students of the 9th grade of Gymnasium No. 2 Balakovo and analyzed the responses of 16 students (see Appendix No. 4). According to our research, half of the class read the works of W. Shakespeare in English. 23 % of children understood the meaning of the sonnet by W. Shakespeare, 77% of students had difficulties translating old English words and understanding the content of the work (see diagram 1), that’s why lost their interest in doing it and eventually stopped doing it at all.

Diagram  №1

 

Our research has revealed the problem of lack of interest in reading the works of W. Shakespeare in the original due to difficulties with the translation of old English words, in particular the word "thou". To the question "How do you understand the meaning of the old English pronoun "thou", most of the guys answered "that". Showing to the participants of the survey a variation of the pronoun you, as well as auxiliary and modal verbs, using the example of sentences from the table we prepared, we made it easier for students to read the sonnet. Many children challenged this work by reading it up to the end. This helped to increase the motivation of students to further reading the works of W. Shakespeare. Analysis of children's interest in old English allowed us to draw the following conclusions: 51% of children would like to study the history of modern English words in English lessons, 18% of students are not interested in this topic at all (see diagram 2).

Diagram № 2

Relevance of learning old English at school

Conclusion


 In the course of the research, the works of W. Shakespeare were studied and the features of the use of the pronoun "thou", characteristic of the old English language, were revealed. We learned that compared to modern English, the language of the old English period can be characterized as an artificial language. This means that the old English language had a grammatical structure in which a single word, such as a pronoun, noun, adjective or verb, takes different forms to express the relationship of this word with other words in the sentence. W. Shakespeare independently formed new word forms, which were later fixed in literary speech.

However, we also found that some words, such as the pronoun «thou» can be found in speech at present day: in modern games or theater productions, and even on the streets, if someone wants to show their superiority over others or make a joke. The use of such forms speaks of the person who used them as a noble person. The results of the survey showed that many students who study English want to read Shakespeare in the original. This is an opportunity to learn old English, evaluate its morphological features, and improve your moral and intellectual level. As a result of working on the project, we gained knowledge about the history of the English language, learned to observe certain language phenomena and establish historical connections between them, gained the skill of working with linguistic literature, and increased students ' interest in studying the original English texts of W. Shakespeare.

Reference material

1. Arakin V. D. History of the English language. Moscow, 1985.

2. Big English-Russian dictionary: 2nd edition, corrected and supplemented. - Minsk: Modern writer, 1999, - 1167 p.

3. Ivanova I. P. Chakhoyan L. P. History of the English language. M., 1976.

4. Ilish B. A. History of the English language. M., 1968

5. Dictionary of foreign words.// Edited by Lekhin I. V. and Professor Petrov F. N. Edition 4, revised and supplemented. - Moscow: State publishing house of foreign and national dictionaries, 1954.

6. www.wikipedia.ru

7. http://shakespeare.ouc.ru

8. http://www.openlanguage.ru/anglijskij_jazyk/shakespeare

9. http://www.skypestudy4you.ru/articles/english-shakespearean

Appendix 1

« Celtic alphabet»

Appendix 2

« The map of Great Britain in XI century»

 

Appendix 3

«William Shakespeare»

Appendix 4

« Questionnaire»

1. Your age___________________________________________________________

 

2. Have you ever read the poetry of W.Shakespeare?

- Yes                                       - Now

 

3.  If you have read it, you may have had difficulty pronouncing and understanding old English words? - Yes                                        - No

 

4. How do you understand the meaning of the old English pronoun «thou»?

__________________________________________________________________________

5. Would you like to learn more about old English and try to translate the contents of Shakespeare's sonnets yourself?

- Yes                                        - No