Lesson video

This lesson is all about comparing texts across time.

Hello and welcome, my name is Mr. Young, it's lovely to be with you here today on another lesson in our History of Language learning series.

So today's learning outcome is that we should all be able to compare different texts and explain how language has changed over time.

And as always, we are going to be accompanied by some very important words, our keywords.

So let's take a quick look at what they are.

Hallowed, outdated, generation, intergenerational, abbreviation.

So today's lesson will have three very clear learning cycles.

Our first learning cycle will look at the Lord's Prayer, and particularly how its language has changed over time.

Then we are going to compare two very specific versions of the Lord's Prayer and compare how language choices have changed dependent on the societies in which the prayer is being used in learning cycle two.

And our final learning cycle is going to look at language and modernity, and in particular, the modern language that we use in modern society today.

So let's get started on learning cycle one.

So did you know the Lord's Prayer is a famous prayer known to Christians worldwide? The prayer was originally said by Jesus and was first spoken in Aramaic as this was the language he spoke.

It was originally a spoken prayer passed from person to person, verbally.

However, over time the Lord's Prayer was written down and translated into many languages over many centuries, including Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and English.

So our very first task for today is a quick discussion task.

So I have a question on the board which I would like you to discuss.

And that question is, what might happen to a text when it is translated into different languages over many different centuries? Pause the video, have a quick discussion, and then do push play when you are ready to continue.

Okay, some excellent discussions taking place throughout the class, really well done.

And I will be particularly impressed if your conversation centred on anything to do with this.

So when translated into a new language, different words may be chosen which may slightly change its meaning.

Also, if it is translated across many centuries, perhaps it might be altered to better suit the context of society at different times, and that's exactly what we're gonna look at today with the Lord's Prayer.

So a very quick check for understanding then, true or false, the Lord's prayer was first spoken in Aramaic.

True or false? Pause the video, complete the task, and push play when you'd like to see the correct answer.

Okay, it is of course true.

So very well done if you were able to identify that.

But now let's try and make this a little bit more challenging by trying to justify our answer.

So would you justify that statement through A, the Bible was first written in Aramic, meaning this was the language it was likely written down in first, or B, the prayer was created by Jesus who spoke the Aramaic language as his native tongue.

Pause the video, complete the task and push play when you would like to see the correct answer.

Excellent work if you identified B as the correct answer.

The prayer was created by Jesus, who spoke the Aramaic language as his native tongue.

Very well done if you were able to identify that.

Okay, so let's take a very specific look at the Lord's Prayer.

So the Lord's Prayer is a really good example of how language changes over time.

And the reasons for that is because it has appeared many different times in English throughout many different centuries.

So the first recorded Lord's Prayer in English was in the Wessex Gospels in the 10th century.

And we can see what that would look like on the screen there.

So it's written in old English, lots of words that are unfamiliar to us, lots of letters, and strange grammatical configurations as well.

Again, the Lord's Prayer first appeared in what we would come to consider modern English in the Tyndale Bible in the 1500s.

So we can see that version of the Lord's Prayer on the screen as well.

So this, again, is quite alien to us, but we are starting to see a lot more familiar words and grammatical constructions in this version of the Lord's Prayer.

Finally, and perhaps the most well-known version of the Lord's Prayer appeared in the King James Bible in 1611.

And this prayer is still widely known by Christians today.

And as you can see, it uses pretty much all language that we will be familiar with as a modern audience.

So let's read through this prayer before we start to look at it in a bit more detail.

So the Lord's Prayer, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever.

Amen.

So quick discussion, what do you think this prayer is about? Pause the video, have a discussion and then do push play when you are ready to continue.

Okay, fantastic discussions taking place there throughout the class, and particularly well done if you are able to identify anything similar to what is on the board currently.

The Lord's Prayer is a Christian prayer first said by Jesus.

It asks for guidance, forgiveness, and to follow God's will, whilst expressing gratitude.

It has remained popular due to its religious significance, simplicity, and its traditional use in many services.

Many Christians will be using this prayer very, very frequently throughout their daily lives and their services that they attend.

So a quick check for understanding, which of the below is not a reason why the Lord's Prayer has remained popular? Pause the video, complete the task, and push play when you would like to see the correct answers.

Excellent work, if you identified D as the correct answer, powerful language.

This is not a reason why the Lord's Prayer has remained popular.

It has remained popular due to its religious significance, traditional use and simple language.

Okay, your practise task for learning cycle one is as follows.

I would like you to use the sentence starters to help you to write a summary of the history of the Lord's Prayer.

You may wish to include when it was first created, what the prayer is about, how it is developed in English.

And you have two sentence starters there to help you in your work.

Your first one is, in brief, the Lord's Prayer was created, and in short, the Lord's Prayer was first written in English.

So really excited to see how you get on with this.

So pause the video, complete the task, and push play when you would like to continue and see some feedback.

Okay, great work on today's first practise task, and really well done if you were able to identify anything similar to the examples on the board.

And remember, this isn't the only correct answer, you may have got something similar or something slightly different, but the examples we've got on the board are, in brief, the Lord's Prayer was created by Jesus 2000 years ago.

It is a famous Christian prayer known worldwide for its simple message, religious significance, and traditional use in services.

In short, the Lord's Prayer was first written in English in the Wessex Gospels in the 10th century.

Perhaps its most famous version in English is from the 1616 King James Bible, which is still used by Christians today.

Great work on that opening practise task in today's lesson, well done.

Okay, let's move on to learning cycle two in which we are going to compare language across time.

So quick discussion question to get us started.

So why might a text written 400 years ago be difficult for us to understand today? Pause the video, have a quick discussion, and push play when you would like to see some feedback to this question.

Okay, some lovely discussions taking place on the discussion question to kick us off on learning cycle two.

Some of the things you may have said as part of your discussions can include, over time words become outdated and might not be understood or relevant to modern society.

As society changes, some cultural references may no longer make sense to modern audiences.

And older texts may use expressions or figures of speech which are no longer used in everyday conversation.

Really well done if you identified any of those key points for that discussion question.

So now we are going to look at how the language of a famous text, the Lord's Prayer, has changed over time, so let's get started.

So as we referenced in learning cycle one, the Lord's Prayer or at least the most famous version of the Lord's Prayer, is from 1611 in the King James Bible.

So that's still quite a long time ago, that's still over 400 years ago that this was first published.

So let's take a look at this prayer and some of the language choices made at the time it was written in the King James Bible.

So let's look at the opening verse.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

So what I have for you is a discussion question.

Are there any words or phrases that seem particularly outdated? And remember, outdated means no longer current, no longer considered present or relevant, and why so? So pause the video, have a quick discussion, and push play when you're ready to find some feedback to this task.

Okay, great work in what is a really challenging question in learning cycle two.

So let's see what you might have said to answer this question.

So firstly, the prayer uses lots of outdated grammatical terms we no longer use, like, thy and art.

These terms are not really used anymore in modern society.

Again, it also uses vocabulary that seems archaic, such as hallowed.

This is a word, very typical of religion in the 1600s that we might not necessarily use in modern society anymore.

And again, the prayer also seems outdated with the expression of daily bread.

In modern society, people will no longer experience a diet like this, this is not really culturally relevant to a modern audience reading this prayer.

Really well done if you identified any of those things in your own discussions.

So let's take a look at a second verse from the Lord's Prayer and do exactly the same thing.

Let's look at how the language again might be slightly outdated.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.

Amen.

So exactly the same task, are there any words or phrases that seem particularly outdated, and why so? Pause the video, have a discussion, and push play when you would like to continue.

So really excellent work on that discussion task.

And let's have a look at some of the things you might have said in response to that task.

So firstly, trespasses, the prayer uses the word trespasses twice.

And this is an outdated word for sins, people don't generally tend to use this word anymore.

It usually has a different meaning in modern society to kind of go onto somebody's land without permission.

So again, we would say that might be something we'd point to suggesting the language is quite outdated.

Again, the verse also uses the archaic grammatical terms, thine, for yours, very similar to what was happening in that first verse.

So these grammatical terms again indicate to us that the language is quite outdated in this prayer.

And finally, the prayer also focuses on the power and omnipotence of God with words like kingdom and power and glory.

This is something again that is much more relevant to 17th-century society than our modern society.

So again, points the prayer out as being quite outdated in terms of its language choices.

Excellent work if you identified anything similar to that.

Okay, a very quick check for understanding then.

So, the Lord's Prayer from 1611 can seem outdated to modern audiences as it is written in old English, it contains references to archaic language and grammatical terms, or, it contains references to technologies we no longer use.

Pause the video, complete the task, and do push play when you'd like to see the correct answer.

Okay, great work on that check for understanding and really well done if you identified B, it contains references to archaic language and grammatical terms. Really well done.

Okay, so we are now going to move on to our practise task for learning cycle two.

So we have in front of us, or we will have very shortly two extracts from two different versions of the Lord's Prayer.

One is from the King James Bible from 1611, whilst the other is from The Message Bible first published in 1993.

So let's take a look at those two versions.

So the version or an extract of the version from The Message Bible of 1993 goes as follows, keep us alive with three square meals.

Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.

Keep us safe from ourselves and the devil.

You are in charge.

You can do anything you want.

Let's compare that to the same extract from the King James Bible version of the Lord's Prayer.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom.

What I would like you to do is to use the sentence starters below.

Explain why the language may have been changed in the more modern translation.

And remember the more modern translation was written in 1993, the King James version is from 1611.

So your sentence starters are as follows.

One change I can see is, this is interesting because, I think this has been changed because.

So pause the video, complete the practise task, and then do push play when you'd like to see some feedback on this task.

Okay, great effort on that task in what is a very challenging task.

Some ideas you may have had and things you might have written about include, one change I can see is that trespass has been changed to forgive.

This is interesting because it suggests forgive is a more appropriate word for modern audiences.

I think this has been changed because the word trespass has a more modern meaning of going onto someone's land without permission.

One change I can see is that daily bread has been changed to three square meals.

This is interesting as its suggests that daily bread may not apply to a modern audience.

I think this changed because people in modern society are more likely to eat three square meals than a simple daily meal of bread.

Really excellent work if you identified anything similar in today's practise task for learning cycle two.

Really well done.

Okay, we've now reached our third and final learning cycle for today's lesson, which is language and modernity.

So let's get cracking.

Okay, a quick discussion question for you to kick off the final learning cycle of today.

How do you think language has changed in your family or community over the generations? Are there any words or phrases that older people use that seem old fashioned to you? Pause the video, have a quick discussion, and we'll take some feedback very shortly.

Okay, an excellent start to today's third and final learning cycle.

Before we look at some words you might have said, I have another discussion question for you.

And that is to think about which generation is likely to say these words you are about to see on the screen, and why do you say that? So these are some of the words you may have said in your initial discussion.

Selfie, hang up the phone, BRB or be right back, livestream, influencer, binge watch, fax it over, and put on the wireless.

So a quick super quick discussion, five seconds or so, which generation is likely to say these words, and why? Pause the video, and do push play when you'd like to continue.

Okay, excellent work to those of you who are able to identify words like selfie and livestream, and influencer are more likely to be said by, you know, present day younger generations, whereas words like fax it over, put on the wireless and hang up the phone, maybe, typically are going to be said by older generations.

So let's develop that a little bit further.

Discuss what do you think drives these intergenerational changes in language? Pause the video, have a discussion, and push play when you'd like to continue.

Okay, some great discussions taking place there, and I'd be really impressed if anyone was able to identify any ideas similar to what is on the board now.

So language changes across generations.

In particular, the rapid growth of technology has meant that different generations experience different technological advances, and this impacts the language that they speak.

Great work if you were able to identify something similar to that, really well done.

Okay, one particular area of difference between older and younger generations is the use of abbreviations.

And abbreviations are shorten forms of words and phrases that convey the same meaning in fewer words.

TBC, for example, instead of to be continued.

Look at the abbreviations on the right, what do they mean? Pause the video, have a quick discussion, and let me know your answers when you push play.

Okay, great work if you identify BRB as be right back, IDK as I don't know, and LOL of course means laugh out loud.

Great work if you're able to identify those.

Okay, the key question then is, why do you think younger people are more likely to use abbreviations than older people? Once again, pauses the video, have a quick discussion, and push play when you'd like to see some feedback on this task.

Excellent discussions taking place, and really well done if you identified some ideas similar to what is on the board currently.

Abbreviations are useful for communicating using social media.

As younger people are more likely to use social media, they use abbreviations a lot more than older generations.

Great work if you identified that sentiment in your own discussions.

Okay, we have reached today's third and final practise task, which is as follows.

You have been asked to rewrite a part of the Lord's Prayer to make it more relevant to a modern younger audience, and that part of the Lord's Prayer is on the board in front of you.

In particular, you have been asked to rewrite the section provided, making sure that you do the following: to include more modern language, to make more relevant cultural references, and to include modern grammar.

And to help you in that task you have a couple of sentence starters to get you going, and they are, give us sustenance, help us make wise, and may we cherish and protect.

So pause the video, complete the practise task, and push play to move on to some feedback for this task.

Okay, once again, some really excellent work for what is a very challenging and difficult task, so great job.

So we have been given a example of something you may have replicated.

Don't worry if it's not exactly like this, this is just some ideas of how you may have approached this task.

So our modern day translation goes a little something like this.

Give us sustenance for body and soul.

Forgive us our online disagreements, as we strive to extend forgiveness to others on social media.

Help us make wise choices in the world of streaming, and deliver us from the pitfalls of endless scrolling.

May we cherish and protect the earth you've entrusted to us, to allow us to keep this planet for ever and ever.

Amen.

So what I would like you to do then is to self-assess this model translation.

Where has this model, used modern cultural references, changed outdated language for modern vocabulary, and used modern grammatical constructions? Pause the video and have a go at that self-assessed task and do push play when you'd like to see some feedback.

Okay, fantastic work on today's self-assessment task and some ideas we may have come up with are as follows.

So firstly, using modern cultural references.

There are lots of these in the prayer or the translation of the prayer.

We've got online disagreements, social media, streaming, scrolling and protecting the earth, which is a very modern preoccupation.

So while done, if you've got anything similar to those.

Secondly, changed outdated language for modern vocabulary.

So again, we've seen words like forgiveness and pitfalls and cherish, and references to body and soul, which can definitely reference modern vocabulary.

And finally, the prayer uses lots of modern grammatical constructions such as us, our, we, replacing them for the more outdated versions in the King James Bible, like thy, thine, and art.

Great work if you identified anything similar to that, well done.

Final task for today.

I would now like you to take your model and self-assess it with the same three questions.

Where does your prayer use modern cultural references? Where have you changed outdated language for modern vocabulary? And where have you used modern grammatical constructions? Pause the video to self-assess, and push play when you would like to continue.

Okay, we have now reached the end of today's lesson.

So great work everyone, and well done for all of your fantastic and hard work throughout today's lesson.

So let's take a quick look at what we have learned.

So firstly, the Lord's Prayer from the 1611 King James Bible contains many words that we still use today.

Modern technologies have caused us to use abbreviations as part of spoken language.

New words are created all the time with generational divides between word usage.

So once again, well done for your hard work on today's lesson.

My name is Mr. Young it has been a great pleasure to teach you today.

And I very much look forward to teaching you on other lessons in this sequence.

Thank you very much and goodbye.