New
New
Year 8
A history of the English language
I can explain how the English language has been influenced by different historical events over time.
New
New
Year 8
A history of the English language
I can explain how the English language has been influenced by different historical events over time.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- The invading Angles, Saxons and Jutes brought useful language, for describing everyday things.
- The English population adopted Latin words through the Church and French words through the Norman invasion.
- Both Shakespeare and the King James Bible gave the English language many of the phrases that we use today.
- Scientific developments led to the creation of many new words.
- The expansion of the British Empire led to new words being adopted and the English language travelling globally.
Keywords
Conquer - To conquer means to take control of a particular place and its people by force.
Invade - To invade a country means to enter it by force with an army.
Colonisation - Colonisation occurs when a country takes control of other lands and its people and creates settlements there.
Adopt - If a group adopt a new word, they start using it.
Common misconception
That the English language developed quickly.
The English that we speak today was shaped across many hundreds of years by lots of significant events in our history.
The lesson includes a discussion of Shakespeare's influence on English. Consider bringing in any particular words and phrases from specific Shakespeare texts your students have studied.
Teacher tip
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on
Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
Loading...
Starter quiz
Download starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.
Who invaded England first?
The Normans
The Vikings
Q2.
When the Bible first arrived in England, what language was it written in?
English
Chinese
Arabic
Q3.
In what century was William Shakespeare born?
1400s
1600s
1700s
Q4.
Which of the following is the definition of conquer? Here it is used in a sentence: The army was able to conquer their enemies.
betray
lose
flee
Q5.
Select the plays that were written by William Shakespeare.
Oliver Twist
The Time Machine
Doctor Faustus
Q6.
Which of the following is the definition of adopt? Here it is used in a sentence: Over time, languages adopt new words.
lose
improve
change
Exit quiz
Download exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.
Many words associated with law and government were introduced by the Normans.
True - they added 5000 words to the English language
False - the Anglo-Saxons added words associated with law to the English language
False - they only added words linked with food to the English language
Q2.
The Anglo-Saxons mainly introduced words to describe ...
legal things.
political things.
Q3.
The Bible was very influential in the development of the English language. Which reasons below explain why?
It was very entertaining
It was mandatory reading
Q4.
Which of these did Shakespeare not do?
Standardised spelling and grammar
Introduced new words and phrases
Introduced many new phrases
Q5.
Which words below were added to the English language as a result of the British Empire?
electricity
judge
Q6.
Which examples below are words added to the English language as a result of the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century?
internet
technology
podcast