least 10 – 15 words W r i t i n g

One of the most prolific and dynamic sources of changing language is our nation’s youth, who seem to create, recycle, or repurpose new words every day. Your goal is to take on the role of anthropologist and observe a conversing group of young people in their natural habitat. This can take place at a school, a mall, a home, or anywhere that you can find a group of young people in conversation.

As you learn and consider from where language comes and how it changes over time, your next assignment is going to be to observe morphology and semantics as it occurs every day in our schools, public gathering places, and homes.

Assignment Instructions

Research

1. Select a group of young people to observe in their natural habitat, including listening to their conversation and use of words.
2. While observing, take notes on the words that you hear them say with which you are unfamiliar, or words that are familiar, but are being used in a different context.
   • Write down at least 10–15 words.
   • Write down the sentence in which you heard the word so that you can use context clues later to decipher their meaning.
3. Once you have your list, find the definitions of these words.
   • There are several sources online where you can type in a word and the tool will tell you what it means.
   • Be warned, however, that many of these tools are designed for modern kids who have been desensitized to inappropriate language.
   • You might be shocked at some of the content that you encounter on these sites ( is a great example of this!) (opens in new window).