Research Proposal English Lit

Research proposal
Shakespeare’s impact on English Language and the understanding difficulties of non-native

English speaker
Poloșan Teodora-Irina
Language and Literature English-French, Third Year
A. INTRODUCTION
Form the lexical perspective, the Bard of Avon seems to have provided with almost 1700 words,
making him the most quoted writer in Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of English Language,
although some linguists are suspicious on whether or not these words were indeed first coined by
Shakespeare. His impact on Modern English is nevertheless undeniable. Shakespeare's merits
survive translations and transposition into other cultures. Either as an expert or just as a mere
reader, one can reach a more extensive knowledge by engaging oneself in language patterns.
Take "happy," for instance; the word rarely is used with an active sense, but rather as an imposed
state: "Happy dagger," says Juliet. Also, how different would the reading experience be if we
knew that Macbeth was never to be king, as he often uses the pronoun I, rather than the
royal we? Another point of discussion is if Shakespeare is more natural to comprehend by native
English speakers, more challenging for non-natives. In Sean Murphy's opinion, "multilingual
persons can provide a better understanding," consequently making the study of Shakespeare a
universal subject.
Hypothesis: Shakespeare's language gives a better understanding of his work, making his study
sharper and more extensive for native and non-native English speakers.
Question 1: Is Shakespeare still relevant today? What is the extent of his influence on Modern
English Language?
Question 2: Are English native speakers more prone to understanding Shakespeare?
Question 3: Do the non-native English speakers find Shakespeare more challenging than native
English speakers?
Question 4: How can immersing in a language study facilitate and widen Shakespeare's reading
and understanding process?
B. RESEACH METHODOLOGY
To answer the first two questions, we will be using the suggested bibliography. Thus, we will
conclude that Shakespeare is still relevant today, from both a linguistic and a literary point of
view, giving the second question the starting point. Using the mentioned bibliography, we can
observe that English native speakers do not necessarily have an advantage over non-natives.
To answer the third question, a questionnaire will be designed and addressed to non-native
English speakers, predominantly with Romanian as mother tongue. The questionnaire will be
addressed to people from different academic backgrounds, from a broader age spectrum. It will
focus on the experience with the Shakespearian text: types of difficulties they faced, ways of
facilitating reading. Further, we will analyze if there are significant variations between native
and non-native English speakers.
The fourth question will bring all the arguments together: studying Shakespeare is a challenging
and consuming process; however, it can be facilitated from a linguistic outlook. We will
conclude that immersing in a language study can facilitate and widen Shakespeare's reading and
understanding process, regardless of whether the reader is a native or a non-native English
speaker.
C. REFERENCES
Andrew Hardie, Isolde van Dorst, A survey of grammatical variability in Early Modern
English drama, Language and Literature 29(3):275-301.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947020949440;
Archer, Dawn and Gillings, Mathew (2020) Depictions of deception: a corpus-based analysis of
five Shakespearean characters. Language and Literature 29(3): 246-274.
David Crystal, Think on my words, Exploring Shakespeare’s language, Cambridge University

Press;
Edited by Catherine M. S. Alexander, Shakespeare and language, Cambridge University Press,
Jonathan Culpeper, Affirmatives in Early Modern English, Yes, yea and ay, Journal of
Historical Pragmatics 19:2 (2018), pp. 243–264. issn 1566-5852 | e‐issn 1569-9854,
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.00021.cul;
Jonathan Culpeper, Dawn Archer, Shakespeare’s language: Styles and meanings via the
computer, Shakespeare’s language: Styles and Meanings via the computer. Language and
Literature 29(3): 191-202;
Kent Richmond, New Friends, False Friends, Strange Partners, Hamlet: A Verse Translation,
William Shakespeare, ISBN-13 9780983637929
M. M. Mahood, Shakespeare’s Wordplay, Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. ,ISBN 0-203-
35902-X Master e-book ISBN
Natnael Solomon, Analysis on Shakespeare’s Enduring Impact in the Development of English

Literature Based on Readers’ Retort to His Style of Writing,
http://repository.smuc.edu.et/handle/123456789/5241;
Rami Ali Salahat, Analyzing Iago's Speech in Shakespeare's Othello, College of Graduate
Studies, Hebron University, 2017
Sean Murphy, Jonathan Culpeper, Matthew Gillings, Michael Pace-Sigge, What do

students find difficult when they read Shakespeare? Problems and solutions, Language and
Literature 29(3): 302-326;
PODCASTS
John McWhorter on the Evolution of Language and Words on the Move, EconTalk ,
https://open.spotify.com/show/4M5Gb71lskQ0Rg6e08uQhi
New Thinking: Shakespeare's Language, Arts & Ideas,

https://open.spotify.com/show/3M34FDfSCOJ9d7rGxDhdB7
Shakespeare Unlimited, Folger Shakespeare

Library,https://open.spotify.com/show/2flCWtkekFSR94pm0QpzHJ

Research Proposal English Lit

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Research proposal

Shakespeare’s impact on English Language and the understanding difficulties of non-native

Language and Literature English-French, Third Year

Question 2: Are English native speakers more prone to understanding Shakespeare?

David Crystal, Think on my words, Exploring Shakespeare’s language, Cambridge University

Edited by Catherine M. S. Alexander, Shakespeare and language, Cambridge University Press,

Natnael Solomon, Analysis on Shakespeare’s Enduring Impact in the Development of English

Sean Murphy, Jonathan Culpeper, Matthew Gillings, Michael Pace-Sigge, What do

New Thinking: Shakespeare's Language, Arts & Ideas,

Shakespeare Unlimited, Folger Shakespeare

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