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Language Exploration Worksheet

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Language Exploration Worksheet

The school play is touring a language festival. Help Hamish, Grace and Omar investigate how languages work. Read each clue carefully and answer in the spaces provided.

Language clues

Use the word-history and language-family clues to solve the questions.

1.Which language family does English belong to?

Romance
Germanic
Slavic
Sino-Tibetan

2.Grace finds four English words on the props list. Which one entered English from German?

Kindergarten
Bungalow
Sushi
Ketchup

3.Match each greeting to its language. Write the correct number beside each letter.

A. Hola
B. Bonjour
C. こんにちは (konnichiwa)
D. G’day

3. Spanish
1. French
2. Japanese
4. Australian English

4.Omar is preparing a note about bilingualism. Select the two statements that are reasonable potential benefits of knowing more than one language.

It can create more opportunities to communicate while travelling.
It guarantees that a person will forget their first language.
It may support learning additional languages.
It means everyone will have exactly the same memory skills.

Words in action

The cast is revising dialogue. Use the examples to explore meaning and language change.

5.In the line “The delighted audience clapped,” replace delighted with a synonym that keeps the meaning. Then write a new sentence using your synonym.

6.Read the two messages: “I will meet you at the theatre after school.” and “I’ll meet you at the theatre after school.” What has changed, and why might a speaker choose the shorter form?

7.Explain two reasons languages change over time. Include one example, such as new technology creating words or people borrowing words from other languages.

8.Complete both statements: _____ is the main language used in many Australian public settings. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages are also part of Australia’s linguistic heritage. Name one Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language you have learned about, or write “not sure yet”.

Create a festival word

Invent a word that could appear in the school play’s festival scene.

9.Combine two words from different languages to invent a new word. Write the source words and languages, define your new word, and use it in a sentence. Make clear that your invented word is your own creation.