Descriptivist Vs Prescriptivist?

[GeorgiaEmily]

We have a presentation project in A Level English Language about the prescriptivist and descriptivist views, one of the tasks is to find positives and negatives of prescriptivism but we can't find either positives or negatives so any help would be much appreciated.

[woofgang]

What is meant by descriptivism and prescriptivism?

[jim360]

Didn't take too long to find some resources via Google. I would recommend researching into Geoffrey Pullum (for the negatives) and perhaps people such as Fowler (of Modern English Usuage). Other names can be found easily enough.

[jim360]

Usage*

Descriptivism and prescriptivism, woofgang, are positions on the use of language and how it shoudl be presented. Should experts tell us how to speak/ write/ read/ spell, or merely describe how we do it? The former is prescriptive; the latter is descriptive.

[sandyRoe]

I'd be happy for prescriptivists to tell me where I should put my errant apostrophes, for example. If we don't have rules what is to become of language?

[Buenchico]

At A-level you're expected to work out what the positives and negatives might be, rather than simply to find them conveniently listed somewhere.

Take a look at pages like this one
http://mmjordahl.com/2013/04/26/descriptive-vs-prescriptive-grammar/
and this one
http://www.polysyllabic.com/?q=navigating/intro/prescriptive
and ask yourself how, in a debate, a supporter of descriptivism might champion his/her cause and how a supporter of prescriptivism might offer counter-arguments.

As a stating point for you though, I'll suggest that a 'pro' for prescriptivism is that it offers rigid structures to students of English, which seek to ensure that the language remains consistent and intelligible even over extended period of time. A 'con' against prescriptivism is that it 'straitjackets' the language by seeking to impose inflexible rules which fail to cover all possible circumstances or to recognise that English is a developing, rather than stagnant, language.