I have nothing against Lewis Carroll, but I have to say that I am getting a bit tired of seeing "Jabberwocky" used as an example of nonsensical language to teach the parts of speech, vocabulary etc. So, here I propose some alternative texts, just to spice things up a bit.
1. Newspeak: 1984 - George Orwell
Orwell's invented language had the main intention of making English more economical, minimizing the redundancies of meaning and excess of words.
"The aim of Newspeak is to remove all shades of meaning from language, leaving simple concepts (pleasure and pain, happiness and sadness, goodthink and crimethink) that reinforce the total dominance of the State. Newspeak root words serve as both nouns and verbs, further reducing the total number of words; for example, "think" is both noun and verb, so the word thought is not required and can be abolished. The party also intends that Newspeak be spoken in staccato rhythms with syllables that are easy to pronounce. This will make speech more automatic and unconscious and reduce the likelihood of thought." Newspeak, Wikipedia
2. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (Sloosha's Crossin' an' ev'rythin' after)
"I planted my first babbit up Jayjo from Cutter Foot Dwellin' under a lemon tree one a'sunny day. Leastways hers was the first what I knowed. Girls get so slywise 'bout who'n'when'n'all. I was twelve, Jayjo'd got a firm'n'eager body an' laughed, twirly an' crazy with love we both was, yay, jus' like you two sittin' here, so when Jayjo plummed up ripe we was talki' 'bout marryin' so she'd come'n'live at Bailey's Dwellin'. " Sloosha's Crossin' an' ev'rythin' after
3. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
"'It's a book,' I said. 'It's a book what you are writing.' I made the old goloss very coarse. 'I have always had the strongest admiration for them as can write books.' Then I looked at its top sheet, and there was the name - A CLOCKWORK ORANGE - and I said. 'That's a fair gloopy title. Who ever heard of a clockwork orange?' Then I read a malenky bit out loud in a sort of very high type preaching goloss: '-- The attempt to impose upon man, a creature of growth and capable of sweetness, to ooze juicily at the last round the bearded lips of God, to attempt to impose, I say, laws and conditions appropriate to a mechanical creation, against this I raise my sword-pen--' Dim made the old lip-music at that and I had to smeck myself. Then I started to tear up the sheets and scatter the bits over the floor, and this writer moodge went sort of bezoomny and made for me with his zoobies clenched and showing yellow and his nails ready for me like claws. So that was old Dim's cue and he went grinning and going er er and a a a for this veck's dithering rot, crack crack, first left fistie then right, so that our dear old droog the red - red vino on tap and the same in all places, like it's put out by the same big firm - started pour and spot the nice clean carpet and the bits of this book that I was still ripping away at, razrez razrez.'"
How to utilize the extracts
All three examples would be intended for upper-intermediate to advanced levels. I would first ask the students to identify unknown words, rate them in pairs in terms of importance to textual comprehension, then identify the parts of speech (noun, verb, etc.). At this stage, detailed identification would be welcome, depending on how prominent grammar awareness is in any particular class (e.g. "abstract noun", "stative verb", "comparative adjective", etc.), as well as a discussion for how this information is able to be discerned from the seeming nonsensicality of the words ("Is there an "English" influence in the spelling or consonant/vowel patterns? How does word order affect our assumptions? etc.") This could also segue into a discussion on how words are chosen for elimination in the Use of English section of the FCE/CAE exam and on what basis...
The students could then create imaginary definitions for the selected words, and/or using a thesaurus, smartphone, etc., find synonyms. Depending on the lesson aims, the found words could be used in a speaking activity, assigned as a writing for homework, or whatever best fits the curriculum. The aim of the lesson would be to raise awareness of the parts of speech and engage in a discussion on how exam-creators decide which words to eliminate from a text (in the Use of English section, for example).
( Postscript - Somewhat related but not entirely applicable are pig-latin, the song "Mairzy Doats", and perhaps sign language.)
1. Newspeak: 1984 - George Orwell
Orwell's invented language had the main intention of making English more economical, minimizing the redundancies of meaning and excess of words.
"The aim of Newspeak is to remove all shades of meaning from language, leaving simple concepts (pleasure and pain, happiness and sadness, goodthink and crimethink) that reinforce the total dominance of the State. Newspeak root words serve as both nouns and verbs, further reducing the total number of words; for example, "think" is both noun and verb, so the word thought is not required and can be abolished. The party also intends that Newspeak be spoken in staccato rhythms with syllables that are easy to pronounce. This will make speech more automatic and unconscious and reduce the likelihood of thought." Newspeak, Wikipedia
2. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (Sloosha's Crossin' an' ev'rythin' after)
"I planted my first babbit up Jayjo from Cutter Foot Dwellin' under a lemon tree one a'sunny day. Leastways hers was the first what I knowed. Girls get so slywise 'bout who'n'when'n'all. I was twelve, Jayjo'd got a firm'n'eager body an' laughed, twirly an' crazy with love we both was, yay, jus' like you two sittin' here, so when Jayjo plummed up ripe we was talki' 'bout marryin' so she'd come'n'live at Bailey's Dwellin'. " Sloosha's Crossin' an' ev'rythin' after
3. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
"'It's a book,' I said. 'It's a book what you are writing.' I made the old goloss very coarse. 'I have always had the strongest admiration for them as can write books.' Then I looked at its top sheet, and there was the name - A CLOCKWORK ORANGE - and I said. 'That's a fair gloopy title. Who ever heard of a clockwork orange?' Then I read a malenky bit out loud in a sort of very high type preaching goloss: '-- The attempt to impose upon man, a creature of growth and capable of sweetness, to ooze juicily at the last round the bearded lips of God, to attempt to impose, I say, laws and conditions appropriate to a mechanical creation, against this I raise my sword-pen--' Dim made the old lip-music at that and I had to smeck myself. Then I started to tear up the sheets and scatter the bits over the floor, and this writer moodge went sort of bezoomny and made for me with his zoobies clenched and showing yellow and his nails ready for me like claws. So that was old Dim's cue and he went grinning and going er er and a a a for this veck's dithering rot, crack crack, first left fistie then right, so that our dear old droog the red - red vino on tap and the same in all places, like it's put out by the same big firm - started pour and spot the nice clean carpet and the bits of this book that I was still ripping away at, razrez razrez.'"
How to utilize the extracts
All three examples would be intended for upper-intermediate to advanced levels. I would first ask the students to identify unknown words, rate them in pairs in terms of importance to textual comprehension, then identify the parts of speech (noun, verb, etc.). At this stage, detailed identification would be welcome, depending on how prominent grammar awareness is in any particular class (e.g. "abstract noun", "stative verb", "comparative adjective", etc.), as well as a discussion for how this information is able to be discerned from the seeming nonsensicality of the words ("Is there an "English" influence in the spelling or consonant/vowel patterns? How does word order affect our assumptions? etc.") This could also segue into a discussion on how words are chosen for elimination in the Use of English section of the FCE/CAE exam and on what basis...
The students could then create imaginary definitions for the selected words, and/or using a thesaurus, smartphone, etc., find synonyms. Depending on the lesson aims, the found words could be used in a speaking activity, assigned as a writing for homework, or whatever best fits the curriculum. The aim of the lesson would be to raise awareness of the parts of speech and engage in a discussion on how exam-creators decide which words to eliminate from a text (in the Use of English section, for example).
( Postscript - Somewhat related but not entirely applicable are pig-latin, the song "Mairzy Doats", and perhaps sign language.)
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