View
comments
For generations, schoolchildren have been captivated by the magic of nature, gripped by tales from British history and fascinated by learning about our Christian traditions.
Today, however, crucial words used to describe these traditional topics have been stripped from an influential children's dictionary in favour of more 'modern' terms.
Among the entries which have disappeared from the latest edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary are disciple, coronation, empire, piglet and acorn.
In their place come the likes of MP3 player, broadband, biodegradable, committee and celebrity.
Several words relating to royalty and Christianity have been removed from the latest Oxford Junior Dictionary and replaced with terms such as 'broadband' (picture posed by model)
Publishers Oxford University Press say the dictionary needs to evolve to reflect the fact that Britain has become a modern, multicultural, multi-faith society in which fewer children grow up in rural environments.
But academics and headteachers said the changes to the 10,000-entry volume - aimed at over-sevens - would deprive a new generation of links with their heritage.
The changes were highlighted by a mother-of-four who noticed that words like moss and fern had vanished from the latest edition while helping her son with her homework.
RELATED ARTICLES
Share this article
ShareLisa Saunders, from County Down, Northern Ireland, compared six editions since the 1970s and was horrified to discover that a whole range of words relating to Christianity, nature and British history had been axed over the years.
'The Christian faith still has a strong following,' she said. 'To eradicate so many words associated with Christianity will have a big effect on the numerous primary schools who use it.'
'We know that language moves on and we can't be fuddy-duddy about it, but you don't cull hundreds of important words in order to get in a different set of ICT words.'
Mrs Saunders, 45, moved to Northern Ireland from London with her husband Andrew, an auditor.
They have two boys aged seven and 14 and girls aged ten and 12.
She added: 'Children can be so easily manipulated when they're learning things - if they don't come across these words at a young age they're never going to use them.
'Some of it looks quite sinister - they've added "interdependent" but not "self-sufficient".
'Parents need to know that these changes are being made otherwise all these words are just being airbrushed out of children's lives.'
Professor Alan Smithers, director of the centre for education and employment at Buckingham University, said Christian traditions had shaped British society for centuries.
'To say it is all relative and replaceable is questionable,' said.
'The word selections are a very interesting reflection of the way childhood is going, moving away from our spiritual background and the natural world and towards the world that information technology creates for us.'
And Anthony Seldon, the master of Wellington College, a leading private school in Berkshire, said: 'I am stunned that words like "saint", "buttercup", "heather"and "sycamore" have all gone and I grieve it.
'I think as well as being descriptive, the Oxford Junior Dictionary has to be prescriptive too, suggesting not just words that are used but words that should be used.
'We are looking at the loss of words of great beauty. I would rather have "marzipan" and "mistletoe" then "MP3 player".'
Oxford University Press said it analysed millions of words from children's books and the school curriculum and looked at how frequently they occurred in considering how to update new editions.
Advice from teachers is also taken before the final choice is made.
Vineeta Gupta, head of children's dictionaries, said: 'We are limited by how big the dictionary can be – little hands must be able to handle it – but we produce 17 children's dictionaries with different selections and numbers of words.
'When you look back at older versions of dictionaries, there were lots of examples of flowers for instance. That was because many children lived in semi-rural environments and saw the seasons.
'Nowadays, the environment has changed. We are also much more multicultural. People don't go to Church as often as before.
'Our understanding of religion is within multiculturalism, which is why some words such as "Pentecost" or "Whitsun" would have been in 20 years ago but not now.'
The volume is aimed at seven-to-nine-year-olds.
Words removed from the Oxford Junior Dictionary:
NATURE
Bluebell, budgerigar, cygnet, dandelion, gerbil, goldfish, guinea pig, kingfisher, magpie, marzipan, minnow, newt, piglet, primrose, starling, willow, wren.
CHRISTIANITY
Carol, cracker, holly, ivy, mistletoe, abbey, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, monk, nun, pew, saint, sin
HISTORY
Coronation, duchess, duke, emperor, empire, monarch, decade
Words added:
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Blog, broadband, MP3 player, voicemail, attachment, database, chatroom, analogue, incisor, square number, trapezium, food chain
SOCIETY
Celebrity, tolerant, vandalism, negotiate, interdependent, drought, biodegradable, bilingual
POLITICS
Citizenship, EU, euro, committee, democratic
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWJ%2BcYWRb21xZ3moerS1zWZ6oaqZqMGqrc1mrqiqlKh6pbHLnquenF2Exae70Z1knaGTqbawusCrsGegpKK5