The Impacts Of The Counterculture Movement On American English

In order to make the theoretical basis clear for the analysis of impacts of the counterculture movement on American English, some concepts and relevant researches are discussed in this chapter including the manifestations of the counterculture movement, causes of the counterculture movement, characteristics of American English and previous studies in this field.
1.1 The Counterculture Movement
The counterculture movement is an influential cultural movement in American history. It was launched by the frustrated youngsters from the middle-class family who questioned the traditional values and culture in the 1960s. The following two sub-chapters will present the manifestations of the movement and causes of the counterculture movement.
1.1.1 Manifestations
It is triggered by the hidden conflicts between thoughts and reality. The causes can be analyzed from different perspectives. The technocratic society becomes the first factor. After the Second World War, America wanted to expand its economy, and was gradually transformed into a technocratic society. American government preferred the power and efficiency of technology. Under the society dominated by the people who have had the professional technological ability, the people specialized in the arts and sociology is desolated. The youth started to rebel against the neglect of human values. The gap between different two generations became the cause. At that time, the youth did not experience their parents’ life and they did not understand their parents and the world which emphasized the competition. They emphasized the opposite that a man’s values and needs were supposed to be satisfied. Another cause is that society judged a man by his work, by his exterior and by substance, rather than thoughts and values at that time. Gradually, it formed a sharp contrast. What the youth experienced is the failure of their government in the Vietnam War. The racial discrimination problems and the awakening of women caused the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Liberation Movement, but the American mainstream culture did not confront these fundamental social problems at that time. So there came the hippies, who wanted to challenge the authority, the
Although American English has retained the basic framework of British English in the early years. As a variant of British English, it has developed its own distinctive characteristic in its development. These characteristics closely connect to the advancement of American society, the values of the American nation, the characteristics of American nations and other cultural categories. The analysis of the characteristics of the American language will help the author gain an essential understanding of the development of vocabularies and grammar of American