NURAMALINA WAFA BINTI MOHD ISMAIL

2023637346

RAJA AZRINA BINTI RAJA ZAMRI

2023627458

1. Background of Australia

• According to a survey, Australia is the 56th most populous country in the world where its population is concentrated mainly in urban areas such as on the Eastern, South Eastern, and Southern seaboard. Australia has an average population density of 3.5 persons per square kilometer of total land area, which makes it one of the most populated countries in the world. The reason for this rapid population is the attribution of semi-grid and desert geography. Another factor is increasing urbanization with more than 80% of its people living in urban areas. Australia contains five cities with most of Australia's population living close to coastlines.

  
  

  2. History of the Southern United States

• Early settlements by Spanish, French, and English explorers in the 16th and 17th centuries laid the foundation for the region's diverse cultural heritage. The economy of the Southern colonies was largely agrarian, reliant on cash crops such as tobacco, rice, and later cotton, which led to the proliferation of plantation agriculture and the institution of slavery. The Civil War, fought primarily over issues of slavery and states' rights, profoundly shaped the region, leaving scars that endure to this day. Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era entrenched racial segregation and discrimination, while the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20th century brought significant changes but also stirred resistance. Today, the Southern United States is characterized by its rich cultural traditions, distinctive cuisine, and ongoing struggles with issues of race, identity, and economic development.

2. THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH IN SOUTHERN UNITED STATES

• The use of English in the United States is a result of British colonization of the Americas. The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in North America during the early 17th century, followed by further migrations in the 18th and 19th centuries.

• Those English settlers from the British Isles brought a variety of dialects that greatly influenced the shaping of the Southern accent. Their language was heavily influenced by Appalachian English, features of which have been spreading across much of the US for the past 150 years, which is why many lowland Southerners speak varieties so similar to upland Appalachian speakers today.

• Southern American English (SAE) is the most widely recognized regional dialect of American English, but as most of its speakers know, widespread recognition is a mixed blessing. Modern SAE is rhotic, and is extremely different from British English, characterized by a variety of massive vowel innovations, primarily known as the Southern Vowel Shift, and many grammatical innovations, including usages like y'all and fixin' to.