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Here are some key theories and concepts to be familiar with for language change:

• Bailey’s Wave theory explains that the further away from a change someone is, the less affected by it they will be. The ‘wave’ part of this is a metaphor comparing the initial change to a pebble being dropped into a pond, causing waves. At the point where the pebble is dropped (where the change is made), the waves are strong, but the further out you move, the weaker they become. This distance can be read as social, temporal or geographical.
• Chen’s S-Curve graph shows how any change progresses: slowly at first, then more rapidly as it is picked up by more and more users, and then more slowly again as uptake levels out.
• Aitchison’s PIDC model demonstrates how change occurs. There must first be potential for the change, then implementation can occur as the change is made. This is followed by diffusion as it starts to spread and finally codification takes place as the change is made official by dictionaries etc.
• Functional theory seems very simple/commonsense but it is nonetheless true and worth referencing: language adapts to suit the needs of its users. If we don’t need a new word, phrase or meaning, then it won’t ‘take hold’ - no-one will use it and it will die out.

If you don’t have notes on these from lessons, looking them up in relation to language change would be a very productive revision activity.