Учебнометодическое пособие Петрозаводск 2010 ббк 81. 2Англ удк 811. 11 Г 613 Рецензенты
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IMPROVE YOUR READING SKILLS! Ask yourself this question: “Do I read every word in my own language when I am reading a schedule, summary, or other outlining document?” The answer is most definitely: “No!” Reading in English is like reading in your native language. This means that it is not always necessary to read and understand each and every word in English. Remember that reading skills in your native language and English are basically the same. Here is a quick overview of the four types of reading skills used in every language: 1) Skimming. It is used to quickly gather the most important information, or “gist.” Run your eyes over the text, noting important information. Use skimming to quickly get up to speed on a current business situation. It’s not essential to understand each word when skimming. Examples of skimming:
2) Scanning. It is used to find a particular piece of information. Run your eyes over the text looking for the specific piece of information you need. Use scanning on schedules, meeting plans, etc. in order to find the specific details you require. If you see words or phrases that you don’t understand, don’t worry when scanning. Examples of scanning:
3) Extensive reading. It is used to obtain a general understanding of a subject and includes reading longer texts for pleasure, as well as business books. Use extensive reading skills to improve your general knowledge of business procedures. Don’t worry if you don’t understand each word. Examples of extensive reading:
4) Intensive reading. It is used on shorter texts in order to extract specific information. It includes very close accurate reading for detail. Use intensive reading skills to grasp the details of a specific situation. In this case, it is important that you understand each word, number or fact. Examples of intensive reading:
AND NOW – TAKE TIME TO READ! TABLE OF LEVELS AND TYPES OF READING
UNIT 1 FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING 1.1 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FAMILY TREE 1) Read the text and draw the English language family tree. English is a member of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. The Indo-European family includes several major branches: Latin and the modern Romance languages, the Germanic languages, the Indo-Iranian languages (including Hindi and Sanskrit), the Slavic languages, the Baltic languages of Latvian and Lithuanian (but not Estonian), the Celtic languages, and Greek. The closest living relative of English is either Scots (spoken primarily in Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland) or Frisian (spoken by Frisian ethnic groups who live on the southern fringes of the North Sea in Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany). After those are other Germanic languages, namely the West Germanic languages like Dutch, Afrikaans, Low German, High German, and the North Germanic languages like Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese (a West Nordic or West Scandinavian language spoken in the Faeroe Islands and in Denmark). 2) Is Russian “a relative” of English? For whom is it easier to study English as a foreign language? 3) In Russia, the most popular foreign languages to study are English, German, French, and Spanish. Which of these languages would you choose to study after English? 1.2 THE ORIGINS OF ENGLISH 1) Find the answers to these questions in the text:
Old English (500-1100 AD). The Anglo Saxons (West Germanic invaders) from Jutland and southern Denmark came to the British Isles in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. These invaders moved the original Celtic-speaking inhabitants into Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland, and left only a few Celtic words. Nowadays about half of the most commonly used words in modern English have Old English roots, for example “be,” “water,” and “strong.” More words were adopted from Latin during the 200-year Roman occupation of England and Wales (55 BC – 150 A.D). The influence from Latin continued with missionaries from Rome who spread the Christian religion. The Vikings also influenced English at that time, starting in 787 AD. Norse invasions, beginning around 850, brought many North Germanic words into the language, for example “skirt,” “husband,” “wrong,” “to call,” “to take,” “they.” The Norman Conquest and Middle English (1100-1500). William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, invaded and conquered England and the Anglo-Saxons in 1066 AD. The Normans brought with them French habits and the French language. For some years England was bilingual. The Norman rulers spoke French and the Anglo-Saxon peasants spoke Old English. The influence of the Normans can be illustrated by these words: French “beef,” “veal,” “pork” (eaten by the aristocracy) and Anglo-Saxon “cow,” “calf,” “swine” (tended by commoners). Many legal terms such as “indict,” “jury,” and “verdict” have French roots because the Normans ran the courts. Sometimes two different words with practically the same meaning survived into modern English, like French “judgment” and “desire” and Germanic “doom” and “wish.” Other times, French and Old English components combined to form a new word, as the French “gentle” and the Germanic “man” formed “gentleman.” French was the language of legislature, education, parliament debates and state correspondence. At the same time Latin was used in church activities and in science. Gradually, English became a language with largely Latin based vocabulary and a simplified German grammatical system. This mixture of the three languages is known as Middle English. Gradually, English began to be used wider than other languages. Early Modern English (1500-1800). The next wave of innovation in English came with the Renaissance. The revival of classical scholarship brought many classical Latin and Greek words into the language. During the age of Shakespeare, there were enormous developments in science, exploration, literature, and warfare. This brought thousands of new words into English. The last major factor in the development of Modern English was the invention of the printing press. William Caxton brought the printing press to England in 1476. Publishing for ordinary people became a profitable enterprise, and works in English, as opposed to Latin, became more common. The printing press also brought standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the first English dictionary was published in 1604. The English explorers of the Elizabethan period and later were pirates, soldiers, sailors, and thieves. They were not the settlers, farmers, traders, and religious exiles who developed the British Empire. In 1600, Queen Elizabeth I gave a charter to the East India Company to explore and begin trading in India. Through treaties and battles, the East India Company became the dominant power force in the region pushing out other settlers from France, Holland and other countries. The power of the East India Company gradually declined and was replaced by the British Government. “British India” included areas now called India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. The French, Spanish, Dutch and British had large settlements in North America. When the settlers established the United Slates of America, there were many who wanted French to be the official language of the USA. In Canada, although the British gained political power, both French and English are official languages. The sugar-producing Caribbean islands were occupied by English, French, Dutch, and Spanish settlers. The infamous slave trade transported African slaves to the settlements in the Caribbean and in North and South America to provide labour in plantations growing sugar, cotton, and tobacco. In 1788, a large number of English settlers landed in Australia. Soon after, settlers landed in New Zealand initially using it as a base for whaling expeditions in the Southern oceans but later for settlement and agriculture. Late-Modern English (1800-Present). During the 19th century European countries expanded their colonies in Africa. Germany, France, Britain, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, and Spain all had colonies in different parts of Africa. In North America, Australia, and New Zealand, the British colonists either eliminated or subdued the local indigenous populations taking their land and imposing British control. Initially, the English settlers in India and Africa were eager to trade, to steal gold, diamonds and timber, and to exploit the land. As the farmers became administrators, they began to see the need to teach English in order to educate the local population and impose a legal system. Many of the basic teaching English as a second language methodologies which are still used today were first developed in British India and Africa. Gradually, the British Empire became an enormous English language classroom. The principal distinction between Early- and Late-Modern English is vocabulary. Pronunciation, grammar, and spelling are largely the same, but Late-Modern English has many more words. These words are the result of two historical factors. The first is the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the technological society. Words like “oxygen,” “protein,” “nuclear,” and “vaccine” were created from Latin and Greek roots. English roots were used for such terms as “horsepower,” “airplane,” and “typewriter.” Neologisms appear nowadays, too, especially in electronics and computers. “Byte,” “cyber-,” “bios,” “hard-drive,” and “microchip” are good examples. The second factor was the British Empire. Britain ruled one quarter of the Earth’s surface, and English adopted many foreign words, for example “pundit,” “shampoo,” “pajamas,” and “juggernaut” from Hindi, “sauna” from Finnish, “tycoon” from Japanese, “machine,” “ballet,” “bouquet,” and “buffet” from French, “opera,” “duet,” “violin,” “studio,” “spaghetti,” and “bankrupt” from Italian, “cigar,” “hurricane,” “mosquito,” “potato,” and “tobacco” from Spanish and many more. The British Empire was a maritime empire, and the influence of nautical terms on the English language has been great. Words and phrases like “three sheets to the wind” and “scuttlebutt” have their origins onboard ships. English around the world in 1900.Queen Victoria (who ruled from 1837-1901) was the ruler of the largest Empire the world had ever seen. In 1900 Britain had completed its takeover of Southern Africa. Products from British factories were being sold all over the world. An English-speaking merchant class and administrative class were gradually being developed in the colonies. New Zealand fought for independence throughout Queen Victoria’s reign. Australia became independent in 1901 but retained Queen Victoria as Head of State. Canada was also independent but retained the British monarch as Head of State. The defeat of Germany in the First World War further expanded the British Empire with some German colonies coming under British control. In Britain, the establishment of the BBC radio in 1922 helped Southern British English to become understandable in all the regions of the country. In the 1930s, the British Council started teaching and promoting British English around the world. In the same period, the BBC Empire Service started broadcasting radio news, music and other programmes in English and other languages. When the first “talking pictures” arrived in Britain from America, people heard American accents for the first time. They had great difficulty in understanding the dialogue. During the Second World War, many American soldiers were stationed in Britain and the British learned to understand the “Yankee” accent. After the end of the war, the British Empire began to become independent. British India was partitioned in 1947 forming India and the two parts of Pakistan. These countries became self-governing but retained important strategic and trading links with Britain as well as close links to the English language. The military influence on the language during the latter half of the 20th century has been great. “Blockbuster,” “nose dive,” “camouflage,” “radar,” “roadblock,” “spearhead,” and “landing strip” are all military terms that made their way into standard English. English around the world in 1950. Through the 1950s and 1960s, more and more ex-colonies were becoming independent, often after savage and brutal conflicts. However, the newly independent countries retained strategic, cultural and trading links with Britain. The English language was an important part of the trading, cultural, academic and professional links. Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953 and her coronation was watched on new “television sets.” The original BBC television service had started in London in 1936 but was closed through the war years. It was reopened in 1948 but the coronation was the stimulus for many people to buy their first “television set.” In the 1950s Hollywood and Elvis Presley were teaching the world to understand American English. In the 1960s, the Beatles introduced the world to Liverpudlian English. At the end of the 1980s viewers in many countries had satellite television which assisted the spread of English through Eastern Europe and around the world. Initially, this was just CNN. Although many language learners could read English quite well, listening to authentic American accents was new. English around the world in 2000. The Internet which was developed in the 1990s was also a powerful force for the English language development. Now English is gradually becoming the lingua franca of Europe and we can be sure that in our lifetimes, and the lifetimes of our children, a communicative ability in English is going to be a very important asset. 2) Give examples of words borrowed by English from other languages. 3) Give examples of English words which are now international. 4) Simplify the text and talk about the history of the English language. 1.3 The use of English as a global tongue 1) Read the text and say which problems are covered in it. Thalwil, Switzerland. In the tall stucco schoolhouse with its big, airy classrooms and views of Lake Zurich, English has become part of the daily routine. Pupils as young as seven are learning multiplication or discussing the weather in English. In one classroom, lists of songs that the first grade has already mastered include not only local German tunes but “Old Mc Donald” and “How are you this morning?” Parents are delighted. “It is something that you need,” said Michael Brophy, whose son, Andrea, goes to the school there. “Everywhere people speak English, not just abroad.” Throughout Europe, English is growing in use and acceptability. Beyond the schoolhouse here, European universities, particularly in Northern Europe, are giving courses in science, philosophy and business in English. Even some companies like the French telecommunications giant Alcatel now use English as their internal language. But the growing use of English is not going down easily everywhere. The English program here has caused an uproar in other parts of the country, where critics have questioned why English should be taught before another one of Switzerland’s four national languages. In many places and in many ways, Europe is debating the growing prominence of English. Some see it as the language that might bind the Continent together. In one European Union survey, 70 percent of those surveyed agreed with the proposition that “everybody should speak English.” But nearly as many said their own language needed to be protected. Capturing the right balance is a subject of debate. 2) Express your opinion on the quotation “Everywhere people speak English, not just abroad.” 3) Would you like your children to study English at the age of seven, as in Switzerland? Talk about your own language learning experience. 1.4 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ENGLISH 1) Answer the questions: a) How many languages are there in the world? b) Which language has the largest number of speakers? c) Is English the official language of the USA and the UK? d) Among the countries where English is spoken as a second language, the People’s Republic of China has the biggest number of speakers, doesn’t it? e) Why is English called “the lingua franca” of the modern era? f) Which languages are mostly studied in the European Union? Since 1750, the population of the world has grown rapidly from less than one billion to six billion in 1999. Projected population growth foresees a continuing rise to eight billion in 2027 and reaching about ten billion in 2250. After 2250, it is projected that population growth will stabilize at about ten billion. Although there are an estimated 7,000 different languages spoken in the world, it is estimated that 50% of the world population speaks one of the top twelve languages as a native language, and one of them is English. The countries with the highest populations of native English speakers are, in descending order: the United States (215 million), the United Kingdom (58 million), Canada (18.2 million), Australia (15.5 million), the Republic of Ireland (3.8 million), South Africa (3.7 million), and New Zealand (3.0-3.7 million). It is interesting to note that English is not a de jure official language of the United States or the United Kingdom; however, these countries use English de facto. Countries such as Jamaica and Nigeria also have millions of native speakers of dialects ranging from an English-based Creole to a more standard version of English. Of those nations where English is spoken as a second language, India has the most such speakers (“Indian English”). Following India is the People’s Republic of China. Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a “world language,” the lingua franca of the modern era. English is the language most often studied as a foreign language in the European Union (by 89% of schoolchildren), followed by French (32%), German (18%), and Spanish (8%). Among non-English speaking countries, a large percentage of the population claimed to be able to converse in English in the Netherlands (87%), Sweden (85%), Denmark (83%), Luxembourg (66%), Finland (60%), Slovenia (56%), Austria (53%), Belgium (52%), and Germany (51%). Norway and Iceland also have a large majority of competent English-speakers. English does not have the largest number of native speakers. In 1950, English was clearly in the second place compared with Chinese. Currently, English is spoken as a native language by about as many people as speakers of Spanish and Hindu / Urdu but these numbers are all much smaller than the number of Chinese speakers. Because of differences in population age and population growth, English will very soon be overtaken by Spanish and Hindu / Urdu. By 2050, Arabic may well have replaced English as the fourth most popular native language. 2) Say what these numbers and words refer to: less than one billion, 2027, 10 billion, one of the top twelve languages, the fourth, 3.0-3.7 million, a second language, 89%, a large majority of, the largest number of, a large percentage of. 3) Express your opinion on the quotation from the text: “English will very soon be overtaken by Spanish and Hindu / Urdu.” 1.5 DIALECTS AND REGIONAL VARIETIES OF ENGLISH 1) Give definitions to the terms: an accent, a dialect, a pidgin, a Creole language, a loanword, a sign language. English has developed two educated native dialects which are considered to be standards in much of the world. The first dialect is based on educated Southern British and it is sometimes called BBC (or the Queen’s) English. It is known for “Received Pronunciation” which is the standard for the teaching of English in Europe, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and other areas influenced either by the British Commonwealth or by a desire not to be identified with the United States. The second dialect is based on educated Midwestern American. It is spread over most of the United States and much of Canada, is more typically the model for the American continents and areas (such as the Philippines) which have had either close association with the United States or desire to be so identified. Aside from those two major dialects are numerous other varieties of English, which include, in most cases, several sub-varieties, such as Cockney within British English; Newfoundland English within Canadian English; and African American Vernacular English (“Ebonics”) and Southern American English within American English. All of them are mostly mutually comprehensible. Because of the wide use of English as a second language, English speakers also have many different accents. 2) Say if the statements are true or false: a) BBC (the Queen’s English) is preferred in the USA. b) Midwestern American is the second educated dialect of English which is spread over the USA, Canada, the Philippines and the Russian Federation. c) People speaking Cockney English do not understand people speaking Ebonics. d) Russian speakers of English basically speak with Southern American accent. 3) Answer the questions: a) Do you study BBC English or Midwestern American English? b) Have you ever spoken English with native speakers? Did you understand them? Did they understand you? Did you simplify your English then? What about the native speakers? |
