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The Role of Foreign Languages
Warm-up
Answer the following questions:
About 5000; about 250 years ago; Spanish; Classical languages: Greece, Latin; later German and French; In China; at the end of XIX century; the USA, Canada, British Isles, Australia, New Zealand; Portuguese; Of course, not; French; Russian.
II. Read the text and translate the italicized word combinations.
Education is very important in our life. An educated person is one who knows a lot about many things. He always tries to learn, find out, and discover more about the world around him. He gets knowledge at school, from books, magazines, from TV educational programs.
The role of foreign languages is also increasing today. Thanks to the knowledge of foreign languages one can read books, magazines in the original, talk to foreigners, translate various technical articles. Moreover, joint ventures which have recently appeared in our country need specialists with profound knowledge of foreign languages like English, German or French.
To know foreign languages is necessary for every educated person, for good specialists. Our country is transferring to a market economy. Research and innovations should improve living, working conditions of our people. That is why it is so important to be persistent in studies.
English is the world’s top tongue. Today, nearly 600 million people around the world use the English language. It’s spoken as a mother tongue in Great Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. The present-day world status of English is the result of two factors: the expansion of British colonial power, which peaked towards the end of the 19th century, and the emergence of the United States as the leading economic power of the 20th century.
There are many different reasons why people study foreign languages, English in particular. Here are some of them: · to travel abroad; · to get good job; to have something to do in your spare time; · to be better educated; · to be familiar with social and cultural life in other countries; to be able to participate in conversations with people from English-speaking countries. English is the language of international air traffic control, and is currently developing its role in international maritime, policing, and emergency services. English is the chief language of international business and academic conferences, and the leading language of international tourism. English is the main language of popular music, advertising, satellite broadcasting, home computers, and video games. A foreign language is not just a subject learnt in the classrooms. It's something which is used in real life situations.
Why is English useful for international communication? For one thing, many books and papers in special fields are in English. As a result, specialists in these fields often learn English. Specialists from different countries can use their English for international communication. English is truly a world language.
I'm convinced if we are working in any brunch of science we must read books and magazines in other languages. Learning foreign languages opens up opportunities and careers. Knowing foreign languages can help us to find a job in such fields as science and technology, foreign trade and banking, international transportation communication, teaching librarian science and others. A more general aim is to broaden the mind and to broaden your circle of friends.
The role of English in personal development will be very important. It develops our memory. People can travel abroad. It enlarges knowledge and understanding of the world. It is the language of sport and beauty.
Learning any foreign language includes the acquaintance with the unknown culture, traditions and way of life of different people. Of course signing the international contracts and treaties with foreign countries can not be without English.
As for me, I think that to know a foreign language is absolutely necessary for all educated people and modern specialists. Everything depends on our own efforts.
II. Language work
1. Practise the pronunciation of the following words and phrases.
Knowledge, foreigners, Great Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, advertising, satellite broadcasting, career technology, circle of friends, the acquaintance.
2. Give the Russian equivalents for the following words and word combinations:
An educated person, to get knowledge, books, magazines in the original, to talk to foreigners, to translate various technical articles, joint ventures, research and innovations, working conditions, to be persistent in studies, the expansion of British colonial power, the emergence of the United States, the world’s top tongue, to travel abroad, spare time, to participate in conversations with people, the chief language, satellite broadcasting, to open up opportunities and careers, to broaden your circle of friends, to enlarge knowledge and understanding of the world, the acquaintance with the unknown culture, to depend on our own efforts.
3. Give the English equivalents for the following words and word combinations:
Переводить техническую литературу, основной язык, расширить знание и понимание мира, совместные предприятия, путешествовать за границу, быть упорным в учении, читать в оригинале, исследования и инновации, открывать возможности, зависеть от ваших усилий, свободное время, расширение британской силы, появление США, спутниковая трансляция, условия работы.
4. Paraphrase the underlined word combinations using the following:
to be persistent in studies; to travel abroad;, spare time;, to be familiar with social and cultural life; to participate in smth; medium of international communication; to broaden.
5. Translate into English:
6. Expand the following sentences using the information from the text:
7. Complete the table:
8. English is the world’s top tongue. Prove it. Speak in pairs.
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The main reason is that… |
More than 750 mll people speak English. |
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Then… |
It’s practically all over the world. |
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More than that… |
It’s spoken as a mother tongue in Great Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. |
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There is no doubt… |
It’s the language of computers, science, business, politics. |
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It’s the official voice of the air and sea. |
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The largest broadcasting companies transmit in English. |
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It is the language of sport and beauty. |
9. Study the bar chart and fill the gaps in the sentences with the appropriate modifiers from the box.
• More than one modifier is possible.
The 12 most spoken world languages (in millions)
836.2
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1. Mandarin Chinese is spoken by ... 836 million. |
at least |
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2. ... 333 million speak Hindi. |
over |
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3.Spanish is spoken by ... 332 million. |
nearly |
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4.The number of native English speakers is ... 322 million. |
about |
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5.Bengali and Arabic are spoken by ... 190 million each. |
more than |
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6.Russian is spoken by ... 170 million people. |
around |
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7.Portuguese has ... 160 million speakers. |
fewer than |
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8.Japanese is the native language for... 125 million. |
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9.Then follow German, French and Malay with ... 100 million speakers. |
10. What will be the role of the English language in the twenty-first century? What's your opinion on the following statements? Please comment. Match the statements on the right with the correct statements on the left.
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11. Why do you study English? Speak in pairs:
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First… |
Why? I want (’d like) |
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Second… |
to study at the university ( college) |
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Then… |
to communicate with people of the world |
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Finally… |
to do business |
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There is no doubt… |
to understand films and songs in English |
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to get a better job |
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to like the language |
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to want to live in an English-speaking country |
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to travel abroad |
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have to study it at school |
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it gives a chance to meet new people |
12. Complete the sentences and use them as a plan for your future talk on the role of the foreign language.
13. Read the text for obtaining the information
Culture - the fifth language skill
Submitted by Barry Tomalin on 29 September, 2008
What do we mean by “culture”?
Many teachers quote the Dutch psychologist Geert Hofstede’s maxim “Software of the Mind”, the subtitle of his 2005 book ‘Cultures and Organisations’. What culture covers is the commonly held traditions, values and ways of behaving of a particular community. It includes what we used to call ‘British and American life and institutions’, ‘daily life’ and also cultural artefacts, such as the arts or sports. This is all interesting and sometimes useful knowledge and it is often included in textbooks.
However, there is also another level of understanding, of culture. This is how you develop cultural sensitivity and cultural skill. This covers how you build cultural awareness, what qualities you need to deal successfully with other cultures, and how to operate successfully with people from other cultures.
The teaching of culture should include these things: cultural values, cultural knowledge, cultural behaviour, cultural skills.
They say that culture is the fifth language skill, in addition to listening, speaking, reading and writing. There are two reasons. One is the international role of the English language and the other is globalisation.
Many now argue that the role of the English language in the curriculum is a life skill and should be taught as a core curriculum subject like maths, and the mother tongue. The reason for this is globalisation and the fact that to operate internationally people will need to be able to use a lingua franca. For the next twenty to thirty years at least, that language is likely to be English. That means that English will be a core communicative skill and will need to be taught early in the school curriculum. Many countries now introduce English at eight years old and many parents introduce their children to English at an even younger age, using “early advantage” programmes.
The second argument is globalisation itself. You could say, “We are all internationalists now”. We are or will be dealing with foreigners in our community, going abroad more, dealing at a distance with foreigners through outsourcing or email, phone and video-conferencing. And this isn’t just for adults. Kids are interchanging experience and information through travel, keypal schemes and networks like Facebook. This is the time to develop the intercultural skills that will serve them in adult life.
Up until recently, I assumed that if you learned the language, you learned the culture but actually it isn’t true. You can learn a lot of cultural features but it doesn’t teach you sensitivity and awareness or even how to behave in certain situations. What the fifth language skill teaches you is the mindset and techniques to adapt your use of English to learn about, understand and appreciate the values, ways of doing things and unique qualities of other cultures. It involves understanding how to use language to accept difference, to be flexible and tolerant of ways of doing things which might be different to yours. It is an attitudinal change that is expressed through the use of language.
Express your point of view on the fifth language skill. What does it teach you? What is the role of the language?
14. Discussion