Control Questions

1. What are the major regional accents of British broadcast discourse?

2. What is the phonology of the major British regional accents?

3. Why do social accents can be observed in British broadcast discourse?

Practical Tasks

Task 1. Watch Video 25 (Unit 11), Video 30 and Video 33 (Unit 12), Video 37 (Unit13), Video 39 (Unit 14), listen to Audio Track 15 (Unit 14) and say what regional British accent you hear in those television and radio reports.

Task 2. Folder ACCENTS (Unit 15) contains two subfolders: Accents Phonology and What_Accent.

The first subfolder reflects phonetic features of the British regional accents, several social accents¹, as well as Australian, Canadian and New Zealand accents. Each accent is represented by a subfolder (Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Northern, Social, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand). Watch two files from each subfolder to get to know the phonology of the accents in question.

Task 3. Do you know what the following terms mean?

a (summer) break diploma to be legally required curriculum

Task 4. Watch Video 45 and Video 46 leads and transcribe them. Compare the contents of each lead and the way each video: a) reports opening of a school year; b) reports on the variety of new subjects to be taught in school in England. Write them down into slots below.

Video 45 lead major information points:

1. …

2. …

Video 46 lead major information points:

1. …

2. …

Task 5. Watch Video 45 in full. Summarise (recapitulate) its idea in one sentence.

Task 6. Watch Video 45 again, restore the words and expressions gapped below using the context in which they function in the video.

1. …1-2… to school

2. … government’s new …1-2…

3. It will allow struggling teenagers …1-2…

4. … and those who excelled, …1-2…

5. Edd Balls is (post?) …

6. Sean Fenton is (post?) …

7. But it will be a particular …

8. … that they will …1-2…

9. …1… financial skills like …2… …3… …4… and …5…

10) … of being able to …1-3… in the kitchen.

11) … are described as …1… …2… world languages…

12) in an effort to …1-2…

13) If employers do really …1-3…

14) to encourage up to 90 % of students …1-4…

What is the American equivalent of the term headmaster ?

Task 7. Identify the grammatical structures used in Video 45. The sentences in question open and end up with the following words.

1. Teenagers … diploma courses.

2. 20,000 … cookery.

3. A new school … with it.

4. One which the government … stretched.

5. Education Secretary … agree.

6. As part of the school time table …cards.

7. “The introduction of … common sense”.

8. And 11 to 14 year olds … obesity.

9. But there’s concern … little.

What sentences prevail among the listed above – simple, complex or compound?

Task 8. Write out the following subcategories of lexical units of Video 45.

a) terms … (education, finance) …

b) phrasal verbs …

c) intensifying words …

d) nominative constructions …

e) clichés …

Task 9. Watch Video 46 in full. Make use of the terms below.

A-Level GCSE grammar school 6th Form

Which of the videos (Video 45 or Video 46) is charged with more information?

Task 10. Watch Video 46 for details. Fill in the gaps in the sentences below and make lexical, morphological and stylistic analysis of the material.

1. The first day back at school can be …1-2… …3…

2. …1… if it’s at a new school, …2… …3… with a …4-5… of teaching too.

3. …1… year many students …2-3… …4-5…

4. They’ll be the first …1-4… education until they are 17, …5-9… a new curriculum and new qualifications too.

5. The new school time table has been modernised and revised …1… more…2…to …3… like balancing credit cards and mortgages.

6. “I …1… say it …2-3… more beneficial. I …4… , …5… with finances, …6… for 6-formers, …7… . We …8-10… to go to university, finance definitely go more and more …11-13… . …14… to be able to manage money and not to …15-17… for the rest of your life, it’s quite useful, …18…”

7. For …1-13…, there are new specialist diplomas, …14-15…

8. “I think I will be …1… worried about it. …2… …3… obviously (I don’t know) as diplomas are …4… seen as …5-6… lower than A-level. …7… , higher universities …8… not see it as good a qualification as A-level”.

9. …1… hope the pilot programme will …2-4… aren’t a …3-7…

10. “…1-4… …5… for students with a good basis in vocational experience as well as …6… . The danger is – it’s untried. We don’t know if …7-10… work.” …11-15… being a two tear system …16-18… are retained for the more able students and the diploma becomes seen as the …19… for those …20-24…

11. “These young people will …1-4… the scope of the whole industry. …5… , …6… , they will be able to make an …7-8… …9-10… what’s right for them, and their talents and …11… that …12-14… of the industry.”

12. Those studying for them have also given them …1-3…

13. …1-4… 5… d

14. …1… now the government must hope …2-8… the new curriculum …9-11… …12-13…

Task 11. Compose a list of special terms, clichés, phrasal verbs and idioms of Video 46.

Task 12. Compare the factual contents of Video 45 and Video 46 and fill in the table below.

Similarities	Differences
1. Video 45:	Video 45:
2. Video 46:	Video 46:
3. Video 45:	Video 45:
N… Video 46:	Video 46:

Task 13. Watch Video 47 and say what its idea is.

Task 14. Watch Video 47 again. Can you say what the realia in the box mean, according to the video?

AS A Grade AQA BAC Cambridge Pre-U exam

Baccalaureate splinter exams

Task 15. Identify idioms and colloquial words in Video 47 interviews. What are they?

Task 16. Fill in the gaps below, memorise the collocations you have got:

1. to get … As

2. now turning to … exams

3. which allows pupils to … in subjects

4. and also to … next

5. designed to …1… the …2… pupils

6. we’ve a …1-2… of other qualifications

7. one school of thought …1-2… that

8. and caught …1-3… are pupils

Task 17. Close the gaps and say what stylistic features the sentences below employ:

1. the …1… …2… competition for…

2. in subjects …1-2… construction and the built environment

3. making secondary education …

4. an … bewildered consumer

5. …1… this fast becoming …2-4…

6) …1-7… who, …8-9…, can only answer …10-16…

Task 18. Watch the rest of the files in subfolder Accents Phonology (Folder ACCENTS) to get to know the phonology of the British regional accents.

Task 19. Watch Files 1-11 in subfolder What_Accent and determine the British regional accent you hear in each videofile.

Task 20. Watch Video 48 and determine its genre. Transcribe the piece.

Task 21. Ofsted is the only culturally marked word in the piece. The term stands for the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. It is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools in England.

Can you find the Russian (Belarusian) equivalent of the term?

Task 22. What is the idea of the brief in Video 48? What video (that you have already worked with in this Unit) is linked with this brief?

Task 23. Answer the questions.

1. Why has the idea turned out to be a flop?

2. Whose brainchild was the plan?

Task 24. Watch Video 48 again. Pay attention to the way the news is revealed by BBC News. Make your point on the matter in writing.

Task 25. Act as an interpreter. Listen to the fragments of the brief in class, repeat them after the journalist, and render them into Russian.

Task 26. Watch Video 49. What its idea?

Task 27. What are the grammatical features of the report in Video 49?

1) Write down sentences beginning with It’s…, and This is…

2) Find infinitive constructions in the piece and translate them in to Russian.

Task 28. Video 49 contains the following word combinations.

1) излагать планы; 2) пересмотр (подходов к чему-либо); 3) ограничения; 4) дисциплина на уроках; 5) двухуровневая система; 6) гордиться (чем-либо); 7) образовательные стандарты; 8) более высокий уровень результатов (сдачи экзаменов); 9) низкая дисциплина на занятиях; 10) наводить порядок на уроках; 11) потерянное поколение; 12) элитарная система образования; 13) среднее частное учебное заведение; 14) вести дела; 15) «Кадры решают все».

Find the English equivalents of the word combinations listed above.

Which of the words above are colloquialisms?

Task 29. Listen to the interview and make corrections in its transcript.

“…Cause we know that the big barrier to recruit and retain people in teaching is bad pupil’s behaviour, we shall take decision actions to discipline. Unless the order is kept in classroom, teachers cannot teach while children cannot study.”

Task 30. Highlight Video 49 in three sentences. Put them down.

What is your attitude to the Conservatives’ idea to solve the problem? Should our educational establishments (secondary and higher ones) take the same approach?

Task 31. Watch Video 50 for information. Say what the following words mean? Explain their meaning in English.

to mark down to address concerns literacy job applicant

creativity a proper sentence phonics to compose

to get down to the detail a grade (s) inflation an accurate letter

Task 32. Name all the standardising grammatical structures in the report. Why do you define them that way?

Task 33. In Video 50 find all the lexical units typical of the colloquial style.

Task 34. Fill in the gaps in the two interviews below and compare them in terms of style. Make your point.

A. “…1-3… ,” says the Education Secretary:

“Thousands of children, including some of our very brightest leave school …1… to …2-5…, …6-10…, incapable of writing a clear and …11-12… . Well, let me be clear – under this government we …13… insist that our exams once more …14-18… the need to spell, punctuate, and write a grammatical sentence.”

B. Katie Ivens, “Campaign for …1-2…”

“You talk about …1-2… . But in fact the most advanced education systems in the world …3-6… their children have …7… of their own language. …8-10… , it’s a very advanced thing …11-13… .”

Task 35. Read the article below. What genre is it?

University tuition costs to hit £36,000

Students face paying up to £36,000 for a three-year degree course under plans for the most radical reform of universities in 50 years

Robert Winnett and Graeme Paton

Virtually all taxpayer funding will be removed from the majority of degrees and students will have to borrow tens of thousands of pounds to cover the doubled cost of courses. Universities will have to charge at least £7,000 a year to cover the loss of central government funding and some elite degrees are expected to cost up to £12,000 a year.

These are understood to be the key findings from a long-awaited review of university funding conducted by Lord Browne, the former head of BP. The recommendations have been welcomed by senior ministers after the peer delivered them his report at the weekend.

The Government is now drawing up plans to offer large “mortgage-style” loans to students to cover the increased costs of their studies. Many graduates will spend almost an entire working lifetime repaying the money. The new system is set to be introduced in 2012.

The current practice of effectively interest-free loans will be scrapped for all but the lowest earners with a new “tiered” system of repayments…

Sources said that anyone earning more than £21,000 a year will face interest of about two per cent more than inflation on their debts. They will be able to borrow money to cover their tuition fees plus about £4,000 annually for living costs. Some graduates on the most popular courses at the best universities could leave university with debts approaching £50,000. It is expected that graduates will have to repay their loans at a rate of about nine per cent of earnings each year. The debts will only be written off after 30 years.

Senior government sources insisted last night that the new system was designed to protect lower earners and not deter those from poorer backgrounds from going to university. Only about 40 per cent of university graduates will repay their entire loans – including interest – with the rest of the debts being written off by the Government.

About one in five low earners will actually pay less than under the current arrangements.

It is thought that students from many middle-income households, earning up to about £60,000 annually, will be given government grants to help with the increased costs.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said some families could be left “thinking the unthinkable and choosing which child to send.”

The Daily Telegraph, October 11, 2010

Task 35. What are the most frequently used grammatical constructions in the newspaper above?

What does the sentence The Daily Telegraph understands that the plans… suggest?

Task 36. Explain the underlined expressions in English.

What are the two groups of terms you came across while reading the material?

Task 37. Study the word list below. Group the words into categories.

to deter students to enter higher education

to think twice to plug the gap

to rebrand (the system) to be hard done by

(poor) background bleak prospects

to fund one’s way through university to unveil

the Universities UK (U UK)

the National Union of Students

the Spending Review

Task 38. Watch the first half of Video 51 (until the spot containing live reporting). How does it correlate with the article above? How many separate genres does the piece comprise?

Task 39. Watch Video 51 again. How does the journalist highlight the issue of hike in tuition fees?

Task 40. Watch the report in Video 51 and correct the transcripts below.

A. Kate Appleby:

“I’ve had few problems with my money, that’s why I got job in my 2nd year trying to find steady income. But in general I’m quite lucky to have the support from my parents. But I know that’s not the case for everybody. And if it wasn’t that I have got the support from my parents I would be a lot harder done by. And I can see how people do get into proper debt problems.”

B. Professor Steve Smith, President of “The Universities UK”:

“We think Lord Brown is good news for university, provided Lord Browne can be implemented and go through the parliament. Because in a week we get the Spending Review which reduces university spending. For ‘U UK’ the number one concern is that we maintain quality and the standing of the UK higher education.”

Task 41. Close the gaps in the transcripts below (Video 51).

Student No 1:

“I am not very financially secure. So …1-2… the university with that much …3… . We’ll have to …4… whether I’ll like to go to university.”

Student No 2:

“I’ll definitely …1-2… about whether to study in London or to travel out or just travel home sometimes.”

Task 42. Name standardising grammatical constructions in Video 51 transcript.

Task 43. What are the stylistic and syntactical features of the following sentences (Video 51).

1. As in any market, the rich will …1… richer and the poor will …2… poorer.

2. The National Union of Students talk of the …1… of the system which could double student’ debt and increase interest payments for those who borrow most to …2-5… university.

3. At the time of cuts, high fees and …1-3… for graduates young people may be forgiven for …4-8…

Task 44. Recapitulate the report in Video 51 in two sentences. Put them down.

Task 45. Watch Video 51 second half, starting with the news presenter’s words We’re live to Westminster now.

What are the three points on the tuition fees (or key recommendations) the reporter mentions. Put them down:

1) … 2) … 3) …

What do expressions key recommendations and an interest free loan mean?

Task 46. Watch Video 52. What genre is it?

Transcribe the first sentence of the piece, and say what is meant by protests? What social class is in question?

Task 47. Write down all the numbers in the piece. Be ready to restore the context in which they are used by the news presenter.

Task 48. Watch the report closely again.

In the piece identify: a) the realia (there are 12 of them in the clip); b) the colloquial and slang words.

Task 49. Video 52 reflects some political event. What is it? How can you characterise the exchange of opinion in general? Name some words used by the MPs. How is the exchange described by the news presenter?

Task 50. Fill in the gaps in the transcript below. Analyse its grammatical and syntactical features.

A. “We all know what it’s like – you’re at …1… week. You …2-3… with a …4-5… and do things that you regret. Isn’t it true he’s been …6-7… by the Tories …”

B. “Let’s …1… the Labour Party’s record: against …2-3… in 1997, introduced them a few months later. Against …4-6… in a manifesto in 2001, introduced top-up fees. …9… set up the Browne Review which …10… are now …11…. Now have a policy to actually tax graduates which half …12-14… doesn’t even believe in …”

Task 51. Watch Video 53. Say what genre is in question. What paper does the journalist represent?

Task 52. Watch the piece again. Can you identify:

- a saying;

- realia associated with M. Thatcher’s years;

- a slang word;

- a colloquialism (a shortened word);

- a term denoting a group of developing and developed nations.

Task 53. Watch the piece again. What are the three major events held in London in the long and recent past that the journalist refers to? (Be aware of the fact that the latest event is only referred to throughout the paper review.)

Task 54. Revise all the words and word combinations of the Unit (Tasks 3, 9, 14, 27, 30, 34, 37) and below. Explain their meaning in English.

1) to shed jobs; 2) to ring fence; 3) a bloke; 4) a fresher; 5) to be led astray; 6) tuition fees; 7) tuition fees; 8) a cap; 9) top-up fees; 10) a demo; 11) to pull out; 12) to be at the heart of something; 13) to think twice about something; 14) to study part-time; 15) tax-payer funding; 16) to double costs; 17) key findings; 18) interest-free loans; 19) living costs; 20) to set out plans for an overhaul; 21) to raise academic standards; 22) head teacher; 23) head master; 24) dog’s dinner; 25) messy; 26) a pilot scheme.

Task 55. Make up a sentence with each of the words and word combinations listed above.