2. Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a combination of speech-sounds which aims at imitating sounds produced in nature;

• by things (machines or tools, etc.)

• by people (sighing, laughter, patter of feet, etc.)

• by animals.

There are two varieties of onomatopoeia: direct and indirect:

Direct onomatopoeia is contained in words that imitate natural sounds as

e.g. ding-dong, buzz, bang, cuckoo, mew, ping-pong, etc.

Indirect onomatopoeia – is a combination of sounds the aim of which is to make the sound of the utterance an echo of its sense. It is sometimes called “echo-writing”

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain … (E.A.Poe)

… и завес пурпурных трепет издавал как будто лепет …

Indirect onomatopoeia, unlike alliteration, demands some mention of what makes the sound, a rustling (of curtains), etc.

3. Assonance

Assonance – a phonetic stylistic device; repetition of similar vowel sounds usually in stressed syllables.

One’s upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary …

Как то в полночь, в час угрюмый, полный тягостною думой …

2) Let me first briefly outline the phonetic method of instruction in modern foreign languages as it is employed in numerous European schools, more particularly in certain secondary schools in Germany. It is variously known as the phonetic, the direct, the imitative, the analytical-inductive, the new, or the reform method, according as one salient feature of the system is emphasized to the exclusion of all others, or as attention is focused upon its departure from the traditional method of in- struction. For the purpose of the present discussion the desig- nation I have adopted seems to me the most appropriate one. The starting-point for instruction according to this method is the spoken word, not the printed page, the sound, not the letter. Hence, teaching is at first exclusively oral. The task of the pupil at this stage consists in mastering the sounds of the language to the extent that he learns to recognize them when uttered in his hearing and to reproduce them according to the model of the teacher. Not until he knows the sounds does he meet their equivalent in writing. In accordance with this oral basis, pronunciation is considered of prime importance. Painstaking care is necessary at the outset, since the pupil already speaks his own tongue, to have him hear the peculiarities of the foreign sounds and to enable him to utter them himself. For this purpose recourse is had to the assistance offered the schoolroom by the physiology of speech sounds, the science of phonetics. The pupil is taught the organic positions and movements requisite to produce the sounds in question. For the purpose of simplifying this task many adherents of the reform movement make a more or less extended use of phonetic symbols.

d. The pupil is obliged to think and express himself in the foreign idiom and the teacher uses the same medium of communication. Pantomime, gesture, bodily movement, impres- sions made by concrete objects upon the various senses, all sorts of devices are employed to enable the instruction to dispense with the vernacular. After some advance has been made, since not all objects are objects of sense and not all ideas are ideas of concrete things, this mode of procedure is continued through reliance upon that command of the language which the pupil has gradually acquired. The reading-book forms the center of instruction, only con- nected texts being read. Subject-matter, terms, and phraseology are assimilated directly without the mediation of translation. Through imitation or reproduction of what has been heard from the lips of the teacher, or what has been worked out in the read- ing-book, with the aid of question and answer, dialogue, descrip- tion, and explanation, all new material is impressed upon the mind and fixed in the memory. A vocabulary is acquired, not by mechanically memorizing lists of words, which are applied a single time in the reading-lesson and then possibly worked over in sentences translated by the pupil from the vernacular, but through frequent repetition of the terms, the meaning of which has been learned by the devices above enumerated. This acquisition is facilitated through con- stant reference to the connection in which the new words or expression has occurred. When the reading of literary texts begins, of course the use of the dictionary is indispensable.

3) These days, the innovations of technologies are contributing significantly to the quality of education in spite of their limitations. Mobile technologies are rapidly attracting new users, providing increasing capacity, and allowing more sophisticated use. Since they are becoming very accessible for individuals in most parts of the world, it has a great role in facilitating learning both in formal and informal context. Due to this, Mobile Learning (ML) was introduced and attracted the attention of educators in various academic institutions. When it comes to language learning, it is termed as Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) approach as a way to be considered in the environment language learning. In line with this, various studies have been conducted in the contributions and related factors of MALL. Thus, this review carefully analyses the nature, the principles, the merits and demerits, and the challenges and opportunities with their pedagogical implications in the second or foreign language learning context.

Thus, mobile learning differs from computer-assisted language learning because it uses portable devices, emphasizing the interaction and spontaneity of access.

However, a clearer definition involves establishing its main features, which refer to the contexts and type of interaction these devices involve. In detail, m-learning can be:

– Spontaneous, as it can occur at any time without any previous arrangement.

– Private, in the sense it is personalized.

– Portable, because it can start in a place and finish in another one.

– Situated in a real-world context. Learners can take mobile devices into authentic learning settings or ‘context-aware’ environments, such as especially equipped museums.

– Informal, in the sense it may occur outside the classroom.

– Bite-sized, because learners can study or practice manageable chunks of information at any place on their own time. In fact m-learning deals with shorter but more direct learning periods regarding the time and duration of the study process.

– Light-weight, contrarily to most textbooks and reference manuals. The learner can select, insert and adapt all his/her learning materials.

– Context aware, both in the sense that it offers current real-world information and digital augmentation.

– Connected, being online and interactive. In fact, collaboration and communication are deemed essential.

– Personalized, as the learning process is adaptable to diverse learners’ cognitive styles.

– Creative, as it enables creating and sharing diverse contents and materials.

– Ubiquitous, that is to say, mobile devices are everywhere, so even though sometimes they might be disruptive, they have infiltrated in all levels of society, and within diverse cultures and backgrounds, subsequently expanding human beings’ learning possibilities.

Билет 21

1. The category of the Verb in Old, Middle and Modern English.

Verbs in Old English are divided into strong inflection and weak inflection . Strong verbs indicate tense by a change in the quality of a vowel, while weak verbs indicate tense by the addition of an ending.. Strong verbs use the Germanic form of grammatical conjugation. In this form of conjugation, the stem of the word changes to indicate the tense. Verbs like this persist in modern English; for example sing, sang, sung is a strong verb, as are swim, swam, swum and choose, chose, chosen. The root portion of the word changes rather than its ending. In Old English, there were seven major classes of strong verb; each class has its own pattern of stem changes. Learning these is often a challenge for students of the language, though English speakers may see connections between the old verb classes and their modern forms.

The classes had the following distinguishing features to their infinitive stems:

1. ī + one consonant.

2. ēo or ū + one consonant.

3. Originally e + two consonants. By the time of written Old English, many had changed. If C is used to represent any consonant, verbs in this class usually had short e + lC; short eo + rC; short i + nC/mC; or (g̣ +) short ie + lC.

4. e + one consonant (usually l or r, plus the verb brecan 'to break').

5. e + one consonant (usually a stop or a fricative).

6. a + one consonant.

7. Other than the above. Always a heavy root syllable (either a long vowel or short + two consonants), almost always a non-umlauted vowel – e.g., ō, ā, ēa, a (+ nC), ea (+ lC/rC), occ. ǣ (the latter with past in ē instead of normal ēo). Infinitive is distinguishable from class 1 weak verbs by non-umlauted root vowel; from class 2 weak verbs by lack of suffix -ian. First and second preterite have identical stems, usually in ēo (occ. ē), and the infinitive and the past participle also have the same stem.

Weak verbs are formed by adding alveolar (t or d) endings to the stem for the past and past-participle tenses. Examples include love, loved and look, looked. Originally, the weak ending was used to form the preterite of informal, noun-derived verbs such as often emerge in conversation and which have no established system of stem-change. By nature, these verbs were almost always transitive, and even today, most weak verbs are transitive verbs formed in the same way. However, as English came into contact with non-Germanic languages, it invariably borrowed useful verbs which lacked established stem-change patterns. Rather than inventing and standardizing new classes or learning foreign conjugations, English speakers simply applied the weak ending to the foreign bases.

The linguistic trends of borrowing foreign verbs and verbalizing nouns have greatly increased the number of weak verbs over the last 1,200 years. Some verbs that were originally strong (for example help, holp, holpen) have become weak by analogy; most foreign verbs are adopted as weak verbs; and when verbs are made from nouns (for example "to scroll" or "to water") the resulting verb is weak. Additionally, conjugation of weak verbs is easier to teach, since there are fewer classes of variation. In combination, these factors have drastically increased the number of weak verbs, so that in modern English weak verbs are the most numerous and productive form, although occasionally a weak verb may turn into a strong verb through the process of analogy, such as sneak (originally only a noun), where snuck is an analogical formation rather than a survival from Old English.