A World We Live In - Unit2

Discuss the following problems and topics with a partner.

1.My Experience in Learning Foreign Languages: -When did you start learning English?

-Do languages come easy to you?

-What can you say about your progress in language study over the years?

-What do you find most difficult about learning English?

-Why is the study of the geography, history, literature and art of the country essential to the language learner?

-Would you agree with the statement that learning a foreign language is, in fact, learning another way of thinking as well?

2. A Perfect Command of English:

-What is your idea of a perfect command of the English language?

-Can you say there is any such thing even with regard to your mother tongue? -What level of performance do you hope to achieve by the end of your course of

language study?

-How well do you understand spoken English? -What can you say about your fluency?

-What subjects can you discuss in English?

-How do you use your knowledge of the language in your studies?

3.Language study is an essential part of a person’s education.

4.There are very few jobs for which languages as such are any qualification. Language study should be combined with the study of economics, law, physics, etc.

5.The pitfalls in the way of the language learner and how to avoid them.

6.Your advice to the beginner.

7.People retain things better if they learn them actively and if they work things out for themselves.

8.You have to learn about language to use it effectively.

9.Everything in a language class should be conducted in the target language.

10.Language learning should involve real tasks and real communication.

Role Play

Teacher of English.

I think we should concentrate our attention upon the learners rather than focussing on the words and structures of the teaching them and testing their acquisition by learners. In what would they need to use a language other than their mother tongue? For what purposes? In what situations? How would they need to act in order to communicate with other Europeans, whether through written texts and audio-visual media at a distance? What knowledge and skills would they need to communicate effectively?

The process of language learning should become learner-oriented and learning should be seen as a life-long process.

A University student of English.

In the last analysis all education is self-education. Learning a language is self-learning. Self-learning is supported by will power. No human activity, be it work or study, can be performed without will power.

Today, the first need among universities everywhere, is learning power, which is native ability plus the will to learn. An able person, intellectually inquiring, reflective and industrious-with learning power can make himself educated, cultivated, and wise in this era of public libraries, computers, travellings. A great teacher can speed the process. But if learning power is not there, the greatest teaching is only of partial value. A student cannot be lifted beyond the limits of his/her ability.

German linguist,

English is mixing with and marrying other languages around the world. Sometimes the

‘borrowed’ words and phrases remain intact: other times they blend with local languages into new words and pronunciations. Snobbery accounts for some of the borrowing.

English has become the prestige world language, primarily because of the media. The foreign correspondent based in Washington hears a new American political term and uses it in his report. The new word often sticks, especially with the young.

My daughter will tell you she doesn’t speak English, but sometimes when I hear her talk, I could swear she is not talking German either.

Governments in Bonn and Paris have tried to eliminate English words - with mixed success. In fact, it’s beginning to look as though the language which remains untouched by the year 2000. So many French and Germans casually and constantly mix English words with their native tongues that the resulting hybrids are called Franglais and Denglisch.

Historian.

English is spoken by over a billion people around the world: in other words, by more than a quarter of the worlds population. It is spoken as a mother tongue in the UK, in former colonies such as Australia and New Zealand, and of course, by the vast majority of the North American population. It is a second or official language in most of the former Empire, for example, Ghana and Singapore, and of course, it is studied as a foreign language all over the world, but particularly in Europe now. This has made it a truly international language: it is the language of shipping and aviation, of science and technology, and of commerce. But how did the language spoken by the population of a small island in the Northern Hemisphere reach such widespread use?

I think that for many language learners English turns out too difficult. Why not create a new language of international.

Educationist.

It is very important to find an effective method of learning a language. I think that Communicative Approach has many advantages. Probably it is the most common approach in English language teaching at the moment . It can be combined with other methods in order to make the learning more communicative. The idea behind it is that most students want to learn to communicate in a language, either orally or in writing and to do so they should perform communicative tasks in order to learn to use the language. Therefore, tasks and situations are set up in the classroom which enable the students to communicate in a way that emulates real life use of language.

There are some other methods which can be successful for some types of language learners. Some people may be suited to one method rather than another. I know such methods as Grammar Translation, Direct and Community Language Learning.

Teacher of French (England)

The British have always been the linguistic laggards, and to an extent they still are. The British (with the possible exception of the Irish) are the worst linguists in Europe, closely followed by the French. But until now there has been little statistical evidence to support this.

Where the British fall down is in their ability to make use of the teaching they receive. Of the 80 per cent of pupils, who learned French, only 31 per cent claim to be able to speak it well enough to conduct a conversation. This compares with 53 per cent of young French people who are able to take part in an English conversation.

I think British schools turn out poor linguists because language teaching plays a smaller part in the school curriculum than in any other EC country. Moreover, language teaching at the primary level is virtually non-existent in the UK. Until language teaching is given as large a place in the school curriculum (including at primary level) as on the Continent, the linguistic skills of the British will continue to be inferior.

Probably, the British don’t think they have to learn languages as other nations can

speak English very well.

Interpreter.

Job opportunities for language students are not great. For most students who plan to make a career out of languages, translating and interpreting would probably come top of the list of occupations.

Interpreting suits outgoing types of people, while translation is for their more introverted colleagues. For either career you will need a degree in your chosen language, plus a post-graduate linguistic qualification and, if possible, some relevant work experience.

The paradox is that for many students who graduate in modern languages each year, linguistic abilities will play no more than a secondary role in their careers. With the imminent arrival of the single market, languages are becoming an invaluable asset in many jobs, especially in fields such as marketing and tourism.

To put a language to good use, there is another option: teaching.

The more people learn languages, the less interpreters and translators will be needed.

But now I’m having much work. Though in the near future, with electronic interpreting and translating I’ll have to think about a different job.