Countries of the English language. Страны английского языка. Учебное пособие

1940: The Battle of Britain in the course of the World War II.

1945–1990es: Reconstruction and the Welfare state. 1952–2022: The rule of Elizabeth II.

1973–2020. Controlled participation in the European Union, including the 2016 Brexit referendum.

2023: Charles III coronation.

Task 1.3. Look through Table 1.1 that represents the periodisation of British history and answer the case study questions after it.

NOTE! Use this chart as a model for the homework about the next countries for discussion and study.

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Task 1.4. Case study questions.

1.What kind of relations existed between the Celtic and the Roman population of Britain in 1–4th centuries AD? Characterise them in 3–5 key words and explain your choice of them.

2.What kind of relations existed between the AngloSaxon population and the Vikings in the 8–10th centuries? Characterise them in 3–5 key words and explain your choice of them.

3.What were the reasons for Edward the Confessor to promise the English Crown to William of Normandy? Was this solution for the heirless king strategic for the people in England?

4. How can you explain the decline of the Norman – Plantagenet dynasty and the cessation of the French language dominance by the end of the 14th century? Give not less than 3 reasons.

5.What are the political and economic reasons for the Wars of the Roses? Who was the winner in this struggle? Give reasons for your answer.

6.Why were the monarchs of the Tudor dynasty dealing with the problems of the Christian church Reformation? Specify the problems of the church which influenced the foreign policies of the Tudor monarchs.

7.How did the religious solutions of the Tudor monarchs trigger the religious and political unrest in the 17th century, during the rule of the Stuart dynasty? How did the religious

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matters transform into the political struggle between Parliament and the Stuart kings?

8.What were the consequences of the Glorious Revolution for the monarchy in the 18th century? How did the Glorious Revolution lead to the change of dynasty from the Stuarts to the Hanoverians?

9.Why didn’t the German language native to the Hanoverian dynasty become the dominant language of Great Britain, like it happened in the 11th century with the French speaking Norman dynasty?

10.What are the distinct features of the Georgian and Victorian eras in the history of Britain? Speak about both differences and similarities.

11.How can you estimate the role of Great Britain in the World Wars I and II? Can you explain why the British Empire stopped its existence in the second half of the 20th century?

12.With what other monarchs in British history can you compare the rule of Elizabeth II? Give reasons for your answer. Name the outstanding Prime Ministers of the period from 1939 to 2000, explain your choice.

Task 1.5. Read Text 1.2, write out new words with translations, retell the text.

Text 1.2. The UK Government

The UK is a constitutional monarchy, this means that a monarch acts as Head of State. In the UK the monarch acts on the advice of the Prime Minister. The UK is a parliamentary democracy where the elected British Government, the head of which is the Prime Minister, holds executive power.

Two chambers of British Parliament exercise legislative power: the lower chamber – the House of Commons – made up of 650 elected regional Members of Parliament (MP); and the upper chamber – the House of Lords – made up of a mixture of appointed and hereditary peers. Unlike with elected MPs, the number of members in the House of Lords is not fixed.

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Task 1.6. Find out about the reformation of the number of lords and members of the British Royal family and the current number of peers in the House of Lords in britannica.com.

Task 1.7. Prepare a report about: the parliamentary elections in Britain; the history of the so called “rotten boroughs”; the parliamentary parties of Britain. Use the information from britannica.com.

Task 1.8. Read Text 1.3, write out new words with translations, retell the text.

Text 1.3. The UK Economy Overview

Great Britain is a leading trading power and financial centre, is one of the largest economies in Europe. The UK agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with less than 2% of the labour force. Main agricultural products are cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables produced in the Southern areas; while cattle and sheep growing as well as poultry flourish in the Northern parts of the country. Fishing is a notable part of British agricultural industries, as the country is surrounded by seas.

Great Britain has coal, natural gas, and oil resources, but these reserves are declining. Britain has been a net importer of energy since 2005. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, are key drivers of British GDP growth. Manufacturing, meanwhile, has declined in importance but still accounts for about 10% of economic output. After the period of being the World’s Workshop in the late 19th century during the 2nd period of the British Empire, the country still boasts such industries as shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, machine tools and electric power equipment production. Britain manufactures automation equipment, railroad equipment, electronics and communications equipment, textiles, clothing, and other consumer goods. The processing of metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and food is also a part of British industry.

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In 2010s the global financial crisis hit the economy particularly hard, due to the importance of its financial sector. Falling home prices, high consumer debt, and the global economic slowdown compounded the UK’s economic problems, pushing the economy into recession. Facing burgeoning public deficits and debt levels, the government initiated an austerity program. Great Britain’s economy has begun to slow since the referendum vote to leave the European Union in 2016. Brexit finished in 2020, the country now faces a sustained depreciation of the British pound, increased consumer, and producer prices.

Task 1.9. Prepare a description of the UK national symbols: the flag, the coat of arms, the national anthem, etc. Explain their historical meaning. Use britannica.com and recommended literature in Appendixes 1 and 2 to get the information.

Task 1.10. Prepare a presentation on British culture: a popular writer / singer / artist / public figure / celebrity, etc.

Task 1.11. Find any popular stereotypes about Britain and the British, for example, British humour and understatement. Discuss the stereotypes in your group. Are the stereotypes true or false? Can you support you point of view by examples? Can stereotypes help understand British culture?

2. IRELAND

Task 2.1. Read Text 2.1, write out new words with translations, retell the text.

Text 2.1. A General Overview of Ireland

Celtic tribes arrived on the island of Ireland between 600 and 150 B.C. Invasions by Norsemen that began in the late 8th century were finally ended, when King Brian Boru defeated the Danes in 1014. Norman invasions began in the 12th century and set off more than seven centuries of Anglo-Irish struggle marked by fierce rebellions and harsh repressions. The Irish

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famine of the mid-19th century was responsible for a drop in the island’s population by more than one quarter through starvation, disease, and emigration. For more than a century afterward, the population of the island continued to fall only to begin growing again in the 1960s. Over the last 50 years, Ireland’s high birth rate has made it demographically one of the youngest populations in the European Union to which it belongs since 1973.

The modern Irish state traces its origins to the failed 1916 Easter Monday Uprising that galvanised nationalist sentiments in religious matters and fostered a guerrilla war between Catholics and Protestants resulting in independence from the UK in 1921, when the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the creation of the Irish Free State were signed. The treaty was deeply controversial in Ireland in part because it helped solidify the partition of Ireland, with six of the island’s 32 counties remaining in the UK as Northern Ireland. The split between pro-Treaty and an- ti-Treaty partisans led to the Irish Civil War (1922–1923). The traditionally dominant political parties in Ireland, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, are de facto descendants of the opposing sides of the treaty debate.

Deep sectarian divides between the Catholic and Protestant populations and continuous discrimination in Northern Ireland erupted into years of violence known as the “Troubles” that began in the 1960s. In 1998, the governments of Ireland and Great Britain, along with most political parties in Northern Ireland, reached the Belfast / Good Friday Agreement with the support of the USA. This agreement helped end the “Troubles” and initiated a new phase of cooperation between the Irish and British Governments. Ireland was neutral in World War II and continues its policy of military neutrality. The population of the country speaks English and Irish, or Gaelic / Gaeilge, which is widespread mainly in areas along the western coast.

Task 2.2. Read Text 2.2, find out the meaning of the new words, and retell.

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Text 2.2. The Government of Ireland

The island of Ireland is divided into four provinces: Ulster, Connacht, Leinster and Munster. Within these four provinces there are 32 counties. 26 of these counties make up the Republic of Ireland, while 6 counties in Ulster remained within the United Kingdom after the 1916–1922 independence struggle to form Northern Ireland.

De jure Ireland left the British Dominion in 1949 when the country declared itself a republic with the capital in Dublin, in contrast to other British Commonwealth Royal Realms that have the same type of governmental organisation as Great Britain. The Irish republic is a parliamentary democracy with the Constitution promulgated in 1937.

The head of state is the president (uachtara|n), elected directly by the public for a term of seven years and eligible for reelection for a second term. The president normally acts on the advice of the government but also consults an advisory Council of State. The president signs bills passed by the Irish parliament Oireachtas.

The bicameral parliament, Oireachtas, consists of the Da|il, or the house of representatives, and the Seanad E}ireann, or Senate. Chief legislative power is centred in the 158-member Da|il.

Executive power is vested in the prime minister, who heads the cabinet and presides over its meetings. The prime minister, the deputy prime minister (ta|naiste), and the minister for finance must be members of the Da|il. This model corresponds to the British tradition, where the legislative and executive powers are blended in the parliament.

Task 2.3. Using Text 2.1 and Table 2.1 on British history as an example, prepare a list of main events in the history of Ireland. For additional information read An Illustrated History of Britain, pp. 5, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15,19–21, 31–32, 43, 76–77, 90, 93, 96–97, 104, 113, 143, 149–150, 153, 163–164, 175. For more details see: localhistories.org/a-brief-history-of-ireland/; britannica.com.

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Use the given example in Table 2.1 as a model for your own chart of Irish history. Complete the empty cells in Table 2.1.

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Task 2.4. Using Table 2.1 above answer the case study questions.

1.What are the political and religious reasons for the many centuries long Anglo-Irish struggle?

2.Why is the figure of king Brian Boru so important for the history of Ireland? What are his key achievements?

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