Лингвострановедение. Практикум. Задания для самостоятельной работы. Учебное пособие по английскому языку для студентов, обучающихся по программе бакал

BRITISH AND LOCAL CULTURE

England, Britain or the UK?

First — Do you know where you live? England, Britain or the UK? These terms are often used interchangeably, however they all mean different things. Although it is unlikely that anybody will take offence if you use the wrong term, you should know the difference:

the UK — United Kingdom. Made up of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (sometimes called Ulster);

great Britain — made up of England, Wales and Scotland; england — one of the 4 countries that make up the UK.

Each of the four countries — England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales — has its own unique history, culture and, in some cases, laws. Each country also has its own flag and patron saint — you‟ll notice each of these saints has a special day and there are usually celebrations.

Cultural issues

The UK is a multi-cultural society so there is not too much that you need to worry about. Probably the most important is that the British are a very polite nation and will expect you to be the same. You should say please if you want something and thank you if you receive something. If you wish to interrupt someone, you should say excuse me and if you accidentally walk into someone then you should say sorry. When you are in a restaurant or waiting at a bar you should never click your fingers for attention — if you do then you might find that you are ignored completely for the rest of the evening.

You will notice a lot of differences in the way British people speak and behave — this can also vary from town to town!

SOME OF THE MORE OBVIOUS ONES YOU WILL ENCOUNTER

Accents

You will encounter many different accents while living in the UK. After a while you will get used to the local accent and will understand it better. If you do not understand what someone is saying, ask if they can repeat themselves slowly. Do not be surprised if other people ask you to do the same, after all, yours will be a new accent for many locals! Do not feel embarrassed or uncomfortable when you do not understand someone — this is completely normal (often, British people will have difficulty understanding another British accent!).

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If you want to know more about the way local people speak and the local dialects, BBC’s Voices 2005 in Staffordshire can take you through the

History of the Potteries Dialect and give you a taste of the different accents in Staffordshire.

Queuing

The British are generally very polite and orderly and so whenever more that one person wishes to do something — buy and item in a shop, take money out of a cash machine (ATM) or wait for a bus — it is acceptable to stand in a queue, behind the person who arrived before you. It is considered rude and very bad mannered to queue-jump or push in — to stand in front of someone who was already in a queue.

Football

It will come as no surprise that the English are fanatical about football (known in some countries as Soccer). To a lot of people, it is much more than a hobby — it is an obsession! People can be extremely proud of their local team. Be careful not to say anything bad about someone‟s chosen football team — it can be taken offensively. In the English football league, there are four divisions: the Premiership, the Championship, League 1 and League 2.

There are 2 major football teams in Staffordshire, Stoke City and Port Vale. Football matches are played mainly on Saturdays (the kick off is usually 15:00) and one day during the week (the kick off is usually 19:45).

Tea

It is not just a stereotype — the British really do drink lots of tea! However, in Staffordshire, tea can be used to describe the evening meal.

Oatcakes and Pikelets

These cereal-based food items are local to Staffordshire, particularly Stoke. Oatcakes are soft, flat and round, similar to a pancake. They can be eaten sweet or savoury and usually the filling is rolled up in the oatcake and eaten with your hands.

Pikelets are smaller than oatcakes with lots of holes in the top. They can sometimes contain fruit such as sultanas and raisins. They are eaten toasted or grilled, often with butter and/or jam.

Fish and Chips

This is a traditional, typically British takeaway meal consisting of a piece of fish (usually cod, plaice or haddock), coated in batter and deep fried and wrapped in paper. It is served with deep fried potatoes — chips.

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Going Out (drinking)

You will find that many British students will go out socially for a drink or go dancing two to three times a week. Popular places for this on campus are the Students‟ Union bars. It is perfectly acceptable for you to go into a bar and not drink alcohol — there are many alternative soft drinks available.

Places of Attractions in Staffordshire

If you want to get out of the University and have some day trips, BBC website has a list of 70 places of attraction for you to enjoy in Staffordshire. You will not be bored.

Faith and religion

The University is a multicultural and multifaith community. We provide a very supportive environment. For details of multifaith support, please go to the Multifaith Chaplaincy.

Common UK Phrases

Certain English language terms can mean more than one thing in different parts of the UK. To help you understand us a bit better, this is a list of phrases and words you may hear when you arrive. Meanings of certain words can change slightly depending on the area of the UK where you live.

You may well have heard a number of these already, but we thought we‟d give you a flavour of the terms used typically in the Staffordshire area as well as around the country!

Ace — If something is „ace‟ it is brilliant or really good.

Bank Holiday — There are about 8 in total spread throughout the year, and they are official holidays that most people in the UK have as a day off from work.

Bear With Me — if someone says this to you, they are asking you to wait a short time until they can help you. They may also say „Can you hold on a minute‟.

Brolly — Is short for umbrella. An essential item in England!

Catch — In the UK, we often say we are going to „catch the bus‟ or „catch the train‟. Don‟t worry, we just mean that we are going to get on the bus or train!

Cheerio — A friendly way of saying goodbye.

Cheers — A word used when drinking with friends. It can also mean

„thank-you‟.

Christian name — This is your first name, the name that you want people to address you by.

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Dear — If something is „dear‟ it is expensive.

Duck — Don‟t be alarmed if someone calls you a duck! This is a friendly term used by people in Staffordshire, often tagged onto the end of sentences.

Other variations throughout the country include „pet‟, „love, and „sugar‟.

Fortnight — This is a quick way of saying two weeks.

Give us a bell — Another way of saying call me on the telephone. You often hear people use the word „us‟ to mean „me‟.

Give me a ring — This also means call me on the telephone. Grub — Means food, although it can also be an insect.

Gutted — People will often say they are „gutted‟ when disappointed about something. However, it is often used when the issue isn‟t too serious.

Hiya — Short for hi there, a friendly way of saying „hello‟.

It’s your round — If this is said to you, then it‟s your turn to buy the drinks!

Jammy — Means you are really lucky. Kip — A short sleep.

Left, right and centre — A phrase used to mean you‟ve been looking all over for something.

Mate — This is another word for friend. Although the same as duck, it can also be tagged on the end of sentences as a friendly term.

Nice one — If this is said to you, it means you have done a good job. Not my cup of tea — this is an alternative way of saying that something

is not to your liking.

Nowt — Means nothing.

Off colour — Another way of saying you‟re not feeling very well.

Pear shaped — Means something has gone wrong, „its all gone pear shaped‟.

Piece of cake — If someone says to you that a particular task is a piece of cake, they are telling you that it is really easy.

Porkies — Is another word for lies. When someone it not telling the truth, It is a form of rhyming slang.

Quid — A pound in money can also be called a quid.

Shambles — If something is a shambles it‟s a real mess.

Shirty — Means that someone is getting bad tempered.

Ta — is short for „thanks‟.

Uni — Short for university.

Waffle — Means to keep talking on about nothing.

You’re Kidding! — Usually said in disbelief, when you are asking if something is really true.

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TEXT 2

AMERICANS DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH

By Pamela N Red

If you‟ve spent any amount of time talking to a person from the United

Kingdom and you are from America or vice versa, it soon becomes evident that we do not speak the same language. I‟ve seen arguments in forums between people on either side of the big pond due to silly misunderstandings because of language barriers.

Because of this I believe change is needed. Instead of saying we speak English in America we need to call it what it is: American.

Here are a few differences that many aren‟t aware of:

In America we put things like groceries and jumper cables in the trunk of our car but in England they call this a boot.

Americans call the cover on the front of our car that protects the engine and battery a hood but in England it is the bonnet.

In America if someone is pissed they are angry. In England if someone is pissed they are drunk.

In America during a heavy rain we might say it is raining cats and dogs but in England it is pissing. They seem to have a thing for piss.

If someone in England says they knocked someone up it means they went to that person‟s home and knocked on the door. In America knocked up means a man got a woman pregnant. I‟m sure a recent film confused a few

English citizens.

A fanny in America is a person‟s buttocks; in England it is a woman‟s genitals. As you might imagine they find our fanny packs quite amusing.

When writing a statement in America we end a sentence with a period but in England it's called a „full stop‟.

TEXT 3

I HAD NO IDEA WHAT SOME OF THESE AMERICAN WORDS WERE

By Pamela N Red

In England a biscuit is what Americans call a cookie and a scone is a biscuit. And for you southern boys and girls you can‟t get biscuits and gravy in the UK and if you ask for it you will get some interesting looks. Why on earth would you want some white sauce on your cookie?

Pants in the US are trousers in the UK. Panties are knickers and garter belt are suspenders.

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In America a bum is a vagrant/homeless person but in England it is your butt.

In England a fag is a cigarette; in America it is a derogatory term for a homosexual.

What Americans call French fries the English call chips and they eat them with a fork and knife instead of their fingers. Actually, those silly English eat everything with a fork and knife with both in each hand throughout the meal; unless they are eating Chinese food, which they always eat with chopsticks.

In England if you ask for a restroom they will think you are tired. If however you need to relieve yourself you should ask for the loo. This is short for Waterloo a maker of toilets. Lavatory is a more formal request for the men‟s or lady‟s room.

A couple readers commented that „loo‟ is an informal term and in public most English refer to it as a toilet. In America we call them restroom, men's room or ladies room in public. Saying toilet is thought of as uncouth in the U.S.

On the other hand when English come to America and ask for the loo people here assume they are looking for a man named Lou and need his last name in order to help you find him.

In America if you are stuffed you are full of food but in England if you are stuffed you are pregnant.

In America some might say they are going out for a puff, meaning to smoke but in England a puff or poof is a gay man.

Slang for policeman in some areas of England is horny and, well you know what it means here in the states.

TEXT 4

BODY LANGUAGE

How to read body language signs and gestures — non-verbal communications — male and female, for work, social, dating, and mating relationships

Body Language is a significant aspect of modern communications and relationships.

Body Language is therefore very relevant to management and leadership, and to all aspects of work and business where communications can be seen and physically observed among people.

Body language is also very relevant to relationships outside of work, for example in dating and mating, and in families and parenting.

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Communication includes listening. In terms of observable body language, non-verbal (non-spoken) signals are being exchanged whether these signals are accompanied by spoken words or not.

Body language goes both ways:

1.Your own body language reveals your feelings and meanings to others.

2.Other people‟s body language reveals their feelings and meanings to you. The sending and receiving of body language signals happens on con-

scious and unconscious levels.

‘Body language is the unconscious and conscious transmission and interpretation of feelings, attitudes, and moods, through:

body posture, movement, physical state, position and relationship to other bodies, objects and surroundings;

facial expression and eye movement,

(and this transmission and interpretation can be quite different to the spoken words)’.

Words alone — especially emotional words (or words used in emotional situations) — rarely reflect full or true meaning and motive.

We find clues to additional or true meaning in body language. Being able to „read‟ body language therefore helps us greatly:

1)to know how people feel and what they mean;

2)to understand better how people might be perceiving our own nonverbal signals, and (often overlooked);

3)to understand ourselves better, deeper than the words we hear ourselves saying.

The six universal facial expressions — recognized around the world

It is now generally accepted that certain basic facial expressions of human emotion are recognized around the world ― and that the use and recognition of these expressions is genetically inherited rather than socially conditioned or learned.

While there have been found to be minor variations and differences among obscurely isolated tribes-people, the following basic human emotions are generally used, recognized, and part of humankind‟s genetic character.

These emotional face expressions are: happiness;

sadness;

fear;

disgust;

surprise;

anger.

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BODY LANGUAGE IN DIFFERENT CULTURES

Here are some brief pointers concerning body language variations and gestures in cultures which differ from Western (US/UK notably) behaviour.

People in/from parts of India may to shake their head from side to side as a sign of agreement and active listening. In the UK/west we tend to nod our head to agree and affirm and to show we are listening; in India it is not unusual for people to move their heads from side to side in giving these reactions. It is also seen as respectful practice. (Thanks S. Churchill. Incidentally on this point, sideways head-shaking of this sort is not a vigorous twisting movement; it is usually more of a sideways tilting of the head from one side to the other.)

This point (thanks R. Fox) concerns eye contact. Eye contact (other than unwanted staring) is generally regarded as a positive aspect of body language in Western cultures, which in this context typically refers to white European people and descendents. A specific difference regarding eye contact can be found in some black Caribbean cultures however, whereby young people tend to be instructed not look at someone eye to eye when being told off or disciplined. When cultures meet obviously this provides potential for friction, given the „Western‟ expectation in such situations, for example, „Look at me when I‟m talking to you‟.

Filipino people (and in fact many other people of all races) can find it offensive/uncomfortable when beckoned by a repeatedly curled index finger ― the gesture evokes feelings of having done something wrong and being chastised for it.

In some Australian Aboriginal cultures, it is disrespectful to look an elder, or person of a rank above you, in the eyes. It is a sign of respect to drop your eyes, (whereas in Western culture not meeting somebody‟s gaze is commonly considered to be a negative sign, indicating deceit, lying, lack of attention, lack of confidence, etc).

In Arab countries the thumbs-up gesture is rude. Showing the soles of the feet is insulting/rude in many Asian and Arab cultures, especially pointing the foot or feet at anyone. Feet are considered „inferior‟ parts of the body compared with the dignity of the face. In Arab culture the left hand and right hands have religious connotations which generally dictate that the left hand is not used for touching (for example shaking hands) or eating. Arab handshaking tends to be more frequent and less firm ― on meeting and departing, even several times in the same day.

The eyebrow flash may be considered rude or to carry sexual connotations in Japanese culture. Informal male-female touching is less common and can be considered improper in Japan.

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The American-style „OK‟ sign ― a circle made with thumb and indexfinger with other fingers fanned or outstretched ― is a rude gesture in some cultures, notably Latin America, Germany and the Middle East.

Beckoning gestures in Eastern cultures are commonly made with the palm down, whereas Western beckoning is generally palm up.

The offensive British/Western two-fingered V-sign is not necessarily offensive in Japan and may be considered positive like the Western palmoutwards „victory‟ or „peace‟ V-sign in the West.

In some countries, Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria for example, moving the head up/down or from side to side may have additional or different meanings to those conventionally interpreted in the UK/US. Specifically, in Turkey, aside from using conventional (US/UK-style) head nodding and shaking, some people may also signal „no‟ by moving their head up.

In Japan the male bow is still commonly used, when the depth of the bow increases with the amount of respect shown, and is therefore a signal of relative status between two people.

In The Netherlands people touch the temple with the index finger in order to indicate someone (or an action) is smart or intelligent. Touching the forehead with the index finger means someone (or an action) is stupid or crazy. In Russia these meanings are reversed.

BODY LANGUAGE GLOSSARY (EXTRACT)

This is not an exhaustive collection of body language terminology ― just a summary of the main and most interesting definitions.

Absorbed actions — actions stimulated through unconscious mirroring. Active listening — listening very attentively and empathizing and re-

flecting back understanding through body language and usually words too. Adaptors — small signals given when anxious or when behaving in a

way that does not comfortably match the feelings, for example lip-biting or face-touching, which are self-comforting signals.

American leg cross — the „American‟ or „Figure-4‟ leg cross entails the supporting leg being crossed just above the knee by the ankle or lower calf of the crossing leg. This makes a figure-4 shape, hence the name. The posture is called the American leg cross because of its supposed popularity in the US compared to the UK, notably among males.

Asymmetric/asymmetry — describing gestures or facial expressions, especially a smile, that are not symmetrical (equal on both sides), which tends to indicate incongruence or a mixed signal and not what it might initially seem to mean.

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Auto-contact — describing self-touching gestures and actions. Back-channel signals — positive body language reactions to a speaker. Baton signals — gestures which reinforce the rhythm of speech. Barrier — describing signals in which the hands or arms or a table, or

adjusting clothing, etc., form a defence or obstruction between two people, such a folded arms.

Buttress stance — weight bearing leg is straight, while the front leg is forward, usually with the foot pointing outwards from the body. Regarded as a signal of reluctance or readiness to depart.

Cognitive dissonance — conflicting understanding or feelings — cognition is understanding things through thought; dissonance is disharmony or conflict. This is a widely used term in psychology and the effect arises very commonly in relationships and communications. Conflicting body language signals can sometimes indicate this attitude or reaction in a person.

Denial — signals of denial effectively undo or contradict more conscious typically false or manufactured body language, thereby betraying true feeling or motive.

Displacement — a stress signal typically prompted by suppression of natural reaction due to fear or other inhibition, for example biting fingernails, picking at finger(s) or thumb.

Distraction — signalling prompted by stress, usually quite inappropriate to the needs of the situation, for example stretching and relaxing, or pausing to take a drink when an emergency arises.

Emotional intelligence — also known as EQ, Emotional Intelligence is based on „feeling intelligence‟ (rather than IQ ― Intelligence Quotient ― based on logical intelligence), and the capability to understand and communicate with others very empathically, which requires awareness of emotional behaviour and ability to deal with people sensitively.

Emphatic/emphasizing gestures — gestures which reinforce the meaning of spoken words, e.g., jabbing fingers, weighing hands.

Eye flash — a sudden direct glance to attract attention or warn, usually followed by some other more specific signal.

Eyebrow flash — quickly raising and lowering both eyebrows ― typically in greetings, recognition, acknowledgement, or surprise. An eyebrow flash can therefore also be a signal of positive interest.

Eye shrug — upwards eye-roll signalling frustration.

Face frame — framing the face with the hands to hold or attract listeners‟ attention.

Index finger — first finger of the hand ― usually the most dominant and dexterous finger, hence used mostly in pointing gestures.

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