Uchebnik_lakhotyuk_mikhaylova

(1) Discussion.

1.1You have been learning English for at least 6 years. You surely have got some experience in this field. Give your opinion about the following statements. Justify your answer.

1.You haven’t learnt English properly until you sound like a native speaker.

2.It doesn’t matter how many mistakes you make provided people understand you.

3.English has already become a lingua franca. This process will no doubt continue. Some people believe that in the 21-st century all other languages will die out.

4.If you want to learn English successfully you have to be familiar with British and American cultures.

1.2For you to be able to give a well-reasoned speech concerning questions 3 and 4 we’d like to give you some information about CULTURES.

(2) CULTURES

2.1 Discussion

2.1.1 Answer the questions:

1.What do you miss most about your country when you go abroad?

2.What do you understand by the word “culture”? Choose the four factors below which you think are the most important in creating a culture.

2.1.2 Try to give a definition of what culture is.

2.1.3 If you find it difficult, choose between the following. Which did you like best?

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I.Culture – the way of life, especially general customs and beliefs of a particular group of people at a particular time. Youth/working class/Russian/Roman/mass culture.

II.Culture. 1) Culture or a culture consists of the ideas, customs, and art that are produced or shared by a particular society (e.g. He was a fervent admirer of Roman and Greek culture … the great cultures of Japan and China. 2. A culture is a particular society or civilization, especially one considered in relation to its ideas, its art, or its way of life (e.g. the rich history of African civilizations and cultures).

III.Culture – the customs, civilization, and achievements of a particular time or people (e.g. He studied Chinese culture).

IV. Culture – the customs, beliefs, art, music, and all other products of human thought made by a particular group of people at a particular time ( ancient Greek culture, a tribal culture, pop culture).

The term Culture is taken from the technical vocabulary of anthropology wherein it embraces the entire way of life of members of a community insofar it is conditioned by that membership.

2.1. 4 Which words or combination of words do you repeatedly come across in the definitions above?

Actually, there are thousands of definitions of this word, the funniest as well as the most precise and universal being “Culture is what differs us from apes”. This is a joke. In fact, the most universal is a graphic model in the form of an iceberg where at the top is Culture with a capital letter, i.e. pieces of art

A greater above water part - behavioral culture: social customs and traditions adopted in a society, body language,

proximity

A hidden underwater part which, as everybody knows, is much larger (you can see it in the picture) represents pattern of thinking, mentality. (See Task 1 in Suppementary materials)

We suggest that you watch a disc concerning the problem of relationship between languages and society, languages and culture, languages and mind.

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(3) Video “LANGUAGE”

3.1 Pre-watching. Talking point.

1.A study of language can be problematic. Common thoughts are expressed using the myriad of words the world over. But are the words a real problem or is it the way they are put together? (We strongly recommend seeing Appendix 1 in Supplementary materials. Have some fun!)

2.What nationality do you prefer your teacher of English to be: a native speaker or Russian? Who can explain Grammar rules better? Which is more important: to have a rich vocabulary or to know Grammar rules perfectly well? What are your strategies for learning English?

3.Do you know that there are languages that don’t differentiate between Singular and Plural, don’t have the concept of Past Tense? Does it mean that people speaking these languages don’t have a conceptual distinction between now and what happened in the past, don’t see the difference between one thing and many things?

4.What is the reason for young people having their own language called slang? (See Appendix 2 in Supplementary materials).

5.In what way can the language divide people?

6.What does, in your opinion, a job of a linguist consist in?

3.2 While-watching. Let’s see how your answers correlate with the answers of well-known linguists:

1.Bernard Comrie, Max Planc Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology

2.Jeff Connor Linton, Georgetown University

3.Donald Stilo, Max Planc Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology

4.Matthew Dryer, State University of New York

5.David Gill, Max Planc Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology

3.3 Words and phrases to remember.

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3.5 Listen to Bernard Comrie and insert the words and expressions you hear on a cassette into blank spaces.

What I’ve really learnt __________ is just how many different ways and __________there are of __________ roughly the same thought, how it can be expressed __________ as you go from one language to another.

Also __________ is the way in which certain grammatical ______

have to be __________ in a particular language but __________ in some other language and __________. So, in English __________I have to make a decision is it going to be___________ .In a language like_________which__________of that kind I could just say_______ It could be any number. I find it interesting. English is not just a language

___________, but the language __________ in some ways. The structure of English says___________you have to distinguish Singular and Plural,

__________you have to distinguish Past Tense and Present Tense and you can’t get around and you can’t have something which is __________ across those.

3.6 Discussion.

·Is ambiguity (lack of structure) advantage or disadvantage of a language?

3.7 Listen to Jeff Connor Linton and answer the questions.

1.What does Jeff Connor Linton say about ambiguity?

2.Why do Malagassi people tend not to use proper names?

3.8. Put down definitions of the word ‘language’ you hear in the sequence.

What is the aim of historical linguistics?

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3.9 Insert the expressions missing

(1)__________man created a framework to understand the world. Until something is described using a common language (2)____________. Once it has been described, (3)__________.

3.10 Donald Stilo. Re-order the words to make up what Donald Stilo says about a relationship between language and culture.

·Each /which /is/ that/ culture/ language/ through/ its/ up/ in/ devised/ expressed/ /Universe/ different/ ways.

·It/ culture/ is/ drives/ that/ language.

3.11.1 Who says this? Match the statements with the speakers and comment on them.

1.An important thing to remember is that development of the language that started in the past hasn’t stopped. How does it go on? What influences development of the language?

2.Once people understood language could organize them for hunting they understood language could organize them to dominate over other groups. Which function of a language is meant by this? What other functions do you know?

3.Regardless of whether I want to impart genuine information to you or I want to deceive you, either way language has to use the same devices. Do you know any methods not to be cheated?

4.Comparative method shows the way in which languages of one language family can be derived from a single common ancestor. What else can it show?

There are 2 types of similarities:

1.genetic, through contact,

2._________________?

5.From a protolanguage you have a process of diversification and convergence of variety of languages through our history. Language develops to meet social needs.

What, do you think, modern tendencies of development are?

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We suggest you read a text called ‘Glocal English” in the Supplementary materials. How do you understand this term? What, do you think, this text will be about?

3.11.2 How do you understand this statement?

3.12 Donald Stilo. Watch an episode and decide which of the statements are True/False:

1.Native speakers can explain the difference why they use this word in this context and not another one (meaning the same).

2.If a native speaker says but can’t explain why you can use it here but can’t use it here there must be a rule which a linguist should find.

3.English and German don’t allow dropping a pronoun.

4.In Farsi they often drop an object pronoun. In Farsi there is a hierarchy of which object you can drop and which you can’t drop.

5.Hierarchy has to do with animatedness of a pronoun:

a)human objects are deleted the least b)animal objects are deleted the most c)unanimated objects are deleted in the middle

3.13

How did Donald Stilo find it out? What did he do to come to this conclusion?

Why is he called a linguist detective?

We describe how people speak and don’t tell them how to speak.

3.14 Listen to this excerpt and insert the words and expressions missing.

The strongest words survive.__________by which language changes are much the same as they were__________interaction with different cultures, tension__________, pressures__________.

3.15 David Gil, Max Planc University of Evolutionary Anthropology Fill in the blank spaces.

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1.A laptop computer has made_________ much more_________. It takes_______, a keen ear, and an____________to do this work __________. There are people who believe that__________language__________. If they know words they can speak a language and, of course __________ and even with the words_____________ if____________. So, for me, this is

__________ of_______more interesting than___________. It’s actually more difficult to notice___________potential____________.

2.The best weapon that the young have___________, the very___________It is a partially different code to show_____________.

3.16 After-watching.

(1)Could you give any concrete examples justifying the following statements?

·Language is a tool to meet social needs.

·Language is a reflection of culture and the Universe around us.

·The spoken word is a powerful tool that can divide people and unite.

(2)What is the reason for social class variation, gender variation of a language?

3.17 You’ve understood from a cassette that it is culture that drives the language, and namely: culture forms people’s consciousness and a unique picture of the world. It is an indisputable fact nowadays that you haven’t learnt language properly if you don’t know the culture of the country the language of which you are learning. What is meant by this?

1.Firstly, you should know conversational formulas, social customs and traditions adopted in a society, the distance at which people stand while speaking as language mistakes are easily forgiven ( people understand you are a foreigner ) whereas social mistakes are sometimes inexcusable. But it is not as simple as that.

2. Secondly, and more importantly you should strive for catching a glimpse over a hidden part of an iceberg, pattern of thinking, i.e. to understand the way words are put together in a foreign language. (That’s mostly grammar that shapes a pattern of thinking).

What do you already know about other cultures?

Is there such a thing as a national character? If so, what facts (historical and some others) influenced its formation and in what way?

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(4) Xenophobia

Xenophobia – an irrational fear of foreigners, probably justified, though always understandable.

4.1 Discussion.

1.Do you understand this feeling?

2.They say “East is a sophisticated thing” and ‘East and West will never meet’… or will they? Russia is a bridge between East and West. Where, do you think, our culture shock will be bigger: in the East or the West?

Would you be anxious about communicating with people if you had to go to:

-America, Europe, Australia?

-the Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Japan, China?

3.Why, do you think, cultural awareness is so important nowadays?

4.2 What do you think about these nations? How can you characterize them? Which adjectives from Vocabulary list below (4.3), do you think, go

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4.3 Read the following abstracts from a book called “Xenophobia’s guide to the Russians.’ That’s about how foreigners think we see them as well as we see ourselves. There are autostereotypes, i.e. how the nation thinks of itself, and heterostereotypes, i.e. how other nations think of it. They never coincide.

Xenophobia’s guide to the RUSSIANS

(from a book published by a British author at the dawn of perestroika)

HOW THE RUSSIANS SEE OTHER NATIONS

The Russians claim to be passionately interested in the rest of the world. They secretly fear that to others they may seem somehow less than perfectly civilized.

Despite their apparently deferential treatment of foreigners deep down Russians do not think highly of other nationalities and their attitude to foreigners is both defensive and aggressive.

Despite the rather poor record of the Germans this century (invading Russia, hanging men, women and children) the Russians regard the Germans with pity mixed with a grudging admiration. They rather respect them, and think of them as dependable and reliable. Order, application thoroughness,

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