Методический комментарий

Учебное пособие предназначено для студентов I и II курсов факультета философии и социальных наук и факультета журналистики. Пособие состоит из двух частей.

Первая часть «Recognizing Cultural Differences: reading, speaking, writing» представляет собой подборку текстов и заданий к ним, цель которых ознакомить студентов с проблематикой кросскультурологии, дать им представление о специфике понятий «национальный характер», «межкультурная компетенция» и «язык межкультурной коммуникации» и, тем самым, активизировать их мышление на поиск оптимальных коммуникативных стратегий для осуществления эффективного общения в этнически разнообразной среде.

Знание таких стратегий и владение ими – необходимый компонент обучения иностранному языку сегодня. Данному компоненту уделяется значимое место в программе курса «иностранный язык в вузе» и, в частности, в таком структурном элементе курса как «общий английский».

Следует отметить также, что данная проблематика является неотъемлемой частью структурного элемента курса «английский для специальных целей» для студентов таких специальностей как «информация и коммуникация», «психология» и «международная журналистика». На этом основании мы рекомендуем две стратегии работы с данной частью учебного пособия: глубокую проработку материала для студентов вышеназванных специальностей и выборочное ее прохождение для студентов других специальностей (с учетом того количества часов, которые можно выделить данному материалу в рамках модуля «общий английский» (General English). В частности данное пособие можно рекомендовать как дополнительный материал к учебнику Л. В. Хведчени «Highlights».

Вторая часть пособия ориентирована на развитие навыков и умений аудирования и может быть использована как в рамках «общего английского», так и «английского для специальных целей». В частности, в эту часть пособия включены материалы для обучения аудированию всех тематических блоков, которые заявлены в программе курса, а именно, «межличностные отношения», «внешность человека» и др. Также включен ряд тематических блоков, которые актуализированы в направлении «английский для специальных целей», т. е. «трудоустройство», «модели речевого поведения» и др. Материал подготовлен таким образом, чтобы предварительно настроить студентов на аудирование с учетом его целевой установки, что будет способствовать оптимизации процесса обучения аудированию, а также осуществлению контроля за результатом данного процесса.

Материалы для аудирования составлены с соблюдением принципа постепенного усложнения аудитивного материала, с учетом разного уровня подготовки студентов, принципа преемственности, коммуникативности, а также мотивации студентов и целостности учебного процесса, ибо данные материалы логически вписаны в структуру учебной деятельности студентов на уроках английского языка.

Introduction

Actual live communication with foreigners is a constant intercultural contact. In the modern world the problem of understanding between different peoples is extremely urgent and topical, because conflicts of cultures determined by different historical, political, social development may lead to misunderstanding, mistakes, that is – to social conflicts. That is why it is so important to learn as much as possible about cultural peculiarities, forms of communications and taboos of the different communities.

It is essential to establish and develop international and intercultural links with other countries of the world’s community. This need for cross-cultural contact is dictated by obvious economical, political and other reasons.

Rapid advances in technology and international transportation shrink the world. That’s why contacts across cultural and national boundaries will increase. People are now more mobile than ever. They travel from country to country and from continent to continent for both business and pleasure.

As intercultural communication opportunities are likely to increase, so opportunities for misunderstandings and misinterpretations can also increase. Unfortunately, the language barrier is not the last in communication between different peoples, behind it stands cultural barrier. Indeed, cultural differences frequently complicate international relationships. People can mistakenly assume that they know a country and its culture by creating stereotypes. Thus, stereotypes and generalizations can be hurdles to cross-cultural understanding. Trying to look at each culture without prejudice is the key to mutual comprehension.

It’s no doubt that efficient communication can be achieved only through a combination of both knowledge of the language and knowledge of the culture.

This book meets the needs of teachers, first-year and second-year students of journalism, philosophy and social sciences in the course the English language studies (English for Special Purposes) on the topic of intercultural communication. It mainly focuses on providing material for development and improvement of the learner’s skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening based on the authentic texts.

Generally the book presupposes 20-30 hours of class activities, but it can be adapted to suit different individual needs and different teaching programmes. The way it has been arranged in terms of units, each containing basic and optional materials, gives teachers and students some flexibility in the process of study. Texts, which are considered to be basic are marked by the (*) sign and are compulsory for studying.

First part of the book is structured into three units, besides it has a supplement containing texts for out-of-class reading. Each unit includes a list of basic vocabulary terms, which is followed by an achievement test. All the texts in the book are provided with a number of speaking, reading and writing activities in and outside the classroom. A special focus is done on the students’ self-work in terms of studying the module “Intercultural Communication”. It contains a wide list of topics for project-writing or essay-writing to meet the interests of both students and teachers.

The second part of the book is intended for pre-intermediate and intermediate students. It is designed to help the learners develop their listening skills and acquire the ability to understand English speech.

According to the number of topics covered in it, this part contains 6 units. The units include recordings the number of which is varied in each unit.

The internal structure of each unit is the same and includes the following tasks: topic preview, pre-listening, listening proper and after-listening.

The listening part is based on authentic recordings of different forms, types and varieties of speech: monologue, dialogue, story telling, informal conversation and interview.

Pre-listening. Each recording has a vocabulary list to be studied before listening. There may be other pre-listening activities like reading an advertisement, examining a chart (table) or simply discussing a problem.

Listening. This is subdivided into two stages. The students’ main objective at the first stage of listening (extensive listening) involves listening to larger chunks of text in order to understand the gist. The focus here is on content rather than language.

The second stage of listening (intensive listening) concentrates more closely on the language used.

Activities here include listening for specific words and phrases and understanding fast unclear speech with interruptions. In these sections teachers should not be afraid of suddenly stopping the cassette and replaying a few words or phrases several times for close listening.

Language focus. These exercises will focus students’ attention on particular language features.

Follow-up activities. These are various speaking activities linked to the topic of the Unit. They show how much of the information and language of the recording can be used by the students in similar situations.

The first part of the book is composed by Y. Aleinikova, the second – by L. Volkovinskaya and E. Makarova.

The authors hope that in the present book learners will find some useful information on the subject of intercultural communication, which will help them improve their cross-cultural competence, use English more accurately and fluently and provide a more comprehensive language teaching.

PART ONE

RECOGNIZING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES:

READING, SPEAKING, WRITING

COUNTRIES

AND NATIONALITIES QUIZ

Exercise 1. Answer the following questions.

1. Which countries, strictly speaking, are in Scandinavia?

2. What are the 5 countries with the highest population?

3. How many languages are there in the world?

4. Where do people speak Hindi?

5. What are the most widely spoken languages?

6. What nationality are people in Switzerland, Finland and England?

7. What countries does Hungary border on?

8. What nationality is Hans Christian Anderson, a story-teller?

9. What nationality is Pablo Picasso, artist?

Exercise 2. Finish a word-association game.

What do you think of when you hear the word Danish? Danish bacon? Danish butter? Danish cheese?