- •Introduction to Country Studies & Culture-oriented Linguistics
- •The main aims:
- •Geography of the usa
- •General characteristics
- •The relief of the country
- •The Grand Canyon from Moran Point
- •Cultural Regions of the usa
- •Climate
- •Extreme points
- •American society:
- •Diversity
- •Religious diversity
- •Immigration as the major source of diversity
- •Restrictions on immigration
- •Racism as another source of diversity
- •The political system of the usa
- •Introduction to the political system of the usa
- •The usa Constitution
- •Legislative branch
- •General Characteristics
- •General Characteristics
- •Climate
Introduction to Country Studies & Culture-oriented Linguistics
11 lectures, 6 – USA, 5 – Great Britain
Examination: 2 questions, 1 – theory, 2 – practice (cultural points, show knowledge on the cultural points). A bonus – all the lectures & seminars, answers on each seminar.
Plan
country studies is an interdisciplinary dealing with the study of a country. It incorporates the study of economics, education, culture, history, literature, art, the media, film, urban studies.
The main aims:
teaching a language together with teaching culture, studying it thought analyzing the language;
ensuring communicative competence in intellectual communication;
considering vocabulary items reflecting national peculiarities of the TL culture & people.
Realia – words, denoting objects & phenomena, characteristic of one particular but absent in another (also objects). (субботник, book maker)
Background vocabulary – words denoting objects & phenomena, existing in both compared cultures, but having national peculiarities (австрал. Station – овцеводческая ферма).
In foreign language instruction as well as translation, the term realia refers to objects from the target culture, which can range from the traditional clothes or musical instruments to newspapers or ticket stubs, & the names of those objects such as The Times in English, a term which cannot be translated without further explanation.
Geography of the usa
General characteristics
The relief of the country
Cultural regions
Climate
Extreme points of the country
Natural disasters
Natural resources
General characteristics
Area – 9, 826, 630 sq km. Population – 295, 734, 130 (2005)
Borders on: Canada, Mexico. Russia, Bahamas – water borders.
3rd/4th in the world by its size.
3rd by its population after China & India in the world.
Slightly smaller then Canada
Slightly more than one & a quarter times the size of Australia.
Half size of Russia
347 times the size of Haiti
2,5 times the size of Western Europe.
48 contiguous states + Alaska & Hawaii
The USA some outlying areas: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Samoa & Guan. More independent that States, but the USA is responsible for economic help, protection.
Alaska – the largest state – 1.717.854 sq km
The smallest – Rhode Island – 4.002 sq km
The largest population – California (35,893,799. 2004 estimate)
The least populous state – Wyoming (506,529. 2004 estimate)
The relief of the country
the highest ponts in North America – mounts McKinley, Alaska 20, 320 ft (6, 194 m)
the Appalachian Mountains
the Mississippi Basin
the Great Lakes (all of them, except Michigan are situated on the border with Canada) (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario)
mangrove wetlands
the Mississippi River
tributaries: the Ohio River & Tenessee River
tallgrass prairie
shortgrass steppe
the western High Plains
The Grand Canyon from Moran Point
the Four Corners region
the Colorado Plateau
Grand Canyon, Arches & Bryce Canyon
Mount Whitney (the Sierra Nevada)
The highest peak of the Cascade Range, Mount Rainier rises to 4, 392 m.