Unit 1 language as the main means of communication: its origin and functions

PRE-READING TASKS

Task 1. With a partner discuss the following questions:

1. How many languages do you speak?

2. What are the functions of a language?

3. What is your mother tongue? Is it spoken in any other countries?

4. Do you like the way your language is changing?

5. What do you think the future of your own language is?

6. What is your second language?

7. What do you know about origin of languages?

8. What have you heard about the Tower of Babel?

9. Do we need a universal language?

Task 2. Read the dictionary definitions. Match the words with their definitions: accent, body language, communication, culture, dialect, jargon, journalese, language, legalese, mother tongue, native speaker, slang, speech, terminology.

Make up sentences.

…………..	1) The system of communication in speech and writing that is used by people of a particular country.
…………..	2) The customs and beliefs, art, way of life and social organization of a particular country or group.
…………..	3) A person who speaks a language as their first language and has not learnt it as a foreign language
…………..	4) The process of communicating what you are feeling or thinking by the way you place and move your body rather than by words.
…………..	5) The language that you first learn to speak when you are a child.
…………..	6) The language used when speaking.
…………..	7) A way of pronouncing the words of a language that shows which country or area a person comes from.
…………..	8) The use of written or spoken words to communicate
…………..	9) The form of a language that is spoken in particular area.
…………...	10) Informal word used by people who belong to a particular group, for example young people.
…………..	11) Words used by people who do a particular job or are interested in a particular subject, which ordinary people cannot easily understand.
…………..	12) Words used in a particular subject such as science or medicine.
…………..	13) Language often used in newspapers.
…………..	14) Language used by lawyers or in legal documents, which is difficult for ordinary people to understand.

Task 3. Work in small groups. Read the collocations and give your example of the situation in which they can be used.

• How many languages do you speak?

• It took him several years to master the language.

• common problems for foreign language learners

• a book intended for language teachers

• Andrea's native language is German.

• For the majority of Tanzanians, Swahili is their second language.

• She had lived in Italy for years, and her command of the language was excellent.

• I didn't speak much Japanese, and I was worried that the language barrier might be a problem.

• one of the best known poems in the English language

• The official language of Ghana is English.

• a degree in modern languages

• a dead language such as Latin

Task 4. Which of the following do you consider to be the most useful while learning a foreign language? Why? Rank them, then compare your list to your partner’s.

• dictionaries

• songs

• travel

• pen friends

• reading magazines/books

• using the Internet

• watching films

• watching the news

• attending lessons

READING

1. Skim the text to get the general idea.