Vocabulary

Task 1. Find these words and expressions in the text. Explain their meaning in English. Then look them up in the dictionary to check their translation if necessary. Give an example of the situation in which these words and phrases can be used.

Altered, scattered, to become increasingly blurred, subsequently, entities, to establish footholds, indigenous population, patchwork of accents, descent, to act as the benchmark, to adhere, far-flung places.

Task 2. Match each word from the reading with its synonym. Make up sentences with the words from the text.

a) subsequently	1) to stick
b) to scatter	2) mixture
c) blurred	3) body
d) to alter	4) to change
e) entity	5) vague
f) to establish foothold	6) birth
g) indigenous	7) extensive
h) patchwork	8) to place
i) descent	9) to consolidate
j) benchmark	10) later
k) to adhere	11) base
l) far-flung	12) native

Task 3. Fill each gap with one word. Then re-read the text if necessary.

1. The English Language can be traced back to the mixture of ___________dialects that came to these shores 1500 years ago.

2. The language we now recognise as English first became the ________language in Great Britain during the _____________ .

3. The distinction between past tense got and past participle gotten still exists in American English but has been lost in most _________of the UK.

4. Different forces operating in the UK and in the USA influenced the emerging concept of a ______________.

5. Both of these publications were major steps towards _________acceptance that British English and American English were becoming_________.

6. In Australia and New Zealand, European settlers quickly outnumbered the ____________ population.

7. Immigrants from the Indian subcontinent and the West Indies have added variety and diversity to the rich ____________of accents and dialects spoken in the UK.

8. Speakers of Asian and Caribbean ___________have blended their mother tongue speech patterns with existing local dialects.

9. British English has acted as the _____________for representing ‘standardised’ English.

WRITING

Write a composition about the importance of learning English as a second language in Ukraine. You might think of covering such aspects as:

• career opportunities in Ukraine and abroad

• education prospects

• English as a means of communication on the Internet

• travelling overseas

Don’t forget that the text should be carefully structured, and its cohesion can be enhanced by such words as first of all, however, moreover, therefore, consequently, etc.

Individual work

1. Read the text “History of the English Language”(p. 66) from the section Supplementary Reading.

2. Be ready to discuss in groups the origins and development of English.

3. Prepare a short report using any of the topics below:

• Received Pronunciation (RP) – what is it?

• British dialects

• British English versus American English

• American dialects