English as a World Language

Pre-reading activities

1. Practise the pronunciation of the following words.

tongue [t0N], century ['sen7qrI], reverse [rI'v3:s], doubt [da4t], although [O:l'Dq4], vocabulary [vq'k1bj4lqrI], science ['saIqns].

2. Memorize the words.

1. wide-spread a - распространённый

2. approximate a – приблизительный

3. possession n – владение

4. auxiliary a – вспомогательный

5. establish v - основывать, создавать

6. tongue n - язык, речь

7. settle v - поселяться

8. mail n – почтовые отправления, почта

9. contribute v – содействовать, вносить вклад

10. reverse a - обратный, противоположный

11. doubt v - сомневаться

12. although cj - хотя, несмотря на то, что

13. propose v - предлагать, предполагать

14. total a – весь, целый

3. Answer the following questions before you read Text A.

1. In what countries is English the first language?

2. In what countries is English the official second language?

3. What motivates you to learn English?

Read Text A and fulfill the tasks which follow.

Text A

English as a World Language

In Shakespeare’s time only a few million people spoke English but now it is the most widespread language on Earth.

How many people in the world speak English as a first or native language? The approximate number is about 230 million. Of these, 145 million live in the United States, a little less than 55 million in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and about 30 million in the British dominions and colonial possessions. The total number of people who speak English as a second or auxiliary language is about 325 million.

English has become a world language because of its establishment as a mother tongue outside England, in all the continents of the world. The exporting of English began in the 17th century with the first settlements in North America. Above all, it is the great growth of population in the United States, assisted by massive immigration in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, that has given the English language its present standing in the world. Besides Great Britain and the USA, the English language is spoken in Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

75% of the world’s mail and 60 % of the world’s telephone calls are in English. The latest ideas in medicine and science appear in international journals. More than 60% of them are in English. English is the language of the sky and the sea: every pilot and captain has to speak English. A lot of the vocabulary in modern computing is in American English. English is the language of international musical and film festivals and sport competitions. It is the language of diplomacy and one of the working languages of the United Nations. It is the main foreign language, taught within most school systems.

Most world languages have contributed some words to English at some time and the process is now being reversed. This will no doubt continue although the proposition that all other languages will die out is absurd.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-10