МИНОБРНАУКИ РОССИИ ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ
БЮДЖЕТНОЕ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ ВЫСШЕГО
ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ «ВОРОНЕЖСКИЙ
ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ»
(ФГБОУ ВПО «ВГУ»)
Problems of modern English
Учебно-методическое пособие для вузов
Составитель: Гальчук Д.С.
Воронеж-2016
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Тексты для дискуссий и дебатов
Problems of the modern English Language
1. Read the text and discuss the problems. What is your opinion on the situation? Do social
media influence the language and in what way? Are there more advantages or
disadvantages?
How social media is changing language
Since so much of the written language we see is now on the screens of our computers,
tablets, and smartphones, language now evolves partly through our interaction with technology.
And because the language we use to communicate with each other tends to be more
malleable than formal writing, the combination of informal, personal communication and the
mass audience afforded by social media is a recipe for rapid change.
An alphabet soup of acronyms, abbreviations, and neologisms has grown up around
technologically mediated communication to help us be understood. I’m old enough to have
learned the acronyms we now think of as text speak on the online forums and ‘internet relay
chat’ (IRC) that pre-dated text messaging. On IRC, acronyms help speed up a real-time typed
conversation. On mobile phones they minimize the inconvenience of typing with tiny keys. And
on Twitter they help you make the most of your 140 characters.
Emoticons such as ;-) and acronyms such as LOL (‘laughing out loud’ – which has just
birthday) add useful elements of non-verbal communication – or annoy people
celebrated its 25th
with their overuse.
An important element of Twitter syntax is the hashtag – a clickable keyword used to
categorize tweets. Hashtags have also spread to other social media platforms – and they’ve even
reached everyday speech, but hopefully spoofs such as Jimmy Fallon and Justin
Timberlake’s sketch on The Tonight Show will dissuade us from using them too frequently. But
you will find hashtags all over popular culture, from greetings cards and t-shirts to the dialogue
of sitcom characters.
Social media is making it easier than ever to contribute to the evolution of language. You
no longer have to be published through traditional avenues to bring word trends to the attention
of the masses. With forums, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media channels offering instant
interaction with wide audiences, it’s never been easier to help a word gain traction from your
armchair.
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40 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 6 weeks. Language and auditory processing were tested
before and immediately after treatment, as well as 3 months and 6 months after treatment was
completed. It was found that students in all four groups benefited from the treatment they
received. Students in the Fast ForWord group did not show a greater improvement then students
in the other groups.
4. Read the text and discuss the problems. What is the importance of letters? Does our
country have the same attitude? Why?
The Importance of Letters
Letter writing may be a dying art as communication is increasingly done through emails,
Tweets, and Facebook postings. But I love going to the clinic and finding a letter on my desk,
perhaps written by a grateful patient. While not all letters indicate good news, I find the written
word so much more personal than getting an email.
I save letters (the good ones). I have a drawer full of feel-good letters and cards that I
have collected. I save important emails, too, but they are unlikely to bear the test of time.
Recently, I moved my office from one area of the clinic to another, so I found my collection.
I have written letters to patients. One letter in particular was written to a sedentary man
who was 150 pounds overweight, diabetic, hypertensive, and having periodic chest pains. As
much as I harped at him to make lifestyle changes before it was too late, I didn’t seem to be
making an impact. I wrote him a letter telling him how worried I was about his health. His
reaction? He stopped coming to see me as a patient. About six months later, I got a call. He was
in intensive care after having a heart attack. He called to tell me that my letter made a difference.
As soon as he was discharged, he was now ready to make some changes.
Letters can make an impact. After my recent surgery, the anesthesiologist accidentally
scratched both of my corneas, resulting in several days of unnecessary pain. It took him a week
or so, but he sent me a letter of apology. It really made a difference and diffused much of my
anger. Since medical providers make mistakes all of the time, it is really appropriate to
acknowledge them and apologize. Some attorneys may question this as an admission of guilt, but
it is the human thing to do.
It really doesn’t take very much time to send a handwritten letter. Don’t just send a card
on a birthday, include a letter. For the price of a stamp (still a bargain), you have the potential to
make an important impact on someone’s life. A hundred years from now, someone may pick up
that letter and read it. We have all learned to pay it forward, but perhaps we need to remember to
write it forward, too.
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5. Read the text and discuss the problems. What language problems do immigrants face in
a new country? Why is it so difficult to organize a proper service in a multilingual society
(like in the USA)? Do such countries get more profit from newcomers or are there only
negative consequences?
How Language Fits Into the Immigration Issue
BY RYAN HOLEYWELL | JANAURY 2012
When Palermo Galindo immigrated to the United States as a 15-year-old, he knew almost
no English. What he did know were the challenges that came with being a stranger to his new
community, country and language. Thirty years later, Galindo is helping others overcome those
struggles by serving the city government of Fort Wayne, Ind., as liaison to the Hispanic and
immigrant communities. Among his tasks are promoting health services and English language
classes that are available to immigrants. “I’m the result of a lot of people investing in [me],”
Galindo says. In his new role, he’s helping the city make a similar investment.
Not long ago, there was no need for a job like Galindo’s. But from 2000 to 2010, the
number of people living in the U.S. who speak English “less than very well” increased by 3.9
million.
While immigration is a federal issue, integrating immigrants and bringing them into the
fold of American civic life is a local challenge. It’s no longer confined to California, New York
or Texas -- places that absorbed diverse populations.
In some of places, the influx of newcomers has caused controversy, with one of the flash
points being language. For immigrants, learning English can give them the keys to the kingdom,
opening the doors to educational and economic opportunity. Nonspeakers of the country’s
common language can find themselves isolated in their new communities -- and resented by their
neighbors. Some localities are actively working to help newcomers learn the language while
temporarily providing them with services in their native tongue. But others take “English-only”
policies in an effort to save money and drive away a population viewed as burdensome.
If the language barrier falls, newcomers become integrated into a community.
Communities that have embraced their non-English speaking newcomers are finding that these
immigrants become taxpaying contributors to their new home.
6. Read the text and discuss the problems. What results could be now regarding the current
political situation? This problem in the Baltic States has a long history, in your opinion, will
it ever be resolved and how? Give your suggestions.
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Language Referendum in Latvia
Feb 20, 2012 by Asya Pereltsvaig
On February 18, 2012 Latvia held a referendum on the issue of Russian as a second
official language. A turnout of more than 70 percent underscored the results were
overwhelmingly against this proposition.
The referendum results were greeted with some pretty harsh nationalistic rhetoric. The
Latvian president Andris Berzins said in a statement after the vote: “The vote on a second state
language endangered the state language. I would also like to thank everyone who, despite the
emotions and impassioned atmosphere maintained a cool head and tolerance.”
In fact, bitterness and frustration characterizes both sides of the language divide. Many in
the Russian-speaking minority came to Latvia during the Soviet times because of jobs that were
assigned to them through the “distribution of personnel” system. Graduates of higher education
institutions were assigned to their first job and typically had little, if any, in the matter of where it
would be. But after the fall of the Soviet Union, a linguistic policy was instituted whose goal was
to eliminate non-Latvians from managing posts. Many Russians who moved to Latvia for their
jobs lost those jobs as a result of the new policy. Today, Russians who do not speak Latvian –
and it should be noted that some do – are limited in their employment to the private sector.
On the other hand, ethnic Latvians, most of whom do not speak Russian, tend to work in
the public and state-run sectors. Moreover, they run the risk of not being understood in a store or
a hair salon, where clerks and hairdressers are often Russian-speaking.
In my opinion, refusing to make Russian a second official language serves only to
perpetuate the divide. Latvia’s Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, who actively opposed the
referendum, seems to agree.
Thus, the language issue is far from being resolved in Latvia. It remains to be seen what
further steps will be taken by Latvian government, business organizations, and the education
policy makers.
7. Read the text and discuss the problems. What challenges do the ESL teachers face? How
do they try to cope with difficulties? Do we have the same situation in our country? Will the
advice from this text be useful in our educational institutions? What do you think of the
situation with children of immigrants? Do they have future in a new country?
The ESL Teacher's Role in Heritage Language Maintenance
The Challenge
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In public education in Texas, as elsewhere in the United States, elementary grade children
can be enrolled in bilingual classes if they are not proficient in English. These bilingual programs
vary greatly, but are generally geared to move children from their heritage language to English as
the school language.
Communication with Parents of Heritage Language Children
There are three primary areas in which the ESL teacher is key to supporting the heritage
language.
Considering the first area, which is communicating effectively with parents of heritage
language children, we realize that all parental needs cannot be met by the classroom teacher. Yet,
understanding these parents is vital. Many ESL teachers are from a cultural environment where
the school is quite basic to life, as in the U.S., where the school was often a community center.
However, many cultures around the world do not associate school with community but often
with oppression and governmental authority; ESL teachers must be aware of this. It may be very
difficult to encourage some parents to attend functions at the school even when language barriers
are not a factor. Teachers' suggestions--hold an early event, such as a picnic for the students and
families at a local park not associated with the school. Parents of previous ESL students can be
invited so that non-English-speaking parents will have others to interact with than just the
teacher and their own child or children.
Suggestion two – visit in homes of students. We realize that this requires extra, nonschool
time, a constraint for many ESL teachers. However, the results can lead to heritage
language support and successful parental programs.
Next – invite parents to the classroom to observe their children. Many parents are fearful
of interfering in their children's education or do not come to school because they are afraid that
they will appear strange to the peers of their children. A system of rotating visits from all
students' available family can help to overcome this fear. When the parents are specifically and
individually issued an invitation to the class, and know that this is a part of the education for all
the children, they will usually make efforts to attend. When children see that their peers and
teachers value their parents' presence at the school, even though their parents may appear
"different" or not speak English, they will realize that their parents are respected individuals and
will continue to give respect to them as well outside the classroom.
Concluding Thoughts
There are numerous tasks which all ESL teachers must complete to simply "do the job."
One of the most important may not be related to the teaching of English at all. As Kouritzin so
eloquently states: "The difficulties...are not intellectual; they are personal and emotional....".
by Pamela L. Anderson-Mejías
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II. Тексты для реферирования
1. Read the text and do the exercises below:
Graphology - handwriting analysis
Graphology - the study of handwriting and handwriting analysis - is now an accepted and
increasingly used technique for assessment of people in organizations. Handwriting analysis is
an effective and reliable indicator of personality and behaviour, and so is a useful tool for many
organizational processes, for example: recruitment, interviewing and selection, team-building,
counseling, and career-planning.
Elaine Quigley, a leading expert graphologist, and chair of the British Institute of
Graphologists, describes graphology as 'brainwriting' - the handwriting comes directly from the
writer in a uniquely personal and individual way, irrespective of how the person has been taught
to write. Also largely irrelevant to the actual analysis is the content of the written text.
The science of graphology uses at least 300 different handwriting features in its
investigative approach.
Graphology: theory and history
A person's handwriting - the script - and its placing on the page express the unique
impulses of the individual: logically, the brain sends signals along the muscles to the writing
implement they control. By examining a handwriting sample, an expert graphologist is able to
identify relevant features of the handwritten script, and the way the features interact. The
features, and interaction between them, provide the information for the analysis. (No single
handwriting sample will exhibit all 300 different features of course - a typical analysis will
involve far less).
It is the combination of features, and the interaction between them that enable a full and
clear interpretation.
Graphology is actually a very old and respected science - the study of handwriting and its
analysis was first developed by the Chinese 3,000 years ago. The Romans used graphology, and
through the centuries since then various civilisations and cultures have analysed handwriting to
identify the essence of the person who produced it.
The modern approach to handwriting analysis was established by a group of French
clerics, led by Abbe Michon, who defined key aspects of the science in the 1870s, after 30 years
of study. This work formed the basis of modern graphology, although the science is still being
researched and expanded today.
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