Unit 7: Learning about English

Unit 7: Learning about English Text A: The Glorious Messiness of English Text B: The Role of English in the 21st Century

Teaching Set-up • Text A • Pre-reading: • Warm-up activities • Questions and Answers • Background information • While-reading: • Interpret the title • Text organization • Text analysis • Language points • Post reading: • drawing a picture • Useful expressions • Proverbs and Quotations

Teaching Objectives • 1. grasp the main idea (because of its tolerance for outside influences, English has become a great language) and structure of the text; • 2. understand some idiomatic English usages mentioned in the unit; • 3. master key language points and structures in the text; • 4. conduct a series of reading, listening ,speaking and writing activities related to the theme of the unit. • 5. master speaking function: Expressing Real and Unreal Conditions; defining things. • 6. recognizing listing of details in descriptive writing.

Warm-up activities • Pair Discussion • Look at the picture below. Answer these questions with a partner. • What are differences between English and French in borrowing foreign words? English has a vocabulary of about one million words while French has only about 75,000 words. English has borrowed a lot of words from other languages while French hasn't. And the French government even tries to ban words from English.

Warm-up activities 2. What can we infer from the invention of a French word “balladeer”? In borrowing foreign words, English people are open-minded while French people are conservative. We know the reason why English has become the first truly global language.

Warm-up activities • How did the word “Walkman” come into being? The Japanese put two simple English words together to name their product.

Warm-up activities • Questions and Answers 1. Who is Otto Jespersen? He is a Danish scholar. • 2. According to Otto Jespersen, what causes English to become what it is? The fact that English people have been for centuries great respecters of the liberties of each individual and that everybody has been free to strike out new paths for himself. 3. What is the English language in the author’s opinion? English is the tongue of the common man.

Background information • American English: • By the 18th century American English was established and developed independently from British English. After colonists arrived in the US , new words began to be added from Native American languages, and from French and Spanish. In 1783, soon after Johnson's dictionary was published, Noah Webster's The Elementary Spelling Book was published in the U.S. At first, it used Johnson's spellings, but later editions contained many of what have come to be known as American spellings, e. g. harbor and favorite.

Background information • The Root of English: • English began as a west Germanic language which was brought to England by the Saxons around 400 A.D. Old English was the spoken and written language of England between 400 and 1100 A.D. Many words used today come from Old English, including man, woman, king, mother, etc. But Old English was very different from modern English and only a few words can be easily recognized. In the 9th and 10th centuries, when Vikings invaded England, Old Norse words, e.g. sky, take and get and many place names, entered the language.

Background information The Root of English: From the Norman Conquest (1066) until the late 12th century English was replaced as the official language by Norman French, though English was still used by the lower classes. English from about 1300 to 1500 is known as Middle English. It was influenced by French and also Latin in vocabulary and pronunciation. French brought many words connected with government, e.g. sovereign, royal, court, legal and government itself. Latin was the language of religion and learning and gave to English words such as minister, angel, master, school and grammar. Literature began again to be written in English during this period. One of the most famous Middle English works is Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.

Background information • The Development of Modern English: Modern English developed from the Middle English dialect of the East Midlands and was influenced by the English used in London, where a printing press was set up by William Caxton in 1476. English changed a great deal from this time until the end of the 18th century. During the Renaissance, many words were introduced from Greek and Latin to express new ideas, especially in science, medicine and philosophy. They included physics, species, architecture, encyclopedia and hypothesis. In the 16th century several versions of the Bible helped bring written English to ordinary people. The Elizabethan period is also famous for its drama, and Shakespeare’s plays were seen by many people.

Background information • The Development of Modern English: The development of printing helped establish standards of spelling and grammar, but there remained a lot of variation. Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language (1755) was the first authoritative treatment of English. It defined about 40,000 words and gave examples of their use. By the 18th century American English was established and developing independently from British English. After colonists arrived in the US new words began to be added from Native American languages, and from French and Spanish. In 1783, soon after Johnson’s dictionary was published, Noah Webster’s The Elementary Spelling Book was published in the US. At first it used Johnson’s spellings, but later editions contained many of what have come to be known as American spellings, e.g. harbor and favorite.

Background information • 20th Century English: During the 19th and early 20th centuries many dictionaries and books about language were published. New words are still being added to English from other languages, including Chinese (feng shui) and Japanese (karaoke). Existing words gain new senses, and new expressions spread quickly through television and the Internet. English is now an international language and is used as a means of communication between people from many countries. As a result the influences on the English language are wider than ever and it is possible that World English will move away from using a British or American standard and establish its own international identity.

Background information WinstonChurchill (1874-1965): As a politician, Winston Churchill is remembered as one of Britain’s greatest statesmen. He was the son of the Conservative politician Lord Randolph Churchill and his American wife Jennie. As a young man he served as a soldier in India and Egypt, and as a journalist in South Africa, before entering politics. Churchill became Prime Minister and Minister of Defence in 1940. His radio speeches during World War II gave the British people a strong determination to win the war, especially at times of great crisis.

Background information Winston Churchill (1874-1965): Examples of Churchill’s phrases still often quoted today are “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat”, and “This was their finest hour”. The Conservative Party led by Churchill lost the election of 1945, but he became Prime Minister again from 1951 to 1955 when he retired, aged 80. When he died in Jan 1965 he was given a state funeral.

Background information • Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) Julius Caesar was the best-known of all the ancient Roman leaders, and the first one to land in Britain with an army. • He did this twice, in 55 and 54 BC, although Britain did not become part of the Roman Empire until nearly a hundred years later.

Background information • Viking: • Viking was a member of a people from Scandinavia who attacked parts of northern and western Europe, including Britain and Ireland, in the 8th to 11th centuries. In Britain they were also known as Norsemen. They settled on the Scottish islands and in areas of eastern England, and the Danish King Canute ruled England from 1016. The Vikings were feared as violent and cruel, but they were also noted for their skill in building ships and as sailors. They had an important influence on English culture and the English language.

Background information • Norman: Norman refers to any of the people from Normandy in northern France who settled in England after their leader William defeated the English king at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Background information Norman : The Normans took control of the country, a process known as the Norman Conquest. They used many of the existing Anglo-Saxon methods of government of the state and the church, but added important aspects of their own and made government much more effective. The language of government became first Latin, and then Norman French, and this caused many new words to be added to the existing English language.

While-reading • Interpret the title • glorious: having or deserving great fame, praise, and honour • a glorious future / a glorious victory / a glorious expedition • messy: 1. being dirty or untidy • a messy room • Sorry the place is so messy, I haven't had time to clear up. • 2. a messy situation is complicated and unpleasantto deal with • He's just been through a particularly messy divorce.

Interpret the title • glorious: a commendatory term • messiness: a derogatory term • What effect can be achieved when one is modified by the other? • Oxymoron • a deliberate combination of two words that seem to mean the opposite of each other, such as 'cruel kindness'

Examples from Shakespeare (translated by Zhu Shenghao) • An honorable murderer: 正直的凶手 • An honorable villain: 庄严的奸徒 • A damned saint: 万恶的圣人 • Sweet pangs: 甜蜜的痛苦 • Sweet knaves: 温文和气的恶人 • Sweet sorrow: 甜蜜的凄清 • A living death: 活死人 • Loving hate, heavy lightness, serious vanity, cold fire, sick health,…

A Summary of Rhetorical Devices • Oxymoron: glorious messiness • Metaphors: core of English, a common parent language, another flood of new vocabulary, the cultural soil, the first shoots sprang up, … grew stronger, build fences around their language, the special preserve of grammarians, … • Parallelism in Churchill’s quote. • …

Text analysis • An expert on English language is supposed to know well about rhetorical devices in English. Robert MacNeil, the author of Text A, does not disappoint us. • The title, The Glorious Messiness of English, offers a good example of oxymoron. An oxymoron puts two contradictory terms together to puzzle the reader, luring him/her to pause and explore why. “Glorious” is a commendatory term, while “messiness” is derogatory. Why do they stand next to each other? Then, as the reader reads on, he/she will find out that the title is actually a thesis statement: Yes, English is messy, but the messiness reflects some commendable qualities of English, such as tolerance, the love of freedom, and the respect for others’ rights. At this point the reader cannot but admire the author’s ingenuity.

Text analysis • Robert MacNeil employs many metaphors, such as core of English (Para. 4), a common parent language (Para. 8), another flood of new vocabulary (Para. 14), the special preserve of grammarians (Para. 19). In Para. 18 there is an instance of sustained metaphor: the cultural soil, the first shoots sprang up, … grew stronger, build fences around their language. In this case the English language is compared to plants, and the various cultures influencing it are compared to the soil, while users of English are compared to gardeners. • We can also find parallelism in the quote from Winston Churchill: “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.” • There is personification in the sentence “Translations of Greek and Roman classics were poured onto the printed page…” • There is metonymy in the sentence “The country now had three languages: French for the nobles, Latin for the churches and English for the common people.” Here “churches” stand for religious institutions and those who are involved in religious practices.

While-readingText Organization Massive borrowing from other languages is a major feature of the English language. Tells about the history of the English language Several qualities in the English-speaking people explain the richness of their language.

Question for part I • Scan the first three paragraphs to find out the definition for “glorious messiness” • Text organization Ex.1 on p.214. • Scan the first sentence of each paragraph in Text A to find out where the present tense is switched to the past tense? • And where the present tense is resumed?

Question for part II • Some key terms and key stages related to the history of the English Language.

the history of the English Language • The Indo-European family includes several major branches: • 1. Latin and the modern Romance languages; • 2. The Germanic languages; • 3. The Indo-Iranian languages, including Hindi (an official language in India) and Sanskrit (an ancient language of India ); • 4. The Slavic languages; • 5. The Baltic languages of Latvian and Lithuanian (but not Estonian); • 6. The Celtic languages; and • 7. Greek.

the history of the English Language • Of these branches of the Indo-European family, two are, for our purposes of studying the development of English, of paramount importance, the Germanic and the Romance (called that because the Romance languages derive from Latin, the language of ancient Rome)

the history of the English Language • Around the second century BC, this Common Germanic language split into three distinct sub-groups: • East Germanic was spoken by peoples who migrated back to southeastern Europe. No East Germanic language is spoken today, and the only written East Germanic language that survives is Gothic. • North Germanic evolved into the modern Scandinavian languages of Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic (but not Finnish, which is related to Estonian and is not an Indo-European language). • West Germanic is the ancestor of modern German, Dutch, Flemish, Frisian, and English.

the history of the English Language • Viking: a member of the group of Scandinavian people who sailed in ships to attack areas along the coasts of northern and western Europe from the 8th to 11th centuries • Scandinavian people: people from North Europe consisting of Norway, Swede, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. • Norse: the language that was spoken by the people of ancient Scandinavia, esp. the ancient Norwegian people

the history of the English Language • The Norman Conquest: the period when the Normans (people from Normandy in northern France), led by William the Conqueror, took control of England after defeating the English king Harold II, at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. These events had a very great influence on England's history, culture, and language, and French became the main language of the ruling class.

the history of the English Language • The origins of English: English began as a west Germanic language which was brought to England by the Saxons around 400 A.D. • Old English (400-1100 AD) • The Norman Conquest and Middle English (1100-1500) (influenced by French and Latin: French brought words related to government and Latin religion and learning) • Modern English (1500-Present) (A Dictionary of the English Language 1755 by Samuel Johnson) • American English (The Elementary Spelling Books by Noah Webster 1783)

the history of the English Language • West Germanic invaders from Jutland and southern Denmark: the Angles (whose name is the source of the words England and English), Saxons, and Jutes, began populating the British Isles in the fifth and sixth centuries AD. They spoke a mutually intelligible language, that is called Old English. • These invaders pushed the original, Celtic-speaking inhabitants out of what is now England into Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, leaving behind a few Celtic words. These Celtic languages survive today in Scotland and Ireland and in Welsh. • About half of the most commonly used words in modern English have Old English roots. Words like be, water, and strong, for example, derive from Old English

The most famous example of Middle English is Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Unlike Old English, Middle English can be read, albeit with difficulty, by modern English-speaking people.

Many students having difficulty understanding Shakespeare would be surprised to learn that he wrote in modern English. Many familiar words and phrases were coined or first recorded by Shakespeare, some 2,000 words and countless catch-phrases are his. Words he bequeathed to the language include "critical," "leapfrog," "majestic," "dwindle," and "pedant."

Language Points Words and phrases banproductnecessityarousesurrenderresemble descendestablishinfluencealternativeenrichindependent strict speakingto a(…)extent pass (sth.) on to (sb.)out of control put into practicestrike out be supposed tomust (a strong belief)

Words and phrases • ban v (-nn-) • officially forbid [sth/sb (to do sth) ] 明令禁止[某事物/某人做某事] 【~ sb (from sth/from doing sth)】 : • The play was banned (by the censor). • 该剧本遭（审查员）查禁. • He was banned from (attending) the meeting. • 不准他出席该会议. ban n【~ (on sth/sb)】禁令; 禁止 • Cf. forbid, prohibit • forbid vt. 禁止: • prohibit vt. 【~from】(fml) to forbid by law or rule • Ex. 已禁止她开车, 为期六个月. • She's been banned from driving for six months.

Words and phrases • productn. • 1) [C, U] something produced by human or mechanical effort or by a natural process; goods (general term) 产品: • Petrol is the most important product of many Middle-East countries. • 石油是许多中东国家最重要的产品。 • gross national product 国民生产总值 • 2) [C] 【~ of sth】a direct result; a consequence产物: Today’s housing problems are the product of years of neglect.

Words and phrases • Cf. production, produce, producer, product • production n. [U]生产；产量 [C]（艺术）作品produce n [U]产品; （尤指）农产品（总称） • producer n生产者，产地；（影视的）制片人 • Ex. 选词填空： • This new theatre is becoming known for its good ____________ . • The company sells plastic____________ . • _____________ of computers has increased double in the last few weeks. • The firm is Britain's main ____________ of electronic equipment.

Words and phrases • necessityn • 1) [C] 必需品【~ of/for sth.】 • Food, clothing and shelter are all basic necessities of life. • A compass is a necessity for climbers. • 2）[U] 【~ (for/of sth)】【~(for sb.) to do sth)】必要性，需要: • They reached an agreement on the necessity of educational reforms. • Is there any necessity for another meeting? • There's no necessity (for you) to write to your mother every single day. • Ex. 水是生命必不可少的。 • Water is a necessity of life.

Words and phrases • arouse vt. • 1) provoke (a particular feeling or attitude); awaken: • Her strange behavior aroused our suspicions. • 2）wake sb from sleep【~ sb (from sth)】: • He was aroused from his nap by the doorbell. • Cf. arise vi (pt arose, pp arisen) become evident; appear; originate出现; 发生【out of/from sth 】: • A new difficulty has arisen. • Ex. • 奇怪的景象激起我们的好奇。 • The odd sight aroused our curiosity. • 疏忽大意往往会引起事故的发生。 • Accidents arise from carelessness.

Words and phrases • surrender • vt. vi. 【~ (oneself) (to sb)】give in; yield; give up投降; 屈服: • The hijackers finally surrendered (themselves) to the police. • 2) vt.【~ sth/sb (to sb)】 (fml 文)被迫放弃 • We shall never surrender our liberty. • They surrendered their guns to the police. • Ex. We’ll never surrender terrorism despite the terrorist attacks. （改错） • We’ll never surrender to terrorism despite the terrorist attacks.

Words and phrases • resemblevt. [no passive] 【~ sb/sth (in sth)】 (not used in the continuous tenses) be like or similar to (another person or thing) 与（他人或他物）相似; 像...: • She resembles her mother in the way she moves her hands when she talks. • 她说话时打手势的动作像她妈妈。 • Ex. 她和她弟弟长得很像. • She resembles her brother in looks.

Words and phrases • descend1) vi come down (from a source) 【~ from sb】起源于，遗传于: • The title descends to me from my father. • 2) (fml) vi. vt. come or go down (sth) 下来: • The balloon descended gradually as the air came out. She descended the stairs. • Ex.这些观点来源于那些古代哲学家的思想。 • These ideas descend from those of the ancient philosophers. • descendant n person descended from another 後裔: • the descendants of Queen Victoria

Words and phrases • establish • 1) vt. set (sth) up on a firm or permanent basis : • This business was established in 1860. • establish a close relationship with sb. • 2) vt. [often passive] 【~ sb/oneself (in sth) (as sth)】place sb/oneself in a position, office, etc, usu on a permanent basis : • He established himself as governor of the province. • Cf. establishment n [U] 设立; 建立 • Ex.这个发现建立了他的声望. • This discovery established his reputation.

Words and phrases • influence vt. influencen 1) [U, C(sing.)]影响（力），作用；[C]有影响的人或事物【~ (on sb/sth)】 • the influence of parents on their children • have/exert/exercisea (good/bad/ beneficial/ harmful) influence on sb's character • Those so-called friends of hers are a bad influence on her. • 2) [U] 【~ (over sb/sth)】支配力; 控制力: • His parents no longer have any real influence over him • Ex. 这本书对他的人生影响很大。 • This book had a great influence on his life.

Words and phrases • alternative • n. [C] one/choice of two or more possibilities 供选择的东西【+of + n.】，替代物【+to+n.】；可能性中的选择（通常用the alternative）: • One of the alternatives open to you is to resign. • I had no money, so I had no alternativeto staying [no alternative but to stay] at home. • 我因为没有钱，所以除了呆在家里没有别的选择。 • You have the alternative of marrying or remaining a bachelor.

Words and phrases • Ex. 除了回家还有别的什么选择？ • What was the alternative togoing home? • Cf. alternative adj. 选择性的，替代的 • alternate adj.交替的, 轮流的, 预备的 v.交替, 轮流 • Ex. 选择题: A.alternateB.alternative • We spent a week of ______ rain and sunshine. • The way was blocked, so we had to go by an ______ road. • I offered the _____ suggestions of spending the vacation in the mountains or by the sea.

Unit 7: Learning about English