Key: 1 c, 2 d, 3 d, 4 a, 5 b, 6 c, 7 a, 8 b, 9 c, 10 c.
8. summary
Do ex. 5, p. 15.
9. Homework
Ex. 4, p. 14.
Lesson 4
e ngl IS h IS the langUage oF InternatIonal CoMMUnICatIon
Цілі: вдосконалювати навички аудіювання, читання й усного мовлення; вдо- сконалювати навички монологічного висловлювання з опорою на лексико- граматичну структуру; розвивати мовну здогадку; виховувати увагу, інтерес до англійської мови.
Procedure
1. Warm-up
Do ex.1, p. 16.
2. Reading and speaking
Do ex. 2, p. 16.
3. Grammar practice
Do ex. 5, p. 11.
4. Reading
Match the headings (1–8) with the paragraphs (A–G). There is one extra heading.
Клас
Дата
WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH?
A. Today, English is the second or third most popular mother tongue in the world, with an estimated 350–400 million native speakers. But,
crucially, it is also the common tongue for many non-English speakers
the world over, and almost a quarter of the globe’s population — maybe
1.5–2 billion people — can understand it and have at least some basic
competence in its use, whether written or spoken.
B. It should be noted here that statistics on the numbers around the world
who speak English are unreliable at best. It is notoriously difficult to de-
fine quite what is meant by “English speaker”, let alone the definitions
of first language, second language, mother tongue, native speaker, etc. What level of competency counts? Does a thick creole (English-based,
but completely incomprehensible to a native English speaker) count?
Just to add to the confusion, there are at least 40 million people in the
nominally English-speaking United States who do NOT speak English. In addition, the figures, of necessity, combine statistics from different
sources, different dates, etc. You may well see large variations on any
statistics quoted here.
C. But best recent estimates of first languages suggest that Mandarin Chinese has around 800–850 million native speakers, while English
and Spanish both have about 330–350 million each. If second-language
speakers are included, Mandarin increases to around 1 billion, English
to over 500 million, Spanish to 420–500 million and so on, although
some estimates for English as a first or second language rise to over
a billion. In fact, among English speakers, non-native speakers may now outnumber native speakers by as much as three to one.
D. In terms of total population, in a world approaching 7 billion, the top
three countries by population are China (1.3 billion), India (1.2 billion) and USA (about 310 million), followed by Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Russia and Japan. Thus, the USA is by far the most populous English-speaking country and accounts for almost 70 %
of native English speakers (Britain, by comparison has a population of
just over 60 million, and ranks 22nd in the world). India represents the third largest group of English speakers after the USA and UK,
even though only 4–5 % of its population speaks English (4 % of over
1.2 billion is still almost 50 million). However, by some counts as many as 23 % of Indians speak English, which would put it firmly in second place, well above Britain. Even Nigeria may have more English speak- ers than Britain according to some estimates.
E. English is the native mother-tongue of only Britain, Ireland, USA, Ca- nada, Australia, New Zealand and a handful of Caribbean countries. But in 57 countries (including Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Philippines, Fiji, Vanuatu, etc.), English is either as its “official language” or a majority of its inhabitants speak it as a first language. These are largely ex-colonial countries which have thoroughly integrated English into its chief institutions. The next most popular of- ficial language is French (which applies in some 31 countries), followed by Spanish (25), Arabic (25), Portuguese (13) and Russian (10).
F. Although falling short of official status, English is also an important language in at least twenty other countries, including several former British colonies and protectorates, such as Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bru- nei, Cyprus, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. It is the most commonly used unofficial language in Israel and an increasing number of other countries such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway and Germany. Within Europe, an estimated 85 % of Swedes can comforta- bly converse in English, 83 % of Danes, 79 % of Dutch, 66 % in Luxem- bourg and over 50 % in countries such as Finland, Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, and Germany.
G. Many countries recognize the importance of English as an internation- al language and teach it in schools as their foreign language of choice. English is the most widely taught foreign language in schools across the globe, with over 100 countries — from China to Russia to Israel, Germany, Spain, Egypt, Brazil, etc., — teaching it to at least a working level. Over 1 billion people throughout the world are currently learn- ing English, and there are estimated to be more students of English in China alone than there are inhabitants of the USA. A 2006 report by the British Council suggests that the number of people learning Eng- lish is likely to continue to increase over the next 10–15 years, peaking at around 2 billion, after which a decline is predicted.
1) We can’t estimate the real number of non-native English speakers now.
2) Why English is the main language in many countries.
3) English is going on to expend and is used in more and more countries.
4) We can’t estimate the importance of using English at all.
5) It is understood at the present time that English has become the first language for many people in many countries.
6) There are some countries where English is used more than in Britain where English is the mother-tongue.
7) The number of English learners is increasing year by year.
8) Nowadays it is quite difficult to differ level of ability in using foreign languages.
Key: 5 A, 8 B, 1 C, 6 D, 2 E, 3 F, 7 G.
5. Grammar practice
Do ex. 6, 7, p. 12.
6. Reading and speaking
Do ex. 4, p. 18.
7. summary
Do ex. 5, p. 18.
8. Homework
Do ex. 3, p. 17.
