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Е. В. Захарова язык и культура великобритании в условиях европейской интеграции предисловие данное учебное пособие

Вид материалаУчебное пособие
Unit vi. language – a means of political divide ?
Ii. vocabulary focus
Iv. creative writing
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UNIT VI. LANGUAGE – A MEANS OF POLITICAL DIVIDE ?




I. READING COMPREHENSION


A. Pre-reading Task. Answer the questions:


1) Do you know what languages are spoken in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland?

2) Is English or Irish the official language of the Republic of Ireland?


B. Now read and translate the text. You can make use of the following words and word-combinations:


Assure – гарантировать, обеспечивать

Broadcasting – радио- и телевещание

Hiberno-English – ирландско-английский

Stem from – происходить

Originate in – брать начало

Large scale – крупномасштабный

Simultaneous – одновременный

Displacement – переселение

Subjection – покорение

Transitional – переходный

Merge – сливаться

Potent – сильный, убедительный

Leveling – выравнивание

Unambiguous – недвусмысленный

Reinforce – усиливать, укреплять


Wales is the only area in the British Isles where one of the original Celtic languages has been able to survive as the daily language of a large number of people: just under one fifth use Welsh; of these about 70 per cent use it as their exclusive home language and a further 13 per cent use both it and English as their home languages. Although the future of Welsh is by no means assured, its use seems to have stabilized somewhat vis-à-vis English. There are Welsh language schools in the predominantly Welsh speaking areas in the north, and a fair amount of broadcasting is carried out in Welsh as well.

Welsh English shares many of the linguistic features of southern England. What marks it off from the English of England is the effect of the Celtic substratum, which shows most obviously in its sing-song intonation, presumably influenced by Welsh. In monolingual areas such as the southeast, the influence of Welsh is considerably weaker. Here, for example, monolingual English speakers generally have non-rhotic accents, while bilingual ones further to the west are more likely to have rhotic ones.

In grammar, Welsh English is, for the most part, similar to General English.

Ireland is divided both politically and linguistically and the linguistic and the political borders lie close together. Northern Ireland with a population of approximately 1.5 million.is politically a part of the United Kingdom while the remaining 26 counties form the Republic of Ireland . Although Irish English, which is sometimes called Hiberno-English, shares a number of characteristics throughout the island, there are also a number of very noticeable differences. Most of these stem from fairy clear historical causes. The northern counties are characterized by the presence of Scots forms. These originated in the large scale settlement of the north by people from the Scottish Lowlands and the simultaneous displacement of many of the native Irish following Cromwell’s subjection of the island in the middle of the seventeenth century. In what is now the Republic, a massive change from the Irish language related to Welsh and Scottish Gaelic) began around the year of 1800. The type of English which became established there stems from England and not Scotland and shows some signs of earlier settlement in the southeast by people from the west midlands of England. Most characteristic of southern Irish English are the numerous features in it which reflect the influence of Irish as the substratum language. In a few areas in the west Irish is still spoken, and Irish is the Republic’s official language (together with English, the second official language). The percentage of population who actually speak Irish, is, however, very low (around two per cent).

The split in Ireland as a whole is reflected once again within the historical province of Ulster, which is partly in the Republic (the three counties of Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan) and partly in Northern Ireland. The population of Northern Ireland itself is divided very much along confessional lines, somewhat under one half Roman Catholic (the Republic is over 90 per cent Catholic) and the remainder chiefly Protestant. This, too, reflects the historical movement of people to and within Ireland. The northern and eastern parts of the province are heavily Scots and Protestant; the variety of English spoken there is usually referred to as Ulster Scots or, sometimes, Scotch-Irish. Further to the south and west the form of English is called Mid-Ulster English, and its features increasingly resemble those of English in the South, with South Ulster English as a transitional accent.

The same split, but also new, mixed or compromise forms, can be observed in Belfast ,which at approximately half a million is the largest city in Northern Ireland and second only to Dublin in all of Ireland. Although there is a great and ever growing amount of sectarian residential patterning, speech forms in the city as a whole are said to be merging. One of the most potent reasons advanced for the increasing leveling of speech forms is the weakening of complex social networks (with shared family, friends, workmates, leisure time activities). Especially in the middle class, where there is more geographical mobility, and in those parts of the working class where unemployment has weakened social contacts, there is a move away from complex local norms and distinctions, one of which is shared language norms.

The practical consequence of the interplay of socio-economic patterns, regional origin and social networks of varying complexity in Belfast is a zigzag pattern of linguistic variants representing reality in which there is no unambiguous agreement on prestige models of speech. Furthermore, political affiliations (pro-British unionists vs Republican nationalists ( especially where residence patterns, schooling and workplace are so highly segregated), help to reinforce this diversity of norms.


C. Write questions to go with these answers:


1) ___ 1) Under one fifth of the population of Wales use Welsh.

2) ___ 2) It’s due to Welsh language schools and a fair amount of broadcasting which is carried out in Welsh.

3) ___ 3) It shared many of the linguistic features of Southern England.

4) ___ 4) It’s approximately 1,5 million.

5) ___ 5) It’s sometimes called Hiberno-English.

6) ___ 6) They are characterized by the presence of Scots forms.

7) ___ 7) It’s divided along confessional lines.

8) ___ 8) It’s the largest city in Northern Ireland.

9) ___ 9) They are said to be merging.

10) ___ 10) Yes, political affiliations help to reinforce the diversity of speech norms.


II. VOCABULARY FOCUS


A. Translate the following words and word-combinations into Russian:


A split; along confessional lines; a transitional accent; social networks; workmates; leisure time activities; the practical consequence; by no means; predominantly; a fair amount.

Reproduce the situations in the text in which they are used.


B. Find the English equivalents in the text:


Певучая интонация; отражать ч-л; напоминать ч-л; возрастающее количество; ослаблять социальные контакты; отличать ч-л от чего-либо; ряд характерных черт; исторические причины; одновременный; заметные различия.

Make up your own sentences with them.


C. Match the words which collocate with each other:

1. middle a. affiliation

2. political b. contacts

3. language c. catholic

4. social d. class

5. Roman e. norms


D. Match the words which are close in their meaning:

1. unambiguous a. withstand

2. potent b. explicit

3. reinforce c. secure

4. survive d. forceful

5. stabilize e. strengthen


E. Match the words having the opposing meaning:

1. potent a. dubious

2. reinforce b. loosen

3. survive c. debilitate

4. unambiguous d. weak

5. stabilize e. perish


F. Match the words and their definitions:

1) to begin to exist or appear for the first time
a. simultaneous

2) powerful or effective
b. to stem

3) happening or done at the same time
c. to reinforce

4) to be caused by smth
d. to originate

5) to make an idea, belief, or feeling stronger
e. potent


G. Translate the following sentences into Russian:


1) The concept of factory outlet shopping originated in America.

2) Images from the war are still potent today.

3) In simultaneous announcements the two men resigned from their jobs.

4) His popularity stemmed from the fact that he was born in the area.

5) The latest figures reinforce the view that economic growth is slowing.


H. Insert the prepositions where necessary (to; from; of; for):

1) to stem __ smth 6) a reason __ smth

2) following __ smth 7) to resemble __ smth

3) to be related __ smth 8) to be second __ smth

4) characteristic __ smth

5) to be referred __


I. Complete the sentences using the words in the box:

non-rhotic confessional lines assured

stabilized reflected divided

stems monolingual split


1) The __ in Ireland as a whole is __ once again within the historical province of Ulster.

2) The population of Northern Ireland itself is __ very much along __.

3) The type of English which became established there __ from England.

4) Although the future of Welsh is by no means __, its use seems to have __ vis-à-vis English.

5) __ English speakers generally have __ accents.


III.INTERPRETATION


A. Paraphrase the following statements and comment on them:


1) Although there is a great and ever growing amount of sectarian residential patterning, speech forms in the city as a whole are said to be merging.

2) The practical consequence of the interplay of socio-economic patterns, regional origin and social networks of varying complexity in Belfast is a zigzag pattern of linguistic variants representing reality in which there is no unambiguous agreement on prestige models of speech.


B. Answer the following questions:


1) What do you think can assure the future of a language?

2) What historical causes brought about differences in Irish English throughout the island?

3) Why do you think the percentage of population who actually speak Irish is very low?

4) Speech forms are said to be merging in the cities. How does the way of life in the city influence the leveling of speech forms?

5) What do you think the political affiliations have to do with the diversity of language norms?


IV. CREATIVE WRITING


Write an short essay on the history of the language development in Northern Ireland. Remember to express your point of view concerning the future of these languages.

To connect the ideas in your piece of writing, use the following expressions:

Firstly Secondly

First of all In the second place

To begin with Meanwhile

In the meantime

Eventually

To sum up

In short