Е. В. Захарова язык и культура великобритании в условиях европейской интеграции предисловие данное учебное пособие
| Вид материала | Учебное пособие |
| Part four. education – in need of reform ? unit i. educating the nation Ii. vocabulary focus Iii. interpretation Iv. speaking personally |
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PART FOUR. EDUCATION – IN NEED OF REFORM ?
UNIT I. EDUCATING THE NATION
I. READING COMPREHENSION
A. Pre-reading Task. Answer the following questions:
1) What part do you think education plays in our life?
2) Do you think the system of education in Great Britain differs much from that of other European states?
B. Now read and translate the text. Make use of the words and expressions given below:
Elitist – элитарный
Elite – элита
Counterpart – аналог, эквивалент
Grammar school – средняя классическая школа
Allocate – распределять, отводить (место)
Parental – родительский
Primary – начальный
Secondary – средний
Youth custody centres – специальные заведения для малолетних правонарушителей
Fund – финансировать
Board school – школа, руководимая местным советом
Hedge school – очень бедная школа для бедняков, иногда под открытым небом
Leaving age – возраст окончания школы
fee – плата за обучение
social strata – социальные слои
meritocracy – ‘меритократия’ (система выделения людей по достоинствам; общественная система, при которой высшие должности занимают более талантливые люди)
affluence – изобилие, богатство
rhetoric – разглагольствования
endorse – одобрить
co-educational – с совместным обучением
streaming – система потоков (в школах); распределение школьников по классам в зависимости от их способностей
curriculum – учебная программа
cohesiveness – однородность
Education has been a controversial issue periodically since 1945 and subject to major changes as successive governments have tried to improve it. Government policy (both Conservative and Labour) has been bitterly criticized for providing a system which is either too elitist or which is insufficiently demanding of the nation’s children or which simply fails to compete with the education systems of other industrialized countries. During their long period of government, 1979-97, the Conservatives sought to eliminate some of these criticisms in accordance with their political philosophy. The results have been mixed and controversial. On coming into office Labour made education its priority for fundamental transformation. It said it wished to avoid the ideological warfare of previous administrations. But its insistence on ‘serving the many, not the few’ indicated that its broad position was similar to previous Labour governments in wishing to improve the mass, rather than emphasize high standards for an intelligent elite. The controversy surrounding education results partly from particular historical developments, but also from awareness that the broad mass of schools perform less well than their counterparts in other industrialized countries.
There are about 33,000 schools in Britain with 10,082,000 pupils and 597,000 teachers. There are separate state and private systems. The latter has 2,421 schools; 164 state grammar schools survive. The school year runs from September to July and children normally start school in the September following their fifth birthday. The school day is usually from 9 am to 3.30 or 4.00 pm and children are allocated places by the Local Education Authority (LEA) in the schools nearest to them, though these allocations are subject to appeal. The government has encouraged the exercise of parental choice by promoting competition among schools and adopting a policy of incentives for ‘good’ schools and a laissez-faire attitude to the closure of those which are becoming less popular. League tables of school exam results have been published since the early 1990s.
The state offers ‘primary’ (for ages five to eleven) and ‘secondary’ (for ages eleven to eighteen) schooling. There are a very few ‘middle’ schools for children aged ten to thirteen and some ‘special’ schools for children with learning difficulties. These are the main state schools, although there are others in ,for example, hospitals and youth custody centres. Pupils are permitted to leave school at sixteen but a majority (more than 70 per cent) stay on or move to Local-Authority-controlled Further Education (FE) or sixth form colleges.
The present state system evolved from a gradual move towards universal educational provision which started in the nineteenth century. Poorly funded ‘board’ and ‘hedge’ schools (the former managed by a local school board, the latter outdoors) taught pupils up to the standard leaving age of fourteen years (most recently raised from fifteen to sixteen in 1976).
In 1944 Education Act introduced the ’11 plus’ examination. All children took this test at the end of primary school, and those who passed had their fees paid at the local grammar school. This change had significant social and cultural effects in Britain. It made possible a degree of social mobility hitherto unknown and eroded notions of those with ability coming only from higher social strata. It introduced to post-war Britain a ‘meritocracy’ and made a significant contribution to the affluence of the 1950s and 1960s.
On the negative side, it distanced children from their less educated parents. But perhaps the worst effect of the 1944 Education Act was that some people saw it as ‘discarding’ the 80 per cent of children who were assigned by the test to secondary-modern schools. Children were labeled as ‘failures’ at the age of eleven and this led to cumulative loss of ambition, achievement and self-esteem. Many became alienated and reluctant to integrate into society. In due course, this offered fertile ground for the growth of such youth-cultural subgroups as rockers and punks. Secondary-modern school pupils and teachers were demoralized by the knowledge that the most favoured students had been ‘creamed off’ to the grammar schools and by the fact that, despite the rhetoric of ‘appropriate provision’, they were part of second-class educational establishments in a system of ‘separate development’, a sort of cultural ‘apartheid’.
Partly because of this, the Labour government in the 1960s endorsed a system of ‘comprehensive’ schools. These were co-educational (most grammar schools were single-sex) and for all abilities Some ‘comps’ exchanged grammar-school-type streaming (grouping pupils according to performance) for mixed ability teaching. Here pupils of different capabilities shared the same classrooms in the belief that the bright would help the weak and that improved social development would compensate for any lack of intellectual achievement. It was hoped that this would eventually lead to cohesiveness rather than competitiveness in society at large. Other comprehensive schools adopted what they saw as the best of existing educational practices, including intellectual rigour, while reducing emphasis in their curriculum on classics and sport.
C. Write 10 questions giving an outline of the text:
II. VOCABULARY FOCUS
A. Translate the following word-combinations into Russian:
Successive; hitherto; to erode; a notion; to distance; to be labeled; loss; competitiveness; rigour;
educational provision; to come into office; warfare.
In which situations are they given in the text? Reproduce them.
B. Find the English equivalents in the text:
Противоречивый; внести вклад; способный (ученик); нехватка чего-либо; в целом; резко критиковать; стремиться к чему-либо;в соответствие с чем-либо; первоочередная задача; стимул.
Think of your own sentences with these expressions.
C. Match the words which collocate with each other:
1. historical a. provision
2. custody b. rigour
3. educational c. centres
4. leaving d. developments
5. intellectual e. age
D. Match the words which are close in their meaning:
1. negative a. deteriorate
2. bright b. deficiency
3. lack c. arguable
4. erode d. adverse
5. controversial e. intelligent
E. Match the words having the opposing meaning:
1. bright a. fix
2. lack b. constructive
3. erode c. undisputed
4. negative d. abundance
5. controversial e. dull
F. Match the words and their definitions:
| 1) to express support for smb or smth, especially in public | a. rhetoric |
| 2) money that you pay to a professional person or institution for their work | b. curriculum |
| 3) A style of speaking or writing that is indended to impress people but is not honest | c.endorse |
| 4) The subjects that students study at a particular school or college | d. elite |
| 5) A small group of people who have a lot of power or advantages | e. fees |
.
G. Translate the following sentences into Russian:
1) All endorsed the treaty as crucially important to achieve peace.
2) Many doctors have a standard scale of fees.
3) Campaign promises have proved to be empty rhetoric.
4) Our mathematics curriculum is much broader now.
5) Only a small elite among mountaineers can climb these routes.
H. Insert prepositions where necessary (with; into; on; at; in; to):
1. __ accordance ___ smth 6. to be subject_ smth
2. to come ___ office 7. an attitude ___ smth
3. insistence ___ smth 8. ___ the end
4. to be similar __ smth 9. to integrate ___ smth
5. following ___ smth 10. despite ___
I. Complete the sentences using the words in the box:
| office controversial endorsed evolved priority subject labeled provision loss |
1) The Labour government in the 1960s ___ a system of ‘comprehensive’ schools.
2) Education has been a ___ issue periodically since 1945 and ___ to major changes.
3) On coming into ___ Labour made education its ___ for fundamental transformation.
4) The present state system ___ from a gradual move to words universal educational ___ which started in the nineteenth century.
5) Children were____ as ‘failures’ at the age of eleven and these led to ___ of ambition, achievement and self-esteem.
J. In which meanings are the following words used in the text:
1) to endorse
a. to express support for smb or smth, especially in public
b. to write your name on the back of a chegue or official document to make it legal
c. to record an offence committed by a driver on the driving licence.
2) fee
a. an amount of money that you pay to be allowed to do smth such as join an organization
b. money that you pay to a professional person or institution for their work
3) rhetoric
a. the art of using language in a way that is effective or influences people
b. a style of speaking or writing that is intended to impress people but is not honest.
III. INTERPRETATION
A. Answer the questions:
1) What developments prove that education has been a controversial issue?
2) Do you know anything about the policy of the conservatives during their long period of government (1979-1997) in other social spheres?
3) What do you think might have got Labour make education its priority for fundamental transformation?
4) Do you think that competition among schools should be encouraged?
5) What do you think is the most appropriate leaving age?
6) What were the major social and cultural effects of the Education Act of 1944?
7) What is supposed to be fertile ground for the growth of youth cultural subgroups in the 1960s?
8) What are the main features of comprehensive schools?
B. Paraphrase and explain the following statements:
1) Many became alienated and reluctant to integrate into society.
2) Pupils of different capabilities shared the same classrooms in the belief that the bright would help the weak and that improved social development would compensate for any lack of intellectual achievement.
3) Government policy has been bitterly criticized for providing a system which is either too elitist or which is insufficiently demanding of the nation’s children.
4) It wished to avoid the ideological warfare of previous administrations.
5) These allocations are subjects to appeal.
6) The government has encouraged ….. a laissez – faire attitude to the closure of those schools which are becoming less popular.
IV. SPEAKING PERSONALLY
Discuss advantages and disadvantages of the ‘11 plus’ examination.
Which adjectives can add to the description of positive sides and which of the negative effects of the examination?
Challenging; self-confident; biased; desperate; disconcerted; detrimental; spiteful; venomous; fair; worthy; harsh; beneficial; inferior; rigid; superficial; civil; impartial; inequitable.