Unit 1 – Language Matters · Englishes

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The final task you have to do is to write an argumentative text for an online forum on the
future status of English as the global language. Write about 150-180 words. Activities A
and B will give you input for Activity C.

Activity A
1. Join the following sentences by using the appropriate linking words. Don’t forget the 10 points
punctuation if necessary. There are three that do not apply.

A B C
a. E nglish has taken its place as although 1. 
adapt to the needs of its
the world’s lingua franca as users.
b. T he English language is always however 2. 
the predominance of
changing American influence globally.
because
c. L anguage change has 3. 
it is not pushing out other
accelerated due to languages.
d. L anguage learners are aware of despite 4. 
non-native English speakers
the different varieties of English in order to have increased enormously.

2. The text that follows is missing a word in each line. Decide where each word should go. They 10 points

are already placed in the correct line.

World Englishes is a for emerging localized or indigenized 1 TERM

varieties of English, especially varieties that developed in 2 HAVE
territories influenced the United Kingdom or the United States. The 3 BY
study of World Englishes consists identifying varieties of English used 4 OF
in diverse sociolinguistic contexts globally and analyzing 5 HOW
sociolinguistic, multicultural backgrounds and contexts 6 HISTORIES
influence the use of English in different of the world. Currently, 7 REGIONS
there are approximately 75 territories where English is spoken as 8 EITHER
a first language or as unofficial or institutionalized second language 9 AN
in fields as government, law and education. It is difficult to 10 SUCH
establish the total number of Englishes in the world, new varieties of 11 AS
English are constantly developed and discovered. 12 BEING
Adapted from: Wikipedia

3. Comment on this statement. Write about 55 to 80 words. 15 points

Digital technology has a negative effect on language, but in fact Facebook, Twitter and e-mail have enriched
its expressiveness.
Adapted from: www.intelligencesquared.com

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 Xplore · 12.º ano · Progress Check

Activity B
Read this extract from a report by writer David Rohde and do the tasks that follow it.

Global English
As English Spreads, Speakers Morph it into World Tongue
In India, people created the word “pre-pone” as the obvious opposite of postpone. On the Internet, a
form of cyber-English has sprouted with such words as “net surfing.” On MTV Latino, the word coolismo
defines hip for a continent.
In Britain, meanwhile, editors of the Oxford English Dictionary are struggling to keep up with the
5 “morphing” of the mother tongue. What centuries of British colonialism and decades of Esperanto
couldn’t do, a few years of free trade, MTV, and the Internet has. ‘English is probably changing faster
than any other language,’ says Alan Firth, a linguist at the University of Aalborg in Denmark, ‘because
so many people are using it.’
More than 1 billion people are believed to speak some form of English. For every native speaker there
10 are three non-native speakers. Three-quarters of the world’s mail is in English and four-fifths of electronic

Avaliação escrita e de listening

information is stored in English.
English purists, led by Britain’s Prince Charles, argue that the uncontrolled, global germination of so
many “Englishes” is leading to the degradation of the language as they see it. Multiculturalists,
meanwhile, say the war-like spread of English effectively commits “linguistic genocide” by killing off
15 other languages. These differing views lead to the question: is the world taking English by storm or is
English taking the world by storm?
Prince Charles recently warned of a creeping degradation of the English language, lashing out at
Americans for cheapening it with bad grammar. And French-language purists have been trying to
eliminate English slang from entering the world’s previous lingua franca, but with little success.
20 The Prince’s concerns are both cultural and financial. The rapidly growing “English industry” – made
up of English classes and tens of thousands of academics studying the language and its offshoots –
currently produces more than $750 million in income for Britain annually.
But Britain faces competition from the United States and Australia in the crucial Asian market,
where more than 200 million Chinese are studying English and where English is the main language of
25 commerce.
Danish Professor Firth, who studies conversations between non-native speakers when they conduct
business, says businessmen tend to be blunt, humourless, use simplified grammar, and develop and use
their own English terms to cut a deal. ‘People develop their own ways of doing business with each
other, of talking and even writing… that native speakers might not understand,’ Firth says. ‘And native
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30 speakers join in and start to speak that way also.’

Adapted from: www.pbs.org

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Unit 1 – Language Matters · Englishes

1. Go through the text and find 10 points

out what these numerical

expressions refer to.

a. 1 billion (l. 9)

b. Three quarters (l. 10)

c. four-fifths (l. 10)

d. $750 million (l. 22)

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e. 200 million (l. 24)

2. Answer these questions on the text. Use your words as far as possible. 18 points

a. Which aspects have contributed to the major changes in the English language?

b. Name the two opposing views on the evolution and change of the English language.

c. In what way do non-native businessmen affect the way English native-speakers use their language?

3. Explain the meaning of these expressions taken from the text. 15 points

a. a form of cyber-English has sprouted… (ll. 1-2)

b. the “morphing” of the mother tongue. (ll. 4-5)

c. the war-like spread of English… (l. 14)

4. Rewrite these sentences as suggested below. 12 points

a. T he English language industry is a huge source of income for Britain; however, it faces competition
from Australia and the USA.

In spite of...

b. Non-native businessmen are currently using a simplified form of the English language.

A simplified form of the English language…

Activity C
Write an argumentative text for an online forum agreeing or disagreeing with the following statement: 80 points

The future status of English as the global language is assured. Write about 150-180 words. Use input
from Activities A and B to help you.

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 Xplore · 12.º ano · Progress Check

Activity D – Listening
Audio CD 2 – Tracks 19-20

1. Listen to the first part of this conference speech on World Englishes and complete the text. 14 points
Use between 1 to 3 words.

How English a in the world is no business whatsoever of

b in England, the United States, or anywhere else. They have no
say in the matter, no right to c or pass d . They are
irrelevant. The very fact that English is an e means that no nation
can have f over it. To grant such custody of the language is
necessarily to arrest its g and so undermine its h . It
is a matter of considerable i for native speakers of English that
their language is an international means of communication. But the point is
that it is only international to the extent that it is j their language.

Avaliação escrita e de listening

2. Listen to the second part of the speech and make notes on these topics. 16 points

a. Three issues connected with World Englishes.

b. How English is currently seen.

c. A strategy to make students communicate across cultures.

d. Teachers’ attitudes as far as teaching World Englishes are concerned.

Test Specification
Activity A Activity B Activity C Activity D Total
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1. = 10 1. = 10 80 1. 14
2. = 10 2. = 18 — 2. 16
200 points
3. = 15 3. = 15 — —
— 4. = 12 — —

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