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1、 学英语 找长喜1页眉上写页眉上写“2008 年真题点评年真题点评”PARTI LISTENING COMPREHENSION SECTION A MINI-LECTURE The Popularity of English I. Present status of English A. English as a native/first language B. English as a lingua franca: a language for communication among people whose (1) _ native/first languages are differen
2、t C. Number of people speaking English as a first or a second language: 320-380 million native speakers 250-(2) 350 million speakers of English as a second language II. Reasons for the popular use of English A. (3) Historical reasons the Pilgrim Fathers brought the language to America; British settl
3、ers brought the language to Australia; English was used as a means of control in (4) former British Empire B. Economic reasons spread of (5) international commerceGood morning, everyone. Todays lecture is about the popularity of English. As we all know, English is widely used in the world. Although
4、English is NOT the language with the largest number of native or “first” language speakers, it has really become a lingua franca. Then, what is a lingua franca? 1The term refers to a language which is widely adopted for communication between two speakers whose native languages are different from eac
5、h others, and where one or both speakers are using it as a “second” language. For example, when an Indian talks to a Singaporean using English, then English is the lingua franca. Then, actually how many people speak English as either a “first” or a “second” language? 2Some researchers suggested a fe
6、w years ago that between 320-380 million people spoke English as a first language, and anywhere between 250-350 million as a second language. And of course, if we include people who are learning English as a foreign language all over the world, that number may increase dramatically. Then, we may ask
7、 a question: how did English get there? That is, how did English gain the present status of popularity? There are, in fact, a number of interlocking reasons for the popularity of English as a lingua franca. Many of the reasons are historical, but they also include economic and cultural factors that
8、have influenced and sustained the spread of the language. Lets go through the reasons one by one.3First is the historical reason. This is related to the colonial history. As we know, when the Pilgrim Fathers landed on the Massachusetts coast in 1620, after their journey from England, they brought wi
9、th them not just a set of religious beliefs, a pioneering spirit or a desire for colonization, but also their language. Although many years later the Americans broke away from their colonial master, the language of English remained, and still does. It was the same in Australia, too. When Commander P
10、hilip planted the British flag in Sydney Cove on 26th Jan. 1788, it was not just a bunch of British convicts and their guardians, but also a language. 4In other parts of the former British Empire, English rapidly became a unifying or dominating means of control. For example, it became a lingua franc
11、a in India, where a variety of indigenous languages made the use of any one of them as a whole-country system problematic. 学英语 找长喜2 language of communication in the international business community C. (6)Boom in international travel use of English in travel and tourism signs in airports language of
12、announcement language of (7) traffic control D. Information exchange use of English in the academic world language of (8) conferences or journal articles E. Popular culture pop music on (9) many radios films from the USA III. Questions to think about A. status of English in the future B. (10) split
13、of distinct varieties of English So, the imposition of English as the one language of administration helped maintain the colonizers control and power. Thus, English traveled around many parts of the world in those days, and long after that colonial power has faded away, it is still widely used as a
14、main or at least an institutional language in countries as far apart as Jamaica and Pakistan, Uganda, and New Zealand. That is the first factor. Now, the second major factor in the spread of English has been the spread of commerce throughout the world: 5the spread of international commerce has taken
15、 English along with it. This is the 20th-century phenomenon of “globalization”. Therefore, one of the first sights many travelers see when arriving in countries as diverse as Brazil, China, for example, is the yellow twin-arched sign of a McDonalds fast food restaurant, or some other famous brands outlets. And without doubt, English is used as the language of communication in the international business community. 6And the third factor related to the popular use of English is the boom in international travel. And you will find that much travel and tourism is carried on, ar
