Unit 2

•Language—A Vehicle in Communication

• Objectives:

• 1. Get some facts about world languages, and English in particular, and some idea of language learning styles. The students may reflect on their own learning styles in the hope that they may draw on what is discussed in the text to improve their way of learning English.

• 2. Selecting information and identify main points.

The Tower of Babel

• Now the whole earth had one language and few words. And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."

• And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."

• So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the earth. - Genesis 11.

Part I: Warming-up:

• A. Facts about languages

• Key Words: languages dialects official language.

• Vocabulary:

• 1.  disc or disk: flat thin round plate; small flat object of any shape

• 2.  Somalia: A country of extreme eastern Africa on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Mogadishu is the capital and the largest city. Population: 8,020,000.

Key to Task A

• 1. 2,700 languages

• 7,000 dialects

• regional

• pronunciation

• 2. official language

• 3. One billion;

• 20%

• 4. 400 million• 600 million• 2nd • foreign • 5. 500,000 words• 80%• other languages• 6. 80%• computers

• 7. African country• same• 8. 1,000• Africa• 9. spaceship• 1977• message• the United Nations

• Post listening: reviewing some facts about the world language

• 1. How many languages are there in the world?

• 2. What is a business language?

• 3. How many people in the world speak English?

 • B. Talking about learning style.• Key words: • learning style; senses; hearing learners; v

isual learners; tactile learners.• Vocabulary: • 1.  visual: • received through sight or vision; • visual aids refer to things such as picture

s, films and videos etc. • 2.  tactile: using the sense of touch

• Instructions: You are going to hear a short talk about learning styles. Complete the following explanations

• 1. Learning styles: different ways of learning that different people have.

• 2. Hearing learners: people who learn best by listening

• 3. Visual learners: people who learn best by reading or looking at pictures.

• 4. Tactile learners: people who learn best by touching and doing things.

• Post-listening

• What kind of learners are you?

 • C. Talking about language learning styles• Key words: language; learning styles; commun

icative; analytical; authority-oriented; concrete

• Vocabulary• 1.  identify: • show, prove, etc. who or what sb. or sth. is; her

e find out different types of language learners. • 2.  analytical: • relating to analysis; or the use of logical argum

ent and reasoning• She has a sharp analytical mind.

• 3.  oriented or orientated:

• directed towards

• grammar-oriented tests;

• 4.  concrete:

• existing in material form; that can be touched

• Have the students think about these language learning styles and tell each other what type of language learner they are and how they feel about the results.

 

• Part II What makes a good or bad student?• A. Key words: experiment; play with; the lang

uage testing; passive; unwillingness to make mistakes; rely on; read

• Vocabulary: • 1.  speak up: • speak loud;响亮地说• 2.  peep: • look quickly or shyly or cautiously at• peep over others’ examination paper• 3.  invariably: • never changing; always the same; • She invariably arrives late.

• 4.  stick one’s neck out: • do sth. risky• 5. off one’s own bat: • without help or encouragement from anyone els

e; unaided 独立地• Have you done all this work off your own bat?• 这些都是你独立做的吗 ?• She made the suggestions off her own bat, i.e. w

ithout being asked for them.

• Instructions: 1. Before you listening to the conversation, please list some of the things that a good students or a bad student will do in the classroom.

• 2. Now listen to the conversation in which a teacher described the sort of things a good student or a bad student does or does not do in the classroom.

• While listening, ignore those redundant words which express hesitation, or utterances that just show the listener is listening. And then complete the charts with the information you hear on the tape.

Key to Task B

• A good student A bad student

• make mistakes Passive

• Every new thing the teacher

Key to Task B

• A good student• make mistakes• every new thing• the language• working outside the

classroom

• A bad student• Passive• the teacher• stick his neck out• more likely to be right

than himself

 

• Part III. Some Facts about English

• Key words: widely used; difficult; hodgepodge; irregularity; largest vocabulary; idioms; varieties

• Pre-listening activities:

• Have the students discuss the following questions:

• 1. Do you agree that English will eventually be the world language? If not, which language do you think will be?

• 2. From your experience, what is particularly difficult to learn about English?

Vocabulary: • 1.  linguistics: • the scientific study of language• 2.  spring up: • appear, grow, develop suddenly and quickly• New houses were springing up all over the town.• Doubts have begun to spring up in my mind. • 3.  aviation: • science or practice of flying crafts• 4. hodgepodge or hotchpotch: a confused mixtu

re of different things:• His essay is a hotchpotch of other people’s ideas.

• 5.  stem from: arise from; have sth. as its origin or cause

• Discontent stems from low pay and bad working conditions.

• 6.  baffle: confuse

• One of the examination questions baffled me completely.

• 7.  prestige: power to impress others, esp. as a result of wealth, distinction, or glamour. Related word: prestigious

• Shanghai people think that their dialect is prestigious.

• 8. evolve: develop naturally and gradually• How did you evolve this very personal and ori

ginal style?• 你是怎样逐步形成这种很有个性且具独创性的风格的 ?

• 9.  pose: cause to rise; create

• The increase in student numbers poses many problems for the schools.

• 学生人数增加给学校造成许多问题。• Instructions: A. Listen to an interview talk

ing on some facts about English. Focus on the things that make English difficult to learn. Supply the missing information.

Key to Task A

• Things that make English difficult to learn:

• Hodgepodge Idioms in informal English

• Largest vocabulary

• Hodgepodge: Gemanic French Greek & Latin---Irregularity in spelling & pronunciation

• Largest Vocabulary: Anglo-Saxon; French