外研社选修八 module4 原文.doc

WhichEnglish?Whenyoureceiveaphonecallfromafriend,how longdoesittakeyoutoknowwhoitis?Afew seconds,perhaps.Thequalityofsomeonesvoice andtheirchoiceofwordsmakeapersoninstantlyrecognisable,eventhoughyoucantseehimorher.InthissenseeverybodysuseoflanguagewhetherEnglish,Chinese,oranyotherisdifferent.YoucouldsaythatthereareasmanyvarietiesofEnglish,oranyotherlanguageforthatmatter,astherearespeakersofit.Englishisspokenasanofficiallanguageinmorethan60countriesacrosstheworldanditcansoundverydifferentfromplacetoplace.Pronunciation,aswellasgrammarandvocabulary,canchangeveryquicklyfromoneareatoanother.Forexample,withinLondonthemostfamousdialectiscockney.ItisonlyusuallyspokenbypeoplefromtheeastofthatcitysoitisnottheonlyformofEnglishyouwillhear.YoucanusuallytellwhichpartoftheEnglish-speakingworldsomeonecomesfrombytheiraccent,andtherearesomeveryrecognisableaccentsalloverBritain.ItisalsoquiteeasytotellBritishandAmericanEnglishapart.AlthoughmostpeoplebelievethereisarightandawrongwaytospeakEnglish,thereisnotreallyastandardformthateveryonecanagreeon.Englishspreadacrosstheworldoverhundredsofyearsbecauseoftrade,explorationandbusiness,andthisprocessproducedmanydifferentEnglishes.Professorsoflinguistics,writersandteachersallworryaboutprovidingaperfectmodeltofollowbutasitissowidelyspoken,ithasbecomeimpossibletosaywhichEnglishis“correct”andwhichis“incorrect”.Perhapscorrectnessdoesntmatteraslongasspeakerscanunderstandeachotheritscommunicationthatcounts.AustraliaGday!DyaspeakStrine?Orrather,Hello!DoyouspeakAustralian?Australiaisoneoftheyoungestnationsintheworld.ThefirstEnglishspeakersarrivedlittlemorethan200yearsago-andtheydidntwantto.Mostofthemwentprisonerssenttheretowork.TheycamefromalloverBritain,butespeciallyfromNorthernIrelandand theLondonarea,whichiswhytheAustraliansaccenttodayhastracesofbothIrishandcockneyspeechpatterns.TheEnglishspeakersfoundpeoplewhohadbeenlivinginAustraliaformorethan50,000yearstheAborigines,andextraordinaryvarietyofwildlife,uniquetothecontinent.ManyoftheAboriginalwordsfortheseanimals,suchaskangaroo,koalaandkookaburrasoonpassedintothelanguage.ButthemaindifferencesbetweenAustraliaEnglishandothervarietiesofEnglishlieintheindividualsoundsandintonationpatterns.SometimesitisdifficultforBritishandAmericanpeopletounderstandtheAustralianaccent,andmistakesarecommon.Afewyearsagoawell-knownEnglishauthorwassigningcopiesofhisbooksinaSydneybookshop.AcustomercameuptotheauthorholdingacopyofthebookandsaidEmmaChissit.TheauthorthoughtthatEmmaChissitwasthewomansname.Butwhenheaskedhowtospellthename,incasethecustomerwantedhimtowritehernameinthebook(ToEmmaChissit,withbestwishes),herealisedthatthecustomerhadbeenaskingthequestion:Howmuchisit?JamaicaandSingaporeAustralianEnglishcomesdirectlyfromEnglishspokeninBritain.ButinothercountrieswhereEnglishisspokenasafirstlanguagethisisnotthecase.ThevarietyofEnglishspokeninJamaica,andotherCaribbeancountries,hassomeofthegrammaticalfeaturesoftheAfricanlanguagesspokenbytheancestorsoftheJamaicanpeople,sothatthereisoftennoapostrophes(s)(thatwomanhouse,insteadofthatwomanshouse)ornolinkverborarticle(Hegoodman,insteadofHesagoodman).Anotherfeatureistherhythm.Itistherhythmofrapmusic,whichbecamepopularintheUSinthe1980s.Ontheothersideoftheworld,inSingapore,Englishisasecondlanguage,spokenbyabouthalfthepopulation.OtherlanguagesincludeMalayandChinese.AlmosteveryoneinSingaporeisbilingual,whilesomepeoplespeakthreeorfourlanguages.ThemostcommonvarietyofEnglishspokenisknownasSinglish.SentencesinSinglishoftenendwiththewordlah.ThevarietyhasbeeninfluencedinparticularbyMalayandtheChinesedialectHokkien(languagespokeninMinnan),bothingrammaticalfeaturesandvocabulary.TodaythereisadebateinSingaporeaboutwhichvarietyofEnglishisthebest:Singlish,oravarietyclosertoBritishEnglish,whichistheaimoftheSpeakGoodEnglishMovementcreatedin1999TheFutureofEnglishEversincetheinventionofthefirsttelegraphattheendofthe19thcentury,Englishhasbeenspreadingaroundtheworld.Ithasapowerfulinfluenceinthemedia,ontheInternetandinpopmusicthatisnotgoingtogoaway.Thiscommunicationrevolutionhasturnedtheworldintoa“globalvillage”inwhicheveryoneneedstotalktoeachotherandsooftennowadaysthatmeansinEnglish.MorepeoplenowspeakEnglishasasecondlanguageacrosstheworldthanasanativelanguage.Itisestimatedthat1.3billionpeoplewilluseEnglishaseitherafirstorasecondlanguageby2050.ButwhatwillthatformofEnglishbelike?Traditionally,BritishEnglishhasbeentaughtacrosstheworld,butitisonlyonevariety.ExpertsbelievethatthefutureshapeandgrammarofEnglish,especiallyinitsspokenform,willnolongerbedeterminedinthetraditionalEnglish-speakingcountrieslikeBritainandAmericabutintherestofEurope,AsiaandAfrica.InternationalorganisationsandbusinessescommunicatewitheachotherinEnglish.ButanewpatternofusingEnglishisdevelopingthatdoesnotlookthesametonativespeakersas“traditional”English.Researchersarenowinvestigating“non-native”Englishwhichisanewformofthelanguagewithchangesingrammar,pronunciationandmeaning.OftenmeaningsandwordsfromotherlanguagesfindtheirwayintoEnglishtoproduceanewdialectsuchas“Franglais”whichcombinesaspectsofFrenchandEnglish.YoucouldsaythisgivesEnglishaFrenchflavour.Alloftheseprocessesareaformofnaturalevolution.Newdialectsacquiretheirowncomplexfeaturesuntiltheybecomereallanguagesintheirownright.ExpertsareconvincedthatthiswillhappeninthefutureasmoreandmorepeoplelearnEnglishandcallittheirown.ColourfulEnglishEnglishhasahugenumberofcolourfulandsplendidexpressionswhichmaybedifficulttounderstand.Evenifthemeaningofthewordsisstraightforward,theculturalassociationsofthephrasemaybeambiguous.Thedilemmaistoknowwhichareexplicit,whicharefigurative,andwhytheyarerelevanttoaneverydaysituation.IdiomsarepicturesqueorabsurdexpressionsconveyingaconceptwhichisdifferentfromtheliteralmeaningandhavebeencommoninEnglishformanyyears.ThePilgrimFathersinAmericaalwaysaskedforturkeyswhentheytradedwithNativeAmericans.Thus,totalkturkeymeanstogetdowntobusiness.Butsomeidiomsareverynewandyoullneedtoclarifywhattheymean.Forexample,madasaboxoffrogsisarecentwayofdescribingsomeonewhohasatendencytoberatherdisorganisedorvague.Abadhairdayisonewhenyoufeelclumsyordepressed,possiblybecauseyourhairdoesntlookgood.Manyexpressionsareadvertisingslogans.Thatlldonicely,sir!comesfromanoldTVadforAmericanExpress.ItstheshopassistantsreplytoacustomerwhoselectsacreditcardfromhiswalletandasksiftheshopacceptsAmericanExpress.Othercommonexpressionshavemetaphoricalsignificance.Getyourtanksoffmylawn!meansBackoff!Withdrawyourthreats!andwasfirstsaidbyaBritishprimeminister,rejectingthethreatofapotentialstrikebyatradeunionleader.Agebeforebeautyisusedwheninvitinganotherpersontogothroughadoorbeforeyou.Itsnotmeanttoabusetheotherperson,butitmaysometimescauseoffence.TheIronCurtainwasthestatesmanWinstonChurchillstermforthedividinglinebetweeneasternandwesternEurope.Withfriendslikethesewhoneedsenemies?meansafriendhasbetrayedyourtrustorletyoudown.WeshallovercomedatesfromtheAmericanCivilWar,andisusedalmostlikeaprayerbytheCivilRightsmovementintheUSA,meaningwewillopposeprejudiceagainstblackpeopleandresistconflictbetweenAmericans.Finally,therearetraditionalproverbswhichexpressamoralorapieceofadvice.Forexample,WheninRome,doastheRomansdosuggestsyoushouldadapttolocalconditions.SomesayingshaveachievedthesuperiorstatusofaproverbsuchasMoneymakestheworldgoaroundfromthemusicalCabaret(1966).ThiscomesfromtheolderproverbLovemakestheworldgoround.ChineseasaForeignLanguageWhowantstolearnChinese?Justabouteverybodyintheworld,itseems.ThedemandforChineseasaforeignlanguageisgrowingfast,bothinEnglish-speakingcountries,suchasBritainandtheUSA,andinothercountrieslikeFrance,wherethenumberofstudentsstudyingChinesehasincreasedby15%eachyearinrecentyears.Thereareanumberofreasonsfortheinterest.AsChinadevelopseconomically,opportunitiesfordoingbusinessincreasedramaticallyandifyouknowyourpartnerslanguage,yourchancesofsuccessincrease.ButthereisalsoarenewedinterestinthecultureandtraditionsofChina;thefactthatChineseculturehascontinueduninterruptedformorethan5,000yearsisasourceofcuriosityandfascinationforpeopleinotherpartsoftheworld.AthirdreasonisthatlearningChineseis,simply,achallenge.Withitscharactersandcomplicatedtonesystem,mostspeakersofotherlanguagesthinkChinesemustbeincrediblydifficult.Butisitreallyso?AsoneAmericanstudentsays,“ThebiggestproblemaboutlearningChineseisoftenfearsometimescausedbytheteachers.Ivestudiedquiteafewlanguages,andnoneofthemareaseasyformeasChinese.Thegrammariseasy,sincesentenceorderissimilartoEnglishbutsimpler.TheonlydifficultpartofspokenChineseisthetonesystem.Eventhatisntabigproblem.IrememberthefirsttimeIheardanativeofBeijingspeaking,itwassoclear!”Withsomuchinterestinthelanguage,theChinesegovernmentintroducedaninternationalexamsystem.Establishedin1990，theHSKtestwasinitiallymeantforthoselearnerswhoregardChineseasasecondorforeignlanguage.Later,itwasintroducedabroad.Atthemoment,therearemorethan100examcentresin27countriesaroundtheworld,withnearly150,000candidatestakingtheexameveryyear.Andaspin-offofthisisthatteachingChineseasaforeignlanguageoffersyoungChineselanguagegraduatesinterestingprofessionalopportunitiesandachancetotravelacrosstheworld.MothersWinFirstPlaceWhatisthemostpopularwordintheEnglishlanguageandwhy?In2004,40,000peoplein102countrieswereaskedtodebatethisquestion.Thetopchoicewasmother,followedbypassion,smile,loveandeternity.Thereweresomeunusualchoicestoo,suchashennight(whenwomencelebratetogether,thenightbeforeoneofthemgetsmarried)andnews.Otherfavouriteswerefantastic,freedomandpeace.TheDirectorofCommunicationsattheBritishCouncil,whichorganisedtheworldwidedebatesaid:“Allofushaveamother,andweallhaveastrongideaofwhothatpersonis.Itsaverypowerfulwordinavarietyofcultures.ThelistshowsthediversityoftheEnglishlanguage,andalsoshowswhatthingspeoplefindimportantintheirlives.”Therewereafewotherchoiceswhicharesounds,notwords:like“oi”，asoundthatpeoplemakewhichinstantlyattractsattention.Somefavouritewordswereonestakenfromotherlanguages,suchasRenaissance.Whenthelistofthemostpopularwords