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Guardian Unlimited, November 16, 2000

David Blunkett, Britain's minister for education and employment, has challenged British businesses to use their fluency in English to gain a competitive edge in global trade. But his appeal, delivered to business chiefs in London last month, failed to raise awareness about the difficulties that native speakers can encounter in communicating with people who speak English as their second language.

Mr Blunkett told his audience that by the end of this year 750m people would have English as a second language, and second-language speakers would outnumber first-language speakers for the first time in history. "It makes good economic sense that we use English fluency as a platform to underpin our economic competitiveness and to promote our culture overseas," he said. Mr Blunkett was careful to add that British people should not use this advantage as a reason to stop learning foreign languages.

This point was welcomed by Peter Blackburn, chairman and CEO of the British arm of Nestlé, the European multinational. Mr Blackburn, who is an honorary fellow of the Institute of Linguistics, added: "Business is becoming increasingly international, and British managers need to develop their knowledge of other languages - and, importantly, their understanding of other languages. In business the spoken word is more important than the written word."

Yet Mr Blunkett's speech overlooked[17] the increasing challenges that the spread of English raises for native speakers.Not only will they need to understand how to communicate with people with a lower proficiency in English, they must also adapt their language to suit users of emerging regional varieties of English.

According to Jeremy Comfort of York Associates, a languages and inter-cultural training consultancy in England, the problem for British business starts with the assumption that their English will be understood. "Being fluent doesn't make you a good communicator," he says. "We have to be aware that language can be a tool of communication and also a tool of power. Subconsciously many British business people use it as a tool of power and take advantage in situations where they are working with non-native speakers."

Jean Vangarden, who teaches cross-cultural management at a business school near London, says a common mistake made by native speakers is to assume that the level of second-language speakers is as high as their own. "The other side of this problem", says Mr Vangarden, "is that non-native speakers tend to avoid direct communication. For example, they will use a colleague with a higher level of English than their own as an intermediary with their British business partners, and that kind of indirect communication is not good for business."

However, trainers and business leaders agree that the best ways for British people to increase their awareness of communication problems and achieve business advantage is to learn foreign languages.



"Not to have a second language is to depreciate[18] yourself on a business and social front," says Ruth Lea of the Institute of Directors in London.

 

10. Now listen to a recording and arrange the ideas listed below in the order as they are presented.

 

1. British business chiefs underestimate the problems of English-based communication.

2. English is a good tool in economic competitiveness and promotion of own culture.

3. As business becomes increasingly international the command of foreign languages becomes topical.

4. British business people must develop awareness that their partners might be less linguistically proficient.

5. One must make allowance for lower language ability of non-natives and should not take their comprehension for granted.

6. Disregard of different levels of language command bars direct communication.

7. Linguistic awareness is best formed through learning foreign languages.

8. Without a foreign language you become a minor player.

 

11. Below are twelve headings to match the eleven paragraphs of the text. One heading is odd. Label the paragraphs with appropriate letters corresponding to relevant headings from the list. In the case you are using a library book, make all markings in your notebooks, leaving the textbook intact.

1. K. Language-culture link; 7. E. Task for new curriculum;
2. F. English in East and Southeast Asia; 8. D. Curriculum of English to reflect regional context;
3. B. New contender for lingua franca; 9. A. Standards vs. complexes;
4. I. Variety for inter-ethnic communication; 10. L. Social English of new textbooks;
5. G. "Anglo" culture out of the picture; 11. J. Reallocation of funds;
6. H. New challenge for EFL teachers; Local drive to boost English skills;

 

Additional language Exercises

12. Words, like "caret" and "carrot" that are pronounced the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings are referred to as homonyms. Below is a list of homonyms taken from "Alan Cooper's Homonym List" at http://www.cooper.com/alan/homonym_list.html Match the words with their meanings.

 

affect to change   bight middle of a rope   elude to escape from
effect result   bite a mouthful   illude to deceive
aisle walkway   byte eight bits   epic a narrative poem or story
I'll contraction of "I will"   boos disparaging sounds from fans   epoch a noteworthy period in history
isle island   booze whiskey   incite to provoke
aural of hearing   brews more than one beer   insight understanding
oral of the mouth   bruise a contusion   lightening removing weight or darkness
awed in a state of wonder   calendar chart of days   lightning static electricity from the sky
odd not usual   calender paper press   overdo carried to excess
aweful filled with awe   forego to precede   overdue past time for payment
awful really bad   forgo to abstain from   pedal foot control
offal butchered entrails   census numbering   peddle to sell
band a group   senses faculties   racket illegal moneymaking scheme
banned forbidden   cent one hundredth of a dollar   racquet woven bat for tennis
bard a poet   scent an aroma   recede to move backward
barred enclosed by poles   sent dispatched   reseed to plant again
baron minor royalty   cereal grains   rote by memory
barren unable to bear children   serial numbers in sequence   wrote has written
fort a fortification   cite to refer to   saver one who saves
forte a person's strong point   sight vision   savor to relish a taste
Barry a man's name   site a location   stationary not moving
berry small fruit   coarse rough   stationery writing paper
bury to take under   course path of travel   summary précis
bases what baseball players like to steal   complement allotment   summery like summer
basis principal constituent of anything   compliment encomium   troop a company of soldiers
basses many four-stringed guitars   elicit to draw out   troup a company of actors
berth anchorage   illicit unlawful   wail a cry
birth your method of arrival         whale large oceanic mammal

 

 

Part 4 Face-to-face with English Unit 1. English in the World Key

 

Listening


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Guardian Unlimited, September 15, 1999 | After Sam Wollaston, Guardian, May 26, 2001
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