English Worksheet

October 09
YEAR 12 – The English Language

A - Pre-reading
1. Where were you born?
2. How much contact do you have with people from different origins?
Explain.
3. What does it mean to you ‘to be Portuguese’?

B - Reading and discussion

TEXT
(TITLE)
Serves 60 millions

Take some Brits, Celts and Silures

And let them settle
Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.

Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years

Add lots of Norman French to some Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings,
Then stir vigorously.

Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,

Trinidadians and Bahamians with some Ethiopians, Chinese,
Vietnamese and Sudanese.

Then take a blend of Somalis, Sri Lankans, Nigerians

And Pakistanis.
Combine with some Guyanese
And turn up the heat

Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians,

Iraqis, and Bangladeshi, together with some Afghans, Spanish, Turkish
Kurdish, Japanese, and Palestinians.
Leave the ingredients to simmer
Then add to the melting pot.

As they mix and blend allow their languages to flourish

Binding them together with English
Allow time to be cool
Add some unity, understanding and respect for the future
Serve with justice
And enjoy.

Note:
Many variations of this recipe are possible, but whatever the ingredients it is
important to realise that all the ingredients are equally important. Treating one
ingredient better than another will leave a bitter unpleasant taste.

Warning:
An unequal spread of justice will damage the people and cause pain. Give justice and
equality to all.

Benjamin Zephanian
(Exhibition in Manchester Art Gallery, Nov 2005)

B - Reading and discussion

1. Give the text a suitable title.
2. This text combines two different types of text. Which?
3. Use information from the text and your previous knowledge to complete the timeline:

Before 55 c. 55 c. 850 1066

d. j.
BC BC AD …
Jamaicans
Vietnamese
Peoples a. b. e. f. h.
Pakistanis
……
Germani
Celtic
Language c
Gaelic c. g. i.
s languag
Welsh
es

4. Explain the meaning of these words/expressions, in the context:

a. blend (l. 10) b. melting pot (l. 18) c. flourish (l. 19)
5. In your opinion what may happen if the final warning is not taken into
consideration?

C - Use of English
Read these excerpts of a text which is an introduction to the book ‘The Future of
English’.

1. Fill in the gaps with correct tense of the verbs.

Britain's colonial expansion establish (a) the pre-conditions for the global use of
English, take (b) the language from its island birthplace to settlements around the
world. The English language grow up (c) in contact with many others make (d) it a
hybrid language, which can rapidly evolve (e) to meet new cultural and
communicative needs.
The story of English in the 20th century be linked (f) to the rise of the US as a
superpower, which spread (g) the English language alongside its economic,
technological, and cultural influence. In the same period, the international
importance of other European languages, especially French, decline (h).
There to be (i) three kinds of English speaker: those who speak it as a first
language, those for whom it is a second or additional language, and those who learn
it as a foreign language. Native speakers may feel the language 'belongs' to them,
but it will be those who speak English as a second or foreign language who
determine (j) its world future. (…)

2. Go on reading. Fill in the gaps.

Languages are not equal in political or social ________(a), particularly in multilingual
contexts. How does English relate ________ (b) other languages in a multilingual
speaker's repertoire? Why ________ (c) someone use English rather than a local
language? ________ (d) characteristic patterns are there in the use of ________ (e) by
non-native speakers? This section examines the development ________ (f) English,
identifies its historical rivals as world languages ________ (g) explains the special
place that English has in ________ (h) countries. By showing how our present arose
from ________ (i) past, we will be better equipped to speculate ________ (j) what the
future might hold in store.

3. Complete the following sentences with the suitable form of the adjectives or adverbs
in brackets

a. Some languages are ________________ than the others. (equal)

b. English is now the ________________ used language in many fields. (commonly)
c. World economies and cultures are becoming ________________ . (interdependent)
d. Proficiency in English may be one of the mechanisms for ________________ dividing the
haves from the have-nots. (far)
e. Nowadays English is probably ______________ language to learn. (useful)
D. Write a short article starting with the topic sentence below. Write
about 100 words.
Do not forget to give the text a suitable title.
Topic sentence
Good language learners share a number of features.
These notes may help you:
Paragraph 1 state the topic
(Introduction)
Paragraph 2 persistance and curiousity / explain
Paragraph 3 risk taker / give example
Paragraph 4 sum up
(Conclusion)