UNIVERSITATEA Titu Maiorescu

Facultatea de Psihologie
Departamentul de nvamnt la distan

MODUL:
Comunicare de specialitate n limba englez
II

TUTOR: Lect. univ. dr. Alice Popescu

2013

CUPRINS

Introducere

Unitatea 1. The unhelpful crowd

Unitatea 2. Noticing that people need help

12

Unitatea 3. Jobs and employment

16

Unitatea 4. Self-esteem and social success

21

Unitatea 5. Husky had been very healthy

28

Unitatea 6. Balancing equity and excellence

32

Bibliografie

38

INTRODUCERE
1.Scopul si obiectivele cursului:
Cursul de limba englez pentru nvmnt la distan i propune s sedimenteze
elemente de limba englez dobndite n formarea preuniversitar a studentului ID,
elemente lingvistice i de interpretare necesare unei deschideri a studentului ID ctre
lumea tiinific internaional. Pentru o analiz gramatical i interpretarea de texte,
sunt folosite tematici cu predilecie din psihologie (inclusiv psihologie social,
psihologia comunicrii etc.). De asemenea, prin acest curs se urmrete formarea
deprinderilor orale i scrise utile n activitatea socio-profesional, n vederea
cptrii unei autonomii valide de informare i comunicare n limba englez.

Obiective generale:
Dezvoltarea de competene n utilizarea limbii engleze pentru comunicare i
informare n general , ca i n domeniul tiinelor sociale i n special al psihologiei,
astfel nct studenii s fie capabili :
S neleag dup auz enunuri n flux verbal;
S neleag enunuri, texte citite n limba englez;
S comunice verbal un mesaj, enun n limba englez;
S exprime n cuvinte proprii n limba englez, n scris, un mesaj/enun.

Obiective specifice:
1.pronunarea de diverse enunuri cu intonaia corect;
2.nelegerea sensului global al unui mesaj ascultat;
3.raportarea informaiei ascultate la limbajul i experiena cultural proprie;
4.adaptarea formulelor conversaionale la contextul dat (formal, informal);
5.susinerea de dialoguri referitoare la sine i la universul propriu;
6.descrierea de persoane, locuri, activiti;
7.identificarea unitilor de coninut ale unui text;
8.exprimarea nelesului global al unui text;
9.recunoaterea i utilizarea formelor speciale de coresponden;
10.valorificarea deprinderilor acumulate pentru perfecionarea competenelor de
limb englez.
2. Cerine preliminare:
3

1.demonstrarea stpnirii cunotinelor de gramatic si vocabular corespunztoare

modulului 1.
2.participare la activitile anunate n calendarul disciplinei.

3. Coninutul materialului de studiu. Organizarea pe uniti de studiu

Materialul de studiu cuprinde, pe de o parte, texte de specialitate in limba englez,
menite sa pun bazele unui vocabular corespunztor psihologiei i tiinelor sociale
i, pe de alt parte, noiuni i exerciii de gramatic.
Unitate de studiu 1: THE UNHELPFUL CROWD
Ca prim unitate de studiu, aceasta introduce studentul in sfera psihologiei de grup,
descriind un experiment revelator in privina alterrilor comportamentale ale
individului atunci cnd acioneaz ca membru al unui grup. De asemenea, aceast
unitate trateaz situaiile de folosire ale timpului Past Continuous.
Unitate de studiu 2: NOTICING THAT PEOPLE NEED HELP
In aceast unitate de studiu, tema este un alt experiment revelator in ceea ce privete
condiiile n care oamenii snt dispui s ofere ajutor semenilor lor, n caz de nevoie.
Din punct de vedere gramatical, studenii vor fi rugai s conceap un text care s
ilustreze utilizarea n contrast a timpurilor Paste Tense Simple i Past Tense
Continuous.
Unitate de studiu 3: JOBS AND EMPLOYMENT
Aceasta este o unitate de studiu care solicit participarea studenilor n descrierea
celor mai cunoscute joburi. Partea de gramatic abordeaz verbele cu prepoziie
(look) i situaiile de folosire ale lui Present Perfect Tense. Conine, de asemenea, un
model de concepere a unui CV n limba englez.
Unitate de studiu 4: SELF-ESTEEM AND SOCIAL SUCCESS
Unitatea ofer o scurt analiz a noiunii de self-esteem n societatea
contemporan. Din punct de vedere al vocabularului, introduce diferena ntre
utilizarea verbului make i cea a lui do.Ca parte de gramatic, introduce, de
asemenea, diferenele ntre situaiile de utilizare ale lui Present Perfect Tense Simple
i Present Perfect Tense Continuous.
Unitate de studiu 5: HUSKY HAD BEEN VERY HEALTHY
n aceast unitate, studentul este familiarizat cu terminologia minimal referitoare la
un caz de spitalizare pediatric. n planul vocabularului, snt prezentate verbele cu
prepoziie: catch, keep, bring.
Unitate de studiu 6: BALANCING EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE
Unitatea de studiu abordeaz situaia nvmntului i a cauzelor abandonului colar
n SUA. Este centrat exclusiv pe vocabular.

4. Recomandri de studiu
Este important ca studentul s respecte timpul alocat calendarului disciplinei, modul
de abordare a testelor de evaluare si sarcinile de nvare. De asemenea,
recomandm ca studentul sa parcurg bibliografia i s consulte indicaiile rubricii
cunotine preliminare.
Fiecare unitate de studiu atinge urmtoarele aspecte: obiective, cunotine
preliminare, resurse necesare i recomandri de studiu, durata medie de
4

parcurgere a unitii, cuvinte cheie. Un test de autoevaluare se va regsi la sfritul

acestui modul. Fiind un curs practic de limba englez si nu unul teoretic (de
psihologie, sociologie etc.) propriu-zis, nu se vor regsi rezumate i concluzii, ca
instrumente de nvare. Studentului i se cere o abordare creativ a cursului,
capacitatea de a se lansa in situaii conversaionale spontane care s-i solicite
abilitile de comunicare in viaa de zi cu zi i nu memorarea rigid a unor structuri
gramaticale.
Fiecare din subpunctele mai sus menionate snt semnalizate n text prin intermediul
unor pictograme.
n continuare, prezentm un tablou cu principalele pictograme prezentate n text:

OBIECTIVE

CUNOTINE PRELIMINARE

RESURSE BIBLIOGRAFICE

DURATA MEDIE DE
PARCURGERE A UNITII DE
STUDIU

CUVINTE CHEIE

TESTE DE AUTOEVALUARE

RSPUNS CORECT

EXPUNEREA TEORIEI
AFERENTE UNITII
5

5. Recomandri de evaluare
Dup parcurgerea fiecrei uniti de studiu se impune rezolvarea sarcinilor de
nvare, ce presupun studiu individual, dar i a celor de autoevaluare.
Activitile de evaluare condiioneaz nivelul nivelul de dobndire a competenelor
specificate prin obiectivele disciplinei.
n ceea ce privete evaluarea final, se va realiza printr-un examen, planificat
conform calendarului disciplinei. Examenul const n rezolvarea unei probe de tip
gril.

6. Test de evaluare iniial

Desemnai cele mai imporante situaii de folosire a timpurilor Past Tense Simple i
Past Tense Continuous, exemplificnd cu cte o propoziie n limba englez pentru
fiecare situaie n parte.
7. Structura cursului: Materialul de studiu pentru invatamintul la distanta are ca
suport cursul English for Social Sciences, autori Daniela Niculescu

Zdrenghea, Aurelia Ana Vasile;

8. Observaii privind structura cursului:
Activitile de prezentare de noi coninuturi (reactualizare) sunt combinate cu
activiti practice, participarea activ a studenilor deinnd un rol fundamental.
Fiecare curs conine text(e) din domeniul tiinelor sociale i aplicaii pe text(e) pe
probleme de vocabular, gramatic, ortografie i pronunie, elemente de cultur i
civilizaie britanic i american.

UNITATEA 1:
THE UNHELPFUL CROWD

La sfritul acestui curs, studentul va putea:

s se exprime, n limba englez, asupra unor prime noiuni de psihologie a
grupurilor.
s utilizeze corect timpul Past Continuous

Cunotine privind regulile generale de formare a timpului Past Tense Simple.

Engleza pentru admitere, Banta, Andrei, Ed. Teora, Bucureti, 1995, vol. 1;
Practise Your Tenses, Adamson, Donald, Longman, 1996;

Dou ore

Pre-reading:
Listening to Sounds (see Penny Ur, op. cit., page 46) Students close their eyes and
listen to the sounds they may hear; then they write and tell (using the simple past and
the past progressive).
E.g.: There was a car. It was going past, accelerating. Somebody dropped something.
Somebody closed a door.

Reading:
Text (part 1) The Unhelpful Crowd, from Social Psychology, pages 314-315.
Kitty Genovese, Andrew Mormille, and the eighteen-year-old switchboard
operator were at a serious disadvantage in needing spontaneous emergency help in
urban environment. Bibb Latan and John Darley (1970) were not convinced,
however, that the stresses and strains of city life fully explain why these individuals
didnt get the help they needed. So, these researchers set out to see if they produce
unresponsive bystanders in the cool, calm environment of a psychology laboratory.
One study went this way.
When a subject arrived, he or she was taken to one of a series of small rooms
located along a corridor. Speaking over an intercom, the experimenter explained that
he wanted subjects to discuss personal problems that college students often face.
Subjects were told tat to protect confidentiality the group discussion would take
place over the intercom system and the experimenter would not be listening.
Participants were required to speak one at a time taking turns. Some subjects were
assigned to two-person dyads; others to larger groups of three or six people.
Although the opening moments of the conversation were uneventful, one
participant did mention that he had a seizure disorder that was sometimes triggered
by study pressures. But soon an unexpected problem developed. When it came his
turn to speak again, the person who suffered from a seizure disorder stuttered badly,
had a hard time speaking clearly, and sounded in a serious trouble.
I could really-er-use some help so if somebody would-er-give me a little h-help-uh-er-erer-er c-could somebody-er-er-help-er-uh-uh-uh (choking sounds).Im gonna die-er-erImgonna die-er-help-er-er-seizure-er (chokes, then quiet).

What would you do? Would you interrupt the experiment, dash out of your
cubicle, and try ti find the experimenter?
As it turns out, subjects responses to this emergency strongly influenced by
the size of their group. Actually, all subjects were participating alone, but taperecorded material led them to believe that others were present and that there was a
crisis. All the subjects who thought they were involved in a two-person discussion
left the room quickly to try to get help. In the larger groups, however, subjects were
less likely and slower to intervene. Among subjects in the six-person groups, 38
percent never even left the room and those who did go for help took longer to get out
the door than subjects in smaller groups. This research led Latan and Darley to a
chilling conclusion: the more bystanders there are, the less likely the victim will be
helped. In the bystander effect, the presence of others inhibits helping.
Before the pioneering work of Latan and Darley, most people would have
assumed just the opposite. Isnt there safety in numbers? Dont we feel more secure
rushing in to help when others are around to lend their support? Latan and Darley
8

overturned this common-sense assumption and provided a careful step-by-step

analysis of the decision-making process involved in emergency interventions.

LANGUAGE FOCUS
New Vocabulary: environment, setting; urban vs rural; stress and strain; to set out;
bystanders; cool and calm; to face something; event, eventful , uneventful,
eventfully; to assign; to take turns; seizure; disorder; triggered by, to trigger, a
trigger; to stutter; to choke; to dash (out)of; cubicle; to turn out; lead-led-led, leading,
leader, leadership; crisis, crises; chilling (conclusion); to be likely/probable; to lendlent-lent vs to borrow; to rush; assumption, to assume; to overturn; to provide; to
make a decision.
Cognates (false friends): actually, eventually.

GRAMMAR FOCUS

Prepositions: along, over. Prepositions that show time, place and manner. (see
Virginia Evans, Round up 4, Longman 1992, pages 122-125; or Grammar Spectrum,
O.U.P., 1995, pages 84-86 or other similar books).
Emphatic do in affirmative sentences (imperative, simple present, simple past).
E.g.: Please, do come in!
Practice:
Give the emphatic form of:
a) He prefers playing on the computer.
a) Help yourselves, please.
b) They liked their new neighbourhood.
The + comparative the + comparative:
E.g.: the sooner, the better.; The more, the merrier.

The Past Progressive:

Use: to express:
an action in progress at a certain moment in the past;
an action that was in the middle of happening at a stated time in the past;
two or more actions which were happening at the same time in the past
(simultaneous actions);
to describe the background to the events in a story.

Time Expressions:

yesterday at 5 p.m.;
at this time last Monday;
9

then;
at that time;
the day before yesterday, from 10 to 12 a.m..

Form:
Affirmative: Subject + was/were + verb-ing.
Interrogative: Was/Were + Subject + verb-ing?
Negative: Subject + was/were + not + verb-ing.(short form: wasnt/werent).

Practice
Bibliography: Grammar exercises from the already mentioned volumes.
1. Fill in the blanks with the right forms of the words in brackets:
Kitty Genoveses case supports the theory that the (many).. 1 the
bystanders, the (little)2 likely to help the victim.
When she (be attacked)..3 in the middle of the street, while she
(cry out)..4for help, and the criminal (stab) ..5 her, many
bystanders (watch).6 passively. Eventually, the victim (be
killed). 7
It (turn out). 8 that whenever such things (happen). 9 no
one would take the responsibility of helping because everybody (expect) . 10
others to act.
2. What were the bystanders thinking? (express at least three ideas)
They were thinking that: 1..
2..
3..

Unresponsive bystanders

10

UNITATEA 2:
NOTICING THAT PEOPLE NEED HELP

La sfritul acestui curs, studentul va putea:

s se exprime, n limba englez, asupra unor prime noiuni de psihologie a
grupurilor.
s utilizeze corect timpul Past Continuous

Cunotine privind regulile generale de formare a timpului Past Tense Simple.

Engleza pentru admitere, Banta, Andrei, Ed. Teora, Bucureti, 1995,

vol. 1;
Practise Your Tenses, Adamson, Donald, Longman, 1996;
Exerciii de gramatica limbii engleze, Gleanu-Frnoag, Georgiana,
Editura Albatros, Bucureti, 1987:

Dou ore

11

Pre-reading: What did/was doing Mrs. Brown yesterday ? (G.Gleanu, op. Cit.
exercise 99, page 71).

Reading

Text (part 2), Social Psychology, page 315-316.

The first step is to notice that someone needs help or, at least, that something
out of the ordinary is happening. Clearly, subjects in the seizure study could not help
but notice the emergency. In many situations, however, the problem isnt always
perceived. The presence of others can be distracting and can divert attention away
from indications of victims plight. As noted earlier, people may fail to notice that
someone needs help when they are caught up in their own self-concerns. Consider
the Biblical parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). On the road from
Jerusalem to Jericho, three people passed a man lying half-dead by the roadside: a
priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan. The only one who helped was the Samaritan, a
social and religious outcast in Jewish society of that time. The story points out that
people with low status are sometimes more virtuous than those with high status and
prestige. Why? Perhaps in part because high-status individuals tend to be busy
people, preoccupied with their own concerns. Such self-concerns may prevent them
from noticing a victim in need of assistance.
John Darley and Daniel Batson (1973) put this interpretation of the Biblical
parable to an ingenious test. They asked seminary students participating in their
study to think about what they wanted to say in an upcoming talk was to be based on
the parable of the Good Samaritan; the other half was expected to discuss the jobs
seminary students enjoy most. All subjects were then instructed to walk over to a
nearby building where the speech would be recorded. At this point, subjects were
told either that they were running ahead of schedule, that they were right on time, or
that they were already a few minutes behind schedule. On the way to the other
building, all subjects passed a research confederate slumped in a doorway, coughing
and groaning. Which of these future ministers stopped to lend a helping hand?
Surprisingly, the topic of the upcoming speech had little effect on helping. The
pressure of time, however, made a real difference. Of those who thought they were
ahead of schedule, 63 percent offered helpcompared with 45 percent of those who
believed they were on schedule and only 10 percent of those who had been told they
were late. In describing the events that took place in their study, Darley and Batson
noted that on several occasions a seminary student going to give his talk on the
parable of the Good Samaritan literally stepped over the victim as he hurried on his
way!

12

LANGUAGE FOCUS

New Vocabulary: to notice vs to observe a rule; at least; ordinary, common, usual,

customary, habitual; to perceive, perception; to distract; to divert attention;plight(of a
victim); to be caught up in; an outcast; to point out vs. to underline; to emphasize;
upcoming, following; to cough; to groan; to slump; be/run right on time/behind
schedule/ahead of schedule.
The self concept
1. Give examples of compounds with self(e.g.: self-concern; self-awareness; selfhood; self-preservation; self-assertion; self-esteem; self-dependence; self confidence;
self aggrandizing attitudes; self-control.
2. Briefly discuss about the Freudian interpretation of PERSONALITY: the three
selves: the id,the ego, the superego (the ideal self).
3. Match the concepts in column A to their appropriate definition in column B:
CONCEPT
A. self-actualization
B. self-assertion
C. self-composed

DEFINITION
1. unique identity, individuality
2. reliance on ones capacities
3. the process of understanding
oneself and developing ones
own capacities and talents
(coined by Abraham Maslow)
4. having ones emotions under
control
5. the ability to exercise the will
so as to prevent oneself from
expressing strong emotion or
acting impulsively
6. behaviour asserting ones
claims or rights, expressing
confidence in ones proper
merit or aggressively asserting
the superior quality of ones
own mind and body
7. ones good opinion of ones
dignity or worth

D. self-confidence
E. self-esteem

F. selfhood

G. self-control

E.g.:
A.
3.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

13

Practice
1.Word-web
Try to design a word-web for the key concept PSYCHIC PROCESSES.
2.Human Sounds (see B.J.Thomas, Intermediate Vocabulary, page 40).

GRAMMAR FOCUS

SINGULAR
Myself
ourselves
yourself
yourselves
Himself/herself/itself
themselves
2.Past Simple vs.Past Progressive
Formative Evaluation.

PLURAL

1.The Reflexive and the

Emphatic Pronoun

-recycling.

The Good Samaritan Parable

14

UNITATEA 3:
JOBS AND EMPLOYMENT

La sfritul acestui curs, studentul va putea:

s scrie un CV i o scrisoare de intenie n limba englez
s foloseasc Present Perfect Tense Simple

Cunotine privind regulile generale de formare a timpului Present Perfect Tense

Simple.

Engleza pentru admitere, Banta, Andrei, Ed. Teora, Bucureti, 1995, vol. 1;
Practise Your Tenses, Adamson, Donald, Longman, 1996;
Exerciii de gramatica limbii engleze, Gleanu-Frnoag, Georgiana,
Editura
Albatros, Bucureti, 1987:

Dou ore

15

Pre-reading
Talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the jobs you are being prepared for.

Reading
Text:
Jane Smith has been out at the supermarket, to do the shopping. Shes just come
back home. Shes bought a new blouse to cheer herself up because the firm shes
been employed at is almost bankrupt. She hasnt removed the tag from the backside
of the blouse, and she rushes to tear it away. She has already put the blouse on when
the postman rings at the door.
Five minutes later.
Jane is upset. Shes just opened a letter which has brought her bad news. Shes lost
her job!
For the past year shes worked as a bookkeeper at a firm. Now the majority of the
firm shares have been bought by another firm. The manager has kindly suggested
looking for another job. Being given the pink slip so soon, has taken her by surprise.
She has recently bought some furniture and hasnt paid for it yet. Now she may not
be able to pay at all, because she hasnt saved any money lately.

LANGUAGE FOCUS
New Vocabulary: tag; bankrupt(cy); to tear tore torn (away); upset, sad, grieving;
bookkeeper; account(ancy), accountant, to account for, accountable for; share
(B.E.)/stock (A.E.), shareholder;to be given the pink slip, to be given the axe, to be
fired; pay-paid-paid; to save (money/time).

GRAMMAR FOCUS

1.The verb look + preposition:

to look for= try to find;
to look up/down to somebody = to respect, admire/to despise;
to look after = to take care, protect;
to look out = to be careful.
Fill in the correct particle(s):
My sister-in-law is looking ..1a good baby-sitter who would look ..2her twoyear-old daughter.
She looks .3 to irresponsible people even if they looked . 4to her.
2. Uncountable nouns: furniture; news; information; advice; luggage;
16

bread; soap; flour

3.Partitive phrases used with uncountable nouns: an item of; a piece of; a bar of; a
loaf of
4.The Present Perfect
Use: to express:
an action before another present action or moment;
a completed action whose results are effective in the present;
actions which happened at an unstated time;
personal experiences or changes which have happened;
emphasis on number ;
a recently completed action.
Time Adverbials: ever, never, just, already, yet, lately, recently, so far, up to/till now,
this month/year, for,since,
How long? Questions.
Form
Affirmative: S + have/has + 3rd form of the verb
Interrogative: Have/Has + S + 3rd form of the verb?
Negative: S + have/has + not + 3rd form of the verb(short form: havent/hasnt).
Practice
1.Identify the present perfect forms of the verbs in the text and the expressions of
time which accompany (and require) such verb forms.
2.Jobs
What does a policeman
do? Gives fines,
lawyer
reporter
football player
physicist
physician
3.What has just happened ? (Penny Ur, page 92)
Make up sentences to match the cues:
Oh!
Oh?
Congratulations!
Welcome!
Good bye!
Thank goodness!
4.Write a resume using the
Resume(hints)below.

17

RICH ANDREWS
OBJECTIVE

[Click here and type objective]

EXPERIENCE

19901994

Arbor Shoe

Southridge, SC

National Sales Manager

Increased sales from $50 million to $100 million.

Doubled sales per representative from $5 million to $10 million.
Suggested new products that increased earnings by 23%.

19851990

Ferguson and Bardell

Southridge, SC

District Sales Manager

Increased regional sales from $25 million to $350 million.
Managed 250 sales representatives in 10 Western states.
Implemented training course for new recruits speeding
profitability.

19801984

Duffy Vineyards

Southridge, SC

Senior Sales Representative

Tripled division revenues for each sales associate.

Expanded sales to include mass market accounts.
Expanded sales team from 50 to 100 representatives.

EDUCATION

19711975
Southridge State University
Southridge, SC
B.A., Business Administration and Computer Science.
Graduated Summa Cum Laude.
INTERESTS

Southridge
computers.

Board

of

Directors,

running,

gardening,

carpentry,

TIPS

Select text you would like to replace, and type your information.

5.Cover Letter (hints).

18
F A X ( 1 2 3 ) 0 9 8 - 7 6 5 4 E - M A I L M E @ M Y C O M P A N Y. C O M

[Click here and type return address]

Company Name Here

11 October, 2013
[Click here and type recipients address]
Dear Sir or Madam:

Type your letter here. For more details on modifying this letter template, double-click
(. To return to this letter, use the Window menu.
Sincerely,

[Click here and type your name]

[Click here and type job title]

Letter Jumble (page 21, Practise Advanced Writing, Mary Stephens, Longman,
1997).
5.Write a cover letter to a human resource manager job entry advertised by the Coca
Cola Company in Cotidianul a week ago.
6.Write a fax (mind the format!) to the Central European University, Nador u. 9,
Budapest, Hungary 1051, Tel: (361)3273069, Fax: (361)3273124, to Mrs. Gabriella
Ivacs, to ask for information about the summer courses organised in the year 20__
for postgraduate students.

Resume, cover letter

19

UNITATEA 4:
SELF-ESTEEM AND SOCIAL SUCCESS

La sfritul acestui curs, studentul va putea:

s se exprime n limba englez asupra problemelor legate de stima de sine a
individului n contemporaneitate
s foloseasc difereniat Present Perfect Tense Simple i Present Perfect
Tense Continuous

Cunotine privind regulile generale de formare a timpurilor Present Perfect

Tense
Simple i Present Perfect Tense Continuous

Engleza pentru admitere, Banta, Andrei, Ed. Teora, Bucureti, 1995, vol. 1;
Practise Your Tenses, Adamson, Donald, Longman, 1996;
Exerciii de gramatica limbii engleze, Gleanu-Frnoag, Georgiana,
Editura
Albatros, Bucureti, 1987:

Dou ore

20

Pre-reading
1.Express your agreement/disagreement to the 10 statements of the Rosenberg SelfEsteem Scale (1965) below.

Statement
1.I feel that I am a person of
worth, at least on an equal plane
with others.
2.I feel that I have a number of
good qualities.
3.All in all, I am inclined to feel
that I am a failure.
4.I am able to do things as well
as most other people.
5.I feel I do not have much to be
proud of.
6.I take a positive attitude
toward myself.
7.On the whole, I am satisfied
with myself.
8.I wish I could have more
respect for myself.
9.I certainly feel useless at
times.
10.At times I think I am no good
at all.

Agree
1

Disagree
2

Text: How Is Your Self-Esteem?, Sociology, page 142.

Questions to consider
1.List three or four of your major roles and imagine yourself a failure in each of them
in turn. What steps could you take to protect your self-esteem? Are there any roles
where failure could not be rationalised, where failure would damage your selfesteem?
2.Where do you stand on the self-esteem scale? (Students calculate their score and
compare them to those obtained by other students in their group).
Supplementary Question
What is your opinion about the quality of the test?
Reading
Text: How Is Your Self-Esteem?, Sociology, page 142.
The ten questions in the box above make up the Rosenberg Self-Esteem
Scale (1965), widely used by psychologists and sociologists to measure self-esteem
(Bohrenstedt & Fisher, 1986; Shamir, 1986).
21

Some have criticised the scale because it was high social desirability bias;
people may distort their answers to provide more positive images. This is not a
problem, however, because the question at issue is not whether people really do have
anything to be proud of or whether they really are a success or failure. Rather our
concern is how they feel about themselves. Since we are asking about subjective
interpretations rather than objective facts, this is one scale in which everybody really
can be above average.
Some of the more important research findings on self-esteem are the
following:
1.We always think better of ourselves than others do (Wylie, 1979). In this
sense, the looking-glass self is always a little distorted in our own favour.
2.Self-esteem turns out to be very stable. Even blows to major role identities,
such as the loss of a high status job, may not result in much loss of self-esteem
(Shamir, 1986). This stability of self-esteem testifies to the skill most of us have in
negotiating our self-concepts.
3.People with high self-esteem are more confident and hence more open to
new ideas and new relationships. People with low self-esteem, on the other hand, are
defensive and anxious, afraid to challenge themselves or others (Michener et al.,
1986).
____________________________________________________________________
______________

When others responses are ambiguousand they usually are, we

just believe what we want to.
____________________________________________________________________
______________
We cannot all be above average. Yet studies on topics from intelligence to
physical attractiveness show that hardly anybody thinks he or she is below average
and large majorities think they are above average. How do people manage to protect
their self-esteem ? They do so by:
1) Using the identity salience hierarchy to emphasise roles they do well;
2) Being very careful about their choice of looking glasses (Rosenberg, 1979); and
3) Simply interpreting others responses in ways that support a positive self-image.
When others responses are ambiguousand they usually are, we just believe
what we want to (Felson, 1985).

LANGUAGE FOCUS
New Vocabulary: bias; to distort; scale; average; rather; above vs below; looking
glass, mirror; confident; hence; to challenge; yet (in various contexts); salient,
salience; to support; ambiguous.

22

Practice
Uses of MAKE versus DO.
MAKE
An attempt
Mistakes
Noise
A complaint
A fuss
Coffee/tea
Breakfast (meal)
Furniture (an object)
Ones bed
A decision
An excuse
Up ones mind
An offer
A mess
A phone call
A fortune
Money
Trouble
Plans
A living
arrangements
damage
progress
Someone rich/poor
wonders
sense
A speech
An impression
A will
A wish
A remark
Room for
A trip/journey/voyage
A gesture/a discovery
Somebody angry/happy
A fresh/new start
It ones business
A guess at
Oneself at home
Sure of
To make a mountain out of a molehill.
To make both ends meet.
To make haste slowly.
Make hay while the sun shines.

DO
Lessons
Homework
Housework
An exercise
Ones best
With(out) something
A favour
Justice
The washing up
The shopping
Ones correspondence
Ones hair
Good/harm
The cooking
Ones duty
Business with someone
The carpets
Ones room
The dishes
Fine/well
The grand/polite
Do as you would be done.
How do you do

23

Practice

Fill in the blanks using either MAKE or DO at the right tense.

1. She has already..dinner.
2. Its hard to .a decision at such short notice.
3. Patience .wonders (miracles).
4. You shouldnt.the polite if you dont feel that
way.
5. I hatethe washing up.
6. .as you would be done.
7. I havent up my mind as to what I
shouldnext.
8. She..her hair at the hairdressers last Wednesday.
9. Why havent youyour homework.
10. the housework is equivalent to chores (A.E.) /
chares (B.E.).
11. She always.a mountain out of a molehill.
12. hay while the sun shines.
13. haste slowly.
14. yourselves at home.
15. Dontsuch a fuss!

PRONUNCIATION : hierarchy.

Follow-up activities: Sociology, page 142, (Questions to Consider).

1. List three or four of your major
roles and imagine yourself a
failure in each of them in turn.
What steps could you take to
protect your self-esteem? Are
there any roles where failure
could not be rationalised, where
failure would damage your selfesteem?
2. Where do you stand on the selfesteem scale?

GRAMMAR FOCUS

1.The verb turn + preposition:

Turn against = start disliking someone/something;
24

Turn down = 1.reduce the volume of; 2.refuse a request;

Turn off = make something stop working;
Turn on = make something work;
Turn up = increase the volume of

Practice

Fill in the correct particles:

The way Jim turned..1the offer, eventually made the boss
turn.2him. He didnt either listen or at least turn.3the volume of
the CD player while the boss was talking to him. On the contrary, after a few
minutes he even turned4the volume.
The boss got angry and turned the player..5 Yet, Jim immediately did the
opposite, turned it.6and declined the offer.
2.The structures Whetheror not/Whetheror whether(see the text). Briefly
comment on What a distressing contrast between the radiant intelligence of the
child and the feeble mentality of the average adult. (S. Freud) using these structures
(Whetheror not/Whetheror whether).
3.Long Adjectives
Degrees of Comparison
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
careful
More careful than The most careful of/in
expensive
Expensive
expensive
demanding
demanding
demanding
Cross out the unnecessary words:
a) He is as very absent minded as his sister.
b) His insight on the issue was more deeper than expected.
c) The environment was the many most comfortable one available at the time.
d) The side effects were the less important for the chemical reaction.
e) The sooner the upcoming session the more faster the problem is worked out.
4.The Present Perfect Progressive vs the Present Perfect
Use: to express:
an action which has started before another present action/moment, and has
continued up to the moment of speaking, and may continue even afterwards;
a finished action before another present action/moment, to emphasise the idea
of duration;
actions which have visible results in the present;
irritation, anger, annoyance, explanation or criticism.
Choose the right item:
1. Aunt Ellie is out of breath because shein the orchard for a
couple of hours.
a. worked; b. has worked; c. has been working.
2. She.many dozens of fruit so far.
a. picked; has picked; has been picking.
3. She still.to lean the ladder against a tree, though she is tired.
25

a. want; b. wants; c. wanted.

4. Dropping out is not her style. So, she.stillher best to finish
the job.
a. has done; b. has been doing; c. is doing.
Time Expressions:
for, since, how long.
Form:
Affirmative: Subject + have/has + been + verb-ing
Interrogative: Have/Has + Subject + been + verb-ing?
Negative: Subject + have/has + not + been + verb-ing.
Practice

Write a letter to a friend telling him/her about the things that have changed in your
life over the last year.

How we feel about ourselves

26

UNITATEA 5:
HUSKY HAD BEEN VERY HEALTHY

La sfritul acestui curs, studentul va putea:

s se familiarizeze cu un vocabular minimal referitor la problemele privind
sntatea vs spitalizarea ntr-o instituie medical
s cunoasc i s utilizeze corect sensurile unor verbe cu prepoziie precum:
catch, bring, keep.

Cunotine privind noiuni generale de vocabular legate de verbele cu prepoziie

Engleza pentru admitere, Banta, Andrei, Ed. Teora, Bucureti, 1995, vol. 1;
Practise Your Tenses, Adamson, Donald, Longman, 1996;
Exerciii de gramatica limbii engleze, Gleanu-Frnoag, Georgiana,
Editura
Albatros, Bucureti, 1987:

Dou ore

Pre-reading
Talking about health and diseases (contagious, chronic, common disease). The
human body.
Reading
Text: HUSKY HAD BEEN VERY HEALTHY, pages108-111, Changing Times,
Changing Tenses.
Husky Yellowhair is a little boy on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona.
27

Its difficult for his family to get to a doctor, because they dont have a car or a
telephone. Their closest neighbours live ten miles* away.
Last month Husky had caught a cold. Hed felt sick for three days, so his
mother wanted to bring him to a doctor. Shed kept him in bed the whole time, and
shed given him medicine every day for three days. Still, he didnt feel any better. On
the third day, he developed a fever. At that time, Huskys parents asked some friends
to take them to the hospital.
At the hospital, Husky tried to sleep. He put his head in his mothers lap.
From time to time he looked for the doctor, but he didnt really want to see him.
Husky had always been afraid of doctors and hospitals. Up to that time, Husky had
been very healthy, so he hadnt seen many doctors. As he was waiting, he grew more
afraid. The family had waited for an hour when the doctor came.
The young doctor found the problem immediately. The cold had gone to
Huskys ears, and hed developed an ear infection. Although it wasnt a serious
disease, it had caused the pain and the fever. With stronger medicine, Husky would
be well soon.
* 1, 609. 3 metres
LANGUAGE FOCUS
Vocabulary: sick, disease, ill(ness); a fever, hay fever, feverish; lap, laptop; health(y);
to catch (a cold); to pick up an infection.
GRAMMAR FOCUS
1.The verb catch + preposition.
To catch Up with
on
On to
Up on

= Become equal to others

= become popular
= understand
= bring/come up to date

2.The verb bring + preposition.

To bring along = to fetch with
on
= cause
out
= produce
up
= educate/rear/raise children
3.The verb keep + preposition.
To keep up
on
off
In(with somebody)
out

= Go forward
= continue
= maintain a distance
= remain on good terms with
= avoid

Practice
Fill in the blanks with the suitable prepositions (mind the explanations in bold in the
28

brackets):
One strange happening caught..(became popular) with dozens of people.
Two tomatoes were jogging in the street. One of them, some steps behind the
other, cried.(exclaimed), Keep.(continue) jogging! Ill
keep.(maintain a distance) for a few seconds. And keep(avoid)
trouble. Im a bit out of breath. Ill catch.(reach the same stage) you.
The tomato ahead couldnt keep(remain in good terms) with the one
behind--after their recent make upbecause a bike ridden astray
brought..(caused) a horrible accident that simply smashed the latter. [play on
words: ketch up vs catch up].
4.The Article: Definite (the); Indefinite (a/an); Zero. (see grammar reference).
Fill in the blanks with a/an/the where an article is necessary:
1) He is .1undergraduate student.
2) He goes to.2university in .3morning every day from Monday to Friday.
3) His friend came to 4university yesterday to bring him .5keys that he had
forgotten at..6home.
4) Fortunately, 7T.M. University is not very far from 8district they live
in.
5.The Past Perfect Tense
Use: to express an action before another past action/moment.
Time Expressions: before, for, since, after , just, already, yet, ever never,
till/until, when, by, by the time.
Form:
Affirmative: S + had + 3rd form of the verb .
Interrogative: Had + S + 3rd form of the verb .?
Negative: S + had + not + 3rd form of the verb .(short form: hadnt).
Choose the appropriate verb form:
1) He..away the old worn out hat two weeks before he went shopping
for another one.
a. has thrown; b. had thrown; c. threw.
2) The client said he..alreadya shrink before.
a. had seen; b. saw; c. has seen.
1) Wecranky because of the bad weather yesterday.
a. are; b. was; c. were.
2) The ozone layer..thinner and thinner.
a. gets; b. is getting; c. get.

Marriage, family life

29

UNITATEA 6:
BALANCING EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE

La sfritul acestui curs, studentul va putea:

s se exprime n limba englez asupra problemelor ridicate de abandonul
colar
s cunoasc utilizarea timpurilor Past Perfect Tense Simple i Past Perfect
Tense Continuous
s i remprospteze cunotinele referitoare la punctuaia limbii engleze

Cunotine privind formarea timpurilor Past Perfect Tense Simple i Past Perfect
Tense
Continuous

Engleza pentru admitere, Banta, Andrei, Ed. Teora, Bucureti, 1995, vol. 1;
Practise Your Tenses, Adamson, Donald, Longman, 1996;
Exerciii de gramatica limbii engleze, Gleanu-Frnoag, Georgiana, Editura
Albatros, Bucureti, 1987:

Dou ore

30

Pre-reading:

Group Work: Mention at least 5 shortcomings of the Romanian educational system in

terms of equity (equal opportunities and access) and excellence (competitive process
and results, creativity). Briefly comment on this issue.

Reading:

Text: Sociology, page383.

BALANCING EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE
In 1983, an 18-member National Commission on Excellence in Education
issued a report that was extremely critical of U.S. education. The report indicated that
13 percent of all 17-year-olds and as much as 40 percent of minority youths are
functionally illiterate. In a comparison of U.S. students with students from 21 other
nations, Americans scored the worst on 7 of 19 achievement tests and never came in
either first or second. The commission argued that the problem was caused not by
factors beyond our control but simply by lack of insight and will. The solutions
recommended included:
1) a more demanding sequence of basic courses;
2) longer school days and school years, and
3) higher standards for school achievement.
Generally, the call for excellence in education has been well received. By
1984, 17 states had instituted competency testing for high school graduation and 7
more were in the process of implementing it. Increasingly, however, policy makers
are facing the dilemma posed by the potentially conflicting demands of equity and
excellence (Alexander et al., 1985).

THE DROPOUT PROBLEM

Despite the sharp expansion in education in the last decades, a substantial

minority of the population has not graduated from high school. In 1984, fully 14
percent of all young adults 25-29 had not graduated from high school; this figure is
21 percent among blacks and 41 percent among Hispanic young adults.
These dropouts pose a potentially major social and economic problem. As
one study summarised the issues:
Dropping out of high school is associated with an array of individual and
social costs. For the individual, failure to complete high school is associated with
limited occupational and economic prospects, disenfranchisement from society and
its institutions, and substantial loss of personal income over his or her lifetime. For
society, premature school-leaving is associated with increased expenditures for
government assistance to individuals and families, higher rates of crime, and
31

maintenance of costly programmes for purposes such as employment and training.

(Steinberg et al., 1984:113).
For all these reasons, the dropout problem is a social policy issue. It is an
issue that the reports on excellence ignore altogether. An important question for
policy makers is whether steps made to increase excellencehigher standards, more
basics, longer school years or school dayswill increase the dropout problem. If
imposition of higher standards increases the SAT scores of those students who
remain but doubles the dropout rate, especially among minority or disadvantaged
students, will we have gained? Or, as one recent report claims, will this be a
blueprint for failure? (McDill et al., 1986:139).

LANGUAGE FOCUS
To issue, an issue; (il)literate, (il)literacy; achieve(ment); youth(s); to argue,
argument; beyond; lack of insight and will; will, testament; demanding; sequence;
call for excellence; politics vs. policy; to pose; to drop out, a dropout; array;
disenfranchisement; loss vs. gain; income; expenditure; to maintain, maintenance;
costly, expensive, dear; altogether; to impose, imposition; to take the floor;
compulsory; eel; squirrel; nervous breakdown; to double vs. to treble; to claim;
blueprint; to sweep (over) swept swept; tide; mediocre, mediocrity; tough; trend,
tendency; to attempt; sharp expansion; despite, in spite of.
Punctuation marks:

comma ,
full stop .
semicolon ;
colon :
inverted commas
hyphen question mark ?
exclamation mark !
dots

GRAMMAR FOCUS
I. The Present Perfect and the Past Perfect (recycling).
Practice
1.Identify the present perfect and the past perfect forms of the verbs in the text
above.
2.How much freedom should children have? (B.J. Thomas, Advanced Vocabulary
and Idiom, Longman, 1989, page 6).
II. The Past Perfect Progressive
Use: to express:
an action continuing up to a specific time in the past;
a continuous, past action which had visible results or effect in the past.
32

Time Expressions: before, for.., since, after , just, aready, yet, ever never,
till/until, when, by, by the time.
Form:
Affirmative: S + had + verb -ing.
Interrogative: Had + S + verb -ing.?
Negative: S + had + not + verb -ing.(short form: hadnt).
Choose the correct item:
1) Shein a stable family before she got married in 2000.
a. has been brought up; b. was brought up; c. had been brought up.
2) Harry..an ugly accident a couple of years before they moved house.
a. had; b. had had; c. has had.
3) He is weary. He.at the boring project all day.
a. has been working; b. has worked; c. had worked.
4) They were worried. The police.for their kidnapped children for a
fortnight without finding a clear lead.
a. had looked; b. has been looking; c. had been looking.
5) He..all the possible assumptions until yesterday morning when he had
that illumination.
a. had exhausted; b. had been exhausting; c. has exhausted.
Listening
Listen to The Animal School fable and find the flaws that such a school has,
from the points of view of equity and excellence (see the tape script).
Also comment on The family that learns together, earns together.
Tape script
The Animal School
Once upon a time, an animal meeting was held in the forest. The issue at
stake was animal education. The animals were going to set up a school. An Animal
School Board was elected.
Despite some stifled protest, the Animal School Board decided on a common
curriculum for all the animals. The four compulsory curriculum areas were: Running,
Climbing, Swimming, and Flying. There were no optional subjects. All the animal
students had to attend all these four types of classes.
But, no matter how dedicated efforts the students made, some difficulties
were encountered.
The duck was very good at Swimming, even better than the teacher, but it got
poor grades at Flying; and the Running classes were a disaster as the duck hurt its
legs because of over-exercise so that even the performance at Swimming got lower.
The squirrel was excellent at Climbing but had some problems with taking off
from the ground at Flying as it expressed preference to fly down from a tree.
Because of the stress of all the Swimming lessons it had a nervous breakdown and
dropped out.
Some similar experiences had the rabbitthough it was a brilliant student at
Running. Eventually, it had to see an animal psychotherapist because of the
enormous effort made at the other classes.
33

Anyway, by the end of the school year, a common eel ended up valedictorian
as it could swim well, was able to climb, crawl and fly a little, no matter how small
and insignificant it was.
(adapted from the fable quoted
by Stephen Covey)

the dropout problem

1.Match the concepts in column A to their appropriate definition in column B:

CONCEPT
H. self-actualization
I. self-assertion
J. self-composed

K. self-confidence
L. self-esteem

M. selfhood

N. self-control

DEFINITION
8. unique identity, individuality
9. reliance on ones capacities
10. the process of understanding
oneself and developing ones
own capacities and talents
(coined by Abraham Maslow)
11. having ones emotions under
control
12. the ability to exercise the will
so as to prevent oneself from
expressing strong emotion or
acting impulsively
13. behaviour asserting ones
claims or rights, expressing
confidence in ones proper
merit or aggressively asserting
the superior quality of ones
own mind and body
14. ones good opinion of ones
dignity or worth

2. Practice
Fill in the blanks using either MAKE or DO at the right tense.
16. She has already..dinner.
17. Its hard to .a decision at such short notice.
18. Patience .wonders (miracles).
19. You shouldnt.the polite if you dont feel that
way.
20. I hatethe washing up.
21. .as you would be done.
34

22. I havent up my mind as to what I

shouldnext.
23. She..her hair at the hairdressers last Wednesday.
24. Why havent youyour homework.
25. the housework is equivalent to chores (A.E.) /
chares (B.E.).
26. She always.a mountain out of a molehill.
27. hay while the sun shines.
28. haste slowly.
29. yourselves at home.
30. Dontsuch a fuss!

1.

H-10, I-13, J-11, K-9, L-14, M-8, N-12

2. 16- made
17- make
18- does
19- make
20- doing
21- do
22- make
23- does
24- done
25- doing
26- making
27- make
28- make
29- make
30- make

BIBLIOGRAFIE
Adamson, Donald, Practise Your Tenses, Longman, 1996;
Bdescu, Alice, Gramatica limbii engleze, Editura tiinific i
Enciclopedic, Bucureti, 1984 (sau alte lucrri de gramatic a limbii
engleze);
Gleanu, Georgiana, Exerciii de gramatic englez, Editura Albatros,
1979;
Gleanu, Georgiana, Exerciii de gramatic englez, Editura Albatros,
1987;
Watkins, Mike, Practise Your Modal Verbs, Longman, 1996.

35

BIBLIOGRAFIE FACULTATIV:
Conan Doyle, Arthur, The Speckled Band and Other Stories, Heinemann,
1999;
De Devitiis, G., English Grammar for Communication, Longman, 1991;
Evans, Virginia, Round up, Longman, 1996;
Galea, Ileana, Criveanu, I., Iva, A., Voia, M., Dicionar englez romn de
expresii verbale, Ed. Echinox, Cluj, 1991;
Groza Filip, A., Synonyms in Practice, Ed. Dacia, Cluj, 1996;
Hewings, M., Advanced Grammar in Use, C.U.P., Cambridge, 1999;
ODell, F., McCarthy, M., English Vocabulary in Use, C.U.P., Cambridge,
1994;
Peterson Wilcox, Patricia, Changing Times, Changing Tenses, U.S.
Information Agency, 1992;
Plant, P., Everyday English, VEB Verlag, Leipzig, 1978;
Stancu, Victoria, Engleza intensiv, Ed. Niculescu, 1997;
Thomas, B.J., Intermediate Vocabulary, Longman, 1995;
Thomas, B.J., Advanced Vocabulary and Idiom, Longman, 1995.

36