Part 2. The skills of extensive reading 


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Part 2. The skills of extensive reading



MODULE 2-1. ENGLISH AS A CONTACT LANGUAGE OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION

Unit 2-1. PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

 

Guidelines for extensive reading of ESP texts

Extensive reading of ESP texts has not been emphasized in traditional English as a foreign or second language teaching. In Ukraine English instruction at the university level is usually the intensive reading course, which implies close study of short passages, including syntactic, semantic, and lexical analyses along with translation to study meaning. A plausible definition of extensive reading as a language learning procedure is that it is reading: (1) of larger quantities of material or longer texts; (2) for general understanding; (3) with the intention of gaining specific experience and acquiring special information from the text. (4) Extensive reading is individualized, with students being offered a choice of texts they would want to read; (5) the texts may or may not be discussed in class.

Text 2-1. PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

(Based on David Graddol’s English Next. Why global English may mean the end of English as a Foreign Language)

More people than ever are on the move. Between 1960 and 2000 the total number of international migrants had doubled to 175 million, representing nearly 3% of the world’s population. Many migrants seek a better life in one of the more developed countries which encourage the immigration of skilled workers to counterbalance their ageing workforce. This is changing the social and linguistic mix of the destination countries.

For example, London is now widely regarded as the most multilingual city in the world – a study in 2000 found that children in London schools spoke over 300 languages.

Historically, the movement of people has been the main reason for language spread. It still has important linguistic consequences today.

 

European migrant workers

Freedom of labour movement within the EU has led to the emergence of new linguistic communities in many smaller English towns.

After the accession of new countries to the European Union in 2005, Britain elected not to impose restrictions on migrant workers. The result has been an influx of workers from eastern Europe, especially Poland. In October 2005 the New York Times reported:

Despite fears across Europe that low-cost workers would steal jobs, multicultural Britain has absorbed these workers with hardly a ripple...Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians and other Easterners are arriving at an average rate of 16,000 a month... Since May 2004, more than 230,000 East Europeans have registered to work in Britain.

In some parts of the UK, this influx has greatly increased demand for ESL classes, even in remote areas.

 

Returnees

As the economies of developing countries grow, many former economic migrants return – often with the skills and capital they have acquired overseas. The governments of both China and India encourage ‘returnees’ who have become a new social category in these countries, part envied, part resented. Returnees usually face challenging issues relating to identity. Some family members of returnees may feel they belong ‘elsewhere’ – children, for example, who have been brought up in the USA with English as their first language.

People on the move: Migrant workers. Refugees and asylum seekers. Immigrants. Tourists, visitors to friends and family. Business workers. International students. Troop movements, peace-keeping. Emergency aid work, NGOs.

 

Tourism

International tourism is growing, but the proportion of encounters involving a native English speaker is declining. There were around 763 million international travellers in 2004, but nearly three-quarters of visits involved visitors from a non-English-speaking country travelling to a non-English-speaking destination.

This demonstrates the scale of need for face-to-face international communication and a growing role for global English: English to English – 4%; English to other countries – 12%; Other countries to English – 10%; Non-English speaking to non-English speaking – 74%.

Tourism is growing, but the majority of human interactions do not involve an English native speaker. (Data derived from World Tourism Organisation)



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