Т.В. Артеменко, Е.В. Кривощекова, Е.В. Кравченко, Н.Е. Николаева - Reader in Language and Culture (1098538), страница 5
Текст из файла (страница 5)
This is a particularly useful wordfor spotting middle-middle social climbers trying to pass as upper-middle: theymay have learnt not to say 'pardon' and 'toilet', but they are often not aware that'lounge' is also a deadly sin.Sweet. Like 'dinner', this word is not in itself a class indicator, but itbecomes one when misapplied. The upper-middle and upper classes insist thatthe sweet course at the end of a meal is called the 'pudding' — never the 'sweet',or 'afters', or 'dessert', all of which are declasse, unacceptable words. 'Sweet' canbe used freely as an adjective, but as a noun it is piece of confectionary — whatthe Americans call 'candy' — and nothing else.
The course at the end of themeal is always 'pudding', whatever it consists of: a slice of cake is 'pudding', sois a lemon sorbet. Asking: 'Does anyone want a sweet?' at the end of a meal willget you immediately classified as middle-middle or below. 'Afters' will alsoactivate the class-radar and get you demoted. Some American-influenced youngupper-middles are starting to say 'dessert', and this is therefore the leastoffensive of the three — and the least reliable as a class indicator. It can alsocause confusion as, to the upper classes, 'dessert' traditionally means a selection825of fresh fruit, served right at the end of a dinner, after the pudding, and eatenwith a knife and fork.(from ‘Linguistic Class Codes’/“Watching the English” by Kate Fox)Comprehension questions:1.
What are “the seven deadly sins’ as regarded by the Englishhigher class?2. How do you understand the term “genteelism”? Give someexamples to illustrate it.3. Can any of the subtleties pose a real problem for a foreigner? Inwhat case?Tasks for discussion:1. Have you ever misused words in the way that caused seriousmisunderstanding?2. Is the manner of speaking an obvious and reliable class indicatorin Russia?ENGLISH ACCENTS IN HOLLYWOODFor decades now, Hollywood has been making films with goodies and1baddies. Which ones do you prefer? These days there's a new trend to use actorswith posh English accents as the baddies. Why is this?Films with goodies and baddies are much easier to follow.
It’s all so2simple as the world is divided up into light and dark, night and day, and goodand evil. Traditionally the goodie is the good-looking man or woman; and thebaddie is the ugly one who smokes. Accents have also played an important partin identifying the goodies and the baddies.Just after World War 2 the baddies were the ones with heavy German326accents. Then, during the Cold War, they had east European accents. After thecollapse of the Soviet Union, it was the turn of the South Africans. But morerecently, it’s been the English. And the English accent most commonly used is aposh, upper-middle-class one.If you’ve ever heard actors such as Laurence Olivier, Jeremy Irons, and4James Mason, or people such as Prince Charles and the Queen speaking inEnglish, you’ll know which accent we’re talking about.
For many British andAmerican people this accent has a ring of sophistication, cruelty and evil aboutit. It’s symptomatic of arrogance and snobbishness, and it’s the accent mostassociated with the image of the English as cold, calculating and superior.So which films have baddies with posh English accents? There are lots of5them to choose from. Rob Roy (starring Liam Neeson) is a good example withEnglish actor Tim Roth as the sadistic English gentleman who rapes, kills andsteals his way across Scotland.
Another film to watch out for is Michael Collins(once again starring Liam Neeson), which is all about Ireland’s struggle forindependence from the British Empire. Charles Dance plays the part of anEnglish agent with a posh accent who’s been sent to Ireland to wipe out the Irishindependence movement.Some other good examples include the film Robin Hood - Prince ofThieves (starring Kevin Costner), with the evil sheriff of Nottingham played byEnglish actor Alan Rickman. In this film, the goody is played by Kevin Costner,who has an American accent; and The Silence of the Lambs, with AnthonyHopkins (OK, he’s Welsh, but he can speak with an English accent) who playsthe role of the intellectual psycho: Hannibal Lecter.
Here are some other filmsfeaturing baddies with English accents: Basil Rathbone in The Mark of Zorro,Christopher Lee in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, and The Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship of the Ring, David Warner in Titanic (not the version withLeonardo Di Carprio), James Mason in North by Northwest, Salem’s Lot andThe Verdict, Jeremy Irons in Die Hard With a Vengeance and The Lion King,Jonathan Hyde in Jumanji , Peter Cushing in Star Wars, Richard Attenborough627in Jurassic Park,Sir Ian McKellen in X-Men. Well, that’s enough aboutbaddies for now!Comprehension questions:1.
Why are films with goodies and baddies so popular in the U.S.?2. What is the upper-middle-class English accent associated with formany British and American people?3. What other characteristics distinguish goodies from baddies inHollywood films?4. Do Russian films have a similar division of characters?THE FUTURE OF ENGLISHEnglish continues to influence speakers of other languages all over the1world, and to be influenced by those languages. But will it remain in thisextraordinary position for much longer?One guess is that the number of people who can use English well will2continue to grow - to over half the people in the world by 2050, and thatEnglish will remain a world language.
In this view, America will probablyremain the most important country in the world and so English will continue asthe world language. The growing use of the Internet, which was developed inAmerica, and satellite television will mean that more people use andunderstand English. Better communications between more countries will resultin more international business, with English as its language. More highereducation can be provided as distance learning to students all over the world,with courses given in English.However, there are people who think that the position of English is notso certain.
Asia - China, in particular - may become wealthier than America.Even if it does not, English may not remain a world language. Although328English is the main language used on the Internet, non-English speaking usersalready outnumber English-speaking users. Businesses and organizations willhave to provide information and services in a number of languages for them.Similarly, satellite television companies will probably provide programmes inlocal languages as well as English. Although international business mayincrease, some of it may be in the same region, and other shared languagesmaybe used instead of English.
Some countries may dislike the spread ofEnglish, and try to keep it out of education and government. For example, in1999 Microsoft agreed to provide the Windows 98 program in Icelandic afteropposition from the Icelandic government to English programs being used inschools.If English does remain a world language, how will it change? Will itbreak up into lots of different languages, in the same way that Latin developed4into French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian and Italian? Or will the differentvarieties disappear and only one kind of English survive?It seems likely that as English continues to be used internationally moreand more, the need for a standard grammar and vocabulary, standard spelling5and some standard pronunciation will remain.
Perhaps a new kind of 'WorldStandard English' will develop from all the regional varieties, or perhapsAmerican English will become this standard.On the other hand, speakers of all the regional varieties of English will6continue to create their own words, expressions, pronunciation and grammar.The varieties of English may become more and more different from the WorldStandard kind of English, although they may not become separate languages.The next chapter in the history of English is hard to see accurately - theworld around us is changing so fast. Will we recognize the English of today inthe next century? Who will use it, and how? These are interesting questions forall users of English, wherever they are.Comprehension questions:1.
Do you think English will remain in its extraordinary position by7292050? Why?2. Will the ‘World Standard English’ change?IN VOGUEA language does not become a global language because of its intrinsic1structural properties, or because of the size of its vocabulary, or because it hasbeen a vehicle of a great literature in the past, or because it was once associatedwith a great culture or religion. These are all factors which can motivatesomeone to learn a language, of course, but none of them alone, or incombination, can ensure a language's world spread.
Indeed, such factors cannoteven guarantee survival as a living language - as is clear from the case of Latin,learned today as a classical language by only a scholarly and religious few.Correspondingly, inconvenient structural properties (such as awkward spelling)do not stop a language achieving international status either.A language becomes an international language for one chief reason: thepolitical power of its people - especially their military power. The explanationis the same throughout history.
![](https://s.studizba.com/z.php?f=/templates/si/i/noavatar.png&w=100&h=100&t=1"){kind=avatar}
