Unit 2 English around the world(reading)

Teaching PlanBy Wang Yizi  Teaching goals 1. Ability goals Enable the students (Ss) to describe the history of English and know of some basic differences between different kinds of English. 2. Learning ability goals Help the students learn how to analyze the way the author describes the history of English.  Teaching important points Have a good understanding of the history of English, the reason why it has changed over time, and retell it according to the chart. Teaching difficult point Work together with partners and express one’s opinion on the importance and necessity of learning English. Teaching methodsDiscussion.Reading.Cooperative learning. Teaching aids Computer, PPT, short video. Teaching procedures & ways Step I Greeting and revisionT: Good morning, everyone. Today we are going to begin the study of Unit 2, English around the world. As we all know, language plays a very important part in our daily life, for it serves as the bridge for our every-day communication and all kinds of social interactions. English, for example, is a kind of language that is indispensable in our life. But, do you really know about this language, such as its origin, its development history, or its future? Well, after today’s class, I’m sure you will definitely obtain a clearer view of this language. Step II Warming upArouse the Ss’ interest in reading. Let the students have a brief understanding of the differences between British and American English.T: Now first of all, let’s enjoy a small role play. This play includes two main characters. I guess you all know them, right? Who’s the person on the right hand side? S: Barak Obama! T: Yes, Barak Obama, the president of the United States. How about the one on the left side? S: David Cameron!T: Very good, he’s David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the UK. Next, these two characters will be played by two handsome actors from our class, now let’s welcome. The two actors play the funny drama while the others enjoy it. T: Good job! Thank you very much, A & B. All right, now everyone, please tell me, what is the language spoken in this play? S: English!T: Very good, obviously they are speaking English. But, do they speak the exactly same kind of English? S: No, they don’t.T: What kind of English does Obama say? S: The American English. T: Very good. How about that of Cameron? S: The British English. T: Yes, they are the two main accents of English in the world. And as we can see, these two kinds of English differ from each other, in aspects such as spelling, pronunciation, and vocabulary. For example, British English adopts words like lift, football, sweet, while the American English will use vocabularies like elevator, soccer, and candy to refer to the same things. As for spelling, let’s take the word “color” as an example, in British English, it ends with a letter group “our”, while in the American English, it only ends with “or”. Other examples are like center, traveler, etc. Lastly, there is the difference in pronunciation, such as “aunt, dance”. If you are interested in this question, you can do some further research after class.(The teacher shows the students a global map about the distribution of English-speaking countries). T: Actually, the USA and the UK are not the only English-speaking countries. As we can see from this map, there are nearly one-third of the countries in the world where English is either the national language or the official language. Next, I will show you a short video as to how people from different parts of the world speak English. (The teacher shows a short video).T: Obviously, there are different kinds of English around the world. How did such kind of differences come into being? Why has English changed over time? To answer these questions, let’s move on to the text and have a look at the development history of modern English.Step III Reading   Get the Ss to know the history of English and help the Ss to form a good habit of reading. (class work)Task1 skimming T: Now please go through the text quickly and catch the main idea of it. 1. This text mainly talks about …A. How to learn English wellB. The brief history of Modern EnglishC. The way to England D. The difference between Modern English and Old EnglishAnswer: B2.  The text is developed mainly by A. Place  B. Plot （情节）C. Time D. People     Answer: C  Match the main idea of each paragraph. Work in groups of four.T: Read the text and match the main idea of each paragraph. After reading, discuss your answer in groups of four. A. Languages change because of cultural communication. (para 3-4)B. Native English speakers can communicate with different kinds of English. (para 2)C.  English’s future is uncertain. (para 5)D. Today, English is widely used in the world. (para 1)Task 2 (scanning): Scan the text and decide whether the statements are True (T) or false (F) according to the passage. (class work) 1. Between about AD 450 and 800, English was less like German, and more like French. (F) 2. Shakespeare’s English was spoken around 1600’s. (T) 3. English is spoken as the first language in India and Singapore. (F)4. It is Samuel Johnson’s dictionary of the English Language that gives American English spelling its own identity. (F)5. English was spoken in America and Australia in the 17th century. (F)6. French and Danish has great influence on English, especially its grammar. (F)Task 3:  Further comprehend the text and answer the following questions. (individual work) Q1: Why has English changed over time?Answer: Because language will change and develop when cultures meet and communicate with each other.Q2: Why does India take English as a second language?Answer: India. Because it was ruled by Britain. Q3: Do you know any other kinds of English formed for this reason?Answer: South African English; Singapore English; Malaysian English; Hongkong English;  Task 4:  Summary Summarize the passage with about 30 words. (individual work) (The teacher gives out a possible version and asks the students to do the summary by filling the blanks). Possible version: The passage talks about the development history of English, the most widely used language in the world today, as well as the reason for its changes and the discussion of its future.Task 5: Retelling. Try to retell the text by filling in the following blanks. (Class Work)  At the end of the 16th century, about seven million people spoke English. Nearly all of them lived in England. As people from England started moving to other parts of the world, English began to be spoken in many other countries. Now more people speak English than ever before. Native English speakers can understand each other even if they don’t speak the same kind of English. However, they may not be able to understand everything. All languages change when cultures communicate with each other. Now American English and Australian English have their own identity. English is also spoken in many other countries in Asia and Africa, such as South Africa, India, and Singapore. Today the number of the people learning English in China is increasing rapidly. It’s possible that one day Chinese English will become one of the world English.Step IV Post-readingExpress one’s own opinion. Work in groups of four.Task 1: Discussion1. Do you think it necessary for people around the world to learn English? 2. Do you think Chinese will become more and more popular in the world?(The Teacher gives the students about five minutes to discuss with their partners and then asks the volunteers to express their own ideas. The students can choose either of the above two questions to answer).