The UK and English speaking countries

Question 1

What language is English most like?

Answer 1

Frisian

Question 2

What makes ESP different from the English taught in the ‘onderbouw’?

Answer 2

ESP and EOP are normally taught at MBO schools. MBO courses like catering will often teach pupils words that they need to become a waiter. This is specific English. In the onderbouw general English is taught. This relies more on general vocabulary.

Question 3

What are the five largest English-speaking countries in order from largest to smallest?

Answer 3

USA, UK, Canada, Australia and Ireland

Question 4

What is the Anglosphere?

Answer 4

A group of English-speaking countries that share common roots in Briish culture and history.

Question 5

What is the Commonwealth of Nations?

Answer 5

A set of former British colonies which still hold close ties to the United Kingdom.

Question 6

Which major countries in the Anglosphere are not part of the Commonwealth?

Answer 6

USA and Ireland

Question 7

True or false: all members of the Commonwealth have the British monarch as their head of state.

Answer 7

False: some do, but most not.

Question 8

In Kachru’s original circles of English (1982), what people were represented in the inner circle?

Answer 8

Norm-setting countries, or those who speak English as an L1 language.

Question 9

What does the term “norm-dependent” mean with regards to Kachru’s circles (1982)? Give an example of a “norm-dependent country”

Answer 9

Norm-dependent means they look to native speakers for the language norm (what is correct). The Netherlands is an example of one of these countries (it does not have English as an official langiage like Australia and India do).

Question 10

What role do countries like India, Pakistan, and Nigeria play in Kachru’s circles (1982)?

Answer 10

They are norm-promoting countries.

Question 11

Why did Kachru reinvent his circles in 2004?

Answer 11

To make the circles less dependent on where someone comes from and more how good their English is.

Question 12

Who is in the inner circle of Kachru’s new circles of English (2004)?

Answer 12

People who are highly-proficient at English.

Question 13

What is Globish?

Answer 13

Global English is a language which consists of only a few words (ca. 1.500) and which is promarily used for international communication.

Question 14

How can social class be defined?

Answer 14

• The (self-)identity of groups within a larger society.

- Groups that are frequently classified and studied according to economic status.

Question 15

What are the three most important classes in the UK?

Answer 15

Upper-, middle-, and working (or lower) class

Question 16

What differences which represent the traditional differences between the social classes are visible when you look at the three men in the picture (just picture it in your mind)?

Answer 16

• Bowler hat, suit, umbrella
• Tribly hat, tweed checked suit
• Flat cap, ‘working clothes’: no tie, a mac

Question 17

What is meant by the feudal system?

Answer 17

In medieval times society was based on a top-down hierarchy with the king at the top, followed by the nobility (earls, lords, princes, dukes, etc), who owned large areas of land. Below the nobility were less prestigious groups such as local landowners or knights. At the bottom of this structure were peasants, who owned nothing (or very little), and who had the right to live on land in return for paying money to the landowners or fighting in battles when they occurred.

Question 18

“Occupation of chief income earner” for the upper class?

Answer 18

Traditionally the upper class are the ultra-rich, and their income is not based on work, but may be inherited or come from land ownership.

Question 19

“It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman despise or hate him.” - George Bernard Shaw (1912): Pygmalion. Explain what George bernard Shaw meant by these words.

Answer 19

People of a higher class despise the people who are in lower classes. They may think their choice or words and accent is vulgar. People from lower classes hate the people above them and may think they are stuck-up, based on what they say and how they say it. Language is a marker of social class and the social class system has led to judgement, criticism and division.

Question 20

What was the reason that middle class people in the 19thcentury started to use words that were seen as more posh? Give an example of such a word.

Answer 20

During the Victorian era, when the middle classes grew enormously along with the economy, many people who had been lower class moved into the middle classes. With this came a desire to appear to be a higher class. Some of the middle class words above were assumed to be “posh” (e.g. serviettesounds French, and setteeis said to be fancier version of “settle”). By using posher-sounding words, the middle classes were attempting to lift themselves into a more refined and sophisticated class.

Question 21

Give a specific example that shows a characteristic of the pronunciation of the working class.

Answer 21

glottal stops

The waʔer’s in the boʔle. (“The water’s in the bottle”).

Dropping /h/

‘is ‘ead’s ‘urts. (“His head hurts”).

/ð/ can become /v/ in the middle of a word or /f/ at the end

My bruvver ‘ates liʔle moffs (“My brother hates little moths”)

Question 22

Mention some reasons why people want to try to learn to speak RP.

Answer 22

An upper-class accent is now closely related with an RP (Received Pronunciation) accent, which is used by a very small percentage of the British population (2-3%). Traditionally an RP accent was the accent of the ruling class, closely associated with the monarch, as well as national institutions such as the BBC. It therefore carries associations with power, privilege and higher status.

Question 23

Explain how the House of Lords is an example of the importance of social class in Britain.

Answer 23

The upper house of the UK parliament, the House of Lords, had only hereditary peers until 1999. This meant that people who sat in one of the chambers of parliament, making laws for the entire country, were there because of their birth: they had inherited the title (of Lord, or Earl, etc.) which put them in the House of Lords. Although there has been much reform, 92 members of the Lords are still hereditary peers today.

Question 24

Some people in the UK think the education system is unfair. Would you agree? Explain your answer.

Answer 24

Possible answer:

Unfair? Private schools, educating 6.5% of the population, supply approximately 40% of students at Oxford and Cambridge universities. These top universities have provided 42 of the 56 British prime ministers to date.

Question 25

How are popular British soaps different from similar shows in the USA?

Answer 25

Films and other forms of entertainment with the working class as central, important characters are popular in the United Kingdom. Soap operas such as Eastenders(BBC) and Coronation Street(ITV) are consistently among the most popular TV programmes, for example. Both shows are set in working class areas and have almost entirely working class characters. Compare the popularity of these shows in the UK with programmes such as The Bold and the Beautifuland Dallasin the USA, which centre more on glamour and wealth.

Question 26

What is meant by a ‘toff’?

Answer 26

It’s an informal term for an upper-class or wealthy person

Question 27

Which four separate countries make up the UK?

Answer 27

England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland.