British and American English Module 5 British and American English Speaking and Writing Cultural Corner

The Great Debate----Which English ? Speaking and Writing –1.Reading (2m) Read the notes and add more information The Great Debate----Which English ? British English American English World English

Speaking and Writing –2.Debate (8m) Divide the class into 3 groups and debate. Group A: British English is the best variety to learn. Group B: American English is the best variety to learn. Group C: World English is the best variety to learn. Who will win the game?

Speaking and Writing –3. Reading (4m) Read and choose the best title. The origin of Chinese What is Chinese? Varieties of Chinese Which is the best title ? And Why?

Pinyin, a writing system since 1958/ help to use Putonghua Speaking and Writing –4. Writing (10m) Collect information about the 3 topics and write more paragraphs. The Writing System Varieties of Chinese The language Today About 5000 characters/ most people know about 2000/ elements of meaning and information about pronunciation/ 8 main varieties/ called dialects/ Wenyan and Baihua/ Putonghua-simplified Chinese Pinyin, a writing system since 1958/ help to use Putonghua

Cultural Corner –1. Warming-up (3m) Ask the following questions. Do you know this man? Do you know American Dictionary of the English Language?

Cultural Corner –2. Read and discuss (8m) Answer the following questions. What does the first paragraph talk about? What does it say about the spelling of English? What ‘s the relation between the spelling and the sound in English? Does English spelling always represent its sound?

Cultural Corner –3. Notes (5m) Deal with the difficulties . 1…. thanks to the work of Noah Webster… 2. …should have a distinctive “American ”look. 3. … suggested simplifying the spelling of English words. 4.The British criticised the dictionary, but it quickly became a standard reference book in the States

Cultural Corner –4. Discussion (5m) Discuss and share your idea with your partner. What reasons did Webster have for writing an American dictionary? Can you see any similarities between Webster’s work and attempts to simplify Chinese? He wanted to simplify the spelling of English and make it look different from British English. The work of simplifying Chinese has made it convenient for people to read, understand and use the Chinese language. So has Webster’s work for American people.

Homework Find more related material about Noah Webster and his dictionary. Read some articles about the differences between British and American English as well as the world English. Z。xxk