“Can Foreign Learners Ever Achieve Native Speaker Competence in English?”
Pre-listening
communicative competence
telltale
command of English
True or false:
British people are never amazed at foreigner’s command of English.
Non-native speakers often succeed in concealing their foreignness entirely.
Many learners are satisfied with being able to communicate successfully in English and are not particularly interested in the language as such.
Insert the missing word:
They admire the foreigners’ rich and varied range of expression in English, the ________of their grammar and the _________of their sounds.
Or is it considered a waste of time and energy to perfect one’s English ________ __ ______ of communicative competence?
They may well consider that little is to be gained from attempting to iron out the _____ ____ ______ in their speech habits.
Language specialists on the whole tend to desire to ______ English as well as is humanly possible.
Answer the questions:
In what ways do foreigners often impress British people when they speak English?
What reasons are given for the fact that comparatively few foreigners manage to sound like native speakers?
In your opinion, what kind of learners ought to strive towards native speaker competence? Give your reasons.
Over-use of ‘idiomatic expressions’
Pre-listening:
Authentic
Stalling expressions
True or false:
One of the most striking features of the English language spoken in the Soviet Union has been the disuse of idiomatic expressions which are supposed to be said frequently by native speakers.
If such idioms as “She is my bosom friend” are used by native speakers, it is likely to produce an effect of a beautiful and expressive speech.
Insert the missing word:
Phrases like these, like slang expressions, quickly _____ ___ ___ fashion and are best avoided.
A similar tendency among foreigners is the __________ of stalling expressions which are supposed to be typical ___ English.
It is the mark of the foreigner to try too hard to say what he thinks is __________.
Answer the questions:
Why do you think students are so fond of learning ‘English idioms’?
Why must great care be taken when handling such expressions?
To what extent are such expressions used by native speakers?
If it is true that native speakers make frequent use of ‘well’, ‘you know’, ‘you see’, etc., why are foreigners warned to take special care over them?
English in non-English contexts
Pre-listening:
Counterpart
True or False:
The ability to talk in English about one’s own situation is often acquired by foreign learners.
It’s not always possible to find exact equivalents in English.
Insert the missing word:
They can use English ____________ in a simulated English context, but ______ when asked to talk about themselves.
In order to avoid misunderstanding of this kind, make sure that you use ___________ English to describe your course, your institution,…
Answer the questions:
Why do you think students find it easier to talk about the English-speaking world rather than their own surroundings when using English?
What aspects of our life should we be able to discuss fluently in English?
What difficulties are there in finding appropriate English for a non-English context?
Rhythm, rhythm, rhythm
Pre-listening
Accentuation
True or False:
The foreigners’ English sounds impress the native speaker because they are very obscure.
Nothing is more confusing to the native listener that mistakes of accentuation, i.e. rhythm and the associated obscuration of certain syllables.
Insert the missing word:
In English, as in any other languages, there is great _________ in the information conveyed by speech.
Clearly, any _______ error in pronunciation will interfere with the communication process.
The accentuation of unimportant syllables slows the speech down, one’s utterances sound _______ and _________, and the meaning one wishes to convey can be lost or _______.
The energy poured into pronunciation will only _____________ if it is coupled with training in rhythm.
Answer the questions:
Why are native speakers impressed by advanced students’ sounds?
How important is correct accentuation?
What are the consequences of badly stressed English?
Do you spend time on phonetics work?
Underuse of simple English
Pre-listening:
Clumsy constructions
Make the text sound less pompous:
“Let’s postpone our visit to Leningrad till next weekend because Jane hasn’t fully recovered from her flu yet. If the hotels are full, I’ve got some friends who can accommodate us. We can depart after classes on Friday. I’ll collect you from your Institute.”
Insert the missing word:
Advanced learners should ____________to use the latter sort of verb actively.
In general foreigners tend to use _____ constructions which are strictly speaking correct, but where a native speaker would prefer a shorter, more direct utterance.
Answer the questions:
Why do you think foreign learners under-use simple and phrasal verbs?
Why do you think foreign learners tend to use constructions which are too complicated?
Pre-listening
Assiduously
Console
Keep up with the Joneses
Insert the missing word:
Foreign learners should not despair if they feel that ________of good English is difficult; they should ________themselves with the fact that native speakers constantly have to ask themselves if what they are saying is acceptable.
…at the one extreme those people of position and status whose education and occupation make them confident of speaking ________English.
In between, according to this view, we have a far less fortunate group, the ______.
These actively try to suppress what they believe to be bad English and _______ cultivate what they hope to be good English.
Answer the questions:
What kind of people do you think are quite indifferent to whether they speak well or not?
Why do you think it is so difficult to be totally confident about the English one uses?
Do foreign learners of Russian ever master the Russian language to such an extent that you can’t tell they’re foreign?
What aspects of Russian present the greatest obstacles to foreign learners aiming at fluency in Russian?
