The reasons of learning English

Municipal state educational institution

Semiluki secondary school № 1

with in-depth study of individual subjects

Educational research project on the theme:

                     "The reasons of learning English"

Prepared by: Yakova Amaliya,Kolesnikova Alina

students of 10 “B” class

Research supervisor: Morozova E. V.

2018

Semiluki                                           

Content

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………...3

1. Theoretical part ……………………………………………………….............4

1.1. History of the English language.…………………………………………....4

1.2. The main reasons of learning English………………. ……………….……8

2. Practical part ………..………………………………………………………..11

2.1. Data analysis ……………......………………………………………………11

2.2. Summing up .……………………………………………………………......12

Overall conclusion.………………………………………………………………13

List of references ……………………….……………………………………......14

Applications ……………………………………………………………………...15

Introduction

“To have another language is to possess a second soul.”

-Carl the Great.

The importance of learning English cannot be overstated in an increasingly interconnected and globalized world. English is the official language of 53 countries including Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Kenya, Malawi, Singapore, South Africa and the UK, making it one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is also spoken as a first language by approximately 400 million people across the globe.

The relevance of the project:

English is considered to be an international language of communication. Knowledge of a foreign language broadens the mind of a person, allow you to explore the culture and life of other people, increase personal status in society and open up a world of many possibilities. It is important to spread these ideas among young people for further self-realization and further development as a person.

Object of study:  English language. 

Subject of research: reasons of language learning.

Hypothesis: we assume that familiarization with the reasons of learning English will encourage the younger generation to learn English.

The purpose of the project: to develop the main reasons of learning the language and identify the most relevant.

To achieve this goal, I need to perform the following tasks:

1. To learn the history of the English language.

2. To gather material from various sources and to identify the main reasons of learning English.

3. To conduct a social survey among teenagers.

4. To analyze the results of the survey.

5. To come to a definite conclusion.

1. Theoretical part

1.1 History of English

The history of the English language started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes (the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes) from the territories which are now parts of Germany, Denmark and Netherlands, displacing the Celtic language. The Angles came from Engalaland and called their native language “Englisc”. From these words were derived “England” and “English”.

English language has four periods of developing:

1. Old English (450-1100 AD)

Old English is considered to be the language spoken by the Germanic tribes. In terms of numbers, these tribes were far superior to the Celtic tribes, so gradually the Anglo-Saxon language completely supplanted the Celtic dialect from use. Old English includes four dialects: Northumbrian in the north of England, Mercian in the Midlands, West Saxon in the south and west, and Kentish in the Southeast.

From the mainland, the Germans brought with them a few words of Latin origin, which they borrowed from the Romans. For example, butter (from the lat. butyrum), cheese (from the lat.  Caseus), silk (from the lat. sericum), mile (from the lat. milia passuum), mint (from the lat.  moneta), Saturday (from the lat. Saturni dies).

However, some Celtic languages survive today in the Gaelic languages of Scotland and Ireland and in Welsh. Cornish, unfortunately, is now a dead language. In 1777 the last native Cornish speaker died.

In 792 the Vikings began to wield the Anglo-Saxon lands. From this time the influence of the Scandinavian languages on the Old English began; a number of borrowings from Scandinavian languages appeared in the English language. For example, dream, which had meant 'joy' until the Vikings imparted its current meaning on it from the Scandinavian cognate draumr, and skirt, which continues to live alongside its native English cognate shirt.

The combination of sk- or sc- at the beginning of the English word is very often the indicator of Scandinavian borrowing. For example, sky, skin, skull, shell.

The majority of words in modern English come from foreign, not Old English roots. In fact, only about one sixth of the known Old English words have descendants surviving today. But this is deceptive; Old English is much more important than these statistics would indicate. About half of the most commonly used words in modern English have Old English roots. Words like be, water, and strong, for example, derive from Old English roots.

2. The Norman Conquest and Middle English (1100-1500)

In the middle of the 11th century, the inhabitants of northern France conquered Britain. William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, began the King. Since that time, French, Latin and Anglo-Saxon were the three main languages. The language of the aristocracy, the courts became French, the language of science was Latin, and ordinary people continued to speak Anglo-Saxon. Through the confusion of these languages was formatted modern English.

Sometimes French words replaced Old English words. For example, crime replaced firen. Other times, French and Old English combined to form a new word, as the French gentle and the Germanic man formed gentleman. Two different words with roughly the same meaning survive into modern English. Thus, English speakers have the Germanic doom and the French judgment, or wish and desire.

3. Early Modern English (1500-1800)

The next wave of innovation in English came with the Renaissance. The English Renaissance roughly covers the 16th and early 17th Century (the European Renaissance had begun in Italy as early as the 14th Century), and is often referred to as the “Elizabethan Era” or the “Age of Shakespeare”. A characteristic feature of this period of language development is that the additions in the dictionary were deliberate borrowings. While earlier changes in the English language occurred on the basis of invasion by foreigners, the influx of representatives of other nationalities and any other top-down decrees.

Latin was still very much considered the language of education and scholarship at this time. Enthusiasm for studying such a classical language as Latin during the English Renaissance brought thousands of new words into the language, peaking around 1600. For example, slightly modified words anonymous, dislocate, explain, meditate, enthusiasm, area, complex, concept, invention, technique, temperature, premium, system, expensive, insane, anatomy, skeleton, atmosphere, catastrophe, comedy, tragedy, fact, biography, mythology, sarcasm, paradox. A huge number of classical works were being translated into English during the 16th Century, and many new terms were introduced where a satisfactory English equivalent did not exist.

A major factor separating previous period and Early Modern English is the Great Vowel Shift. This was a change in pronunciation that began around 1400. Vowel sounds began to be made further to the front of the mouth and the letter "e" at the end of words became silent. In Middle English people used to pronounce “name” as “nam-a,” five as “ feef,” down as “doon.” Other words such “sheep,” “me,” and “house” would have been pronounced more like “shape,” “may,” and “hoose.” After the Great Vowel Shift the pronunciations of these and similar words would have been much more like they are spoken today.  The changes also proceeded at different times and speeds in different parts of the country. Nevertheless, the Shift is still not over. Vowel sounds still change their pronunciation, although these changes are less significant and rapid.

The last important factor in the development of Modern English was the advent of the printing press. William Caxton brought the printing press to England in 1476. Books became cheaper and as a result, literacy became more common. Publishing for the masses became a profitable enterprise, and works in English, as opposed to Latin, became more common. Finally, the printing press brought standardization to English. The dialect of London, where most publishing houses were located, became the standard. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the first English dictionary was published in 1604.

   4. Late-Modern English (1800-Present)

The principal distinction between early- and late-modern English is vocabulary. Pronunciation, grammar, and spelling are largely the same, but Late-Modern English has many more words. These words are the result of two historical factors. The first is the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the technological society. This necessitated new words for things and ideas that had not previously existed. The second was the British Empire. At its height, Britain ruled one quarter of the earth's surface, and English adopted many foreign words and made them its own.

Most of the innovations of the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and early 19th Century were of British origin, including the harnessing of steam to drive heavy machinery, the development of new materials, techniques and equipment in a range of manufacturing industries, and the emergence of new means of transportation (e.g. steamships, railways). At least half of the scientific and technological works, written between 1750 and 1900, was created in English. Furthermore, the USA as another English speaking country continued the English language dominance of new technology and innovation with inventions like electricity, the telegraph, the telephone, the phonograph, the sewing machine, the computer, etc.

In the process of creating new words to describe the new creations and discoveries English relied heavily on Latin and Greek. Words like oxygen, protein, nuclear, and vaccine did not exist in the classical languages, but they were created from Latin and Greek roots.

This burst of neologisms continues today, perhaps most visible in the field of electronics and computers. Byte, cyber-, bios, hard-drive, and microchip are good examples.

Also, the rise of the British Empire and the growth of global trade served not only to introduce English to the world, but to introduce words into English. Hindi, and the other languages of the Indian subcontinent, provided many words, such as pundit, shampoo, pajamas, and juggernaut. Virtually every language on Earth has contributed to the development of English, from Finnish (sauna) and Japanese (tycoon) to the vast contributions of French and Latin.

For a long time, the British Empire remained the most powerful maritime empire. This has facilitated the introduction of nautical terms in English language. For example, phrases three sheets to the wind have their origins onboard ships.

Finally, the military influence on the language during the latter half of twentieth century was significant. Before the Great War, military service for English-speaking persons was rare; both Britain and the United States maintained small, volunteer militaries. Military slang existed, but with the exception of nautical terms, rarely influenced standard English. During the mid-20th century, however, a large number of British and American men served in the military. And consequently military slang entered the language like never before. Such words as blockbuster, nose dive, camouflage, radar, roadblock, spearhead, and landing strip are all military terms that made their way into standard English.

1.2 Basic reasons of learning English

1. Tourism

Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, international tourism is the fastest growing industry in the world. In 2000, the number of people working in only one hotel business exceeded 200 thousand people, but in ten years, in 2010, this number will triple.

In many countries, most tourism authorities and other officials in contact with the public speak English to interact and engage with tourists and immigrants. In the field of hotel business and tourism, English language skills are a daily necessity and an indispensable condition for career growth.

For tourist who finds it difficult to place an order in a cafe, ask a passer-by or just get a hotel room it's not easy to travel, because English is the connecting thread of communication between people. In addition, all road signs, inscriptions in public places and voice announcements are duplicated in English. Restaurant menu, travel tickets also contain information in English. This proves that a person who knows English will feel himself comfortable in any part of the world.

      2. Business

English is considered the global language of business. In the labor market, when joint ventures with foreign partners are formed, and branches of large foreign companies are opened, proficiency in business English becomes one of the factors giving priority to hiring. Furthermore, about 50% of companies in Europe communicate with each other in English.

As the examples, the company Philips is a Dutch international company, in which English was chosen as the language of communication, and not Dutch, because the company employs relatively few Dutch. A similar situation is observed in the French company Bosch, where English was preferred to French, despite the fact that the company employs many French and also that French itself is the language of world communication.

English is actively used in advertising. The reasons for this are the following: prestige, high cost, substantial and attractive appearance.

Through the knowledge of English there will be such professional skills as:

- ability to read and perceive specialized texts in foreign languages ​​in real time;

- ability to perceive and document multimedia information in foreign languages ​​in real time;

- ability to consecutive and simultaneous translation;

- oral and written presentation skills in foreign languages;
- ability to carry out scientific research in foreign languages, etc.

3. Digital Age, technology

As the world becomes increasingly digital, more than a half of content published online is in English. It's an absolute majority in comparing with other languages: number of pages in the second by frequency in Internet language (Russian) is only 6%. Therefore, knowledge of English gives an access to significant amount of world intellectual resources.

English is also considered the global language of science.  According to Science Citation Index assessment done by the Institute for scientific information, 95% articles are published in English. Furthermore, the half of authors is English speakers.

In addition, should be said that latest-version applications, programs and computer games tend to be released in English before any other language. Similarly, manuals, instruction guides and technology-related leaflets also are available in English first.

     4. High level of education

First of all, it should be said that the quality of education of foreign universities is higher than in Russia. The university rankings are created by QS (from consulting company Quacquarelli Symonds), THE (from The Times) and ARWU (from the Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University). They assess the quality of education by the following criteria: the amount of research, contribution to innovation, student and teaching activity, reputation among employers, the number of scholarship programs. For several the top places ten are occupied by universities of the USA and Great Britain (Stanford, Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, etc.). The top 100 includes universities in Canada, Japan, Australia and Switzerland.

Foreign universities give their students the opportunity to get a well-paid job even before graduation. Centers for career development help to find a job, internships during studying help students to get a chance to have a job right after graduating from the university.

Of course, the cost of studying remains high, but in some universities there is a chance to study for free. Knowledge of English provides everyone with an opportunity to receive a decent education and to live in comfort.

     5. English culture in original

As for literature, there is an opportunity to enjoy the works of the most famous writers in original. Reading the original, you have a new look at works of Shakespeare and get pleasure of such well-known classic books as “Wuthering heights” by Emily Bronte, “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte, “1984” by George Orwell, “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen and etc. Translate version rarely is able to express what the author had in mind.

Lastly, the best-selling and well-loved films and serials are produced in English. American actors, actresses, musicians have been and remain idols of more than one generation of people. Hollywood is the undisputed leader of the film industry. American militants and blockbusters are most viewed in English all over the world. From America came jazz, blues, rock'n'roll and many other styles of music that are still popular.

2. Practical part

2.1. Analyzing the obtained data

In order to identify the main reasons of learning English among their peers, we interviewed 100 people between the ages of 15 to 17 years.

Teenagers had to answer four questions. (Annex 1)

After analyzing the obtained data, we received the following results:

1. 62 people learn English out of school. The rest learn the language only on school lessons.
2. 62 people believe that knowledge of English language will be useful in their future. No one among the interviewed teenagers think that learning foreign language is a waste of time and effort. The rest could not say for sure and chose option “It is possible.”
3. Among the seven proposed reasons for studying English the majority of votes (23) received option “Tourism.” 19 votes obtained the first option “Learning for overall development.” On the third place the option “Learning for entering foreign university,” it received 17 votes. The rest of results is following: “Learning for privileges in the future job” – 12 votes; “Learning for business” and “Learning for further moving to English speaking country” have equal number of votes – 11; “Learning for acquaintance with the English culture” has 7 votes.
4. The majority of the interview persons chose the option “Yes.” Seventeen people could not answer properly. Only one person thinks that English is not international language.

The results of this questionnaire can be visualized in the table (Annex 2).

                    2.2. Summing up

1. Today, most high school students try to learn English thoroughly both at school and outside it. Those students who have decided to link their profession with foreign languages have already been preparing for the exam and can enter the university successfully.

2. The majority of teenagers believe that knowledge of English can be beneficial in the future, because English is the international language which is used in all social spheres.

3. Today’s generation believes that English is an international language.  They understand the importance of English in modern life.  

4. International travelling these days have become cheaper, quicker and more convenient for many people. Tourism plays a key role in learning English that means it is the most relevant reason of learning English. Also, teenagers choose English in order to travel, to get to know more about other cultures, customs and traditions.

Overall conclusion

       We devoted our research to the reasons of learning English. Working on it, we found out a lot about history of English and his meaning in modern world.

    In this project we have achieved the purpose of the research. We successfully developed the main five reasons of learning the language and identified the most relevant.

     In our opinion, the hypothesis has been proved. The younger generation aims to learn English at and out of school time. Nowadays, it is important to learn English, because, first of all, it is international language and is used in all social spheres.

 "Do you speak English?" is a well-known and familiar phrase from school. It is hard to accept that many people being abroad on vacation or on business often have to respond negatively to this question, because they have never paid enough attention to learning English. That was their huge mistake.

    English is the language of international communication. The world of great opportunities is open for a person who speaks English fluently or at least has a high level of knowledge. He can get a prestigious job, free communication with native speakers, education in the best universities and many other advantages. Language barrier is not a problem anymore.

The practical significance of the project.

1. Our project proves the relevance of English in contemporary society.

2. Collected information can be used by English teachers or by those who are interested in learning foreign languages.

3. Working on the project improved translation skills and brought our English knowledge on the higher level.

Reference list

1. Кабакчи В.В. Английский язык межкультурного общения – новый аспект в преподавании английского языка // Иностранные языки в школе, 2000, № 6. С. 84.

2. Кристалл Д. Английский язык как глобальный. – М., 2001.

3. http://ru.wikipedia.org./wiki/

4. http://education. /articles

5. http://www.thehistoryofenglish.com/history_early_modern.html

Applications

  Annex 1

                                                                                                               Opinion poll

1. Do you learn English language out of school?

• Yes
• No

1. Will knowledge of English language be useful in your future?

• Yes, for sure
• It is possible
• No

2. Tick the most relevant reasons of learning English:

• Learning for overall development
• Learning for business
• Learning for tourism
• Learning for entering  foreign university
• Learning for acquaintance with the English culture
• Learning for privileges in your future job
• Learning for further moving to English speaking country
• Your option________________________________________

3. Is English  international language or not?

• Yes
• No
• It is hard to answer

Annex 2

                                                                               Table of the results