II.1. Vocabulary

Here are some key vocabulary which will help you find the audio listening easier to hear.

1. collate /kəˈleɪt/ (verb)

to collect information together from different sources in order to examine and compare it

đối chiếu, so

2. indigenous /ɪnˈdɪdʒənəs/  (adj)

belonging to a particular place rather than coming to it from somewhere else

bản địa, bản xứ

3. hobbyist /ˈhɒbiɪst/    (adj)  

a person who is very interested in a particular hobby

một người rất hứng thú với một sở thích nào đó

4. rigorous /ˈrɪɡərəs/ (adj)

done carefully and with a lot of attention to detail

chặt chẽ; nghiêm ngặt

5. anecdotal /ˌænɪkˈdəʊtl/ (adj)

based on anecdotes and possibly not true or accurate

[thuộc] giai thoại

6. deceptive /dɪˈseptɪv/ (adj) 

likely to make you believe something is not true

dối trá, lừa dối; làm cho lầm lẫn

7. authority /ɔːˈθɒrəti/ (n) 

the people or an organization who have the power to make decisions or who have a particular area of responsibility in a country or region

người có quyền, nhà đương cục

8. intrusive /ɪnˈtruːsɪv/ (adj) 

too noticeable, direct, etc. in a way that is disturbing or annoying

xâm nhập, xâm phạm

Example:

  1. To identify the differences, we need to collate the new edition with the earlier one.

  2. the indigenous peoples/languages of the area

  3. Hobbyist groups of stamp collectors often exchange their collections.

  4. Few people have gone into the topic in such rigorous detail.

  5. Anecdotal evidence suggests there were irregularities at the polling station on the day of the election.

  6. Appearances can often be deceptive (= things are not always what they seem to be).

  7. The health authorities are investigating the problem.

  8. The constant presence of the media was very intrusive


II.2. Content

II.2.1. Multiple choice

MULTIPLE CHOICE

You are going to hear a group of students discussing minority languages in the UK. Listen and answer the question below.

Which pie chart, a, b, or c shows the correct percentage of speakers of UK minority languages?

1 Does the pie chart show the number of speakers or the percentage of speakers?

2 Which countries are shown in the pie chart?

3 Does the pie chart refer to the recent past, the distant past, or both?

4 Match the languages a-d to the proportions i-iv.

a  Welsh _______

b  Gaelic _______

c  Cornish _______

d  Irish _______

i     the smallest percentage

ii    around ten per cent

iii   about  a quarter

iv   nearly half

Script

Joe: Morning, everyone! How are you? 

Susan: Fine thanks, Joe.

Julia: Yeah, fine, Joe. Have you managed to do much research on our minority languages project? 

Joe: Well, Julia, I've been having some trouble finding information about the number of Cornish speakers in the UK. The records at the Office of National Statistics and the Cornish Language Council say different things, so I'm not sure who to believe.

Julia: Hm. Susan, have you got any information about this?

Susan: I was looking on the government's minority languages website, and it says that nearly half the minority language speakers in the UK are speakers of Welsh.

Julia: Are you sure it's nearly half? I thought the number of Gaelic and Welsh speakers was more or less the same.

Susan: It used to be, when Gaelic was a compulsory subject in schools. But nowadays there are fewer speakers of Gaelic compared to Welsh. And apparently, with Cornish it's difficult to know the exact percentage of the population who speak it because most people only speak it to intermediate level; very few people are fluent speakers.

Joe: I suppose that's why the statistics are different. Well, I think we should go with the more conservative estimate based on the number of fluent speakers.

Julia: I think you're right, which means that Cornish isn't spoken by nearly as many people as the other languages.

Susan: Yes, I think that's right too. Based on fluent speakers, that means that Welsh is the most widely spoken and the numbers of Irish and Gaelic speakers are more or less the same.

II.2.2. Labelling maps or plans

 

LABELLING MAPS OR PLANS

 

Match the positions on the map 1-6 with the descriptions of geographical position a-f.


a towards the north-east

b at the southernmost point

c along the west coast

d slightly inland from the north coast

e in the far north-west corner

f in the interior



Number 1: along the west coast (c)

Number 2: at the southernmost point (b)

Number 3: in the interior (f)

Number 4: towards the north-east (a)

Number 5: slightly inland from the north coast (d)

Number 6: in the far north-west (e)


Tips to do the task

  1. Check the location of each number on your map

  2. Think of language that might be used to describe that location

  3. Look for any arrow on the maps

  4. Answers to questions will come in order (the answer to question 1 will come before the answer to question 2 in the recording)

  5. Most map recordings are similar to a guided tour which follows a logical order

  6. Don’t be distracted by extra information

  7. Don’t forget to make notes. You can write all over your question paper.

LABELLING MAPS OR PLANS

You are going to hear a group of students discussing their presentation on the languages of the different regions of Spain. Listen and label the map. 

Script

Stephanie: Right, Harry, Rob, shall we get started on this presentation for European Studies?

Rob: Well, how about if I start by talking about the central regions of Spain, where most people speak Spanish?

Harry: Good idea. It's important we make it clear that the majority of the population use Spanish as their main language. Then I can introduce the Galician accent of the north-west.

Stephanie: But isn't Galician more of a dialect?

Harry: Oh yes, you're right.

Stephanie: We've got to get our terminology correct because Spain is complicated in terms of languages and dialects and accents. How about we then move across to the 

north-east, and I give details on the Basque language and how it's different from Spanish.

Rob: That seems logical. Stephanie. Do you also want to mention the other language in the north-east? It's Catalan, isn't it?

Stephanie: Yes. In fact we should say it's the official language of the region to show how important it is. 

Rob: So, what am I going to present?

Harry: We need to include something about accents and speaking styles, don't we?

Rob: Of course. I could explain the difficulties of understanding the accent in the south due to the fact that the locals speak quickly.

Stephanie: Excellent! Well I think that covers everything. Shall we meet tomorrow to practise our presentation?


Explanation

Question 1: the speaker says “how about if I start by talking about the central regions of Spain, where most people speak Spanish?”. The missing word is central.


Question 2: Stephanie says “But isn't Galician more of a dialect?” and Harry says she’s right. So the word you need to fill in question 2 is dialect.


Question 3: Stephanie says “How about we then move across to the north-east, and I give details on the Basque language and

how it's different from Spanish.”  So the answer to question 3 is language.


Question 4: “In fact we should say it's the official language of the region to show how important it is.” It refers to Catalan, so the missing word we need is official.


Question 5: Rob says “I could explain the difficulties of understanding the accent in the south due to the fact that the locals speak quickly.” The phrase “in the south” helps us to locate the answer to question 5. So the answer is quickly.

Answer key

1.central

2.dialect

3.language

4.official

5.quickly


II.2.3. Selecting from a list

SELECTING FROM A LIST

Which TWO of the following ways of encouraging people to speak local languages (a-e) does the tutor recommend that the students should include in their report.

a Education 

b Business 

c Clubs

d Social networking

e Music


Script

So, Natalie, Louise, how are you doing with your report on encouraging people to speak local languages? 

Fine thanks, Dr Phillips. It's been really interesting.

We've found lots of information which we've collated for our report. 

Good. What are you going to focus on?

Well, many schools and colleges are doing good work promoting local languages both as qualifications and in terms of after-school clubs.

And then there's the rise in popularity of minority language music, which seems to be driven by tourism. Tourists who are exposed to songs in indigenous languages become interested in learning those languages.

OK. Now you need to be careful with these topics. They are fascinating, but you need to look at the influences .

which drive language learning. Education doesn't leave people much choice, and music isn't a strong enough factor.

Do you have any suggestions for us?

Well, what did we talk about in last week's seminar? Can you remember any of the real push factors? 

Do you mean things like communication and relationships between companies and their workers?

It's much more powerful than music, don't you think?

Yes, I see what you mean. So I suppose our other idea isn't very strong, either. We also thought about hobby groups, but I'm beginning to think they're less significant.

Yes, there aren't sufficient hobbyist groups to make a real difference to local language learning. But, think about something else which is similar but reaches a much larger proportion of the population of a country or community.

Ah! Like online discussion groups? I remember in the lecture you talked about how the Internet is fuelling the increase in local languages through the world languages project.

This is more appropriate for your report because we can actually measure the amount of correspondence in each language and chart increases and decreases over time, which makes it a more rigorous form of analysis.

Of course. So we should definitely include that in our report.

It's becoming clearer now. We need to write about the larger factors involving commerce and online communication, where we can record language usage.

I think it's better than looking at anecdotal information. 

Thanks, Dr Phillips.


Answer key

b

D


IV. Homework

LISTENING 4

HOMEWORK

QUESTIONS 1-2 (Track 4.1)

Answer the questions 1-2.

1   Which countries are the students going to visit for the field trip? Choose A, B or C.

A  the United States of America and Canada 

B  Mexico and the United States of America 

C  Canada and Mexico


2   Which of the graphs below correctly shows the numbers of people under 25 years  of age who speak three languages? Choose A, B or C.





QUESTIONS 3-6 (Track 4.1)

Which four social factors affecting native-language usage do the students want to research during their field trip?

Choose FOUR letters from A-F below.


A Employment

B Family structure

C Education

D Language policy

E Tourism

F Emigration


3   ___________

4   ___________

5   ___________

6   ___________


QUESTIONS 7-10 (Track 4.)

Label the map below.


Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.


Proposed field trip itinerary

ANSWER KEY

Questions 1-2

1 A,    2 C

Questions 3-6

[In any order]  A. B, D, F

Questions 7-10

7 reservation,

8 [local] education authority/ department,

9 the managing director,

10 take photos of


SCRIPT


Anna: Suzanne: 


James:




Suzanne: Anna:





James:


Suzanne: Anna: 


James: Anna:



Suzanne:



James: Suzanne:

So, we need to get this field trip sorted out as soon as possible, don't we?

Yes. Let's get started. James, have you worked out which two countries we should travel to?  

Well, I thought we could go to the USA and Mexico because that's where the populations of most native languages are concentrated. But then I found out that the three languages we’re most interested in are more widely spoken in Canada than Mexico so I think we should go there instead. 

OK ...  Anna, weren't you going to think about our research focus?

Yes, and I think I've found two areas that would work well. Firstly, use of the three languages, Na-Dene, Salishan, and Algic among the younger generation - people up to the age of twenty-five. I found out that although there are many older speakers of Algic, it’s used much less by the young. ln fact young people under the age of twenty-five use both Na-Dene and Salishan more than Algic. 

That's interesting. That means that native language use isn't really being affected by the older generations any more.

So, what's the other focus area then, Anna?

Well, it would be good to try to find out what affects changes in native language speaker populations. 

You mean things like family life, and the influence of popular culture or tourism?

Yes, areas like that, but not tourism or culture because they're too general. I think we should look at whether family has an impact in terms of passing on native language use. And possibly the effects of government language policy too.

Government figures can be deceptive, but they're still worth looking at. Maybe we should also focus on something like job creation and work statistics and the number of people who leave the USA to live in another country instead.

Mm, yes. I think emigration would be as useful as language policy.

OK, then. Let's focus on those three as well as what happens in families.


Anna:         Well, shall we look at our route now? Most of the speakers we're looking for are in California, so we could start there. We can spend two weeks travelling around and meeting people to get some background information and then start  collecting data.

Suzanne:   What do you think about beginning in the south-west corner of the state and visiting  the Barona reservation?

Anna:         That's a good idea. We'll be able to get some interviews with native language speakers there. And then we could go to the eastern mountains to visit the local education authority of North County - they've got a native language project for school children.

James:      Why there? Wouldn't it be better to go to the education department in San Diego? It’s bigger.

Anna:         But they focus more on Spanish and English bilingualism and less on native languages.

James:      In that case, the North County Education Authority will be more valuable so let's do that. After that, we could head south-east to the town of Bishop. There's a company there called Co-Tech, which employs only bilingual speakers. I've emailed the managing director, who's happy to give us an interview.

Suzanne:   That's great work, James! It sounds like something we should definitely do.

James:      Right, well I'll email her to confirm.

Anna:         Also, we should go to Sun City. It’s this bilingual town in the south central area  of the region. They have a policy whereby all signs in the town must be in the local language as well as English. We can take photos of these signs - they'll make good visuals for our report.

Suzanne:  But won't that be intrusive for the people who live there?

Anna:         No, they're used to it - the village is used as a model for other communities who'd like to do the same thing.

Suzanne:  In that case, let's add it to the itinerary.