What Is Language and Its Importance. by Maccoy

WHAT IS GOOD ENGLISH?

Appropriate English. What is good English – is a question to which a number of answers can be given. Some of them are: good English is correct English; it is economical, clear, interesting... In a word, it is effective English.
To be effective, and thus to achieve the writer's or speaker's purpose, the language he uses must be appropriate to the material he wants to communicate, to the time and place, to the audience aimed at, and to the impression of himself he wants to give. Thus, good English is correct English appropriate to a certain level of communication.
Levels of Usage. Different degrees of education and different social situations produce different levels of English usage – that is differences in constructions, pronunciation and vocabulary. One might even say that there is no difference in factual meaning between "He took his sister to the pictures" and "He taken his sister to the pictures", but we recognize the first sentence as standard English, and the second as non-standard, incorrect English.
Non-standard English. Non-standard English is the English used by the people with little or no education, it is nearly always spoken, seldom written, except in fiction which reproduces this type of speech. It is characterized by the misuse of words, the use of non-standard words, and the corruption of what is now considered a correct or conventional grammatical form.
Another characteristic of non-standard English is its limited vocabulary. Slang is an important part of non-standard English and, indeed, of language in general. Most slang is, however, by its very nature, faddish and short-lived.
Standard English: Formal, Informal, Colloquial. Within the area of standard English three levels are generally recognized now: they are called formal English, informal English and colloquial English.
Formal English is the English, more often written than spoken, used by highly educated people in formal situations. One finds examples of formal English in scholarly articles and theses, in formal letters and public addresses, in some technical and scientific textbooks, essays, novels, and poetry. Contractions and colloquial expressions pre avoided in formal style, grammar and usage are generally conservative. A wide and exact vocabulary, frequently specialised or technical, is an important characteristic of formal English.
Informal English is the English most commonly written or spoken by educated people. Lectures for unspecialised audiences, informal essays, business letters and most current novels, short stories and plays are written in informal English. In vocabulary and sentence style informal English is less formal and elaborate than formal English; its sentences are likely to be shorter and simpler.
Colloquial English is defined in Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary as "used in or characteristic of familiar and informal conversation". Colloquial English is conversational English, more often spoken than written, which has all the short sentences and the casual constructions and vocabulary of the everyday relaxed speech of educated people – abundant use of contractions, incomplete sentences, the use of colloquial expressions. Colloquial English is personal and familiar in tone.
In learning a foreign language the problem of using the appropriate level is painfully acute. Learners of English need to study all variations of the language in order to become aware of the pitfalls, so naturally avoidable in one's native tongue.

Fill in the missing prepositions. Translate the sentences into Russian:

1. Colloquial English is personal and familiar in tone. 2. Most slang, … its very nature, is faddish and short-lived. 3. Slang is an important part of language … general. 4. The language the writer uses must be appropriate … the audience aimed …. 5. Different levels of usage are characterized by differences in constructions, pronunciation and vocabulary. 6. Three levels of usage are generally recognized … the area of standard English. 7. A wide vocabulary is an important characteristic … formal English. 8. … a word, good English is effective English. 9. Non-standard English is nearly always spoken, except … fiction which reproduces this type of speech.
“Can Foreign Learners Ever Achieve Native Speaker Competence in English?” I. Pre-listening 1. communicative competence 2. telltale 3. command of English
True or false: 1. British people are never amazed at foreigner’s command of English. 2. Non-native speakers often succeed in concealing their foreignness entirely. 3. 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: 1. They admire the foreigners’ rich and varied range of expression in English, the ________of their grammar and the _________of their sounds. 2. Or is it considered a waste of time and energy to perfect one’s English ________ __ ______ of communicative competence? 3. They may well consider that little is to be gained from attempting to iron out the _____ ____ ______ in their speech habits. 4. Language specialists on the whole tend to desire to ______ English as well as is humanly possible.
Answer the questions: 1. In what ways do foreigners often impress British people when they speak English? 2. What reasons are given for the fact that comparatively few foreigners manage to sound like native speakers? 3. In your opinion, what kind of learners ought to strive towards native speaker competence? Give your reasons.

II. Over-use of ‘idiomatic expressions’
Pre-listening:
1. Authentic 2. Stalling expressions
True or false: 1. 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. 2. 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: 1. Phrases like these, like slang expressions, quickly _____ ___ ___ fashion and are best avoided. 2. A similar tendency among foreigners is the __________ of stalling expressions which are supposed to be typical ___ English. 3. It is the mark of the foreigner to try too hard to say what he thinks is __________.
Answer the questions: 1. Why do you think students are so fond of learning ‘English idioms’? 2. Why must great care be taken when handling such expressions? 3. To what extent are such expressions used by native speakers? 4. 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?

III. English in non-English contexts
Pre-listening:
1. Counterpart
True or False: 1. The ability to talk in English about one’s own situation is often acquired by foreign learners. 2. It’s not always possible to find exact equivalents in English.
Insert the missing word: 1. They can use English ____________ in a simulated English context, but ______ when asked to talk about themselves. 2. In order to avoid misunderstanding of this kind, make sure that you use ___________ English to describe your course, your institution,…
Answer the questions: 1. Why do you think students find it easier to talk about the English-speaking world rather than their own surroundings when using English? 2. What aspects of our life should we be able to discuss fluently in English? 3. What difficulties are there in finding appropriate English for a non-English context?

IV. Rhythm, rhythm, rhythm
Pre-listening
1. Accentuation
True or False: 1. The foreigners’ English sounds impress the native speaker because they are very obscure. 2. 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: 1. In English, as in any other languages, there is great _________ in the information conveyed by speech. 2. Clearly, any _______ error in pronunciation will interfere with the communication process. 3. 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 _______. 4. The energy poured into pronunciation will only _____________ if it is coupled with training in rhythm.
Answer the questions: 1. Why are native speakers impressed by advanced students’ sounds? 2. How important is correct accentuation? 3. What are the consequences of badly stressed English? 4. Do you spend time on phonetics work?

V. Underuse of simple English
Pre-listening:
1. 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: 1. Advanced learners should ____________to use the latter sort of verb actively. 2. 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: 1. Why do you think foreign learners under-use simple and phrasal verbs? 2. Why do you think foreign learners tend to use constructions which are too complicated?

VI.
Pre-listening
1. Assiduously 2. Console 3. Keep up with the Joneses
Insert the missing word: 1. 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. 2. …at the one extreme those people of position and status whose education and occupation make them confident of speaking ________English. 3. In between, according to this view, we have a far less fortunate group, the ______. 4. These actively try to suppress what they believe to be bad English and _______ cultivate what they hope to be good English.
Answer the questions: 1. What kind of people do you think are quite indifferent to whether they speak well or not? 2. Why do you think it is so difficult to be totally confident about the English one uses? 3. Do foreign learners of Russian ever master the Russian language to such an extent that you can’t tell they’re foreign? 4. What aspects of Russian present the greatest obstacles to foreign learners aiming at fluency in Russian?