Открытый урок "Death sentence?"
план-конспект урока по английскому языку (11 класс) на тему

МОУ « Средняя общеобразовательная школа с углубленным изучением отдельных предметов №18» г.о. Саранск.

План-конспект открытого урока английского языка в 11 классе

Death sentence?

                                                                   Подготовила и провела Влазнева Е.Н.

Саранск 2009

Death sentence?

Aims: to discuss the problem of the extinction of minority languages.

• to revise words and expressions;
• to revise Past Simple and Present Perfect;
• to develop grammar, reading, listening and speaking skills;
• to develop drama skills in the role-play;
• to practice in giving arguments for and against some ideas and making conclusions;
• to have a glance at the same problem in our culture.

Plan.

1. Introduction:

I’d like to begin our lesson with these quotations: the first one is from the Guardian. Could you read it aloud?

“The world’s languages are disappearing: in a hundred years time 3,000 will be extinct”

The Guardian

“И если завтра мой язык исчезнет,

То я готов сегодня умереть”.

Rasool Gamzatov, a poet from Dagestan

So you see that the extinction of languages is a process that takes place nearly everywhere. And it really becomes a problem that disturbs people. You’ve learnt that some languages within the territory of the Russian Federation are under threat of total extinction.

2. Aims of the lesson. 

Today we are going to discuss this situation and for this purpose we have to revise our words and expressions, then revise Past Simple and Present Perfect, re read the article about the problem of the survival of the native language of the Bongou tribe in South Africa. After that you will role-play the discussion on the topic “Should English be the first language for the people of Bongou?”

For conclusion we are going to offer some ideas which may help to preserve this language and will have a glance at the same problem in our culture.

3. Revision of active vocabulary

 Do this crossword puzzle.

Listen to the definition and guess the word.

• 1. The people living in one place, district or country, considered as a whole (community).
• 2. The process of making less or being made less or smaller in size, number, degree, price, etc. (reduction).
• 3. A small racial or religious group in a community or nation (minority).
• 4. Being or becoming no longer active or dead, becoming died out (extinction).
• 5. The state of being of different kinds; variety (diversity).
• 6. The state of continuing to live or exist (survival)
• 7. Killing of a whole group of people because of their race, nationality or religion (genocide).
• 8. To increase, grow larger (to expand).
• 9. Something put in danger (endangered).

4. Translate the following sentences into English.

1. Когда язык умирает, это сокращает многообразие культур нашей планеты.

(When a language dies, it reduces the cultural diversity of our planet.)

2. Лингвистическое многообразие – ключ к выживанию нашей планеты.

(Linguistic diversity is the key to the survival of our planet.)

3. Мы должны уважать языки меньшинства.

(We should respect minority languages.)

4. Что необходимо языку для выживания?

(What’s necessary for a language to survive?)

5. Гибель языка – это катастрофа.

(Language death is a disaster.)

6. Культурная ассимиляция означает, что культура изменяется или исчезает в результате влияния другой культуры.

(Cultural assimilation means that a culture is changed or disappears as a result of the influence of another culture.)

7. Лингвисты и этнологи озабочены вымиранием языков очень сильно.

(Linguists and ethnologists are concerned about the extinction of languages very much.)

5. Grammar. 

And now decide which of the cases need Present Perfect and which need Past Simple.

Read the description and choose between Past Simple and Present Perfect.

6. Grammar practice. 

Let’s do ex 5C p19 for practice. Open the brackets and fill in the gaps with  Present Perfect or Past Simple.

7. Reading. 

You’ve  read an article about the Bongou people from Africa. This people is an ethnic minority in a former British colony. Reread it aloud just to remind the situation.

Ex.5 A p.18        

8. Summing up the article. 

Answer the questions from the screen.

1. What influences the present state of the language of the Bongou people?

(-   This country is a former British colony.

• The government’s policy.
• The population moves/immigrates from villages to cities.
• English is the official language of the country/
• It’s the medium of instruction in schools and higher education.
• Young generation is for English.)

2. How many native speakers of the Bongou language were there 50 years ago?

(There were 50,000 native speakers of Bongou 50 years ago.)

3. How many native speakers of the Bongou language are there today?

(There are 10,000 native speakers of Bongou now.)

4. Are there Bongou primary schools today?

(Yes there are. But there are only two of them.)

5. What happened to the Bongou language newspaper and the radio station?

(The only Bongou Language newspaper went bankrupt in 1995. And the radio station had been closed earlier.)

9. A minute of relaxation.

And now imagine that you are in a Bongou village. Enjoy some ethnic music.

10. Role-play.

So English forces the Bongou language out. Should English be the first language for the Bongou people? This question is under discussion today in the Bongou village.

It’s evening. You are sitting around the fire. You are the members of the tribe and guests. You have to express your opinion and vote. The chief of the Bongou chairs the discussion.

Chief: I am the Chief of the Bongou people …

…

Chief: And now it’s time to  make up your mind and vote if English should be the first language for the people of Bongou.

(Все по очереди): I am for English.

                        I am against English as the fist language of our people.

Poet: I’d like to sum up the results: the majority of us are for the Bongou language and against English as the fist language for us. So we should not give up. We should struggle for our culture, our identity and our beautiful language. We must preserve it for our descendants.

11. Conclusion

And now let’s try to offer some ideas that may help to preserve this language.

1. Should the Bongou people struggle for the survival of their language?

(Yes, they should /Sure)

2. What should a larger culture do in order to have respect for minority languages?

(A larger culture should respect the culture of a minority. That’s why it should give the minority opportunities to develop its language, literature, music arts, support national schools.)

3. Whose responsibility is it to preserve an endangered language?

(It’s a people’s responsibility to preserve its language. But the state should support endangered languages.)

4. What should be done?

(National schools should be opened and supported. The national language should be the language of instruction in schools. There should be national newspapers, TV, radio stations. The  state should support national culture: theatre, music and dance groups, art, literature .To hold national festivals is a very good idea.)

12. In your culture. 

Our republic is multicultural. Russian, Mordovian and Tatar are spoken here. What is done here to save our linguistic diversity?

• The Head of our republic supports national culture.
• There are national language departments in our university and pedagogical institute.
• Mordovian and Tatar are languages of instruction in some schools.
• Mordovian language is studied in all schools and even in the university.
• A new building for the the national theatre was constructed in Saransk.
• We have  folk groups.
• We have national TV programmes, magazines.
• Our designers create new collections of Mordovian costumes.
• Last summer we enjoyed the festival of Finno-Ugrian cultures in Saransk.

So we can recommend our successful experience for some countries.

13. Home work.

You will have to write an essay on the following topic:

What should be done to save the Bongou language?