Page 109 - DENG102_COMMUNICATION_SKILLS_II

Communication Skills-II

notes (b) Boys often argue about
(i) their skill, likes and possessions

(ii) who wins and loses
(iii) playing with dolls
(c) Girls usually play
(i) in big groups
(ii) in twos or not very large groups

(iii) chess because they don’t enjoy playing hopscotch or jump rope
(d) Girls
(i) never boast about their skills
(ii) do not often boast about their skills

(iii) are more skilled than boys
7.1.2 comprehension Passage ii: the importance of english

British or American, the language is basically the same, and its global stature is backed up by
massive English-language training programmes, an international business that in textbooks,
language courses, tape cassettes, video programmes and computerized instruction is worth
hundreds of millions of pounds or dollars to the economies of the US and the UK. The English
language is now one of Britain’s most reliable exports. In the ironic words of the novelist Malcolm
Bradbury, it is an ideal British product, ‘needing no workers and no work, no assembly lines and
no assembly, no spare parts and very little servicing, it is used for the most intimate and the most
public services everywhere. We call it the English language ...’ Dr Robert Burchfield, former
Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, has remarked that ‘any literate, educated person
on the face of the globe is deprived if he does not know English’.
The first level of the global sway of English is to be found in those countries, formerly British
colonies, in which English as a second language has become accepted as a fact of cultural life that
cannot be wished away. In Nigeria, it is an official language; in Zambia, it is recognized as one of
the state languages; in Singapore, it is the major language of government, the legal system and
education.

keywords

Assembly Line: A manufacturing technique in which a product is carried by some form of
mechanized conveyor among stations at which the various operations necessary to its assembly
are performed.
British Colony: Nation/area which was or which is being ruled or governed by the British
government
exercises

1. Answer the following questions
(a) Is the teaching of the English language worth a lot of money?
(b) According to Bradbury, what is the difference between the English language and
traditional industry?

104 lovely Professional university