English and the future

What is the future of English? How will language learning change? Will students learn in the same way in the future? What will be the biggest change?

The world is changing so fast that English, perhaps the most worldly of languages, is struggling to keep up. One thing is for sure: the English learner of the future will be different from those of the past, will be looking for a different kind of English and will expect to learn it in ways which reflect the technology and lifestyles of the 21^st century. Learners in the future are likely to be much younger. Across the world, English is being made a central component of more general educational reform. English is losing its position in the foreign languages curriculum, where it was taught mainly to teenagers and has been reinvented as one of the basic skills which you need to learn when you first go to school. Textbooks and audio visual materials, methods of teaching and expected outcomes are already being transformed.

Young children are often said to be better at language learning than older learners but they also have special challenges. Young children don't usually have the kind of instrumental motivation and determination for learning English that older learners often have (though their parents and relations may). English lessons must therefore be fun and rewarding. Young learners also have less experience at learning and so fewer cognitive strategies for remembering things, or coping with the discouraging setbacks that are typical of any learning curve. Highly visual websites with interactive games which rely less on written text will provide accessible support for such learners who really want to understand the rule.

As General English becomes something done when you're young, teenagers and young adults will be seeking more specific needs and knowledge areas. In fact, one of the consequences of the universalisation of English is the convergence between knowledge, skills and English. So learning about anything in future - whether computers or football - may come with an element of specialize English learning.

The countries where English is most sought after are also changing. As developing economies and growing populations create more demand for English, the global classroom is getting ever fuller. Learners from Brazil, Poland and China are joining classmates from Japan and Korea. But the internet is also supporting many minority learners.

Exercise 2. Give the main points of this part of the text.

Exercise 3. Give synonyms to the following words(from the text):

result; tendency; to search; pupil (student); youth; ability; resolution; setback; depressing.

Exercise 4. Translate from Russian into English, use words and expressions from the text:

диктор, всеобщая тенденция, искать, стиль жизни, курс обучения, результат, проблема, познавательная стратегия.

WORD STUDY:

Exercise 5. Use the following in the sentence of your own:

Look at, look for, look forward to, look after, look as if, look like, look as through, look down on, look into, look someone up, look on, look something up, the look of, have a look at.

Exercise 6. Make sentence of your own, using:

Should like, want, it would be better, would rather, prefer, I don’t mind, wish, I’m quite willing.

Exercise 7. Read and translate the following text:

PART II

WHY LEARN ENGLISH?

The reasons why people learn English are also changing. Globalization is bringing together more people than ever who speak different languages and who are turning to English as the means of communication. The English learner of the future may be less worried about sounding exactly like a native speaker and more concerned about how to use English effectively in cross-cultural communication. We may be hearing more non-native speakers in dialogues and a wider range of the 'New English’s' now used around the world. Technology will allow English to come to you, rather than you having to go to a special place to learn English. Podcasts (подкастинг (сленг) - звуковой или видеофайл,который распространяется бесплатно через интернет для массового прослушивания или просмотра целевой аудитории) and downloadable computer programs hint at the range of things to come as the distinction between televisions, computers, mobile phones and mp3 players gets more blurred. And it is not just the technologies which are converging it also increasingly difficult to tell the difference between providers of educational content, service providers and hardware manufacturers. That may be one reason why support for learning English is coming from an increasing number of sources. Learning English has always involved both pain and pleasure, private slog and social activity. Traditional learning provided take-it or leave-it mixes of these as well as of content but in future learners will expect be able to choose a formula which suits their cultural and psychological dispositions, or their particular needs at that moment. They, rather than their teachers, will decide how, what and when they will learn. Websites will provide the kind of support needed by learners to chart a pathway through the material and monitor progress.