English Speaking Countries

There are quite a few English speaking countries in the world and according to the British Council, English has official or special status in at least 75 countries with a total population of over two billion. English is spoken as a first language by around 375 million and as a second language by around 375 million speakers in the world but those figures are a little misleading as researchers believe that speakers of English as a second language probably outnumber those who speak it as a first language. There are about 750 million people in the world that speak English as a foreign language. English is often used as a lingua franca, a language used to make communication possible between people with different mother tongues.

English is often the main language in international business, science, technology, diplomacy, sport, pop music et cetera. Three quarters of the world’s mail is written in English. British colonialism in the 19th century and American capitalism and technological progress in the 20th century are important aspects for the spread of English throughout the world.

This project is about English speaking countries in the world. You are going to read about different English speaking countries in order to learn about different ways of living, other cultures and societies.

Syfte

Centralt innehåll

Undervisning

We are going to watch short video clips from the English speaking countries that we are going to work with and you are supposed to take notes about the country you and your friend are going to study. You are going to work in pairs and will be assigned one of the following countries: Barbados, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, India, Kenya, New Zealand, South Africa, Jamaica or USA.

Your work is going to result in an oral presentation (further explained in the method part). You will have 5-10 minutes to present your work. You can make a PowerPoint presentation if you like. 

Bedömning

I will be looking at how well you express yourself orally and in writing, if you understand spoken and written texts in English and if you use different strategies in order to improve your speaking and writing skills. Finally, you have to show me that you can discuss similarities and differences between Sweden and the country you have been assigned by using your own experiences and former knowledge.

Arbetsgång

1. Translate the words in the wordlist and write them in your notebook.
2. Give a brief description of the country:

• History: past and present
• Geography: major cities, rivers, mountains and other famous landmarks.
• Things that the country is known for
• Languages spoken in the country
• Things that you find important
• Try to find similarities & differences between the country you have been assigned and Sweden (Government, education, traditions, culture and your choice). Discuss your findings.

3. Prepare your oral presentation and sum up the information you found in a text.

Länkar du skall använda.

http://www.timeforkids.com/around-the-world

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/countries.html

http://www.factmonster.com/countries.html

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations-a-z/

 

 

 

 

Wordlist

Wordlist

government	society
area	square mile
the third largest	forest
mountain	cultivated land
lake	river
distance	capital
population	currency
language	minority language
form of government	monarchy
democracy	parliament
religion	secularized = sekulariserad (inte bunden till
religionen, neutral i trosfrågor, skild från	religionen)
co-exist	export goods
machinery	electronics
telecommunication	pharmaceuticals = läkemedel
petroleum products = oljeprodukter som t ex motorbensin, eldningsoljor, diesel.	anthem
iron	steel
imported goods	textiles
footwear	chemicals

 

 

Läroplanskopplingar

Syfte

• förstå och tolka innehållet i talad engelska och i olika slags texter,
• formulera sig och kommunicera i tal och skrift,
• använda språkliga strategier för att förstå och göra sig förstådda,
• anpassa språket efter olika syften, mottagare och sammanhang, och
• reflektera över livsvillkor, samhällsfrågor och kulturella företeelser i olika sammanhang och delar av världen där engelska används.

Centralt innehåll

• Levnadsvillkor, traditioner, sociala relationer och kulturella företeelser i olika sammanhang och områden där engelska används.
• Talad engelska och texter från olika medier.
• Talad engelska med viss regional och social färgning.
• Muntliga och skriftliga instruktioner och beskrivningar.
• Språkliga strategier för att bidra till och aktivt medverka i samtal genom att ta initiativ till interaktion, ge bekräftelse, ställa följdfrågor, ta initiativ till nya frågeställningar och ämnesområden samt för att avsluta samtalet.