高中英语第一册上Unit 2 English around the world.docVIP

Unit 2 English around the world Ⅰ.Teaching Goals: 1.Learn about the differences between American English and British English. 2.Learn about communication skills. 3.Report requests and demands using“He/She asked…to…”and“He/She told…to…”. Ⅱ.Teaching Time:Five periods Ⅲ.Background Information Ⅰ.English Language The language we call English derives primarily from languages spoken in England for only around 1 500 years.The land now known as England was invaded by several tribes known as the Angles,Jutes and Saxons.The name England is derived from Angles’ land,and the English language comes principally from a combination of the dialects spoken by these three tribes. The people of England diffused their language around the world through the establishment of colonies.The first English colonies were founded in North America,beginning with Jamestown,in 1620.The English also established colonies in Africa,Asia and many of the islands in the Atlantic,Indian and Pacific oceans. As recently as the 1950s,one-fourth of the world’s people lived in a country where English was the official language,that is,the language adopted for use by the government,even in colonies where only a small percen-tage of people actually spoke English.After independence,leaders of most former British colonies selected an indigenous language as the official one but continued to use English for international communication. Now the English language is used by about 600 000 000 people in almost every part of the world.Chinese is the only language used by more people.About 350 000 000 people speak English as their native tongue.Most of them live in Australia,Canada,Great Britain,Ireland,About 60 000 000 people,chiefly in India and Pakistan,speak English almost as well as their own language.Probably 150 000 000 other people can use English to some extent.Today,about one of every six uses English. Characteristics of English like all languages.English has some characteristics that may make it easy to learn.It h