Научно-исследовательская работа «Английский язык в современном мире»

Научно-исследовательская работа

по теме:

«Английский язык в современном мире»

Introduction

Knowing English can give you a lot of opportunities and advantages.

But I have noticed that a majority of our students don’t have any wish to learn English.

Why? What reasons can be there? Why do people learn English? What is the best way to learn it? What can be done to improve one’s knowledge of English?

To find the answers to these questions it was necessary to do this research

The aim of my project:

to find out how students in my school relate to learning English.

Tasks:

• to collect the necessary material about importance of the English language for the world community and about its value as an international language

• to observe students’ opinions about studying English

• to conclude and work out some recommendations for an effective way of learning English for students

Problem for research

In all secondary schools English is taught in our country as well as in other countries. But after leaving school children can only read well or translate texts or do some exercises. However, they can’t speak or communicate in English fluently. What is the problem? Perhaps they don’t like English or don’t understand its value for the world communication. What can be done to help people understand the importance of the English language for their personal growth and career?

Importance of the research

This material will let pupils, their parents and teachers get to know the statistics of learning English, understand the pupils’ interests in studying English, make necessary conclusions and work out useful methods of teaching this language.

1. English like an international language of the world

English is the most popular language in the world. It’s a global language of travel, business, pop culture, sport and science.

Over one billion people speak English. That’s almost one fifth of the world’s population. For over 400 million it’s their first language. For the other 600 million it’s either a second language or a foreign language.

Today, in fact, over 250 million people are learning English. That’s more than the population of the USA.

Now English is spoken practically all over the world, it has become the world’s most important language in politics, science and cultural relations. It is spoken as a mother tongue in Great Britain, the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Besides, a lot of people speak English in Japan, India, China, Africa and many other countries. Half of the world’s scientific literature is in English. It is the language of computer technology.

To my mind English is worth studying. There is a proverb: “A new language is a new world”. “Knowledge is a power”, one great man said. Understanding and speaking a foreign language became necessary while applying for a good and well-paid job.

Now I know that it is a must for XXI century professional no matter what job to choose. The world is getting smaller and international connections tighter. A lot of foreign delegations keep coming to our country, hundreds of joint ventures have appeared in every city of our country recently. So without doubt you can’t do without learning this beautiful language.

2. Why is it necessary to learn English?

English is a language of trade, tourism, politics, the Internet and not only. It is the first and the main language of the world communication. More than one milliard people speak English. You can travel easy not having problems with understanding speech in other countries.

Knowing English helps to find a well-paid job. It is your helper to be successful.

Mass media

English is a language of traveling and transport. The biggest five TV companies CBC, NBC, ABC, BBC and CBC include the audience nearly 500 millions people with translation in English. It is also a language of satellite TV.

The century of information

English is also a language of information. Computers are speaking with each other in it. More 80 percents all of information is kept in English. We can’t imagine the Internet without it. It is the language of medicine, electronics.

International business

The English language is used in an international business too. When the Japanese businessman signs documents in Europe, the meeting is spent in English.

Diplomacy

The English language has been replacing the main languages for many centuries. It has replaced the French language in diplomacy. English is one of the official languages of the United Nation Organizations. Among them are: UNESCO, NATO and UNO (United Nations Organization)

Youth culture

English is the language of youth culture. All over the world young people sing the lyrics of Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Justin Bieber and so on. You can enjoy more listening to English songs if you understand what they sing about.

Art

If you speak a foreign language you can read newspapers, magazines and books written by outstanding writers. It also lets you watch English and American films in original.

Many Russian singers and actors become famous because of knowing English. For example, Dima Bilan in Eurovision of 2006 got a second place. Two years later he became a winner.

Oleg Taktarov is a Russian actor, who became outstanding after he had played several parts in American films.

3. Learning English in my school

(A practical part of the project)

A survey was hold among the senior pupils of 9-11 forms in Secondary school № 1 about their attitude towards the learning the English language. There were the following questions in the survey:

1. Do you like learning English?

2. Can English be useful in your future life?

3. What prevents from a qualitative learning English and communicating in it?

4. What methods can be offered for more successful learning English?

During the survey we found out that:

• The first question “Do you like learning English?” had the following results: 31% of pupils gave positive answers, 27% - negative and 42% think that learning English is a waste of time.

• The second question “Can English be useful in your future life?” showed that 36% of pupils consider English really can be useful for them in future, but 27% think they don’t need learning this language at all, and 37% said that they had another interests except English.

Among the reasons which prevent from a qualitative learning English pupils named the following:

• they don’t have enough time to learn it because of the intensive preparation to the Olympiads, contests or another competitions;

• laziness;

• low teacher’s competence;

• lack of communication practice with native speakers;

• English seems to be a very difficult subject.

Pupils think that in order to improve the knowledge of English we should participate in exchange programs between countries and communicate with English-speaking people.

There are a lot of social networks in the Internet nowadays such as www.interpals.net, www.youtube.com, www.twitter.com. The main aim of these web-sites is language exchange, meeting people from different cultures, making friends from all over the world. Since I have registered on these sites I have met many interesting people who help me to learn English and teach how to communicate in it.

4. Summary

From above-stated I made the following conclusions. People learn English in order to:

• Study at universities or colleges

• Communicate with people from different countries

• Carry on business

• Understand English films, TV programs and songs

• Get a well-paid job

• Live in an English-speaking country

• Use English while traveling

5. Conclusion

Knowing of English will let you:

• indicate in your CV that you have a “perfect knowledge of English” and get a well-paid job;

• get knowledge from different areas of technology, use computer programs and read and write technical articles;

• become a world-class businessman as all international negotiations and deals are carried in English. So, if you speak English, you can take part in international conference, communicate with businessmen, read international business magazines and newspapers;

• become a good scientist and contact with scientists from other countries;

• read English books, watch films, listen to foreign songs;

• travel abroad, meet new people, learn their traditions, customs, culture;

• speak and enjoy English because learning English is not only useful but pleasant. Day by day you will get more knowledge and therefore improve and develop yourself. You will never forget the moment when you realized that you could speak with Englishmen or watch English TV-programs. The process of learning will attract you more and more, and you will notice that your English becomes more perfect. Knowledge of English will make you a strong and happy person

Literature

1. М.З.Биболетова. Английский язык: Английский с удовольствием / Enjoy English: учебник англ.яз. для 7 класса общеобраз.учрежд. – Обнинск: Титул, 2008