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Agree or disagree with these statements. Explain why.


  1. Teaching is a very boring job.

  2. The attitudes to the subject and to learning in general depend on the teacher.

  3. A good atmosphere at the lesson is provided by the teacher's respect for the pupils.

  4. The only responsibility of a teacher is to give good knowledge.

  5. It is always difficult to choose the right attitude to pupils.


Text 1. History of foreign language education


Although the need to learn foreign languages is almost as old as human history itself, the origins of modern language education has its roots in the study and teaching of Latin. 500 years ago Latin was the dominant language of education, commerce, religion and government in much of the Western world. However, by the end of the 16th century, French, Italian and English displaced Latin as the languages of spoken and written communication. The study of Latin diminished from the study of a living language to be used in the real world to a subject in the school curriculum. Such decline brought about a new justification for its study. It was then claimed that its study developed intellectual abilities and the study of Latin grammar became an end in an of itself. "Grammar schools" from the 16th to 18th centuries focused on teaching the grammatical aspects of Classical Latin. Advanced students continued grammar study with the addition of rhetoric.

The study of modern languages did not become part of the curriculum of European schools until the 18th century. Based on the purely academic study of Latin, students of modern languages did much of the same exercises, studying grammatical rules and translating abstract sentences. Oral work was a minimum with focus on memorization of grammatical rules and possibly the ability to read in the target language.

Innovation in foreign language teaching began in the 19th century and, very rapidly, in the 20th century, leading to a number of different methodologies, sometimes conflicting, each trying to be a major improvement over the last or other contemporary methods. Unfortunately, those looking at the history of foreign language education in the 20th century and the methods of teaching (such as those related below) might be tempted to think that it is a history of failure. In addition, very few American researchers can read and assess information written in languages other than English and even a number famous linguists are monolingual.

However, anecdotal evidence for successful second or foreign language learning is easy to find, leading to a discrepancy between these cases and the failure of most language programs to help make second language acquisition research emotionally-charged. Older methods and approaches such as the grammar translation method or the direct method are disposed of and even ridiculed as newer methods and approaches are invented and promoted as the only and complete solution to the problem of the high failure rates of foreign language students. Most books on language teaching list the various methods that have been used in the past, often ending with the author's new method. These new methods seem to be created full-blown from the authors' minds, as they generally give no credence to what was done before and how it relates to the new method. For example, descriptive linguists seem to claim unhesitantly that before their work, which lead to the audio-lingual method developed for the U.S. Army in World War II, there were no scientifically-based language teaching methods. However, there is significant evidence to the contrary. It is also often inferred or even stated that older methods were completely ineffective or have died out completely when even the oldest methods are still used (e.g. the Berlitz version of the direct method). Much of the reason for this is that proponents of new methods have been so sure that their ideas are so new and so correct that they could not conceive that the older ones have enough validity to cause controversy and emphasis on new scientific advances has tended to blind researchers to precedents in older work.

The development of foreign language teaching does not have a linear development. There have been two major branches in the field, empirical and theoretical, which have almost completely-separate histories, with each gaining ground over the other at one point in time or another. Examples of researchers on the empiricist side are Jesperson, Palmer, Leonard Bloomfield who promote mimicry and memorization with pattern drills. These methods follow from the basic empiricist position that language acquisition is basically habits formed by conditioning and drill. In its most extreme form, language learning is basically the same as any other learning in any other species, human language being essentially the same as communication behaviors seen in other species. On the other, are Francois Gouin, M.D. Berlitz, Elime de Sauzé, whose rationalist theories of language acquisition dovetail with linguistic work done by Noam Chomsky and others. These have led to a wider variety of teaching methods from grammar-translation, to Gouin's "series method" or the direct methods of Berlitz and de Sauzé. With these methods, students generate original and meaningful sentences to gain a functional knowledge of the rules of grammar. This follows from the rationalist position that man is born to think and language use is a uniquely human trait impossible in other species. Given that human languages share many common traits, the idea is that human share a universal grammar which is built into our brain structure. This allows us to create sentences that have never been heard before, but can still be immediately understood by anyone who understands the specific language being spoken. The rivalry of the two camps is intense, with little communication or cooperation between them.



Render the texts. 1. Где учиться


Негосударственная образовательная сеть начала развиваться в Москве с 1991г.

Появление частных школ – ответ на возникший спрос: время единой общеобразовательной системы, похоже, ушло безвозвратно. Получив возможность учить чадо в более приемлемых условиях, многие родители облегченно вздохнули – отныне их проблемные дети могли рассчитывать на иное отношение к себе. Часть мест в частных школах бесплатно отдается умным, но не способным вынести соседство тридцати пяти-сорока одноклассников.

В частном секторе условия, бесспорно, галантерейные: классы маленькие, 12 человек– редкость, чаще всего по 5– 7 учеников; хорошая трех-четырехразовая кормежка, развивающие занятия, нормальный отдых. Минимум мороки родителям: утром ребенка заберет школьный автобус, вечером привезет обратно. Более того, здесь целый штат логопедов, психологов, дефектологов, что дает повод для сравнения с реабилитационным центром.

Кто преподает в элитных учебных заведениях? Да те же школьные учителя, только высокого профессионального уровня. Там платят несколько другие деньги. Такое образование недешево стоит. Разброс цен значительный, но все же сумма в тысячу долларов в месяц (это, правда, максимум) впечатляет. Лишь в одной школе округа – православной – платить не надо. Бывает, что дети особо ценных преподавателей учатся бесплатно.

Признавая, что частные учебные заведения являются одним из проявлений социального неравенства, негосударственная сеть считается хорошим дополнением к государственной. Не согласиться с этим трудно: в совсем недавние времена решить проблемы нестандартных детей нельзя было ни за какие деньги.

2. А двойку вам поставит старшекурсник


В конце 1996 г. руководители всех образовательных учреждений Москвы собрались, чтобы подвести итоги своей работы и наметить стратегию на будущее.

Сначала хорошие новости. Главная из них – подрастающее поколение будет кому учить. Педагоги перестали столь явно разбегаться из школ, и количество поступивших на службу учителей превысило количество уволившихся. А сохраняющийся дефицит историков, трудовиков, «англичан» и физруков решено восполнять, принимая на работу студентов старших курсов, «совместителей», пенсионеров и привлекая специалистов из других областей. Да и выпускники педвузов и педколледжей, судя по всему, перестают отлынивать от профессиональных обязанностей.

Во всех школах работают спортивные секции. Практически исчезли жалобы на качество школьных завтраков и обедов. А то, что они теперь «индивидуально упакованы», позволяет соблюдать все современные санитарно-гигиенические нормы питания.

В ответ на хорошее к себе отношение дети радуют взрослых развитым интеллектом.

Не забывают власти и о дошколятах: за последний год было дополнительно открыто 9 групп для ребят с затрудненной речью, 14– для тех, у кого нарушены функции опорно-двигательного аппарата, 12 – для ослабленных и часто болеющих малышей. Детям с проблемами в развитии и поведении помогают в психолого-медико-социальном центре «Малыш».


Если говорить о проблемах, то нетрудно догадаться, что их истоки – в недостатке денег. Впрочем, несмотря на все финансовые трудности, в планах руководителей образовательных учреждений – осуществление программ и проектов, цель которых– оказание помощи детям и подросткам, попавшим в трудные жизненные ситуации. Кроме того, планируется предпринять дополнительные меры по укреплению материальной базы образовательных учреждений и по социальной защите самих педагогов.



Text 2. Education

The first major milestone in the history of education occurred in prehistoric times when man invented language. Language enabled man to communicate more precisely than he could by signs and gestures. But early man had only a spoken language. He had no system of writing or numbering and no schools.

Young people in prehistoric societies were educated through apprenticeship, imitation and rituals. Through apprenticeship a young man learned, for example, how to build a shelter by working with an older, experienced master builder. Through imitation, young people acquired the language and customs of their parents and other adults in their society. Through the performance of rituals, they learned about the meaning of life and the ties that bound them to their group. The rituals consisted of dancing or other activities. They were performed at times of emotional stress, such as death, warfare, or drought. The rituals usually involved myths, which dealt with such things as the group's history and its gods and heroes.

Today, in all societies, young people still learn through apprenticeship, imitation and ritual. But as a society grows increasingly complicated, teachers and schools take on more and more responsibility for educating the young.

2.1. The Beginning of Formal Education

About 3000 ВС, the Sumerians, who lived in Tigris-Euphrates Valley, and the Egyptians each invented a system of writing. Both systems included a method of writing numbers as well as language. The invention of writing was the second major milestone in the history of education. It made possible the beginning of schools as we know them today.

Before man developed writing, teachers had to repeat orally what was to be learned until the young had memorized it. A child could thus learn only what his teacher already knew, and had memorized. But by teaching the child to read, a teacher could make available the knowledge of many men, not only his own, yet reading and writing could not be learned while the child served as an apprentice, imitated the behaviour of his elders, or took part in rituals. In addition, the first writing systems, which were a kind of picture writing, were awkward* and hard to learn. As a result, special schools arose in which teachers taught reading, writing, and calculation.


2.2. Sumerian and Egyptian Education

Shortly after 3000 ВС, both0 the Sumerians and the Egyptians established schools to teach boys the newly invented arts of reading and writing. The schools were taught by temple priests. Only exceptionally talented boys could attend the schools. Girls were not allowed to attend school, but some girls learned reading and writing in their homes.

A boy's training, which lasted from about the age of 5 to 17, was strict and monotonous. He learned to write by copying the same literary selections again and again. He learned arithmetic by copying business accounts. Boys who completed their education formed a separate social class called "scribes." Scribes were hired for any task that required a knowledge of reading, writing, or arithmetic.


2.3. Other Middle Eastern Education

Civilization spread from Sumer and Egypt to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Certain tribes in this region each spoke one of the closely related Semitic languages. Between about 1500 ВС and 1000 ВС, these tribes developed the world's first alphabet and so gave education another valuable tool. Alphabetic systems make writing easier than picture systems because they require far fewer symbols.

Certain HebrewSemitic tribes developed a remarkably democratic educational system. Other educational systems had been designed mainly for the sons of upper-class families. But the Hebrews required boys of every social class to attend school. The Hebrew schools were religious -schools conducted by priests called scribes. They taught boys to read the sacred writings of the Hebrew people, which were collected in a volume called the Tarah. Hebrew girls did not attend school but were taught at home by their mothers.


2.4. Ancient Greek Education

Greek civilization flourished from about 700 ВС to about 330 ВС. During this period, the Greeks made the greatest educational advance of ancient times. In fact, Western education today is based on the ancient Greek model.


Ancient Greece was divided into independent city-states. The educational system of each city-state aimed to produce good citizens. Athens and Sparta, two of the most powerful city-states, had different ideals of citizenship. In Sparta, a citizen was judged largely by his political and military service. The government controlled education. Boys received physical and military training, but few learned to read and write. In Athens, unlike Sparta, a citizen was judged more by the quality of his mind. But Athenian citizens were also expected to develop their bodies and to serve the state.

Athens made the greatest educational advances of any Greek city-state. But Athenian education was far from democratic. Education was limited to the sons of Athenian citizens. Only about a fifth of the Athenians were citizens. Most of the rest were slaves, who were not considered worthy of an education.

Athenian boys started their education at about age 6. But they did not go to schools as we think of schools today. A trusted family slave simply took them from teacher to teacher, each of whom specialized in a certain subject or certain related subjects. Boys studied reading, writing, arithmetic, music, dancing and gymnastics. As the boys advanced, they memorized the words of Homer and other Greek poets. Boys continued their elementary education until they were about 15 years old. From about ages 16 to 20, they attended a government sponsored gymnasium. Gymnasiums trained young men to become citizen-soldiers. They emphasized such sports as running and wrestling and taught civic duty and the art of war. Students held discussions to improve their reasoning and speaking ability.

Some Athenian gymnasiums became centres of advanced learning. By the 400s ВС, advanced learning in Athens consisted of philosophy and rhetoric. Philosophy included the study of logic, mathematics, morals, and science. Rhetoric included the study of government, history, and public speaking.

During the 400s and 300s ВС, Athens produced such great philosophers and teachers as Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates. About 387 ВС Plato founded a school of philosophy that became known as the Academy.

Some scholars believe the Academy was the Western world's first institution of higher learning. Aristotle founded a similar school called the Lyceum* about 330 ВС.

Most young Athenian women received no formal education. The Greeks believed girls could learn all they needed to know from their mothers – that is, how to prepare food, make clothing, and care for infants. However, some women belonged to religious organizations through which they developed skills in music, poetry, and dancing.


2.5. Ancient Roman Education

By 100 ВС, the Romans had built the most extensive educational system of that time. Their system was patterned after that of ancient Athens. But unlike the Athenians, the Romans provided schooling for girls as well as boys. The children of wealthy citizens were taught by a ludus (elementary-school teacher) from about the age of 7 to 10. They learned to read and write both Greek and their native language, Latin. Girls received only an elementary education. Boys from about 10 to 15 years old attended a secondary school run by a grammaticus (teacher of grammar). In secondary school, they continued their study of Greek and Latin grammar and literature. The Romans also established institutions of higher learning. These institutions were schools of rhetoric, which prepared young men for careers in law and government.


Assignments:

1. Give the English for:

происходить, изобретать, ученичество, приобретать, узы, связывать, иметь отношение к, сложный, включать, устно, запоминать, доступный, поведение, возникать, священник, переписывать, задача, племя, родственный, ценный, требовать, процветать, успехи, древний, основываться на, ограничивать, раб, делать упор на, рассуждения, предоставлять.

2. Form nouns from the following verbs:

invent, communicate, educate, perform, imitate, know, behave, calculate, discuss, develop, govern.

3. Form adjectives from the following nouns:

history, religion, emotion, east, west, value, education, alphabet, power, policy, democracy.

4. Join A and В in pairs of synonyms;

A. adults, to establish, talented, to arise,, hard, task, to complete, advances, ancient, to prepare.

B. difficult, gifted, elders, to appear, success, to found, to finish, aim, old, to train.

5. Ask 10–15 questions about the text. Be ready to answer them.

6. Speak on the major milestones in the history of education. Give the advantages and disadvantages of each of the discussed educational systems.

7. Say what elements of ancient educational system you'd like to introduce in our system of education and why.


Text 3. "Who Controls Our Schools?


Our educational system, rooted in our history and our structure of values, has often been a source of justifiable pride. Whatever its limitations, the public educational system of the United States (including higher education) is the most egalitarian* system in the world.

Thomas Jefferson had counted on education to develop only that "natural aristocracy" of the few whose talents justly deserved to be developed for the benefit of society. But Horace Mann and the common school advocates wanted universal education, to them education was to be the "balance wheel"** of society. Mann proclaimed in 1848: "If one class possess all the wealth and education, while the others are ignorant and poor; it matters not by what name the relation between them may be called; the latter will be the dependants and subjects of the former, but if education be equally diffused, it will draw property after it, by the strongest of all attractions, for such a thing never did happen, as that an intelligent and practical body of men should be permanently poor. Education is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance wheel of the social machinery."

The public schools were thought to by their supporters as a secure system for moderating social inequalities. The egalitarism of the American system distinguishes it from the school systems of the European countries. About 75% of our students graduate from high school, and some 44% go on to higher education. In most other Western nations, students are diverted into vocational and technical programs at age 14 or 15 and only 15 to 30% graduate from a secondary school. Considering the large percentage of teenagers the US schools enrol, the level of attainment of these students is surprisingly high. Our schools system has grown steadily more egalitarian. As recently as 1940 fewer than 50% of the pupils in this country completed high school. By 1984, the access to higher education among those least represented in the past – the minority groups – has increased. While college enrollment of white students grew slightly, the proportion of blacks in college more than doubled in the same period. In 1981 the percentage of black high school graduates who went on to college exceeded that of whites for the first time. The fact, that many of those students come from lower socioeconomic groups makes this achievement all the more remarkable. Recent sociological studies from Russia indicate that an unexpectedly high share of the places in most of its elite postsecondary institutions go to children of white-collar workers.

Lately, the headlines have warned us that our schools are not competitive with those of our economic rivals West Germany and Japan, and that current graduates of our secondary schools cannot match the records set by their predecessors. Now, when the performance of our schools is source of widespread dissatisfaction, we need to consider carefully how we measure that performance.


Assignments:

1. Find in the text the English for:

укоренившийся, могущий быть оправданным, ограничения, рассчитывать на, на благо общества, всеобщее образование, сторонники, провозгласить, невежественный, смягчать общественные неравенства, отличать что-л. от чего-л., представленные в меньшей степени, уровень знаний, превышать, указывать, служащие, быть неконкурентоспособным, подходить (соответствовать), предшественник, измерить что-л.

2. Arrange A and В in pairs of synonyms:

A. limitations, advocate, high school, vocational, share, intelligent, talent, to moderate, common school, permanently, attainment. B. to mitigate, clever, professional, drawbacks, supporter, proportion, secondary school, gift, constantly, ordinary school, achievement.

3. Answer the following questions:

1) How can you characterize the system of education in the United States in general?

2) What was T. Jefferson's point of view on the aims of education?

3) What did Horace Mann proclaim in 1848?

4) How were the public schools thought of by their supporters?

5) What distinguishes the American system from the systems of the European countries?

6) Is the level of attainment of US schools high?

7) What changes took place in 1984 in the field of higher education?

8) Who composed the majority of college students in 1981? Isn't the fact remarkable?

9) What do recent sociological studies in Russia indicate?

10) What is the source of widespread dissatisfaction of the press and public?

4. Compare the concepts of education of Thomas Jefferson and Mann.

5. From Mann's quotation choose one sentence to cover the main idea of it and translate it.

6. What can you say about the state of affairs in American educational system today as it is described in the text?