Riassunti files esame completo Lingua inglese

Lezione 1

English Inc.

Those who don't speak at least a little risk losing business to the increasing number who do. One fourth of the planet currently speaks English. That's one and a half billion people, two-thirds of whom speak it as a foreign language.

In a recent survey by Eurobarometer, 69% of Europeans said they thought everybody should speak English. More than half of them already do. For most, it's not a question of choice but of necessity, as English has rapidly become the first language of business, science, and popular culture.

However, not everyone welcomes this linguistic monopoly. The French Ministry of Finance, for instance, recently surprised the international business community by banning English terms like e-mail and Internet. The French have a point. Twenty languages die every year because nobody speaks them anymore. At that rate, by the end of the 21^st century almost one-third of the world's 6,500 languages will be dead.

But what about people who learn foreign languages just for fun? A 37-year-old American, Gregg Cox, has taken this simple pleasure to extremes. He holds the world record for speaking the most foreign languages, 64 at the last count!

Words the world cannot live without

We are losing our languages. Today about 6,000 are spoken. By the end of the century half those will be gone. That is one every two weeks.

Patrick Nudjulu, the lonely speaker of Mati Ke, an Aboriginal language that may never have had more than 1,000 speakers, is now almost extinct. Nudjulu's sister speaks it too, but not to him; tribal taboos forbid them to communicate after puberty.

Wealthy South Koreans take their toddlers to plastic surgeons for frenectomies, tongue-lengthening operations intended to help them pronounce English. Abley also relishes Hixkaryana, a Brazilian language that puts the object first and the subject last.

Aborigines planning land-claim have a stronger case if they can prove their connection to the land, often by linguistic associations, knowing the name of a waterhole can be crucial.

Native American languages have been lost because children were punished for speaking them at school. In Britain, Margaret Thatcher wooed the Welsh by promising a TV channel dedicated to their language. Once in power, she reneged, but caved in after the president of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, threatened a hunger strike.

You have to be a fanatic to keep a language alive. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the uncompromising inventor of modern Hebrew, refused to speak to his wife in any other language, despite the fact that she could not understand it.

One reason the Zionists chose Hebrew (and not Yiddish) was that it was common to all Jews, not exclusive of Jews who spoke their own diaspora languages such as Ladino, Judeo-Persian, and Judeo-Arabic.

Abley believes that linguistic diversity should be taken as seriously as biodiversity.

English as a global language (blurb)

David Crystal, world authority on the English language, presents a lively and factual account of the rise of English as a global language and explores the whys and wherefores of the history, current status, and future potential of English as the international language of communication. English has been lauded as the most 'successful' language ever, with 1,500 million speakers worldwide; but Crystal avoids taking sides and tells the story in a measured but engaging way.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (blurb)

Characterized by new technologies fusing the physical, digital, and biological worlds, the 4^th Industrial Revolution will impact all disciplines. Already nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel are in development (as in the transplant of a 3D printer).

In this book Klaus Schwab outlines the key technologies driving this revolution, discusses the major impacts on governments, businesses, and society, and offers ideas for what can be done to shape a better future for all.

Introduction

Of the many diverse and fascinating challenges we face today, the most intense and important is how to understand and shape the new technology revolution, which entails nothing less than a transformation of humankind. We are at the beginning of a revolution that is changing the way we live, work, and relate to one another. This is unlike anything humankind has experienced before. Consider the unlimited possibilities of having billions of people connected by mobile devices, giving rise to unprecedented processing power, storage capabilities, and knowledge access.

We are witnessing profound shifts across all industries, marked by the emergence of new business models. On the societal front, a paradigm shift is underway in how we work and communicate, as well as how we express, inform, and entertain ourselves. Government, institutions, education, healthcare, and transportation are being reshaped.

New ways of using technology to change behavior and systems of production and consumption also offer the potential for supporting the regeneration and preservation of natural environments rather than creating hidden costs. The changes are historic in terms of their size, speed, and scope. We do not yet know how the transformations driven by this industrial revolution will unfold.

Some academics and professionals consider the developments as a simple part of the 3^rd Industrial Revolution. Three reasons underpin the conviction that a new 4^th Industrial Revolution is underway:

• Velocity: Exponential rather than linear pace; this is the result of the multifaceted, deeply interconnected world we live in and the fact that new technology begets newer and even more capable technology.
• Breadth and Depth: Combines multiple technologies that are leading to an unprecedented paradigm shift in the economy, business, society, and individually. It is changing the 'who' we are.
• System Impact: It involves the transformation of entire systems across countries, companies, industries, and society.

The intention of the author is to provide a primer on the 4^th Industrial Revolution (what it is, what it will bring, how it will impact us, what can be done). The author has three main goals:

• To increase awareness of the comprehensiveness and speed of the technological revolution and its impact.
• To create a framework for thinking about the technological revolution that outlines the core issues and highlights possible responses.
• To provide a platform from which to inspire public-private cooperation and partnerships on issues related to the technological revolution.

Above all, this book aims to emphasize the ways in which technology and society coexist. Shaping the 4^th Industrial Revolution to ensure that it is empowering and human-centered, rather than divisive and dehumanizing.

Lezione 2

Reading strategies

We base our reading on:

• Our world knowledge
• Our knowledge of the texts
• Our knowledge of the linguistic system

Reading strategies:

• Skimming (quick reading)
• Scanning (looking for information)
• Intensive reading

Lezione 3

Reading and analysing book's blurbs

A blurb should tell you what the book is about and give you good reasons to read/buy it. It should do so in a relatively short time and using a relatively small space.

Providing information:

• Who?
• What?
• Why?
• How?
• When and where?
• For whom?

Persuading potential readers:

• Highlighting some aspects, omitting/downplaying others.
• Creating a connection with the audience.

When you communicate through language, you make choices according to your goals.

Lezione 4

In Italy we live in silence, die in silence and wait – by Monica Maggioni

Before the virus came, I was living in my usual, hectic way, going back and forth from Milan to Rome for work. As such, I turned a blind eye to the worrying news coming from China. Even the onset of contagion in the Codogno area near Milan was, to me, just another news story.

Do I stay in Rome, where I live and work, or go back to the little village outside of Milan where my aging parents live? Ultimately, I chose to stay close to my parents in case they needed help.

The streets are totally empty; it is forbidden even to take a walk unless you carry a document that explains to authorities why you have left your house. The lockdown that began here in Lombardy now extends to the entire country.

These days, in Italy, you die in silence and you’ll be buried in silence. And the quiet is everywhere. For this is a silent war: no bombs, no shooting, no screams. No cars, no motorbikes, no children playing in the street. Most of your normal daily activities are simply forbidden.

Skype call: It’s a new ritual, a way to keep the family close. On social networks, threads about the virus are multiplying.

The lack of intensive-care beds forces them to make impossible decisions: who can be helped and who is too old, or too weak, to even try to save. This can really destroy your resistance as a human being.

We have learned that this is not just another flu; it’s a terrible new virus that is challenging a whole nation, Europe itself, and perhaps the entire planet.

Why do we learn English?

What does “global language” mean? It plays a special role which is recognized in every country, whether it is spoken as a mother tongue or not.

Global English: more complex than it seems...

• English is not t