资源描述：
《英语专八听力原文及答案.doc》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在行业资料-天天文库。
1、ThepopularityofEnglishGoodmorning,everyone.Today'slectureisaboutthepopularityofEnglish.Asweallknow,Englishiswidelyusedintheworld.AlthpughEnglishisnotthelanguagewiththelargestnumberofnativeorfirstlanguagespeakers,ithasreallybecomealinguafranca.Thenwhatisalinguafranca?Thetermreferstoalanguagewhichiswi
2、delyadoptedforcommunicationbe?tweentwospeakerswhosenativelanguagesaredifferentfromeachothersandwhereoneorbothspeakersareusingitasasecondlanguage(Q1).Forexample,whenanIndiantalkstoaSingaporeanusingEnglish,thenEnglishisthelinguafranca.ThenactuallyhowmanypeoplespeakEnglishaseitherafirstorasecondlanguag
3、e?Somere?searchessuggestedthatafewyearsagothatbetween320,000,000to380,000,000peoplespokeEnglishasafirstlanguage.Andanywaybetween250,000,000to350,000,000asasecondlanguage(Q2).Andofcourse,ifweincludepeoplewhoarelearningEnglishasaforeignlanguageallovertheworld,thatnumbermayincreasedramatically.Thenwema
4、yaskaquestion,howdidEnglishgetthere?ThatishowdidEnglishgainthepresentstatusofpopularity?ThereareinfactanumberofinterlockingreasonsforthepopularityofEnglishasalinguafranca.Manyofthereasonsarehistorical,buttheyalsoincludeeconomicandculturalfactorsthatinfluencedandsustainedthisspreadofthelanguage.Let's
5、gothroughthereasonsonebyone.First,it'sthehistoricalreason(Q3).Thisisrelatedtothecolonialhistory.Asweknow,when'thePilgrimFatherslandedontheMassachusettscoastin1620aftertheirjourneyfromEngland,theybroughtwiththemnotjustasetofreligiousbeliefs,apioneeringspiritoradesireforcolonization,butalsotheirlangua
6、ge.Althoughmanyyearslater,theAmericansbrokeawayfromtheircolonialmaster,thelanguageofEnglishremainedandstilldoes.ItwasthesameinAustraliatoo.WhenCommanderPhilippeplantedtheBritishflaginSydneycurveonthe26thofJanuary1788,itwasnotjustabunchofBritishconvictsandtheirguardiansbutalsoalanguage.Inotherpartsof
7、theformerBritishEmpire,Englishrapidlybecameaunifyingordominatingmeansofcontrol.Forexample,itbecamealinguafrancainIndiawhereavarietyofindigenouslanguagesmadetheuseofanyoneofthemasawholecountrysystempro
