Questões de Concurso
Sobre interpretação de texto | reading comprehension em inglês
Foram encontradas 9.406 questões
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.
- The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
- history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
- recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
- refused to accept it on any terms.
- At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
- would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
- Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
- the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
- nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
- such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
- acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
- residence.
- He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
- support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
- influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
- future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
- headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
- scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
- critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
- the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
- many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
- it away.
- Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
- northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
- other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
- castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
- condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
- But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
- Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
- of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
- valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
- in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
- purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
- Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
- the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
- in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
- Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
- suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
- until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
- achieved.
- One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
- 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
- didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
- us.'
Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.
Consider the statements below:
I. The verbs 'claimed' (line 20), 'pointed out' (line 23), and 'affirmed' (line 24) are verbs of saying;
II. The sentence 'Alaska contained nothing' (line 20) can be rewritten as 'Alaska did not contain anything';
III. The sentence 'Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash' (lines 37) means that the Baron won that sum of money only after the negotiations were finished.
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.
- The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
- history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
- recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
- refused to accept it on any terms.
- At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
- would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
- Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
- the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
- nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
- such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
- acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
- residence.
- He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
- support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
- influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
- future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
- headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
- scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
- critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
- the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
- many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
- it away.
- Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
- northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
- other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
- castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
- condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
- But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
- Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
- of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
- valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
- in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
- purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
- Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
- the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
- in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
- Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
- suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
- until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
- achieved.
- One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
- 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
- didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
- us.'
Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.
The word 'pay' may be both a noun, as in 'the pay' (line 19) and a verb, as in 'to pay' (line 35) without having to change its spelling. The same may occur to all the words bellow, EXCEPT for:
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.
- The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
- history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
- recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
- refused to accept it on any terms.
- At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
- would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
- Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
- the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
- nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
- such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
- acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
- residence.
- He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
- support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
- influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
- future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
- headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
- scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
- critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
- the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
- many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
- it away.
- Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
- northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
- other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
- castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
- condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
- But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
- Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
- of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
- valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
- in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
- purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
- Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
- the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
- in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
- Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
- suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
- until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
- achieved.
- One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
- 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
- didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
- us.'
Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.
The sentence 'But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target' (line 28) could be paraphrased only by the following sentence:
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.
- The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
- history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
- recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
- refused to accept it on any terms.
- At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
- would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
- Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
- the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
- nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
- such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
- acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
- residence.
- He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
- support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
- influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
- future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
- headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
- scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
- critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
- the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
- many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
- it away.
- Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
- northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
- other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
- castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
- condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
- But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
- Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
- of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
- valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
- in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
- purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
- Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
- the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
- in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
- Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
- suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
- until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
- achieved.
- One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
- 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
- didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
- us.'
Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.
Considering the whole excerpt, it is possible to say that:
I. the author depicts the historical facts, but shows his opinion by using irony;
II. the author describes the process by which the USA bought the Alaska territory, which belonged to Russia.
III. the statements ‘One sharp satirist' (line 20) and 'One congressman' (line 41) express the author’s own opinions and the ideas of historical characters whose names were not worth mentioning respectively.
According to Brown (2001, p.54), “it is appropriate [...] to focus on what we do know, what we have learned, and what we can say with some certainty about second language acquisition. We can then clearly see that a great many of a teacher’s choices are grounded in established principles of language learning and teaching. By perceiving and internalizing connections between practice (choices we make in the classroom) and theory (principles derived from research), our teaching is likely to be enlightened”.
The author divided twelve principles into three categories: cognitive, affective and linguistic.
Choose the alternative in which ALL the principles correspond to the given category
“During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, a revolution took place that affected much of the language teaching used in the twentieth century. The revolt was primarily against the stultifying methods of grammatical explanation and translation of texts which were then popular [...]. In its place, the pioneers of the new language teaching [...] emphasized [...] the naturalness of language learning” (COOK, 2013, p.3).
This new proposal generated some common assumptions that have been considered questionable in the past recent years.
Choose the alternative that DOES NOT correspond to any of these assumptions:
“Since computers started to be introduced in language learning (and in education in general) people have rightly asked whether the investment we are making in these technologies gives us value for money. As digital technologies have taken a hold in society in general, this particular question is not asked quite so often, but it is still important to make sure that the technologies that we have available are used effectively” (MOTTERAM, 2013, p. 7).
According to the latest research on the use of technology for second language learning and teaching, it is INCORRECT to state that:
“L2 learning strategies are specific behaviors or thought processes that students use to enhance their own L2 learning” (OXFORD, 2003, p. 8).
Considering the six main categories of L2 learning strategies identified by Oxford (1990, apud OXFORD, 2003), it is CORRECT to affirm that:
“The field of English for specific purposes (ESP), which addresses the communicative needs and practices of particular professional or occupational groups, has developed rapidly in the past forty years to become a major force in English language teaching and research. ESP draws its strength from an eclectic theoretical foundation and a commitment to research-based language education which seeks to reveal the constraints of social contexts on language use and the ways learners can gain control over these” (HYLAND, 2006, p.2).
Some of the major perspectives that currently influence ESP are:
1. Needs analysis
2. Ethnography
3. Critical approaches
4. Contrastive rhetoric
5. Social constructionism
6. Discourse analysis
Correlate each perspective with its general ideas about ESP.
( ) This perspective draws attention to the fact that we are members of several such cultures simultaneously and critically highlights the conflicts inherent in these multiple memberships. In particular it emphasizes the potential clashes between the discourse conventions of professional and ethnic cultures. The question of who establishes the linguistic conventions of professional communities and whose norms are used to judge them is a central issue in ESP, and researchers have questioned the traditional view that those familiar with other conventions need to conform to Anglo-American norms when engaging in professional and particularly academic genres.
( ) This perspective suggests that knowledge and social reality are created through daily interactions between people and particularly through their discourse. It takes a critical stance towards taken-for-granted knowledge and, in opposition to positivism and empiricism in traditional science, questions the idea of an objective reality. It says that everything we see and believe is actually filtered through our theories and our language, sustained by social processes, which are culturally and historically specific. Discourse is therefore central to relationships, knowledge, and scientific facts as all are rhetorically constructed by individuals acting as members of social communities. The goal of ESP is therefore to discover how people use discourse to create, sustain, and change these communities; how they signal their membership; how they persuade others to accept their ideas; and so on.
( ) This perspective says that the use of systematic means to define the specific sets of skills, texts, linguistic forms, and communicative practices that a particular group of learners must acquire is central to ESP, informing its curricula and materials and underlining its pragmatic engagement with occupational, academic, and professional realities. It is a crucial link between perception and practice, helping ESP to keep its feet on the ground by tempering any excesses of academic theory-building with practical applications.
( ) It is a sophisticated theory of language concerned with the relationship between language and the functions it uses to perform in social contexts. In this view, language consists of a set of systems from which users make choices to most effectively express their intended meanings, and this fits neatly with ESP’s aims to demystify the academic and professional genres that will enhance or determine learners’ career opportunities.
( ) This perspective has helped to develop a growing sense in ESP that a social-theoretical stance is needed to fully understand what happens in institutions to make discourses the way they are. Increasingly, studies have turned to examine the ideological impact of expert discourses, the social distribution of valued literacies, access to prestigious genres, and the ways control of specialized discourses are related to status and credibility.
( ) This perspective considers that the members of discourse communities and the physical settings in which they work (with detailed observations of behaviors together with interviews and the analysis of texts) are the two main focuses of study which may provide a fuller picture of what is happening.
Choose the alternative which CORRECTLY correlates each perspective with its general ideas about ESP from top to bottom.
Brown (2004, p.19) states five principles of language assessment: “practicality, reliability, validity, authenticity, and washback”.
Read the statements below about these principles and check if they are correct or incorrect.
I. A test is practical when it stays within appropriate time constraints, is relatively easy to administer, has a scoring/evaluation procedure that is specific and time-efficient, and is not excessively expensive.
II. A reliable test is consistent and dependable. If the teacher gives the same test to the same student or matched students on two different occasions, the test should yield similar result. There are a number of factors that may contribute to the unreliability of a test: fluctuations in the student, in scoring, in test administration, and in the test itself.
III. Face validity will likely be high if learners encounter: expected format with familiar tasks, clear directions, reasonable level of difficulty, etc.
IV. Authenticity may be presented in the following ways: the language in the test is as natural as possible; items are contextualized; topics are meaningful (for the students); etc.
V. Language testing washback is a kind of positive reinforcement; the teacher praises the students for their correct answers and “forgets” their mistakes.
In relation to the previous statements, choose the CORRECT alternative:
According to Richards; Rodgers (2001, p.16) “approaches and methods can be studied not as prescriptions for how to teach but as a source of well-used practices, which teachers can adapt or implement based on their own needs”.
Read the following statements about five current communicative approaches and check if they are TRUE (T) or FALSE (F).
( ) The Communicative Language Teaching approach states that learning is a process of creative construction and involves trial and error.
( ) According to the Natural Approach, a focus on comprehension and meaningful communication as well as the provision of the right kinds of comprehensible input provide the necessary and sufficient conditions for successful classroom second and foreign language acquisition.
( ) Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups through which students work together without accomplishing shared goals.
( ) Content-Based Instruction refers to an approach to second language teaching in which teaching is organized around the substance or subject matter that students learn or communicate through language rather than the language used to convey it.
( ) In the Task-based Language Teaching approach the activities and tasks can be either those that learners might need to achieve in real life or those that have a pedagogical purpose specific to the classroom.
Choose the alternative which CORRECTLY shows if the statements are TRUE or FALSE:
In the following sentence, choose the right explanation about “would” in the options below: “As a result, we anticipated that it would be informative to describe how a self-selected online forum could advance adults' literacies.”
In the following context, how can you replace the verb “enroll” in the options below? “The interviews presented in this article are a portion of a data set from a larger study in which I surveyed 177 students enrolled in a first-year college writing course at a rural, midsize Midwestern state university, asking about their uses of digital tools for nonacademic reading and writing purposes.”
According to Brazilian PCN, it should become important to remember that:
Read the following fragment and give a comprehension to the phrasal verb “cheer up”: “She was very disappointed, but faced up bravely to the situation. In fact, when Chris, Sara, Michael and I visited her in hospital, so, that was she who cheered us up and made us laugh! I think that year we were making up for the limitations of the one before.” (Life, love and laughter. Horne, Molly. Braunton)
Read the following fragment, and then, choose the alternative with the right synonyms according to the given context: “I carried him to tire myself, the way some people rush into activity when their plans fail. If I sometimes recognized this, I blamed my Aunt Lilian who had brought me up to give too much importance to careers and causes and things of the mind, simply because she had never known, herself, any of the pleasures of the body, and had, as a result, made me feel guilty now.” (A woman of my age. Bawden, Nina.)
Read text III and answer questions 60 to 70:
Text III
The use of music and songs in the EFL classroom
There are quite a lot of positive sides of learning English via
the medium music. First of all it is a very positive way of
learning English. Music is a part of our everyday life and
especially young people are very familiar with music. If the
5 teacher provides the possibility of a positive access to a new
topic, the kids will learn the new things easier and with more
fun and readiness. I am sure that the one or the other pupil
turns out to be a little “music-expert”. This can strengthen the
self-consciousness of students who are not so good at other
10 areas because now they have the opportunity to show what
they know about a special artist or band. Another pro of
teaching language by using songs and music is that it is
something different for the students – it is an alternation to
the common methods of language learning, because it is not
15 only interested in input. Learning with music speaks more than
other language-learning-methods to the audio-channel of the
learner, which has the positive effect of training listening and
comprehending language which is modified in terms of
intonation, pronunciation and articulation. Music in the
20 classroom can also be arranged in corporation with teachers of
other subjects, so that kids have the opportunity to use and
practise the new knowledge in more than one subject.
Teachers of English could not only work together with teachers
of music, but also with teachers of German, religion, ethics and
25 history. There is a variety of different thematic blocks which
can be taught with the help of songs, for example cultural or
social studies, to name only two areas.
However, using music and songs as a method of language
teaching can also have negative effects. Not every student likes
30 singing, acting or working with music and songs. Some find it
embarrassing and childish, especially older students. If the
majority of a class consists of students who feel like that about
working with music and songs in the classroom, the teacher
should be aware of the problem that it will be hard to motivate
35 the pupils. It can also be that some pupils protest and even
refuse to do several activities given by the teacher. […] Another
problem for teachers is the question of the right choice of
songs. Nowadays the kids are crazy about music which is called
“Death Metal”, “Hip Hop” or “Acid House”. So, many teachers
40 think that it is hard to fill the pupils of today with enthusiasm
by using Oldies.
Despite the fact that there are more positive effects of
learning a second language with songs and music than negative
ones, most teachers look at this method with mixed emotions.
45 Some are of the opinion that this is no real teaching and a
waste of time with some senseless activities. This is not true, of
course. Out of my own pupil-experience I can say that I have
learned quite a lot with the help of songs. I have acquired not
only a plenty of new words and vocabulary, but also several
50 idioms and many ways to express feelings.
(From http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/122444/the-use-of-music-and-songs-in-theefl-classroom)
In “Despite the fact that there are more positive effects” (line 42), the underlined phrase can be replaced without change in meaning by
Read text III and answer questions 60 to 70:
Text III
The use of music and songs in the EFL classroom
There are quite a lot of positive sides of learning English via
the medium music. First of all it is a very positive way of
learning English. Music is a part of our everyday life and
especially young people are very familiar with music. If the
5 teacher provides the possibility of a positive access to a new
topic, the kids will learn the new things easier and with more
fun and readiness. I am sure that the one or the other pupil
turns out to be a little “music-expert”. This can strengthen the
self-consciousness of students who are not so good at other
10 areas because now they have the opportunity to show what
they know about a special artist or band. Another pro of
teaching language by using songs and music is that it is
something different for the students – it is an alternation to
the common methods of language learning, because it is not
15 only interested in input. Learning with music speaks more than
other language-learning-methods to the audio-channel of the
learner, which has the positive effect of training listening and
comprehending language which is modified in terms of
intonation, pronunciation and articulation. Music in the
20 classroom can also be arranged in corporation with teachers of
other subjects, so that kids have the opportunity to use and
practise the new knowledge in more than one subject.
Teachers of English could not only work together with teachers
of music, but also with teachers of German, religion, ethics and
25 history. There is a variety of different thematic blocks which
can be taught with the help of songs, for example cultural or
social studies, to name only two areas.
However, using music and songs as a method of language
teaching can also have negative effects. Not every student likes
30 singing, acting or working with music and songs. Some find it
embarrassing and childish, especially older students. If the
majority of a class consists of students who feel like that about
working with music and songs in the classroom, the teacher
should be aware of the problem that it will be hard to motivate
35 the pupils. It can also be that some pupils protest and even
refuse to do several activities given by the teacher. […] Another
problem for teachers is the question of the right choice of
songs. Nowadays the kids are crazy about music which is called
“Death Metal”, “Hip Hop” or “Acid House”. So, many teachers
40 think that it is hard to fill the pupils of today with enthusiasm
by using Oldies.
Despite the fact that there are more positive effects of
learning a second language with songs and music than negative
ones, most teachers look at this method with mixed emotions.
45 Some are of the opinion that this is no real teaching and a
waste of time with some senseless activities. This is not true, of
course. Out of my own pupil-experience I can say that I have
learned quite a lot with the help of songs. I have acquired not
only a plenty of new words and vocabulary, but also several
50 idioms and many ways to express feelings.
(From http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/122444/the-use-of-music-and-songs-in-theefl-classroom)
The “audio-channel of the learner” (lines 16 and 17) depends on the sense of hearing.
The sense of taste is perceived by the
Read text III and answer questions 60 to 70:
Text III
The use of music and songs in the EFL classroom
There are quite a lot of positive sides of learning English via
the medium music. First of all it is a very positive way of
learning English. Music is a part of our everyday life and
especially young people are very familiar with music. If the
5 teacher provides the possibility of a positive access to a new
topic, the kids will learn the new things easier and with more
fun and readiness. I am sure that the one or the other pupil
turns out to be a little “music-expert”. This can strengthen the
self-consciousness of students who are not so good at other
10 areas because now they have the opportunity to show what
they know about a special artist or band. Another pro of
teaching language by using songs and music is that it is
something different for the students – it is an alternation to
the common methods of language learning, because it is not
15 only interested in input. Learning with music speaks more than
other language-learning-methods to the audio-channel of the
learner, which has the positive effect of training listening and
comprehending language which is modified in terms of
intonation, pronunciation and articulation. Music in the
20 classroom can also be arranged in corporation with teachers of
other subjects, so that kids have the opportunity to use and
practise the new knowledge in more than one subject.
Teachers of English could not only work together with teachers
of music, but also with teachers of German, religion, ethics and
25 history. There is a variety of different thematic blocks which
can be taught with the help of songs, for example cultural or
social studies, to name only two areas.
However, using music and songs as a method of language
teaching can also have negative effects. Not every student likes
30 singing, acting or working with music and songs. Some find it
embarrassing and childish, especially older students. If the
majority of a class consists of students who feel like that about
working with music and songs in the classroom, the teacher
should be aware of the problem that it will be hard to motivate
35 the pupils. It can also be that some pupils protest and even
refuse to do several activities given by the teacher. […] Another
problem for teachers is the question of the right choice of
songs. Nowadays the kids are crazy about music which is called
“Death Metal”, “Hip Hop” or “Acid House”. So, many teachers
40 think that it is hard to fill the pupils of today with enthusiasm
by using Oldies.
Despite the fact that there are more positive effects of
learning a second language with songs and music than negative
ones, most teachers look at this method with mixed emotions.
45 Some are of the opinion that this is no real teaching and a
waste of time with some senseless activities. This is not true, of
course. Out of my own pupil-experience I can say that I have
learned quite a lot with the help of songs. I have acquired not
only a plenty of new words and vocabulary, but also several
50 idioms and many ways to express feelings.
(From http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/122444/the-use-of-music-and-songs-in-theefl-classroom)
In the last paragraph, the author states that songs have helped him to
Read text III and answer questions 60 to 70:
Text III
The use of music and songs in the EFL classroom
There are quite a lot of positive sides of learning English via
the medium music. First of all it is a very positive way of
learning English. Music is a part of our everyday life and
especially young people are very familiar with music. If the
5 teacher provides the possibility of a positive access to a new
topic, the kids will learn the new things easier and with more
fun and readiness. I am sure that the one or the other pupil
turns out to be a little “music-expert”. This can strengthen the
self-consciousness of students who are not so good at other
10 areas because now they have the opportunity to show what
they know about a special artist or band. Another pro of
teaching language by using songs and music is that it is
something different for the students – it is an alternation to
the common methods of language learning, because it is not
15 only interested in input. Learning with music speaks more than
other language-learning-methods to the audio-channel of the
learner, which has the positive effect of training listening and
comprehending language which is modified in terms of
intonation, pronunciation and articulation. Music in the
20 classroom can also be arranged in corporation with teachers of
other subjects, so that kids have the opportunity to use and
practise the new knowledge in more than one subject.
Teachers of English could not only work together with teachers
of music, but also with teachers of German, religion, ethics and
25 history. There is a variety of different thematic blocks which
can be taught with the help of songs, for example cultural or
social studies, to name only two areas.
However, using music and songs as a method of language
teaching can also have negative effects. Not every student likes
30 singing, acting or working with music and songs. Some find it
embarrassing and childish, especially older students. If the
majority of a class consists of students who feel like that about
working with music and songs in the classroom, the teacher
should be aware of the problem that it will be hard to motivate
35 the pupils. It can also be that some pupils protest and even
refuse to do several activities given by the teacher. […] Another
problem for teachers is the question of the right choice of
songs. Nowadays the kids are crazy about music which is called
“Death Metal”, “Hip Hop” or “Acid House”. So, many teachers
40 think that it is hard to fill the pupils of today with enthusiasm
by using Oldies.
Despite the fact that there are more positive effects of
learning a second language with songs and music than negative
ones, most teachers look at this method with mixed emotions.
45 Some are of the opinion that this is no real teaching and a
waste of time with some senseless activities. This is not true, of
course. Out of my own pupil-experience I can say that I have
learned quite a lot with the help of songs. I have acquired not
only a plenty of new words and vocabulary, but also several
50 idioms and many ways to express feelings.
(From http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/122444/the-use-of-music-and-songs-in-theefl-classroom)
In relation to the use of music in the classroom as discussed in the text, analyse the assertions below:
I. Teaching songs helps improve listening skills.
II. Old songs are better suited for classroom activities.
III. Everybody agrees that students learn faster with music.
Choose the correct answer.