高一英語教學案（七）

Unit 2 Growing Pains Word Power

Edited by TangLi

2005 10 05

I: Teaching aims:

This section focuses on the differences between American English and British English. Some specific examples related to grammar, vocabulary and spelling are listed and presented to students. Students are required to identify and learn about the different expressions. They are expected to not only expand their prior knowledge but apply it practically.

II: Teaching important points:

List some differences between American English and British English

Students are required to think about the following topics:

Up to now we've learned English for several years. Do you agree there are some differences between American English and British English? In which aspects do these differences exist, pronunciation, spelling, grammar and different expressions? Can you demonstrate some examples of these differences?

Students are required to list some differences that they already know. If possible, they can classify the differences into groups.

Differences Examples

pronunciation

spelling

grammar

vocabulary

III. Requirements:

1 Students are required to prepare for vocabulary learning

(1) Ask students to focus on the examples listed in their books and let them distinguish these differences first.

(2) Ask students to compare what they already know with these examples listed and encourage them to keep them in mind.

(3) If possible, you can ask students to summarize all the differences between American English and British English.

(4) Ask students to focus on the exercise and finish it individually first and then conduct a feedback activity. Then let them practise the dialogue with their partners.

(5) Ask students to discuss the following questions:

As we all know, the accents in American English and British English are partly different. Which do you prefer, American English or British English?

Do you think it helpful for you to be aware of these differences?

(6) Let students read the article in Part A in Reading on page 90 in Workbook, so that they can learn more about this topic. They may be asked to guess the meanings of some words from the context of the article, such as major, charming, episode, nature, naughty, caring, etc.

2.Students are required to prepare for vocabulary extension

Students are required to list some colloquialisms they already know.

(1) Ask students to focus on Part A and have them finish the exercise individually first. Then conduct a feedback activity.

(2) Ask students to continue with Part B, as there are more colloquialisms. Encourage students to think over and discuss with each other first. If students still can't work out the meanings, ask them to consult the dictionary.

IV: Background Resources

American English and British English share a lot of similarities. However, there are still some differences. These differences are thought to be caused by several factors, such as different national histories, cultural development and the influences of local and regional idioms and expressions. Some words share the same pronunciation while their spellings vary a bit, for example, colour and color, cheque and check, realise and realize. In addition, different words are used to indicate the same thing. For example, 'toilet' in British English is 'rest room' in American English. Likewise ‘trousers' are ‘pants', ‘cooker' is ‘stove' and ‘angry' is ‘mad'. For more information, you can visit the following website: http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/ aa110698.htm