TEXT

WHAT IS OFFSHORE ENGLISH?

Offshore English is a term used by many people for international English (I). It is the English spoken and written by non-native speakers in international communication (II). Many in business are starting to worry that native speakers are actually at a disadvantage in international communication. A good example of this situation was when a company tried to sell flight simulators to South Korea, where a French company won the contract because the buyers found it easier to understand the English that the French people spoke than the English spoken by the British company.

Many native English speakers feel little necessity to learn foreign languages, so they often don’t understand the difficulties and problems learners have. They also don’t see (1) the need to modify their language for a foreign audience, so they use (2) idioms, synonyms, colloquialisms, phrasal verbs, etc, and don’t think (3) of the impact this has (4) on a foreign businessperson.

The English studied by non-native speakers tends to use a more simple vocabulary, and considering the similarities in courses in many parts of the world, emphasized by a small number of course books (Headway Series) and the domination of a few examinations, for example TOEFL, etc. This means that non-native speakers from different countries and cultures sometimes understand each other more easily than the native speaker. Few native speakers outside the world of ESL (English as a Second language) teaching have much idea of what non-native learners assimilate, and think that as their English is native speaker level, they speak it better than their non-native counterparts.
Because of this, companies are offering courses in Offshore English to native speakers to train them to speak the type of English that will make it easier for nonnative speakers to understand. So they will gain more contracts.

.Adapted from http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/what-offshore-english.html
Acessado em 14/03/2013

Select the question(s) below that have (has) answer(s) in the sentences I and II.

I. How does the speaker use Offshore English?

II. Who speaks Offshore English?

III. What is the term Offshore English?

IV. Why is Offshore English spoken and written?

Mark the right option.

TEXT

LEARN ENGLISH ONLINE: HOW THE INTERNET IS
CHANGING LANGUAGE

Online, English is now a common language for users from around the world. In the process, the language itself is changing. Noah Webster thought that a common language brings people together and helps create a new identity.

Webster’s dictionary, now is in its 11th edition, adopted the Americanized orthography familiar today “–er” in place of “–re” in theatre, not using the “u” from colour, losing one “l” in traveller, and listed new words for example, skunk and squash.

The Internet is creating a similar language evolution, but at a much faster velocity. Some linguists anticipate that in 10 years English will dominate the Internet, but in very different forms. That’s because people who speak English as a second language are more in number than native speakers. And they use it to communicate with other non-native speakers, particularly on the Internet where people don’t pay so much attention to grammar and orthography and users don’t have to preoccupy about their way of speaking.

Users of Facebook, for example, ____________ in a number of different “Englishes” including Indian English, or Hinglish, Spanglish (Spanish English) and Konglish (Korean English). For a long time, these variations existed in individual cultures, but now they are expanding and becoming popular online. “On the Internet all that is important is that people can communicate – nobody has a right to tell them what the language has to be,” says Baron.

The intensification of the use of the Internet in everyday life means that language online is not a zero result game. On the contrary, it permits multiple languages to show up and they are mixing into English that is becoming the world’s lingua franca.

.
Adapted from http://www.bbc.cokh/news/magazine-20332763
Acessado em 25/03/2013

Mark the option in which only one question is grammatically correct.

TEXT

WHAT IS OFFSHORE ENGLISH?

Offshore English is a term used by many people for international English (I). It is the English spoken and written by non-native speakers in international communication (II). Many in business are starting to worry that native speakers are actually at a disadvantage in international communication. A good example of this situation was when a company tried to sell flight simulators to South Korea, where a French company won the contract because the buyers found it easier to understand the English that the French people spoke than the English spoken by the British company.

Many native English speakers feel little necessity to learn foreign languages, so they often don’t understand the difficulties and problems learners have. They also don’t see (1) the need to modify their language for a foreign audience, so they use (2) idioms, synonyms, colloquialisms, phrasal verbs, etc, and don’t think (3) of the impact this has (4) on a foreign businessperson.

The English studied by non-native speakers tends to use a more simple vocabulary, and considering the similarities in courses in many parts of the world, emphasized by a small number of course books (Headway Series) and the domination of a few examinations, for example TOEFL, etc. This means that non-native speakers from different countries and cultures sometimes understand each other more easily than the native speaker. Few native speakers outside the world of ESL (English as a Second language) teaching have much idea of what non-native learners assimilate, and think that as their English is native speaker level, they speak it better than their non-native counterparts.
Because of this, companies are offering courses in Offshore English to native speakers to train them to speak the type of English that will make it easier for nonnative speakers to understand. So they will gain more contracts.

.Adapted from http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/what-offshore-english.html
Acessado em 14/03/2013

“Native speakers are at a disadvantage in international communication”. The negative form of this sentence is “Native speakers _._ at a disadvantage in international communication”.