1. Distinguish between language and literary tradition.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Discuss the contemporary global prevalence of the English language, citing specific statistics from the text.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Why/how is the English language in the United States so different from that of England/Britain?

 

 

 

 

 

4. In reviewing your text and the language map provided in Figure 5-9 explain the geographical distribution of the Germanic, Romance and Slavic languages across Europe (i.e. where in Europe is each
the dominant language?)

 

 

 

 

 

5. Explain the rise and subsequent decline in global significance of the Russian language during the 20th century.

 

 

 

 

 

6. Summarize the key points in the origin and diffusion of the Romance languages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Explain the characteristics of a creole language.

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Distinguish between the “Nomadic Warrior Thesis” and the “Sedentary Farmer Thesis” of Indo-European language development.

 

 

 

 

 

9. What is an ideogram (ideogrammatic alphabet) and what language is an example? Using the internet as a source, distinguish between the latter and a phonetic alphabet.

 

 

 

 

 

10. Precisely how many languages are spoken in Africa? Explain your answer and cite specific information from the text.

 

 

 

 

 

11. Compare/contrast the situation with Hebrew as a “revived language” with that of the Celtic family as “preserved languages”.

 

 

 

 

 

12. What is an isolated language? Provide at least one example.

 

 

 

 

 

 

13. Distinguish between a lingua franca and a pidgin language.

 

 

 

 

 

14. Distinguish between Franglais, Spanglish, and Denglish, citing examples and specific information for each.

 

 

 

 

 

15. Referring to the chapter summary, explain how/why learning English is appealing to many people in other countries, but conversely many US citizens do not seek to learn other languages.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 7: Ethnicity (do any/ONLY 10 Ch. 7 questions)
1. Distinguish between the concepts of ethnicity and race.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Compare/contrast the geographical concentrations of the four US ethnicities used as case studies in your text (i.e. where are they located, where are they not & why?).

 

 

 

 

 

3. Provide a summary overview of what your text outlined as the 3 distinct phases of African American migration patterns.

 

 

 

 

 

4. Discuss the “separate but equal” doctrine from US history and how it was implemented.

 

 

 

 

 

5. Provide an overview of division by race in South Africa several decades ago, using/defining the term apartheid in your discussion.

 

 

 

 

 

6. What is a nation-state? Provide examples (as noted in the text) and explain why they may or may not be perfect examples of the concept.

 

 

 

 

 

7. What is nationalism? Use/define centripetal force in your discussion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Explain (in detail) why Russia was described as the largest multinational state.

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Discuss recent trends that have revived with regard to ethnic identity and why such identities were partly absent (or at least repressed) in previous decades.

 

 

 

 

 

10. Your text noted two basic categories concerning why ethnicities can clash. Discuss and provide at least 1 detailed example of each.

 

 

 

 

 

11. At the conclusion of the Holocaust the international community vowed to “never again” permit genocidal acts…was this goal realized? Explain, citing specific examples from the reading.

 

 

 

 

 

12. What is balkanization? From what source is the term derived? What are the historical and current concerns related to balkanization?