2008年10月30日 星期四

Annotated Bibliography 2

(http://www.physorg.com/news143471567.html)

The article presents a whole new point of view about how German immigrants immigrating to Wisconsin in the mid-1800s adapted themselves to the English-speaking country. Contrary to notions of fact and fantasy, evidence shows that some of them are actually slow and passive in learning English because they did not really need to change their language in order to survive in that English-dominating country. What is more surprising is the fact that, as it is mentioned in the article, Some second- and even third-generation German immigrants who were born in Wisconsin were still monolingual in German as adults. The reason why all this is happening is partly because the multitude of the German immigrants gather together as in many communities. Therefore, they need not learn a second language to communicate with each other in their communities simply because everybody speaks German there. This discovery actually has something to do with the main point of my issue paper; that is: is it necessary to immerse yourself (e.g., traveling, working, studying) in the American culture in order to learn English well? Well, in this case, it depends. If people behave like the German immigrants, then the answer would certainly be no. For example, when a Chinese student goes to the United States, we can not expect that his English would be improved by his hanging around in China towns every single day. You need to find chances to practice English by yourself and try as many opportunities as possible to polish your English skills in the United States. Otherwise, perhaps it would be better to stay in your own native country to study it.

3 則留言:

Dimitri HSU 提到...

As a result of globalization, nowadays the globe is really a village now. And the power of Internet--though it is not really that accessible in some developing countries--is considered unneglectable. Internet surfers might get chances to correct their accents by contacts direct or indirect with native speakers.

Beverly 提到...

Even though it seems meaningful for German immigrants not learning the secong language, it still make me feel confused. If their children go out studying, they can only make friends with those Germans or who can talk in German, it is hard to imagine.

joyceburu 提到...

In this annotation, you provide a great argument→It is useless for us(Taiwanese)go to America , if we live in the China Town. I think this is a strong idea to convince the readers. If you put more examples like this into your final research paper, the paper will be persuasive.