English+Speaking+Countries++Lecture+3.docx

English+Speaking+Countries++Lecture+3.docx

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English+Speaking+Countries++Lecture+3

EnglishSpeakingCountries-Lecture3

Part1–Education

EducationintheUKcomesundertheresponsibilityoftheLocalEducationAuthorities,whilstthecentralgovernmentplaysaverylittlerole.TheDepartmentofEducationwhichispartofthecentralgovernmentmakeseducationalpoliciesandprovidesfundingthroughtheirbudget.Inthebudgetaryyearof2003/2004,13%ofthetotalUK’sbudgetwasspentoneducationor£59billion.

EducationalPolicy

Currentlychildrenbetweentheagesof5and16havecompulsoryeducation.Currently,schoolingisdividedintofourstages.Betweentheagesof5and11,isprimary,11to16secondary,16to18furthereducationand18to22+HigherEducation.

Uptothe1960sand70s,manyLEAsthoughtthatstudentsshouldbetaughtaccordingtotheirabilities.Allchildrenweregivenanexaminationcalledtheeleven-pluswhichdictatedwhichtypeofsecondaryschooltheywentto.

ThetopstudentswenttoGrammarSchoolwheretheywouldstayuntiltheywere18.GrammarschoolalsopreparedstudentsforUniversity.Todayonlytwocountiesinthewholecountrystillhavegrammarschools.Themiddleabilitystudentswenttotechnicalschoolswhichfocusedonvocationaltraining.Thelowestscoringstudentswenttosecondarymodernschools.

Inthe1960sand1970sanewschoolwasintroducedcalledcomprehensiveswhichlargelyreplacedthegroupofthree.

In1988,MargaretThatcherintroducedthenationalcurriculum.Thiswasanationwidestandardcurriculumofwhichtherewasnotbefore.Thecurriculumwasdividedintothreestages.

Stage1wasforchildrenaged5and6.Stage2wasfortheages6to11.Stage3wasages11to14andthefinalstage4fortheages14to16.ManysubjectswerecompulsorycoursessuchasMathematics,English,Scienceandtechnology.Somecoursesuchashistoryandgeographywerecompulsoryuptostage3andoptionalin4.Languagesarenottaughtuntilstage3,mainlyFrenchandGerman.

PrimaryandSecondaryEducation

Therearetwoparallelsystemsintheprimaryandsecondaryeducation–staterunandindependentschools.

Independentschoolsarefreefromgovernmentcontrolandtherearearound2500schoolsaroundthecountryincludingoneofthemostfamous,Eton.

Therearemanydifferencesbetweenthetwosystemssuchasindependentstartsat7yearsoldandlastsforsixyears.Manyalsohavesinglesexclassesthoughthishasbecomelessandlesscommonoverthepast20years.

Asmentionedbefore,Statesecondaryschoolsareforages11to16butindependentschoolsarefrom13to16.

Attheendofsecondaryschool,allstudentswilltaketheirGCSE’s（GeneralCertificateofSecondaryEducation）.Eachstudentwilltakearound9or10exams（ormaybemore）onthesubjectstheyhadstudiedsincetheywere14.GradesAtoCarepass,D,E,F,GandUarefails.

Whenfinishingsecondaryschool,somestudentselecttostartworkingwhilstsomecontinuetheirstudy.

Themajorityofyoungpeoplecontinuetheirstudyatsixthformswhilstsomedoitatcolleges.

Moststudentsstudy3or4GCEAlevelswhichlast2yearsaswellassomeA/Slevelswhicharejustforone.

Sincetheearly1990’s,anewcoursecalledGNVQ（GeneralNationalVocationalQualification）wasintroduced.Thiscourseismorevocationalandgivesstudentsmoreofaninsightintoworkingpracticesandthereisashortperiodofworkexperience.ThereareseveraldifferentvocationalcoursesavailablesuchasBusinessandChildcare.

AlevelsarethemainwaytoenterUniversitybutinrecentyears,GNVQhasbecomeacceptedaswell.

IndependentPrimaryandSecondarySchool

In2004,therewere2,300PublicSchools,550beingboardingschools.

Publicschoolsaregenerallybetterfundedsoareabletorecruitabetterstandardofteacherplusclasssizesaremuchsmallerthanstateschools.Thefacilitiesarealsousuallybetterthanstateschools.

Publicschoolsarenotcheap–in2004,itcostonaverage£7000pertermsoabout£21000ayearor210,000RMBperyear!

Publicschoolsusuallyarefortherichonlybutsomearecheaper.

HigherEducation

BritainboastssomeoftheoldestandmostfamousUniversitiesintheworldnamelyOxfordandCambridge.

UnlikeChina,thereisnonationalentranceexamintoUniversities.EachUniversityintheUKhasastandardwhichapplicantsmustattain.IfastudentwishestogetintoOxfordorCambridge,theymustattain4or5AorA*gradesintheirAlevels.OneofthemajorchangesinHigherEducationoverthepast20yearswastheintroductionoftheEducationActof1992.ThisactremovedthedistinctionbetweenUniversitiesandPolytechnicColleges.Nearlyalloftheold“polys”havebeenrenamedUniversities.

Astudenthasachoiceofuptoeightuniversitiestheycanapplyto.Whenthestudentreceivestheirgrades,theywillbeabletoseewhichuniversityoftheiroriginalchoicestheycangetinto.Sometimes,studentsdonotmeetthegradesthattheyneededandiftheystillwishtogotoUniversity,theygothroughasystemcalledclearing.Thissystemputsallthestudentsandallthecoursesateveryuniversitywithspacesintoapot.Mostofthetime,studentsgetthecoursetheywantedbutatalesseruniversityoracompletelydifferentcoursebutattheinstitutiontheywanted.

Therearecurrentlyover100UniversitiesintheUKandmostofthemainnewspapershaveleaguetablesonthebestperforminginstitutions.Inthe2010Timesleaguetable,OxfordwastopwithCambridgesecond.

MostofthebiggerUniversitiesespeciallyOxfordandCambridgearemadeupofseveraldifferentcolleges.Eachoneismadeupwithoverthirtycollegeslocatedalloverthecity.

Today,oneinthreeyoungBritishpeopleareUniversityeducatedwhilstinthe1980sitwasoneinsix.Thismaybecomelessoverthenext20yearsespeciallyaspoorerfamiliesfindithardertosendtheirchildrentoUniversity.

Before1998,studentsdidnothavetopaytuitionbuttodaystudents/parentshavetopayafee.

Degrees

Normally,adegreecourse（BA–BachelorofArts,orBSC–BachelorofScience）lastsforthreeyearsonly.

AfulltimeMastersdegreeisayearfulltimeortwoifdoneparttime.

Adoctorate（PhD）requiresbetweenthreeandfiveyearsresearchandstudy.

Part2–CultureandReligion

AstheUKismadeupoffourregionalgroups,whichareinthemselvesverydifferent,plusalargeamountofethnicminoritiesfromaroundtheglobe,thereisnorealhomogenousculture.

Therearesomesharedcommoncustomsespeciallythroughreligion,mainlyChristianity,plusidenticalpopularculturecultivatedandpromotedbythemassmedia.

Entertainment&Media–Pubs

PubsareanimportantplaceinmostBritishpeople’slives.Withtherecenteconomiccrisis,manypubshavehadtocloseduetolackofbusiness.

Pubsserveavarietyoffoodandofcoursedrinks.Mostpopulararevariousbrandsofalesandlagersbuttheydosellwines,spiritsandsoftdrinks.

Manygamesareplayedinpubsincludingdarts,dominoesandpoolandifabigsportingeventsuchasafootballorrugbymatchison,manypeoplego,watchandhaveafewbeers.Manypubsalsohaveaquiznights,usuallygeneralknowledge.

Entertainment&Media–Theatre

TheUKiswellknownforitstheatreandmusicals.IthasbeenhometomanytheatressincebeforeShakespeare’stime.

ManypeoplewhovisitLondonincludeatriptotheWestEndtoseeashow,ofwhichthereareatleast50playingonanygivennight.

Someshows,likeLesMisrablesorThePhantomoftheOperahavebeenplayingeverynightforover20yearsandtheyarestillthemostpopularshowsinthecity.

Entertainment&Media–TheBritishFilmIndustry

TheUKhassomefamousfilmstudioswheremanyworldfamousfilmshavebeenproducedoverthelastcentury.

PinewoodstudiosismostfamousforproducingtheJamesBondseriesmostrecently‘QuantumofSolace’.

OtherstudiosincludeElstree,SheppertonandEaling.

Entertainment&Media–ArtGalleriesandMuseums

Oneofthefewthingsyoucandoforfreeinmanycitiesisvisitsomeartgalleriesandmuseums.

TheyhousesomeofthemostdiverseandexpensivedisplaysofartandhistoryintheworldandremaintobeahugetouristattractionespeciallyinLondon.

MuseumsinLondonincludetheImperialWarMuseum,BritishMuseum,NaturalHistory,ScienceMuseumtonameafew.

TheTategalleryisoneofLondon’smostfamousGalleries.

Entertainment&Media–PopularMusic

PopularmusicintheUKisveryimportant.Peoplelistenonaverageto4hoursofmusicaweekespeciallyasradiostationsnowplaymusic24hoursaday.

VariousbandsandsingershavebeeninfluentialtothedevelopmentofpopularmusicespeciallyTheBeatlesinthe1960’swhorevolutionisedmusic.

Sincethen,therehavebeenmanybandsandsingerswhohavebeenpopularbothintheUKandoverseas.ThisincludesQueen,Sting,Blur,Oasis,TheRollingStonestonameafew.

Entertainment&Media–Television

BritainisofcoursehometotheBBC（BritishBroadcastingCorporation）.Foundedin1922andnationalisedin1926itwastheonlychannelintheUKbetween1936until1955（withexceptionofthewaryearswhenitdidnotbroadcast）.

From1955,ITV（IndependentTelevision）wassetupwhichwasthefirstcommercialchannel.TheBBChasnocommercialsasitisfundedbyaTVlicence.EverypersonwhoownsaTVhastopayforaTVlicenceeveryyear.ThefundsfromthelicencegototheBBCtopayforprogramming.CurrentlytheTVlicenceisaround£100peryear

AsecondBBCchannel（BBC2）wasstartedin19,Channel4beganin198andchannel5beganin199,thelattertwoarebothalsocommercialstations.Allfiveareterrestrialchannels.

In1989,AustralianmediatycoonRup