Leia o texto a seguir e responda às questões de 21 a 24 . Simpler spelling may be more relevant than ever The complexity of English ...
Leia o texto a seguir e responda às questões de 21 a 24.
The complexity of English spellings has been bothering people for nearly as long as English has been written down. They argue that inconsistent spellings make English unnecessarily hard to learn. The English Spelling Society, a UK organisation pushing for easier spellings, even argues that there’s a link between difficult spelling and higher crime, with illiteracy pushing people into a life of illegality. While that argument might be a stretch, it’s clear that non-traditional spelling does create a bad impression.
Compared to the UK variants, US spellings are easier for non-native speakers to learn, being shorter and slightly more phonetic. These US spellings are a legacy of dictionary pioneer Noah Webster’s movement for simplified spelling. This movement sought to cleanse English of double and silent letters, as well as other inefficiencies related to orthography (the system of writing and spelling words).
There was a practical as well as a political element to this. Not only would learners find it easier to master simplified spellings, Webster reasoned, but humbler spellings were actually more democratic, and would help differentiate the Americans from their recent colonial masters across the pond.
Webster’s ideas led to the proliferation in the US of “labor” over “labour” and “center” over “centre”, even if not all his ideas have become the “fashon”. For one thing, English is such an irregular language that it’s impossible to iron out all the kinks. No form of English is written out completely phonetically, as anybody with a tough cough (tuf cawf?) will know. Any new spelling rules would need plenty of exceptions. Overall, English’s erratic spellings bear witness to the many words it has absorbed from other languages. Like the wealth of accents among English speakers, this feature both enriches the language and poses a challenge to standardised simplified spellings.
English spellings and dyslexia
One group that might be helped by simpler spellings is people with dyslexia. In linguistic terms, English is opaque, meaning that there’s little correlation and consistency between its spoken and written forms. What you read and what you say can seem very different. Finnish and Spanish, in contrast, are more transparent.
So “kids learn to read English slower than kids who learned transparent languages like Spanish, Italian, Czech, German”, says Liory Fern-Pollak, a cognitive neuroscientist at University College London.
As dyslexia has a neurological basis, an affected person would have dyslexia regardless of whether they were born in Finland or England. But Fern-Pollak explains that it would be easier to diagnose them in England, as they grapple with the idiosyncratic spellings of English.
English in the internet age
Webster’s ideas are perhaps newly relevant, as the language of IT and the internet increasingly influences how English is written. Globally, Google returns more results for US spellings. In computing, “program” is generally accepted over “programme”. Shorter words are more versatile in text messages and social media posts, and search engine optimisation often favours US spellings. The Googlelisation (or “Googlization”) of the internet is one reason that Thai learners, for instance, prefer American spellings.
But the internet is also exposing people to a large variety of spellings. So “people are representing their spoken dialects more through spelling in spaces like Twitter and Instagram”, says Lauren Squires, a linguist at Ohio State University. She believes that “people are becoming more comfortable with spelling variation”, even though there’s a strong and enduring idea that only one spelling can be correct.
QUESTÃO 21
(UEL 2020) Sobre o texto Simpler spelling may be more relevant than ever, considere as afirmativas a seguir.
I. A complexidade da ortografia da língua inglesa resulta da variedade de palavras das diversas línguas que a compõem.
II. Noah Webster foi líder de um movimento para simplificar a ortografia da língua inglesa em território norte-americano.
III. A proposta da simplificação ortográfica teve cunho político na medida em que permitia distinguir o inglês do norte da América do inglês da Inglaterra.
IV. Os defensores da simplificação ortográfica acreditavam que a complexidade empobrecia a língua inglesa e ameaçava a democracia norte-americana.
Assinale a alternativa correta.
a) Somente as afirmativas I e II são corretas.
b) Somente as afirmativas I e IV são corretas.
c) Somente as afirmativas III e IV são corretas.
d) Somente as afirmativas I, II e III são corretas.
e) Somente as afirmativas II, III e IV são corretas.
QUESTÃO ANTERIOR:
- (UEL 2020) Acerca do último parágrafo “O projeto é uma parceria da Universidade Federal de Sergipe com a prefeitura e delegacia da cidade de Lagarto."
Conteúdo programático:
Leitura geral e para buscar informações específicas (Skimming e Scanning)
RESOLUÇÃO:
I. Correta. O texto afirma que a ortografia inconsistente do inglês é devido às muitas palavras absorvidas de outras línguas (English’s erratic spellings bear witness to the many words it has absorbed from other languages).
II. Correta. Webster foi o principal articulador do movimento para a simplificação ortográfica nos EUA e pioneiro na elaboração de dicionário nos EUA (These US spellings are a legacy of dictionary pioneer Noah Webster’s movement for simplified spelling).
III. Correta. Webster acreditava que a simplificação ortográfica seria mais democrática e auxiliaria a diferenciação entre americanos e ingleses (would help differentiate the Americans from their recent colonial masters across the pond).
IV. Incorreta. Não há menção no texto a esse respeito. O texto diz que a complexidade ortográfica tanto enriquece a língua quando traz desafios para a padronização da sua simplificação (Like the wealth of accents among English speakers, this feature both enriches the language and poses a challenge to standardised simplified spellings). Quanto à questão da democracia, Webster acreditava que uma ortografia simplificada seria mais democrática, como mostra o trecho (Webster reasoned, but humbler spellings were actually more democratic).
GABARITO:
d) Somente as afirmativas I, II e III são corretas.
PRÓXIMA QUESTÃO:
- (UEL 2020) De acordo com o texto, um dos argumentos da English Spelling Society para defender a simplificação da ortografia da língua inglesa é que
QUESTÃO DISPONÍVEL EM:
- Prova UEL 2020 (1ª e 2ª Fases) com Gabarito e Resolução
Simpler spelling may be more relevant than ever
The complexity of English spellings has been bothering people for nearly as long as English has been written down. They argue that inconsistent spellings make English unnecessarily hard to learn. The English Spelling Society, a UK organisation pushing for easier spellings, even argues that there’s a link between difficult spelling and higher crime, with illiteracy pushing people into a life of illegality. While that argument might be a stretch, it’s clear that non-traditional spelling does create a bad impression.
Compared to the UK variants, US spellings are easier for non-native speakers to learn, being shorter and slightly more phonetic. These US spellings are a legacy of dictionary pioneer Noah Webster’s movement for simplified spelling. This movement sought to cleanse English of double and silent letters, as well as other inefficiencies related to orthography (the system of writing and spelling words).
There was a practical as well as a political element to this. Not only would learners find it easier to master simplified spellings, Webster reasoned, but humbler spellings were actually more democratic, and would help differentiate the Americans from their recent colonial masters across the pond.
Webster’s ideas led to the proliferation in the US of “labor” over “labour” and “center” over “centre”, even if not all his ideas have become the “fashon”. For one thing, English is such an irregular language that it’s impossible to iron out all the kinks. No form of English is written out completely phonetically, as anybody with a tough cough (tuf cawf?) will know. Any new spelling rules would need plenty of exceptions. Overall, English’s erratic spellings bear witness to the many words it has absorbed from other languages. Like the wealth of accents among English speakers, this feature both enriches the language and poses a challenge to standardised simplified spellings.
English spellings and dyslexia
One group that might be helped by simpler spellings is people with dyslexia. In linguistic terms, English is opaque, meaning that there’s little correlation and consistency between its spoken and written forms. What you read and what you say can seem very different. Finnish and Spanish, in contrast, are more transparent.
So “kids learn to read English slower than kids who learned transparent languages like Spanish, Italian, Czech, German”, says Liory Fern-Pollak, a cognitive neuroscientist at University College London.
As dyslexia has a neurological basis, an affected person would have dyslexia regardless of whether they were born in Finland or England. But Fern-Pollak explains that it would be easier to diagnose them in England, as they grapple with the idiosyncratic spellings of English.
English in the internet age
Webster’s ideas are perhaps newly relevant, as the language of IT and the internet increasingly influences how English is written. Globally, Google returns more results for US spellings. In computing, “program” is generally accepted over “programme”. Shorter words are more versatile in text messages and social media posts, and search engine optimisation often favours US spellings. The Googlelisation (or “Googlization”) of the internet is one reason that Thai learners, for instance, prefer American spellings.
But the internet is also exposing people to a large variety of spellings. So “people are representing their spoken dialects more through spelling in spaces like Twitter and Instagram”, says Lauren Squires, a linguist at Ohio State University. She believes that “people are becoming more comfortable with spelling variation”, even though there’s a strong and enduring idea that only one spelling can be correct.
RO, Christine. Simpler spelling may be more
relevant than ever. BBC Worklife. 13th June 2019.
QUESTÃO 21
(UEL 2020) Sobre o texto Simpler spelling may be more relevant than ever, considere as afirmativas a seguir.
I. A complexidade da ortografia da língua inglesa resulta da variedade de palavras das diversas línguas que a compõem.
II. Noah Webster foi líder de um movimento para simplificar a ortografia da língua inglesa em território norte-americano.
III. A proposta da simplificação ortográfica teve cunho político na medida em que permitia distinguir o inglês do norte da América do inglês da Inglaterra.
IV. Os defensores da simplificação ortográfica acreditavam que a complexidade empobrecia a língua inglesa e ameaçava a democracia norte-americana.
Assinale a alternativa correta.
a) Somente as afirmativas I e II são corretas.
b) Somente as afirmativas I e IV são corretas.
c) Somente as afirmativas III e IV são corretas.
d) Somente as afirmativas I, II e III são corretas.
e) Somente as afirmativas II, III e IV são corretas.
QUESTÃO ANTERIOR:
- (UEL 2020) Acerca do último parágrafo “O projeto é uma parceria da Universidade Federal de Sergipe com a prefeitura e delegacia da cidade de Lagarto."
Conteúdo programático:
Leitura geral e para buscar informações específicas (Skimming e Scanning)
RESOLUÇÃO:
I. Correta. O texto afirma que a ortografia inconsistente do inglês é devido às muitas palavras absorvidas de outras línguas (English’s erratic spellings bear witness to the many words it has absorbed from other languages).
II. Correta. Webster foi o principal articulador do movimento para a simplificação ortográfica nos EUA e pioneiro na elaboração de dicionário nos EUA (These US spellings are a legacy of dictionary pioneer Noah Webster’s movement for simplified spelling).
III. Correta. Webster acreditava que a simplificação ortográfica seria mais democrática e auxiliaria a diferenciação entre americanos e ingleses (would help differentiate the Americans from their recent colonial masters across the pond).
IV. Incorreta. Não há menção no texto a esse respeito. O texto diz que a complexidade ortográfica tanto enriquece a língua quando traz desafios para a padronização da sua simplificação (Like the wealth of accents among English speakers, this feature both enriches the language and poses a challenge to standardised simplified spellings). Quanto à questão da democracia, Webster acreditava que uma ortografia simplificada seria mais democrática, como mostra o trecho (Webster reasoned, but humbler spellings were actually more democratic).
GABARITO:
d) Somente as afirmativas I, II e III são corretas.
PRÓXIMA QUESTÃO:
- (UEL 2020) De acordo com o texto, um dos argumentos da English Spelling Society para defender a simplificação da ortografia da língua inglesa é que
QUESTÃO DISPONÍVEL EM:
- Prova UEL 2020 (1ª e 2ª Fases) com Gabarito e Resolução
COMENTÁRIOS