2) These are some of the sentences that you will hear in the lecture. Read them paying attention to the italicized words and expressions.

1. Both humans and animals communicate with their own species.

2. All humans combine sound and meaning into a complex code of communication.

3. The oldest known writing was done approximately 5,000 years ago in Sumerian, the language of ancient Mesopotamia.

4. We do not know whether our different modern languages had one common source or whether they developed from different sources in different places during our prehistory.

5. The examination of the similarities and the differences that exist among today's various languages is called comparative linguistics.

6. Most of the languages used in the Western world today have been traced to the common, yet unrecorded, source which linguists call Proto-Indo-European.

7. There are more speakers of Chinese and Polynesian than there are speakers of Russian, Arabic, and the various Western languages put together.

8. Arabic belongs to the Afro-Asiatic family of languages.

9. English seems to have replaced French as the world's lingua franca.

10. It is no wonder that men and women have been so intrigued by the idea of developing an artificial "universal" language.

11. The most well-known attempt to develop an artificial universal language was the development of Esperanto.

12. Esperanto is a synthetic language which was devised in the nine­teenth century by a Polish scientist.

3. Now follow the Topic Outline while the speaker gives a brief overview of what will be discussed in the commentary. Lecture outline - a topic outline

I. Animal and Human Communication Systems

A. Animal signals

1. Gestures, sounds, and smells to convey anger, fear, contentment

2. Inability to carry message beyond immediate situation

B. Human system of communication—language

1. Ability to carry messages beyond immediate situation

2. Multi-dimensional aspects of communication system: speech, writing, sign language, music, dance, painting

II. The Origin of Language

A. Uncertainty about when, where, and how language began

1. No written records more than 5,000 years old

2. Earliest writing done in Sumerian

3. Uncertainty about whether all modern languages devel­oped from one common source or not

4. Attempt to trace origin of human languages—comparative linguistics

5. The tracing of Western languages to the common, unre­corded source— Proto-Indo-European

a. The major languages of Europe, North and South America

b. Certain Persian and several of India's chief languages

III. Statistics on Modern Languages

A. The languages of the Far East family

B. The languages of the Afro-Asiatic family

C. Languages spoken by large groups of people today

D. International languages of today - English and Spanish

IV. The Search for an Artificial "Universal" Language - Esperanto

4. Listen to the lecture. As you listen to it for the first time, use the outline from Exercise 3 to help you understand the general content of the lecture and the topics discussed.

5. Now listen to the lecture again and take your own notes.

6. Read the following questions. Choose the best answer (a), (b), (c), or (d). Refer to your notes before making the choice.

1) What is the basic form of human language?

1. gestures

2. speech

3. writing

4. all of the above

2) To the best of our knowledge, when was the oldest writing done?

1. 5,000 years ago in India

2. 15,000 years ago in India

3. 25,000 years ago in Mesopotamia

4. none of the above

3) How has man been able to trace the history of language down through the centuries?

1. By examining only the similarities that exist among languages

2. By examining only the differences that exist among languages

3. By examining the similarities and differ­ences that exist among today's and among ancient languages

4. none of the above

4) Which of the following languages is descended from Proto-Indo-European?

1. The major languages of Iran

2. The major languages of Europe

3. The major languages of South America

4. all of the above

5) Approximately how many people speak Russian?

1. 104 million

2. 114 million

3. 140 million

4. none of the above

6) How many fewer speakers of Russian than Chinese are there?

1. 3.5 million

2. 140 million

3. 660 million

4. 800 million

7) Which of the languages mentioned in the lecture is spoken by 115 million people?

1. Arabic

2. Chinese

3. Polynesian

4. none of the above

8) What is the estimated total number of speakers of Japanese?

1. 55 million

2. 60 million

3. 120 million

4. none of the above

9) Which language mentioned is spoken by 25 million people?

1. German

2. Persian

3. Vietnamese

4. none of the above

10) In total, how many people speak Thai and Vietnamese?

1. 25 million

2. 35 million

3. 64 million

4. none of the above

11) The major language of India, Hindi, is spoken by how many speakers?

1. 84 million

2. 104 million

3. 184 million

4. none of the above

12) Which of the world’s languages is spoken by more than 317 million speakers as a first language?

1. English

2. French

3. Spanish

4. all of the above

13) According to this lecture, what is the second most popular second language?

1. Esperanto

2. French

3. Russian

4. none of the above

14) What has one linguist estimated to be the exact number of languages spoken by various groups of people all over the world?

1. 2,796

2. 2,976

3. 3,096

4. none of the above

15) How many first languages are actually spoken by more that 50 million people?

1. 13 languages

2. 30 languages

3. 33 languages

4. none of the above

Check your answers with the class.

7. Read the following statements and decide if they agree with information given in the lecture.

Write:

TRUE = The statement is accurate according to the information pre­sented in the lecture. FALSE = The statement is inaccurate according to the information pre­sented in the lecture. ? = The accuracy or inaccuracy of the statement cannot be deter­mined from the information presented in the lecture.

1. Unlike humans, animals do not communicate with one another.

2. Gorillas will shake their heads from side to side as a warning.

3. Animals are incapable of expressing emotion.

4. Experiments with animals are being conducted to verify the fact that animals use communication signals.

5. In a general sense you are using language when you listen to music and when you go dancing.

6. Writing is the basic form of all language.

7. Oral communication is more prevalent than written com­munication among humans.

8. There exist today groups of people who have no writing system to record their speech.

9. The origin of language is shrouded in mystery.

10. Uncertainty still prevails today about whether all our lan­guages shared a common source or whether they evolved from different sources in different places.

11. Proto-Indo-European has been designated by linguists as the parent language of all modern languages.

12. Apparently the major languages of Europe, North and South America, Iran, and even of India have all descended from the same language.

13. More people throughout the world speak English as a first language.

14. The statistics on the number of speakers of certain languages are accurate and reliable.

15. Linguists favor the development of an artificial, "universal" language to replace English.

16. At various times in the history of the Eastern world, there have been attempts made to create an artificial "universal" lan­guage.

(From Advanced Listening Comprehension: Developing Listening and Note-taking Skills by P.Dunkel, F.Pialorsi)