The Reading / Listening - Languages - Level 6

Evolutionary linguists believe they have made a "significant breakthrough" regarding the origin of Indo-European languages, including English and Sanskrit. The linguists say an ancient predecessor may have been spoken more than 8,100 years ago. The researchers are from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. Their study may resolve a 200-year-old dispute over where the ancestor of English came from. One school of thought posits English has its roots in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe on the northern shore of the Black Sea 6,000 years ago. A competing theory is that English originated from Anatolia (much of present-day Turkey) 9,000 years ago.

Indo-European languages are spoken by nearly half of the world's population. The most commonly-spoken members of this family are English, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, Bengali, French, Russian, Portuguese and Punjabi. Each of these have over 100 million native speakers. More than 80 language specialists created a huge databank of core vocabulary from 161 Indo-European languages. The study included 52 ancient and historical languages. Study co-author and Associate-Professor Russell Gray said: "Ancient DNA and [evolutionary language analysis] combine to suggest that the resolution to the 200-year-old Indo-European enigma lies in a hybrid of the [Steppe and Anatolia] hypotheses."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Languages - Level 4  or  Languages - Level 5

Sources
  • https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/english-sanskrit-common-ancestor-language-b2383469.html
  • https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2023-07-28/indo-european-dialects-dispersed-across-eurasia-in-successive-waves-over-the-course-of-8000-years.html
  • https://www.newscientist.com/article/2385057-origin-of-indo-european-languages-traced-back-to-8000-years-ago/


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. LANGUAGES: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about Languages. Change partners often and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?
       linguist / breakthrough / language / predecessor / dispute / ancestor / roots / theory /
       population / family / native speakers / specialists / vocabulary / ancient / enigma
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. LINGUA FRANCA: Students A strongly believe the world should have just one language; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. STUDYING LANGUAGES: What's the best way to learn a language? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

Method

Why It's Useful

Vocabulary

 

 

Speaking

 

 

Reading

 

 

Writing

 

 

Listening

 

 

Spelling

 

 
MY e-BOOK
ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers
See a sample

5. LINGUIST: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "linguist". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. LANGUAGE: Rank these with your partner. Put the most useful languages at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • English
  • Chinese
  • Arabic
  • Spanish
  • French
  • Japanese
  • Hindi
  • Bengali

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. evolutionary a. Put forward as fact or as a basis for argument.
      2. linguist b. a sudden, dramatic, and important discovery or development.
      3. breakthrough c. A thing that has been followed or replaced by another.
      4. ancient d. Relating to or denoting the process by which different kinds of things are believed to have developed from earlier forms.
      5. predecessor e. Settle or find a solution to a problem or contentious matter.
      6. resolve f. A person who studies language and its structure.
      7. posit g. Very, very, very old.

    Paragraph 2

      8. native h. One of two or more people to have jointly written a book, article, research paper, etc.
      9. databank i. A large folder of computer data on a particular topic.
      10. core j. Proposed explanations made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation.
      11. co-author k. Originally belonging to a place.
      12. enigma l. A person or thing that is mysterious or difficult to understand.
      13. hybrid m. The part of something that is central to its existence or character.
      14. hypotheses n. A thing made by combining two different elements.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. Revolutionary lingerers have made an important discovery.     T / F
  2. English belongs to the same family of languages as Sanskrit.     T / F
  3. There has been a two-century debate over the origins of English.     T / F
  4. One theory is that English originated in what used to be Turkey.     T / F
  5. More than half of people in the world speak Indo-European languages.     T / F
  6. There are fewer than 100 million native Bengali speakers in the world.     T / F
  7. Linguists analyzed vocabulary from 80 ancient languages.     T / F
  8. Linguists believe English started only north of the Black Sea.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

  1. breakthrough
  2. resolve
  3. posits
  4. theory
  5. originated
  6. specialists
  7. core
  8. ancient
  9. enigma
  10. hybrid
  1. experts
  2. postulates
  3. emanated
  4. mix
  5. advance
  6. basic
  7. mystery
  8. settle
  9. very, very old
  10. hypothesis

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

  1. linguists believe they have made a significant
  2. an ancient
  3. resolve a
  4. on the northern shore
  5. much of present-
  6. The most commonly-
  7. these have over 100 million
  8. a huge databank of core
  9. the 200-year-old Indo-European
  10. lies in a
  1. 200-year-old dispute
  2. enigma
  3. day Turkey
  4. native speakers
  5. predecessor
  6. breakthrough
  7. vocabulary
  8. hybrid
  9. of the Black Sea
  10. spoken members

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
origin
shore
resolve
posits
linguists
theory
ancient
dispute

Evolutionary (1) _____________________ believe they have made a "significant breakthrough" regarding the (2) _____________________ of Indo-European languages, including English and Sanskrit. The linguists say an (3) _____________________ predecessor may have been spoken more than 8,100 years ago. The researchers are from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. Their study may (4) _____________________ a 200-year-old (5) _____________________ over where the ancestor of English came from. One school of thought (6) _____________________ English has its roots in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe on the northern (7) _____________________ of the Black Sea 6,000 years ago. A competing (8) _____________________ is that English originated from Anatolia (much of present-day Turkey) 9,000 years ago.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
resolution
native
half
hypotheses
core
enigma
historical
commonly

Indo-European languages are spoken by nearly (9) _____________________ of the world's population. The most (10) _____________________ -spoken members of this family are English, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, Bengali, French, Russian, Portuguese and Punjabi. Each of these have over 100 million (11) _____________________ speakers. More than 80 language specialists created a huge databank of (12) _____________________ vocabulary from 161 Indo-European languages. The study included 52 ancient and (13) _____________________ languages. Study co-author and Associate-Professor Russell Gray said: "Ancient DNA and [evolutionary language analysis] combine to suggest that the (14) _____________________ to the 200-year-old Indo-European (15) _____________________ lies in a hybrid of the [Steppe and Anatolia] (16) _____________________."

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)  Evolutionary linguists believe they have made ______
     a.  a significance breakthrough
     b.  a significantly breakthrough
     c.  a significant breakthrough
     d.  a signify can't breakthrough
2)  The linguists say an ancient ______
     a.  predecessors may have
     b.  precursor may have
     c.  processor may have
     d.  precedent may have
3)  Their study may resolve a 200-year-old dispute over ______
     a.  were the ancestor
     b.  there the ancestor
     c.  why the ancestor
     d.  where the ancestor
4)  of thought posits English has its roots in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe on ______
     a.  the northern shore
     b.  the northern sure
     c.  the northern Shaw
     d.  the northern snore
5)  A competing theory is that English ______
     a.  originated from Anatolia
     b.  originated for Anatolia
     c.  originated frame Anatolia
     d.  originated of Anatolia

6)  The most commonly-spoken members of this ______
     a.  familiar are English
     b.  familial are English
     c.  family are English
     d.  famine are English
7)  Each of these have over 100 ______
     a.  million nativity speakers
     b.  million mature speakers
     c.  million mastiff speakers
     d.  million native speakers
8)  More than 80 language specialists created a huge databank ______
     a.  of corps vocabulary
     b.  of core vocabulary
     c.  of caw vocabulary
     d.  of cor vocabulary
9)  Ancient DNA and [evolutionary language analysis] combine to suggest ______
     a.  that the revolution
     b.  that the resolution
     c.  that the revolting
     d.  that the rendition
10)  the 200-year-old Indo-European enigma lies in a hybrid of the ______
     a.  [Steppe and Anatolia] hypothesis
     b.  [Steppe and Anatolia] hippo theses
     c.  [Steppe and Anatolia] hippo thesis
     d.  [Steppe and Anatolia] hypo thesis

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

(1) ____________________ they have made a "significant breakthrough" (2) ____________________ of Indo-European languages, including English and Sanskrit. The linguists say (3) ____________________ may have been spoken more than 8,100 years ago. The researchers are from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. Their study may resolve a 200-year-old (4) ____________________ the ancestor of English came from. One school of thought posits English has its roots in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe on the (5) ____________________ the Black Sea 6,000 years ago. A competing theory is that English originated from Anatolia (much of (6) ____________________) 9,000 years ago.

Indo-European languages are spoken (7) ____________________ of the world's population. The most (8) ____________________ of this family are English, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, Bengali, French, Russian, Portuguese and Punjabi. Each of these have over 100 (9) ____________________. More than 80 language specialists created a huge (10) ____________________ vocabulary from 161 Indo-European languages. The study included 52 ancient and historical languages. Study co-author and Associate-Professor Russell Gray said: "Ancient DNA and [(11) ____________________] combine to suggest that the resolution to the 200-year-old Indo-European (12) ____________________ a hybrid of the [Steppe and Anatolia] hypotheses."

Comprehension questions

  1. Who does the article say made a breakthrough?
  2. When might an ancient predecessor have been spoken?
  3. How old is the dispute regarding the origins of English?
  4. Where is the Pontic-Caspian Steppe?
  5. Where does the article say Anatolia is?
  6. How many people speak Indo-European languages?
  7. How many people speak Punjabi?
  8. How many ancient and historical languages did linguists look at?
  9. Who is Russell Gray?
  10. What did Mr Gray say the Indo-European enigma lie in?

Multiple choice quiz

1) Who does the article say made a breakthrough?
a) Indians and Europeans
b) revolutionary legumins
c) evolutionary linguists
d) revolutionary linguists
2) When might an ancient predecessor have been spoken?
a) more than 8,100 years ago
b) exactly 8,100 years ago
c) less than 8,100 years ago
d) around 8,100 years ago
3) How old is the dispute regarding the origins of English?
a) 300 years old
b) 200 years old
c) 100 years old
d) 400 years old
4) Where is the Pontic-Caspian Steppe?
a) Azerbaijan
b) in Russia
c) Armenia
d) on the northern shore of the Black Sea
5) Where does the article say Anatolia is?
a) around the Mediterranean
b) the Caucuses
c) present-day Turkey
d) Russia

6) How many people speak Indo-European languages?
a) three-quarters of the world
b) nearly half of the world's population
c) three-fifths of people worldwide
d) two-thirds of us
7) How many people speak Punjabi?
a) exactly 100 million
b) fewer than 100 million
c) around 100 million
d) over 100 million
8) How many ancient and historical languages did linguists look at?
a) 51
b) 52
c) 53
d) 54
9) Who is Russell Gray?
a) a journalist
b) the study's co-author
c) a lexicographer
d) a word smith
10) What did Mr Gray say the Indo-European enigma lie in?
a) a hybrid
b) a mess
c) ruins
d) a mystery

Role play

Role  A – English
You think English is the most useful language. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their language isn't as important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): Chinese, Arabic or Spanish.

Role  B – Chinese
You think Chinese is the most useful language. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their language isn't as important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): English, Arabic or Spanish.

Role  C – Arabic
You think Arabic is the most useful language. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their language isn't as important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): Chinese, English or Spanish.

Role  D – Spanish
You think Spanish is the most useful language. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their language isn't as important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): Chinese, Arabic or English.

After reading / listening

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words...

'English'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • and 'language'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • • Share your findings with your partners.

    • Make questions using the words you found.

    • Ask your partner / group your questions.

    2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

    •Share your questions with other classmates / groups. •Ask your partner / group your questions.

    3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

    4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

    5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

    • believe
    • say
    • resolve
    • school
    • shore
    • theory
    • spoken
    • family
    • over
    • 52
    • DNA
    • lies

    Student survey

    Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

    (Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Discussion - Languages

    STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'English'?
    3. How important is English?
    4. What are your favourite languages?
    5. What do you know about the evolution and history of your language?
    6. How easy or difficult is your language to learn?
    7. How easy or difficult is English to learn?
    8. Should we all be learning Chinese now?
    9. What do you like and dislike about English?
    10. What are the best ways to learn languages?

    STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'language'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. How did English get to be so important in the world?
    5. Would the world be more peaceful if we all spoke the same language?
    6. How does having thousands of languages make the world better?
    7. What new languages would you like to learn?
    8. Will AI mean we won't need to learn languages in the future?
    9. How many languages should people learn?
    10. What questions would you like to ask the linguists?

    Discussion — Write your own questions

    STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

    (a) ________________

    (b) ________________

    (c) ________________

    (d) ________________

    (e) ________________

    STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

    (f) ________________

    (g) ________________

    (h) ________________

    (i) ________________

    (j) ________________

    Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

    Evolutionary linguists believe they have made a "(1) ____ breakthrough" regarding the origin of Indo-European languages, including English and Sanskrit. The linguists say an (2) ____ predecessor may have been spoken more than 8,100 years ago. The researchers are from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. Their study may (3) ____ a 200-year-old dispute over where the ancestor of English came from. One (4) ____ of thought posits English has its roots in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe on the northern (5) ____ of the Black Sea 6,000 years ago. A competing theory is that English originated from Anatolia ((6) ____ of present-day Turkey) 9,000 years ago.

    Indo-European languages are spoken by nearly half of the world's population. The most (7) ____-spoken members of this family are English, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, Bengali, French, Russian, Portuguese and Punjabi. Each of these have over 100 million (8) ____ speakers. More than 80 language specialists created a huge databank of (9) ____ vocabulary from 161 Indo-European languages. The study (10) ____ 52 ancient and historical languages. Study co-author and Associate-Professor Russell Gray said: "Ancient DNA and [evolutionary language analysis] combine to suggest (11) ____ the resolution to the 200-year-old Indo-European enigma (12) ____ in a hybrid of the [Steppe and Anatolia] hypotheses."

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     insignificant     (b)     significant     (c)     significantly     (d)     significance    
    2. (a)     anxious     (b)     ancient     (c)     ardent     (d)     anchored    
    3. (a)     revolve     (b)     resend     (c)     resile     (d)     resolve    
    4. (a)     university     (b)     school     (c)     institute     (d)     college    
    5. (a)     Shaw     (b)     share     (c)     sure     (d)     shore    
    6. (a)     many     (b)     more     (c)     much     (d)     major    
    7. (a)     commonly     (b)     commoner     (c)     commons     (d)     common    
    8. (a)     nativity     (b)     mature     (c)     native     (d)     natural    
    9. (a)     cower     (b)     craw     (c)     claw     (d)     core    
    10. (a)     included     (b)     concluded     (c)     excluded     (d)     precluded    
    11. (a)     that     (b)     what     (c)     which     (d)     thus    
    12. (a)     lies     (b)     allays     (c)     lays     (d)     lees

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. ytaiourevnlo linguists
    2. an nacniet predecessor
    3. a 200-year-old isutepd
    4. where the tenscoar of English came from
    5. One school of thought itsspo English has…
    6. A competing etoyhr

    Paragraph 2

    1. More than 80 language etspiaslsic
    2. created a huge aatbakdn of core vocabulary
    3. combine to suggest that the sooueltirn
    4. the 200-year-old Indo-European agenmi
    5. lies in a rbydih
    6. the Steppe and Anatolia pteohsyhes

    Put the text back together

    (...)   of Indo-European languages, including English and Sanskrit. The linguists say an
    (...)   roots in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe on the northern shore of the Black Sea 6,000 years ago. A competing
    (  1  ) Evolutionary linguists believe they have made a "significant breakthrough" regarding the origin
    (...)   theory is that English originated from Anatolia (much of present-day Turkey) 9,000 years ago.
    (...)   the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. Their study may resolve a 200-year-old
    (...)   dispute over where the ancestor of English came from. One school of thought posits English has its
    (...)   Indo-European languages are spoken by nearly half of the world’s population. The most commonly-
    (...)   and historical languages. Study co-author and Associate-Professor Russell Gray said: "Ancient
    (...)   ancient predecessor may have been spoken more than 8,100 years ago. The researchers are from
    (...)   spoken members of this family are English, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, Bengali, French, Russian, Portuguese
    (...)   databank of core vocabulary from 161 Indo-European languages. The study included 52 ancient
    (...)   DNA and [evolutionary language analysis] combine to suggest that the resolution
    (...)   and Punjabi. Each of these have over 100 million native speakers. More than 80 language specialists created a huge
    (...)   to the 200-year-old Indo-European enigma lies in a hybrid of the [Steppe and Anatolia] hypotheses."

    Put the words in the right order

    1. believe   they   significant   have   a   breakthrough   .  made   Linguists
    2. been   predecessor   may   have   An   ancient   spoken   .
    3. 200-year-old   study   may   resolve   Their   dispute   .   a
    4. of   Where   ancestor   from   .   came   the   English
    5. theory   competing   originated   is   English   A   Anatolia   .   from
    6. the   population   .   by   of   world's   spoken   Languages   half
    7. members   this   commonly-spoken   most   The   of   family   .
    8. language   a   huge   created   Over   80   databank   .   specialists
    9. included   and   ancient   historical   The   languages   .   52   study
    10. enigma   .   The   to   Indo-European   resolution   the   200-year-old

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    Evolutionary linguists / linguistics believe they have made a "significant breakthrough" regarding the originality / origin of Indo-European languages, including English and Sanskrit. The linguists say an ancient professor / predecessor may have been talked / spoken more than 8,100 years ago. The researchers are from / of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. Their study may resolve / revolve a 200-year-old dispute surround / over where the ancestor of English came from. One school of thought posts / posits English has its roots in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe on / in the northern shore of the Black Sea 6,000 years ago. A competing theory is that English originated from Anatolia (much / many of present-day Turkey) 9,000 years ago.

    Indo-European languages are spoken by / at nearly half of the world's population. The most commonly-spoken members / people of this family are English, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, Bengali, French, Russian, Portuguese and Punjabi. Each of them / these have over 100 million native / nativity speakers. More than 80 language specialists created a hued / huge databank of core / caw vocabulary from 161 Indo-European languages. The study included 52 ancient and hysterical / historical languages. Study co-author and Associate-Professor Russell Gray said: "Ancient NDA / DNA and [evolutionary language analysis] combine to suggest what / that the resolution to the 200-year-old Indo-European enigma lies / lays in a hybrid of the [Steppe and Anatolia] hypotheses."

    Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct. Look up the definition of new words.

    Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

    _v_l_t__n_ry  l_ng__sts  b_l__v_  th_y  h_v_  m_d_  _  "s_gn_f_c_nt  br__kthr__gh"  r_g_rd_ng  th_  _r_g_n  _f  _nd_-__r_p__n  l_ng__g_s,  _ncl_d_ng  _ngl_sh  _nd  S_nskr_t.  Th_  l_ng__sts  s_y  _n  _nc__nt  pr_d_c_ss_r  m_y  h_v_  b__n  sp_k_n  m_r_  th_n  8,100  y__rs  _g_.  Th_  r_s__rch_rs  _r_  fr_m  th_  M_x  Pl_nck  _nst_t_t_  f_r  _v_l_t__n_ry  _nthr_p_l_gy  _n  G_rm_ny.  Th__r  st_dy  m_y  r_s_lv_  _  200-y__r-_ld  d_sp_t_  _v_r  wh_r_  th_  _nc_st_r  _f  _ngl_sh  c_m_  fr_m.  _n_  sch__l  _f  th__ght  p_s_ts  _ngl_sh  h_s  _ts  r__ts  _n  th_  P_nt_c-C_sp__n  St_pp_  _n  th_  n_rth_rn  sh_r_  _f  th_  Bl_ck  S__  6,000  y__rs  _g_.  _  c_mp_t_ng  th__ry  _s  th_t  _ngl_sh  _r_g_n_t_d  fr_m  _n_t_l__  (m_ch  _f  pr_s_nt-d_y  T_rk_y)  9,000  y__rs  _g_.

    _nd_-__r_p__n  l_ng__g_s  _r_  sp_k_n  by  n__rly  h_lf  _f  th_  w_rld's  p_p_l_t__n.  Th_  m_st  c_mm_nly-sp_k_n  m_mb_rs  _f  th_s  f_m_ly  _r_  _ngl_sh,  H_nd_,  _rd_,  Sp_n_sh,  B_ng_l_,  Fr_nch,  R_ss__n,  P_rt_g__s_  _nd  P_nj_b_.  __ch  _f  th_s_  h_v_  _v_r  100  m_ll__n  n_t_v_  sp__k_rs.  M_r_  th_n  80  l_ng__g_  sp_c__l_sts  cr__t_d  _  h_g_  d_t_b_nk  _f  c_r_  v_c_b_l_ry  fr_m  161  _nd_-__r_p__n  l_ng__g_s.  Th_  st_dy  _ncl_d_d  52  _nc__nt  _nd  h_st_r_c_l  l_ng__g_s.  St_dy  c_-__th_r  _nd  _ss_c__t_-Pr_f_ss_r  R_ss_ll  Gr_y  s__d:  "_nc__nt  DN_  _nd  [_v_l_t__n_ry  l_ng__g_  _n_lys_s]  c_mb_n_  t_  s_gg_st  th_t  th_  r_s_l_t__n  t_  th_  200-y__r-_ld  _nd_-__r_p__n  _n_gm_  l__s  _n  _  hybr_d  _f  th_  St_pp_]  _nd _n_t_l__ hyp_th_s_s."

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    evolutionary linguists believe they have made a significant breakthrough regarding the origin of indoeuropean languages including english and sanskrit the linguists say an ancient predecessor may have been spoken more than 8100 years ago the researchers are from the max planck institute for evolutionary anthropology in germany their study may resolve a 200yearold dispute over where the ancestor of english came from one school of thought posits english has its roots in the ponticcaspian steppe on the northern shore of the black sea 6000 years ago a competing theory is that english originated from anatolia much of presentday turkey 9000 years ago

    indoeuropean languages are spoken by nearly half of the worlds population the most commonlyspoken members of this family are english hindi urdu spanish bengali french russian portuguese and punjabi each of these have over 100 million native speakers more than 80 language specialists created a huge databank of core vocabulary from 161 indoeuropean languages the study included 52 ancient and historical languages study coauthor and associateprofessor russell gray said ancient dna and evolutionary language analysis combine to suggest that the resolution to the 200yearold indoeuropean enigma lies in a hybrid of the steppe and anatolia hypotheses

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Evolutionarylinguistsbelievetheyhavemadea"significantbreakthrou
    gh"regardingtheoriginofIndo-Europeanlanguages,includingEnglish
    andSanskrit.Thelinguistssayanancientpredecessormayhavebeensp
    okenmorethan8,100yearsago.TheresearchersarefromtheMaxPlanc
    kInstituteforEvolutionaryAnthropologyinGermany.Theirstudymayr
    esolvea200-year-olddisputeoverwheretheancestorofEnglishcamef
    rom.OneschoolofthoughtpositsEnglishhasitsrootsinthePontic-Casp
    ianSteppeonthenorthernshoreoftheBlackSea6,000yearsago.Acomp
    etingtheoryisthatEnglishoriginatedfromAnatolia(muchofpresent-
    dayTurkey)9,000yearsago.Indo-Europeanlanguagesarespokenb
    ynearlyhalfoftheworld'spopulation.Themostcommonly-spokenm
    embersofthisfamilyareEnglish,Hindi,Urdu,Spanish,Bengali,French,
    Russian,PortugueseandPunjabi.Eachofthesehaveover100millionnat
    ivespeakers.Morethan80languagespecialistscreatedahugedataban
    kofcorevocabularyfrom161Indo-Europeanlanguages.Thestudyinclu
    ded52ancientandhistoricallanguages.Studyco-authorandAssociat
    eProfessorRussellGraysaid:"AncientDNAand[evolutionarylanguage
    analysis]combinetosuggestthattheresolutiontothe200-year-oldIn
    doEuropeanenigmaliesinahybridofthe[SteppeandAnatolia]hypothe
    ses."

    Free writing

    Write about Indo-European languages for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    The world would be better if there was just one, global language. Discuss.

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    Homework

    1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.
    2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
    3. LANGUAGES: Make a poster about languages. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. A GLOBAL LANGUAGE: Write a magazine article about having just one language on Earth. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
    Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).
    5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.
    6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on languages. Ask him/her three questions about them. Give him/her three of your opinions on your language. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

    A Few Additional Activities for Students

    Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

    Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

    Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

    Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

    Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

    Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

    Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

    Also...

    Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

    • News
    • Warm ups
    • Pre-reading / Post-reading
    • Using headlines
    • Working with words
    • While-reading / While-listening
    • Moving from text to speech
    • Post-reading / Post-listening
    • Discussions
    • Using opinions
    • Plans
    • Language
    • Using lists
    • Using quotes
    • Task-based activities
    • Role plays
    • Using the central characters in the article
    • Using themes from the news
    • Homework

    Buy my book

    $US 9.99

    Answers

    (Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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