· Step 2. Look over the 7 headings given in the table.
· Step 3. Skim each paragraph to identify the topic.
Match the given 7 headings with the 7 paragraphs of the text:
Consequences of superdiversity
Languaging perspectives
Tradition and modernity in language visions
Languaging is human
A superdiversity perspective
Factors of superdiversity
The term ‘Superdiversity’
Identifying where to find information.
· Step 1. Survey introductory and concluding paragraphs, and identify the core ideas of the passage.
· Step 2. Skim the rest of the passage to make sure.
· Step 3. Scan the text to find the correct wording of its main idea, the topic, and the purpose, write out the key words from each paragraph.
· Step 4. Skim the text for examples of descriptions, step-by-step explanations, directions, comparisons and contrasts, analyses, analogies, and definitions.
A/ The main idea is what the author has in mind when s/he is writing a text. Which one of the sentences given below most closely renders the main idea of the text?
1. Superdiversity is the new sociocultural diversity characterized by new forms of migration across the world, and the new forms of community formation.
2. Superdiversity means the presence of multiple cultures in one society.
3. Superdiversity eliminates discrimination and inequality.
4. Superdiversity is primarily charactetristic of the UK and, by extension, contemporary Europe.
5. Languages are sociocultural, or ideological, abstractions which match real-life use of language perfectly well.
B/ The topic is the subject area the author chooses to bring her/his idea to the reader. Identify the main topic of the text.
1. The making of languages in Europe.
2. A human turn in sociolinguistics.
3. Learning language in real life.
4. The new forms of sociocultural diversity and language practice.
5.Standardisation and regulation of language.
c/ The purpose of the text is what the author wants the reader to believe in. Does the writer want you to believe that:
1. Traditional language sciences don’t deal with languaging?
2. Boundaries between languages result from particular histories of standardisation and regulation?
3. Superdiverse conditions call for a new analysis and understanding of the phenomena of language and communication?
4. Humankind is a languaging species?
5. The concept of language exists only as a sociocultural invention?