Revised Thesis Statement

Polar Bears Need Help from the Governments of the Countries that Surround the Artic Ocean

Based on reports, studies and recent articles, I will argue, by establishing relationships between global warming and poor conditions of polar bears’ habitat, that if Canadian, American and Russian’s governments continue to ignore the repercussions of the climate change, especially in Artic regions, the polar bear will definitely be in danger of extinction and endanger lives and lifestyles of native groups living there.

Up to now - Note taking in order to select articles and important info

Up to now, I have selected important information in 22 articles. There are some other articles to be read (17 + little videos) Then, I will select the 15 sources and redo the note taking in my words and adding my opinion, etc. Work in progress. It's hard to redo all the work as I have to run faster in order to be where I would have been supposed to be in my process (if I had continue with the same topic).

New topic - Title +Thesis Statement

Polar Bears Need Help from the Governments of the Countries that Surround the Artic Ocean

Based on reports, studies and recent articles, I will argue that if Canada’s, United States’ and Russia’s government -to name only the most active countries’ governments surrounding the Artic ocean- continue to ignore the seriousness of the repercussions from which the climate change is responsible for, especially in Artic regions, the polar bear will definitely be in danger of extinction and cause great damage to native groups living there.

Re-organization of my topic

Sorry, I did not put my *taking notes* activity because I had to change my topic ...to narrow it down....I had to search for more specific articles and it took a while to find different kinds of information about global warming and polar bears in the Artic. I will make my selction this week and then I will do my Taking notes activity. I also want to have Prof St-Yves' approval before to continue on that. I will continue this week on it :)

In-class activity

Health Minister Warms up to Pandemic Action by Mike De Souza

Argument: Canada must take immediate action on global warming to cope with the threat of new infectious diseases from abroad.

Stated premise: Weather is getting hotter and it might have an impact on the spreading of infectious diseases that were never found in Canada before.
This statement is accurate if we take in consideration the spreading of new diseases such as the avian influenza, dengue fever and the West Nile virus.

Hidden premise: The Conservatives are going too soft on large emitters of greenhouse gas emissions and it does not help to reduce the spreading of new diseases.
Accuracy: The federal public health agency said that the Conservatives are spending more money on surveillance and prevention of various diseases that could now be spreading in Canada. The Conservatives do something but maybe it is not enough to really stop or to efficiently reduce the spreading.

The premises lead to the conclusion. Canada must act. The Conservatives (the present government) have to take better actions in order to reduce the spreading of exotic diseases in Canada.

Notes: Review of Literature

15 Sources Selected for the Review of the Literature + Taking Notes
*to be revised* with my new topic (more narrowed one)

Anonymous. Heating Up. Canada and the World Backgrounder. Waterloo: Oct 2005.Vol.71, Iss. 2; pg. 4, 4 pgs. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=924580481&sid=3&Fmt=4&clientId=9268&RQT=309&VName=PQD 19-01-2007
About green house effect, starting point of the global warming, natural vs. non –natural greenhouse effect. Medieval time natural warming. Canadian Arctic

Canadians Must Act Now on Global Warming. Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Man.: Dec 7, 2006. pg. A.14. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1175214201&sid=5&Fmt=3&clientId=9268&RQT=309&VName=PQD 28-01-2007
Canada’s needs, economy, industries, new technologies

Canadian Polar Bears in Alarming Decline. Canada NewsWire. Ottawa: Dec 15, 2006. pg. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1181103671&sid=5&Fmt=3&clientId=9268&RQT=309&VName=PQD 28-01-2007
Artic species, studies, polar bear, arctic situation.

De Souza, Mike. Health Minister Warms Up to Pandemic Action. CanWest News. Don Mills, Ont.: Oct 20, 2006. pg. 1 http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1149307671&sid=5&Fmt=3&clientId=9268&RQT=309&VName=PQD 28-01-2007
Viruses and global warming. Heat spreads viruses. Federal public health agency is spending money in order to prevent various diseases that could now be spreading in Canada.

Editorial – New Paths to Kyoto. Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Man.: Sep 29, 2006. pg. A.14 http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1137137541&sid=5&Fmt=3&clientId=9268&RQT=309&VName=PQD 28-01-2007
No plan for global warming in Canada. Conservative government investment vs. Liberal investment.

Campbell, Colin l. An Appetite for Destruction. Maclean's. Toronto: Nov 20, 2006.Vol.119, Iss. 46; pg. 51, 3 pgs http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1174173221&sid=6&Fmt=3&clientId=9268&RQT=309&VName=PQD 28-01-2007
Canada's failure to reduce its GHG emissions, in order to prevent global warming. After the Kyoto accord = rising level instead of lower ones.

<http://www.stanford.edu/~moore/Climate_of_Fear.pdf> 28-01-2007
Why we shouldn’t worry about global warming. Moore’s point of view towards global warming (online book).

<http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/education/scienceofclimatechange/understanding/FAQ/sections/3_e.html> 28-01-2007
The questions that most of us have concerning global warming. Many good insights are brought in this section.

<http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GlobalWarming/printall.php> 19-01-2007

<http://www.etc-cte.ec.gc.ca/news/articles/ermd2_e.html> 28-01-2007

<http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1998/0112/6101068a.html> 28-01-2007

British English Vs. American English

**Sorry for the delay, I had trouble with my word document, so I had to ask for help in order to make you able to see my answers instead of the questions only.**

Based on Practical English Usage by Michael Swan.
The examples are directly taken from it.




1) GRAMMAR p.39
In some cases there is only one form in British English while in American English there are two possible forms. The same is true of the opposite (BrE= 2 forms while AmE: 1 form)
Some irregular verbs have different forms in BrE and AmE.

BrE: He has probably arrived by now.
AmE: He probably has arrived by now. / He has probably arrived by now.

BrE: It looks as if it's going to rain. / It looks like it's going to rain.
AmE: It looks like it's going to rain.

2) VOCABULARY p.40
Sometimes there are differences in meaning.
Mad in BrE = crazy
Mad In AmE = angry

Different words are used to convey the same idea.
AmE = airplane
BrE = aeroplane
(Also look at the picture)

Expressions with prepositions and particles p .42
AmE = different from/than; on the weekend
BrE = different from/to; at the weekend

3) SPELLING p.42
The endings of certain type of words are different in AmE and BrE.
AmE = - or color
BrE= -our colour
AmE = -er center
BrE = -re centre
AmE = -ize organize
BrE = -ize/-ise organize /organise

4) PRONUNCIATION p.43
There many different regional accents in both countries. However, the most important differences between both are listed here:
a) There are more nasals in AmE.

b) In BrE there is a rounded short o used in: cot, dog, got, etc. differently (as the 1st vowel in father; or as in caught).

c) Some words written with a + consonants (fast, after) are pronounced differently.
AmE: /æ/ BrE: /α:/

d) The vowel in home, go, open is pronounced differently in BrE and in AmE.

e) In standard southern BrE the r is only pronounced before a vowel. For the rest, (AmE and other varieties of BrE) the r is pronounced no matter its position in the word and it affects the quality of the vowel that before it.

f) t and d have a very light voiced pronunciation between vowels. Writer and rider can sound the same as opposed to BrE.

g) Some words that sound /u:/ in AmE = /ju:/ in BrE. These sound are followed by th, d, t or n (and sometimes s or l)
Enthusiatic
Duty
Tune
New
Illuminate

h) Unstressed -ile (fertile. reptile, etc.)
AmE = /aIl/ (rhyming with turtle)
BrE =/l/ (rhyming with her tile)

i) Some long words ending in -ary, -ery or -ory are pronounced wit one more syllable in AmE.

j) Borough and Thorough are not pronounced the same in AmE and BrE.

k) Words borrowed from French are often stressed differently. The final vowel is usually stressed in AmE but not in BrE.
AmE = pa'té BrE = 'paté

What is standard English?
King Alfred's victory over the Vikings, in 878, made the government of Southern England appear in London. The language used by the King and the government make it become official. The fact that it was used in law, business, education and literature helped to make it standard.
Standard English is due to an accident.

What is a dialect?
Dialects are often seen as incorrect forms of a language, which is not true. Dialects have long history and they come from various forms of speech of the invaders. Each dialect has a grammar as rich and systematic as a standard language. A language is a dialect that has been adopted by people of importance for its use for the government and the education.

What are the characteristics of formal English as opposed to informal or spoken English?
Formality in language is used in situations where people have to be careful about the way they express themselves (Business letters or reports, meetings, etc.) Informal situations (conversations with friends, family letter, etc.) do not need formality.

Grammar p.293:
Contracted auxiliary verbs and negatives = informal
Place of prepositions can change the level of formality in a sentence.
Relative structures are different when it is formal or not.
Determiners are followed more often by singular verb forms in formal language, but by plural forms in informal language.
Subjects and object forms of pronouns can also influence the level of formality.
Leaving out words is informal.

Vocabulary p.294:
Some words and expressions are used mainly in formal situations and other words in informal or neutral ones only.

Do languages change over time? How and why?
Languages change over time. Younger people bring new forms of expression, while older ones often avoid change. The result is that people can speak the standard language but without speaking exactly the same way. There are various reasons why languages change over time. First all a communicative need for differentiate singular and plural gave place to expressions as you guys for the plural forms to replace ye. Expressions borrowed from other dialects also influenced languages. BrE is mainly influenced by AmE. Languages, over time, often simplify complicated structures as conditional structures in English. Progressive verb forms gradually became more and more used after they came into English a few hundred years ago. Even the verbs that are not usually used in the progressive tend to lose their resistance. Moreover some underground forms become accepted. In the same way, mistakes that are made by many people become normal a correct forms. Phonetically weak forms, as I've got, are so quiet that it is often not heard at all that people are now beginning to say I got. This could become a new regular form in some years.

Some more examples of changes in modern English are listed in Swan's grammar.
Whom became Who
Will and would have now practically replace 1st-person shall and should
Subjunctive were = less common
Adverbs without -ly = more common
Etc.