TOEFL iBT Integrated Writing Task

Reading passage
It is generally accepted that English has the largest vocabulary of all the world’s languages. The 2005 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary contains 301,000 main entries, but if we count word combinations and phrases that total rises to more than 600,000 entries.

The reasons for this vast vocabulary are mostly historical. In the 11th century England was invaded and conquered by the Norman French who established a French speaking ruling class over the Anglo-Saxon (English speaking) common people. This immediately created a two-language system in England, and when the two languages eventually merged into modern English, the language had a large number of synonyms for many things and concepts. One rather unique feature of English is a result of this fusion of French and English. Unlike most languages, English has different words for animals and the meat that comes from them. For example the meat from a pig (a word from old English) is known as pork (a word from French).

Later in the 15th and 16th centuries, the explosion of scholarship which the Renaissance brought about was the route through which large numbers of Latin and Greek terms found their way into England, a process which has continued up until the present day. Words such as peninsula, physician, history and comedy are all derived from Latin and Greek roots.  

The expansion of the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries provides another explanation for the colossal size of the vocabulary of the English language. As British traders, soldiers and settlers fanned out across the globe to the Americas, Australia, Africa and Asia, they encountered thousands of new words, some of which they took into English. Jungle from Hindi, boss from Dutch, hurricane from the Caribbean Indians, tattoo from Tahitian and trek from Afrikaans are all examples of words that have been ‘stolen’ by English.

This expansion of the vocabulary of the English language is, it seems, a never-ending story. The Oxford English Dictionary adds about 1,000 new words a year and some estimates suggest that the 20th century saw 90,000 new words come into English.

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Listening passage
With so many languages contributing words to English, it is not surprising that some Japanese terms have been acquired. These come from many areas including business, the arts, sport, and cuisine. They form two main groups: those terms that have retained their original meaning and those where the meaning in English is different from the meaning in Japanese.

Many Japanese words that are connected with traditional Japanese culture and the arts have become common in English as the art form itself has become known in the west. Kabuki, a traditional form of theatre, or origami, the art of Japanese paper folding are two examples of words that have not in anyway changed their meaning after being acquired by English. When people in America or England use the word kabuki, they mean just that – the traditional Japanese theatre.

Examples of Japanese words that have changed their meaning on coming into English would include taikun and kamikaze. The former originally meant a great prince and was the term used by early European traders in Japan to refer to the shogun. After its journey into English, tycoon (now with an Anglicized spelling of T-Y-C-O-O-N) has come to mean a great leader of business or a captain of industry. Kamikaze, in Japanese, the divine wind which destroyed the invading Mongol fleet in the 12th century, was first used in English to refer to the suicide attack pilots used by Japan in the latter stages of World War 2. Even later it became an English slang expression meaning someone who behaved in a reckless, dangerous way.

English Vocabualry Reading notes
Main Idea: Reasons why English has largest vocab in the world
MP1 --- Norman invasion (11th C.)
              -- Norman ruling class spoke French
              -- ordinary people spoke Eng.
              -- languages merged, many synonyms
                     - e.g. pig/pork
MP2 --- Renaissance expansion of scholarship (15th,16th C.)
              -- many academic words from latin and Greek
                     - history, comedy, physician
MP3 --- British Empire (18th, 19th)
                    -- traders, settlers spread all over world
                    -- meet new words and 'steal' them
                          - jungle (Hindi), trek (Afrikaans), tattoo (Tahitian)
MP4 --- process continues
                    -- 1,000 new words a year
                   

English Vocabulary Listening notes
Main Idea: two types of Japanese words 'borrowed' by English.
MP1 ---words that keep their original meaning
                  -- kabuki
                        - trad. theatre
                  -- origami
                       - trad. paper folding
MP2 --- words where the meaning is different in English
                 -- tycoon
                       - (J) great prince (E) big businessman
                 -- kamikaze
                       - (J) divine wind (E) suicide attack pilot, later person who acts recklessly


(Do NOT try to include all of the notes above in your essay. These notes are very complete. You will not have time to reproduce them in your essay. Write only what you think is most important.)