The (Inter)net. Special use of english

Abstract

The Internet is a large group of computers that are connected to each other. It is used to send information quickly between computers around the world. It has millions of smaller domestic, academic, business and government networks, which together carry lots of different information and services. The Internet is used for many things, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer and the interlinked web pages and other documents of the World Wide Web. In general, the universal language on the Internet is English, or more precisely, a vague collection of languages called „English”, because their common origin is the national language spoken in England. That national language has spread over the world, and several variants, such as American (US) English, Australian English, and Canadian English. In the textbooks I am using in high school classes there are some lessons concerning teaching English for the Internet (PROSPECTS advanced / UPSTREAM upper intermediate/MISSION 2) lessons dealing with special use of English as a foreign language.