Questões de Concursos Língua Inglesa

The family of teenager Gaia Pope are appealing for people to create and donate artwork to honour her memory a year after her death.

The 19-year-old was reported missing from Swanage on 7 November. Her body was found 11 days later near the Dorset coast path.

Her family said as the anniversary of her disappearance approached they were "asking people to make something to show she is not forgotten".

The artwork will be displayed online.

Miss Pope, from Langton Matravers, near Swanage, made an allegation she was raped two years before her death.

Her family claimed an alleged failed police investigation "severely affected Gaia's mental and physical state".

Art, particularly pyrography (woodburning), became a form of therapy for the teenager, her family said.

Her mother Natasha Pope said: "I don't speak about my daughter in the past tense - I utter her name as I always have because I know she is still with me, every moment, in all we're doing.

"Gaia's art and poetry, inspired by the beauty of nature and the strength of femininity, is her way of connecting with her true self. In spite of all she's been through she is not defined by that.

"Our Gaia would want to provide a forum for others to find their voice and create."

Miss Pope's cousin Marienna Pope-Weidemann added: "Some things are so big, run so deep, they can only be expressed through art. Our love and our grief for Gaia feels that way.

"The love we've felt from the community felt that way too. We want to honour that, make it visible, maybe do something to show other survivors, families who's lost someone too soon, that they are not alone."

The family said the project was inspired by the #JusticeForLB social media campaign and want people to share their art on Twitter via #JusticeForGaia.

The #JusticeForLB campaign was set up by Dr Sara Ryan - the mother of 18-year-old Connor Sparrowhawk, who had epilepsy and drowned in a bath after having a seizure in Oxford.

Dorset Police is being investigated over the way it handled the rape allegation and its response to Miss Pope's disappearance.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset45571415

Twenty-seven years after democracy, English retains its hegemony as the language of influence, means, and access in all spheres of life – despite progressive language policies and government promises to foster all eleven official languages. “We are a multilingual country with monolingual practices,” said University of Cape Town (UCT) Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng in a public lecture, delivered as Bristol Illustrious Visiting Professor (BIVP). [...] In 1997 South Africa announced a new Language in Education policy for schools, recognising eleven official languages and encouraging multilingualism. Within this policy, learners must choose the preferred language of learning on admission to a school. Where the language they choose is not available, parents can apply to the provincial education department to provide instruction. Most choose English – probably through their parents’ influence, as it holds the key to opportunities, said Phakeng.

In 2020 the Department of Higher Education and Training published a language policy framework for public higher education institutions. These policies are intended to develop and strengthen indigenous languages as languages of scholarship, teaching and learning, and communication in South African universities, said Phakeng. The policy framework is also meant to highlight the role of higher education in creating and promoting conditions for the development of historically marginalized official South African languages of the Khoi, Nama, and San people, as well as sign language [...].

History has shown that despite their lofty intentions, both policies have failed to redress the situation. English still dominates in almost every facet of public life. The reasons are many and complex, said Phakeng [...].

“For example, you can be fluent in six of the country’s eleven official languages but denied an opportunity to join the military, because your matric English mark was 45%. It doesn’t matter that you scored 78% for your home language, Xhosa.” [...] Research suggests that schools are not opting to use indigenous African languages as languages of learning and teaching, in both policy and practice. Those in power should have known better, Phakeng said.

“Mother-tongue instruction has a bad image among speakers of African languages. It is associated with apartheid, and hence inferior education – parents’ memories of Bantu education, combined with our perception of English as a gateway to better education, and making most black parents favor English from the beginning.”

English is also a prerequisite for anyone aspiring to become a professional in South Africa. [...]

(Adapted from: https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2022-03-10-failed-policies-false-promises-bedevil-multilingualism-in-sa)

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By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Epic of Gilgamesh, from ancient Mesopotamia, is often cited as the first great literary composition, although some shorter have survived that are even earlier (notably the “Kesh Temple Hymn” and “The Instructions of Shuruppak”). Apart from its length, the Epic of Gilgamesh may be considered the earliest significant composition because of its enduring impact on literature through the ages. It is believed to have influenced other ancient literary works, including the Iliad, the Odyssey, Alexander romance literature, and the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), all of which continue to have significant literary impact in their own right.

Available at: https://www.britannica.com/story/what-was-the-first-book-ever-written# Access at: 02 dec. 2024. Adapted.