BBC Learnings · Section 9

Does your name start with the wrong letter

Now, Sam, I assume that you know your alphabet? Of course, Neil. You mean my ABCs?

Level: B2 · 118 sentences

Transcript

Now, Sam, I assume that you know your alphabet?
Of course, Neil. You mean my ABCs?
We learned that at a very young age, you know.
Sorry to sound patronising, but you do know why the letters
in the alphabet are in that particular order?
No, I don't. That's really interesting.
Why? I don't know either.
I was hoping you might. But seriously,
no one really knows how the order became established.
However, some research has shown that if your surname begins
with a letter later in the alphabet,
you could be at a disadvantage at school and in life.
Before we get into that though, a question.
Where does the alphabet come from in its earliest form?
Was it a ancient Egypt, b ancient Greece or c ancient Rome?
What do you think, Sam?
Well, we refer to the English alphabet as having Roman characters,
so I'm going with ancient Rome.
OK. Well, I'll have the answer later in the programme.
In the BBC radio programme Fry's English Delight,
there was a feature about the alphabet
and how it can have a negative impact on your school life.
Can you remember all those years
ago when you were at school?
What's the first thing that the teacher
would do at the beginning of the day?
She would take the register,
or that's what we call it in the UK.
You can also call it the roll call.
Yes, this is when the teacher calls
out the names to the students
to check that they are all there.
This is where the problem starts, according to, ironically,
Professor Jeffrey Zaks from the University of Colorado.
The further down that list your name
is, the less noticed you are by the teacher.
Why is that? Here's Professor Zacks.
When it begins, people are paying attention.
As it proceeds, first, the people who are already called,
they no longer have any need to take the thing seriously.
And the people who are waiting to be called,
their attention is wandering as well.
And so as you make your way through the roll call,
somehow the intensity of the engagement diminishes.
So what is the problem?
Well, it's a lot to do with paying attention.
This means concentrating on something.
At the beginning of the roll call, everyone is paying attention.
They are quiet and listening.
But after the first names are called,
those students don't need to pay attention any more.
So they lose a bit of interest
in what comes next and the students later
in the list are also now distracted and the teacher,
him or herself, is not so focused.
And by the end of the list,
the relationship between the teacher and the students
whose names are being called later
is not as strong as those at the beginning of the list.
Professor Zacks describes this by saying
that the intensity of the engagement diminishes.
Diminishes means gets weaker.
And the intensity of the engagement
is the strength of the communication,
the level of enthusiasm for being involved.
So this is the start of the disadvantage,
which can subtly affect students throughout their school years and after.
This was discovered after some research
in the US in the 1950s.
So what were these disadvantages? Here's Professor Zacks again.
They were less likely to have enjoyed their high school courses,
graduate from college if they applied,
they were more likely to drop out,
they had first jobs in occupations that paid
less, they were more likely to go
to the military and they were more likely
to have jobs whose prestige was lower.
So what disadvantages did they have?
Well, Professor Zak says that the research showed they enjoyed school less,
were less successful academically and more likely
to drop out of college or university.
This means that they left the course before it was finished.
And he also said that they were more likely
to find jobs that had a lower prestige.
This means the jobs weren't seen as high status or desirable.
Let's listen again.
They were less likely to have enjoyed their high school courses,
graduate from college if they applied,
they were more likely to drop out,
they had first jobs in occupations that paid
less, they were more likely to go to the military,
and they were more likely to have jobs whose prestige was lower.
Well, Professor Zak seems to have done OK, even with that surname.
Indeed, I guess this doesn't apply to everyone.
Right, well, before we remind ourselves of our vocabulary,
let's get the answer to the question.
Where does the alphabet come from in its earliest form?
Was it a ancient Egypt, b ancient Greece or c ancient Rome?
Sam, what did you say? Pretty sure it's ancient Rome.
What does your surname begin with?
A B actually. Well, you're wrong I'm afraid.
It's actually ancient Egypt, so well
done to everyone who got that.
OK, now it's time for our vocabulary.
Yes. To pay attention to something means to concentrate on something.
to not be distracted.
Then there was the phrase the intensity of the engagement,
which is another way of saying the strength
of the relationship, interaction and communication.
And if your surname comes at the end of the alphabet,
you may find that the intensity
of engagement with the teacher diminishes.
Diminishes means gets weaker.
If you drop out from a course,
it means that you leave it before it's finished.
And the prestige of a job is the respect
it has. If it is seen
as important or desirable, then it has higher prestige.