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TheSocietyandCultureofMajorEnglishSpeakingCountriesBookReport1TheSocietyandCultureofMajorEnglishSpeakingCountriesBookReport题目：ABrandNewCanadatoMe--Multiculturalism学生姓名：学号：专业：英语班级：10英语（1）班所在学院：外国语学院2012年12月8日TheSocietyandCultureofMajorEnglishSpeakingCountriesBookReport2ABrandNewCanadatoMe--MulticulturalismLastweek,whenwehadourlisteningclass,wecameintoaword--Ottawa,andmanyofmyclassmatesdidn’tknowthatitisthecapitalofCanada.HereisthetruththatalthoughCanadahasthesecondlargestterritoryintheworldwithquiteabundantnaturalresources,mostpeopledonotpayenoughattentiontoCanadawhenthey’rereferringtoNorthAmericaduetoitsstrongneighbor,America.However,havingenjoyingmanyCanadianliteraturesandmovies,Ibecomemoreandcuriousofthisromanticcountry,whichisknownfortheromanticsnow,beautifulmapleleaveanddeliciousmaplesugar.Anditisabrandnewcountrytome,especiallyitscharacteristicsocialculture.Canadaisacountrymadeupoflargelyimmigrants,amountingto99%ofthepopulationthere.AnditresultsinamulticulturalsocietyinCanada.PeoplespeakbothEnglishandFrenchthereandtheyareboththeofficiallanguagesinthecountry.ButyouwillhearFrenchmostofthetimeandallstreetsignsareinFrench.Infact,MontrealisthethirdlargestFrenchspeakingcityintheworld.NavigatorJacquesCartiertookthepossessionoftheterritoryforthekingofFrancein1534.Afterthat,slowly,peoplestartedtogoandliveinNewFrance.AsBritiantookchargeofsomecolonieswhichwereusedtobelongtoFrenchtill1981,thereisstilltonsofBritishinfluenceinCanadianlifeandCanadastillmaintainsanimportantconnectiontotheUK.CanadaisamemberofBritishCommonwealthofNations,andpeoplethereevenstillsing“GodSavetheQueen”.ManyCanadianstillfollowwhathappenswiththeroyalfamily,watchtheBBCforworldnewsandtheyfeelclosertotheQueenthantheydototheUSpresident.CanadaisayoungcountryasCanadafirstbecameapoliticalentityin1867,anddidn’tassumeitspresentshapeuntil1949.(Zhu,2011:286)Asaresult,Canadadoesn’thavethehugeanduniquecivilization,culture,andthehistorybehindit,butinfact,patchworkquiltofdifferentTheSocietyandCultureofMajorEnglishSpeakingCountriesBookReport3nationalitiesandcommunitiesiscentraltowhatCanadais,andgreateffortsweremadetoprotectandpromoteandcelebratethewaysofthedifferentofpeoplewholivethere.ThusCanada,itisfelt,resemblesamosaicofdifferentcultureswhichoverlapbutdonotoverwhelmeachother.(Zhu,2011:313)InCanada,youcanfindalmostanymajorethnicgroupsintheworld.UnlikeAmericans,whowereabsorbedintooneAmericanidentityinthesocalled“meltingpot”,whichconveystheideathatimmigrantscomingtothecountryandthrowingofftheiroldcustomes,languagesandtraditionsinfavourofbecoming“Americans”,“CanadagovernmentencourageseachofitsethnicgroupstomaintainitsculturesandtraditionsandsharethemwithothergroupsanditisknownastheCanadianMosaic.”(Lan,2008:67)SharingthelongestundefendednationalborderintheworldandthefreetradeagreementNAEATA,CanadaandtheUnitedStatesseemtohaveagoodrelationshipwitheachother.Whileit’sthefactthatmanyAmericansregardtheCanadaasastateoftheUnitedStatesandmanythinkthattheirneighborhastakentoomuchfromtheircountry.However,theCanadiansthinkthattheyhavesufferedfromalotfromitspowerfulneighbourasCanadaeconomyistoodependentontheUnitedStates,andtheythinktheUnitedStateshasover-interventedtheircountry.Resentmentsandcontradictionsdoexistbetweenthetwocountries.Canada'santi-Americanemotionisthesinigificantcomponentoftheirnationalism,anditbeginstorisetothelevelofnationalpolicytofightagainsttheUnitedStatescultureerosionandtoensurethattheindependenceofCanada.Consequently,Canadahastakena“ThirdOption”,gearedtodevelopingstrongertradingrelationswithJapanandEuroperatherthanover-reliantontheUnitedStates.(Zhu,2011:327)Recentyears,Canadahasmadegreatprogressinitsculturaldevelopmentand2010WinterOlympicsinVancouvershowedtheworldthismulticulturalcountryandshockedtheworldbyitsgorgeousimage.CanadagrowsundertheinfluenceofBritian,FranceandAmerica,andnowtheyoungcountrytrystoshowtheworldamuchmorecharacteristicself-image.AsCanadahasbecomeamoremulticultural,bilingualcountry,theBritishinfluencelessens.Foraninstance,CanadianEnglishhaschangedalotsinceBritishbroughtEnglishintothisland.ItsspellingisthemixtureofAmericanandBritishEnglish,whileitspronunciationisveryclosetoAmericanpronunciation,withsomeremnantsofBritishpronunciationincertainregion.TheSocietyandCultureofMajorEnglishSpeakingCountriesBookReport4References[1]蓝仁哲，加拿大文化论，重庆：重庆出版社，2008.[2]（英国）J.K.Rowling,哈利波特，马爱新，北京：人民文学出版社，2009.[3]訾缨，英语国家概论，北京：北京大学出版社，2010.[4]徐火辉，与剑桥哈佛学子同窗，南京：中国金融出版社，2007.[5]朱永涛、王立礼，英语国家社会与文化文化，北京：高等教育出版社，2011.