Summary: This program explores how America's rise as an economic power made it the driving force behind the spread of English in the 20th century. A world tour illustrates how English has mixed with other languages-from "Franglais" in France to "Singlish" in Singapore-and how the dollar's power, coupled with the lure of consumerism, has made English the international trade language. Bringing it full...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: The Scottish tongue is one of the oldest in Britain, a Northern variety of English that, but for the accidents of history, might have become a separate language. This classic PBS program deals with the influence of the Scots in spreading the language of their historic enemies-the Sassenachs of the South-around the world. The program begins in the 15th century, the golden age of the Scottish...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program focuses on how a brain grows from a fertilized egg and how our brains change, even after birth, right up to old age. The establishment of connections between brain cells occurs not only in the womb, but also after birth. These connections can be modified, or even abolished, in accordance with certain changes in the environment. Hence, the development of the brain is a little like...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Fighting cancer requires allies-and friends who are going through the same battle can be powerful supporters indeed. This program presents six women from the ABC News team as they open up about their breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. From seemingly small details-such as how to correctly position a wig or find the right bra-to the monumental tasks of informing family members and selecting...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Although "little green men" belong in the menagerie of science fiction cliches, the search for extraterrestrial life is now taken seriously by many astronomers. This program follows veteran alien hunters-including the acknowledged master of the field, SETI founder Dr. Frank Drake-as they participate in one of the most exciting quests in science today. Researchers at the Allen Telescope Array, a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: Filmed in China, India, South Africa, and the U.S., this program demonstrates how the evolution of international trade has made English an indispensable business partner all around the world. Case studies spotlighting Coca-Cola, Bloomberg Television, Virgin Atlantic, Mahindra BT, and the British School of Language emphasize the importance of seamless communication across time zones,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: In the 19th century, English spread throughout the British Empire-but which English? This classic PBS program traces the roots of white Commonwealth English to Cockney, the language of London's working class. Explaining the influence of Cockney on modern, standardized speech, the program shows how, in fact, the accents of BBC English are gradually becoming modified by Cockney speech...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: When Massasoit hailed the Plymouth settlers in their own language, they might have taken it for a sign that English would dominate the New World. Packed with surprising etymologies and intriguing stories, this program traces the dynamic relationship between English and America, exploring the linguistic influence of westward expansion, cowboy culture, slave culture, and encounters with the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: It is said that every road movie and novel about a defining journey owes a debt to the Odyssey. This imaginative program uses the poem's division into groupings of books as a framework to allow Dr. Tom Winnifrith, of Warwick University; Dr. Douglas Cairns, of Leeds University; and Ken Dowden, senior lecturer at Birmingham University, to analyze the oral tradition and key elements of the story...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Day-to-day use of English has impacted local languages everywhere, spawning the growth of variants such as India’s Hinglish and Singlish in Singapore. Do these variations undermine language, or do they enrich it? This program examines the emergence of hybrid forms of English and discusses their pros and cons. A push by the Singapore government to promote Standard English was met with fierce,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
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Summary: How did a language originally spoken in just a small part of the British Isles come to dominate the communication of so many different countries? From its start as a diverse group of Anglo-Saxon dialects and all the way onward to adoption on a global scale, this program tracks the establishment of English as the world’s common tongue. English crossed the sea by means of settlement, trade, and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
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Summary: As Maya Angelou points out in The Power of Speech, "If the words and delivery are powerful, they echo down the centuries. To emphasize the point, Angelou and other writers and orators examine the moving oratory of 14th-century tax protester John Ball, 19th-century slave Sojourner Truth, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Each speaker's technique is examined within the context of why the speech is...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Staging a successful play takes time, energy, and wisely used resources-whether the production is on Broadway or at a high school. This program shows how to select an appropriate script for a student theater group and produce the play in an organized, efficient manner. Viewers receive information on casting, planning and conducting rehearsals, and how to utilize the strengths and limitations of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
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Summary: The Big Bang is a widely accepted theoretical model, but CERN's Large Hadron Collider offers something more tangible: creating the physical conditions surrounding the birth of the universe. This program introduces viewers to that experiment and to others under way around the world-all of them designed to increase our knowledge of the physical structure of the cosmos. Dr. Andy Kirk of the U.K....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: After being diagnosed with breast cancer, six women from ABC News sat down and talked about taking on their formidable enemy. This program features all six women one year later, discussing what transpired over the past twelve months and how they feel about the future. While most are in remission, two patients are still grappling with disease on a daily basis, and both take this communal...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: With the Norman invasion, English became a third language in its own country, behind French and Latin. In this program, Melvyn Bragg examines the impact of Old French on the development of English. Manuscripts, tapestries, and dozens of curious etymologies help illustrate a tremendous influx of vocabulary pertaining to romance, chivalry, and, of course, food. The influence of Eleanor of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: In this TEDTalk, author Steven Johnson provides a ten-minute tour of The Ghost Map, his riveting historical account of the worst cholera outbreak in Victorian London. The book is also a brilliant exploration of how Dr. John Snow mapped the pattern of outbreak back to its source - and in the process revolutionized the way people think about disease, cities, science, and the modern world....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: In late-medieval England, English quietly ousted French in law and government- but the move to make it God's language meant bloodshed. This program looks at the battle for a Bible in English, a struggle with huge impact on the language itself. Dramatic readings from successive English Bibles show the language's evolution. Location footage and original manuscripts illustrate key figures and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Our current forays beyond the Earth are only baby steps in cosmic terms. Even so, a half-century of space exploration has produced a highly diversified range of missions, modes, and methods. This program examines space-faring technology-including both existing hardware and systems in development-designed to extend our reach into the cosmos and expand our conception of it. Spotlighting efforts...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: English is now the dominant language spoken by over a billion people. There are nearly as many people who speak English as a second language as there are native speakers. All of this is having a profound effect on the language and how it is perceived around the world. This program looks at the different contexts and countries in which the language dominates education, pop music, advertising,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The laws of physics are all well and good, but near-chaos apparently rules the cosmos. This program illustrates the extreme volatility of the forces at work in our universe, underscoring both the creative and destructive potential of celestial collisions, eruptions, and explosions. From awe-inspiring supernova bursts to fiery coronal mass ejections to careening asteroids that threaten our...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Today's astronomers use more sophisticated "eyes" than stargazers of centuries past, but peering into the night sky remains the principal way of exploring the depths of space. This program features observatories and instruments that use state-of-the-art technology to provide glimpses of the distant cosmos. Journeying to Chile's Atacama Desert, home of the world's largest telescope, the film...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: The making of English is the story of three great invasions and a cultural revolution. This classic PBS program shows how an early form of English was carried to Britain by invading Anglo-Saxons, how that language was all but obliterated by waves of Viking settlers, and how it was reshaped by the French-speaking Normans. The fact that English survived on the lips of people who left no written...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: English is a language spoken by two billion people, perhaps even more. This classic PBS program examines the prevalence of English in the world today and presents a historical overview of its rise. Focusing on the expansion of the British Empire and the emergence of English-language mass media, the program explains how widespread English usage survived Britain's post-WWII decolonization,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007