Category English

Jan 12 2020

Megxit- classroom resources

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, announced their decision to step down as senior members of the Royal Family last week. As it happens, I am dealing with current affairs and the media in my C2 classes. And as of next week, we will be talking about diversity and inclusion, tackling some aspects of race relations. That is why I decided to use this news story as an excuse to design some activities to link both units.

  1. Watch this clip from BBC’s Newsnight where royal correspondents discuss their views on the subject (source). Pay attention to the underlined expressions related to ‘getting information’:

Click on the screenshot to open the video and transcript in a new tab

2. Read the following opinion article on the treatment that the tabloids (and the media in general) have given to the couple, and especially, to Meghan Markle as mixed-race (source). Some sentences have been removed. Choose from sentences A-G the one which fits each gap (1-6) best. There is an extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Click on the screenshot to download pdf file

The text includes a wide range of vocabulary, with some expressions which might actually be interesting to include in your wordstock; however, they may make it harder for you to understand the text. Should you have any trouble, you can click on this interactive version of the text on Thinglink:

3. Mediation in writing: You are a team of journalists working for El País in English. You have been asked to write a news story for their website on Harry and Meghan stepping down as senior royals.

El País is a serious newspaper. Therefore, they tend to use:

Read the following source https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10721340/queen-arrives-church-summit-meghan-harry/ and select the relevant information

  • Think about how you would express those ideas in a way which is more suitable for your newspaper and your target audience.
  • Write a 150-175 word news story.

Download the pdf version of the source article (text only)

4. Follow-up: Share your views on Twitter. Use the hashtag #Megxit to be part of the conversation. [I opened a shared Twitter account for my students so that they would not need to use a personal account. Using Twitter provides real online interaction, and it seems only natural to use social media when discussing ‘the media’ in 2020]. 

  • How do you feel about #Megxit? Do you feel for them? Deep down, are you saying ‘good riddance’?
  • Do you support their decision to step down as senior members of the family?
  • Have they been harassed into leaving by the press, especially the tabloids?
  • Should they continue to be supported financially by the Crown (i.e. by British taxpayers)? 
Jan 9 2020

Materiales taller “El Companion Volume y las tareas de mediación en secundaria”

En este enlace podéis acceder a la presentación del taller “El Companion Volume y las tareas de mediación en secundaria”, celebrado el 8 de enero de 2020 en el CARLEE (Zaragoza):

Click en la imagen para descargar pdf

En estos videos tenéis esa misma presentación junto con el audio de la sesión:

Estas son algunas tareas de mediación, que pueden servir como ejemplo (B1):

 

Click en la imagen para descargar pdf

Jan 6 2020

Listening- Woman’s Hour: New Year’s Resolutions (C1)

Listen to this clip from BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, where two speakers exchange their views on New Year’s resolutions. For questions 1-6, choose the best answer (a,b or c). You can listen to the clip twice.

Jan 4 2020

listening- January fads (C1)

You may have heard of Januhairy, Veganuary, or Dry January. They are closely related to New Year’s resolutions, those challenges or pledges people tend to make at the beginning of every new year to better themselves. They are also labelled by some as ‘fads’ (intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived). Other such fads arise every year, however far-fetched some of those may be.

Listen to these clips from BBC Radio Jersey The two radio hosts discuss January fads related to New Year’s resolutions. Listen to the clips (1-7) and match each of the headings below to one of the clips. Then answer the questions on the google form below. Clip #0 is only intended as an introduction (there is no heading). There is one more heading than needed. You can listen to the clips twice:

  • a. both hosts had agreed on choosing this term before sharing their lists.
  • b.This challenge may imply going the extra mile in your interests or abilities.
  • c.This challenge may call for extra expenses.
  • d. The hosts disagree about the suitability of this challenge
  • e. This term is related to the Arts
  • f. In his view, it’s an activity you should only take up in January.
  • g. This term may have two meanings
  • h. The hosts are unsure about the pronunciation of the term.

Open the form in a new tab

You can finally listen again and read the transcripts:

Click on the image to download the transcripts

 

Follow-up: You can also watch this clip from the Breakfast TV show Good Morning Britain, where two commentators discuss the convenience of this sort of fads and resolutions:

You can also try this listening comprehension exercise: Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions

Dec 12 2019

talleres: Companion Volume y mediación/writing B1 4º ESO

El CARLEE organiza dos talleres relacionados con la prueba de certificación del nivel B1 de inglés/francés para alumnos de 4º de ESO que cursan estudios dentro del modelo BRIT-Aragón, aunque pueden ser de interés para todos los docentes de lengua extranjera en secundaria. Son los siguientes:

EL COMPANION VOLUME Y LAS TAREAS DE MEDIACIÓN EN SECUNDARIA (todos los idiomas) – 8 de enero 2020Contenidos:

  • Actualización del MCER: modos de comunicación, descriptores 
  • Mediación lingüística: oral, escrita/ interlingüística, intralingüística
  • Diseño de actividades de mediación en el aula de secundaria

ESPECIFICACIONES Y RECURSOS PARA LA PRUEBA DE PRODUCCIÓN Y COPRODUCCIÓN DE TEXTOS ESCRITOS (inglés) – 15 de enero 2020

Contenidos:

  • Especificaciones de la prueba de writing: tipos de texto, duración
  • Descriptores de la rúbrica
  • Recursos para la preparación del alumnado en el aula y de manera autónoma
  • WAGOLL (What a Good One Looks Like)- ideas para dar feedback a las producciones y coproducciones de los alumnos.
Están dirigidos al profesorado de lengua extranjera.
En estos enlaces se puede encontrar la información completa: mediación / writing 
La inscripción comenzará el 12 de diciembre en DOCEO: mediación / writing
Dec 10 2019

C2 mediation in speech- Christmas in Spain

The mediation-in-speech paper in the EE.OO.II. in Aragón includes a cross-linguistic mediation task: students receive a text, infographic, chart…in Spanish, and they have to mediate it into the target language, in our case, English.

As we are dealing with Christmas-related topics these days in class, I thought of using two articles in Spanish around two controversial matters that have hit the headlines recently: the Nativity scene in Barcelona and the Christmas display in Vigo.

The context I provided students with is the following: These days you are hosting an Erasmus visit in your school. There are Greek, French and Turkish teachers in the group. The common language you are using is English. They have heard something about the news, but don’t really know what all the fuss is about, so they would like to know more about the subject. Help them understand what is happening, and what the controversy is all about. 

These are the CV descriptors I wanted to work on:

  • Relaying specific information in speech: Can explain (in Language B) the relevance of specific information found in a particular section of a long, complex text (written in Language A) (p.107).
  • Facilitating pluricultural space: Can mediate effectively and naturally between members of his/her own and other communities, taking account of socio-cultural and sociolinguistic differences (p. 123).

The strategies I imagined students should be using are:

  • streamlining a text
  • adapting language
  • linking to previous knowledge

Some possible language they can use can be found here.

After carrying out the tasks in class, I realised I could provide them with a WAGOLL (What a Good One Looks Like), a sample task which could work as a model for them to see what aspects they should have been concentrating on, and a possible mediation sample. That is why I came up with a Thinglink poster for the article on the nativity scene: First, I highlighted content and key words that I felt were relevant. Then, I took a screenshot of the text, which I uploaded to Thinglink. Then I added links with text comments, stressing what points were essential, and therefore should be mentioned, as well as some cultural points that may need explaining for the hearer to be able to get the full picture. Finally, on the microphone icon, I added a link to a recording of myself mediating the text.

 

Click on the image to open Thinglink (opens in a new tab)

Transcript of the recording here

To be honest, I am not sure this can be regarded as a ‘good’ mediation task. But hopefully, it will help students come to terms with the kind of strategies they should be using, and perhaps give them some idea of expressions they can use when faced with these tasks.

 

Dec 9 2019

language for mediating text in speech-writing (B2-C2)

If you need to carry out a mediation task, either in speech or in writing, these formulaic chunks of language may help you relay your ideas and mediate your text more effectively:

Click on the screenshot to download the pdf file

 

More on mediation: