ELF-aware lesson sequence
Pre-intermediate level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
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To develop reading comprehension skills and critically reflect on how English and cultural identity influence success and communication globally.
Subsidiary Aims
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Understand and extract key information from a short biographical text.
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Discuss and compare how people are perceived in school and how that can (or cannot) relate to future success.
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Recognize that English is used differently around the world—not just by native speakers.
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Reflect on their own linguistic identity and how they might use English in their lives, careers, or creative expression.
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Appreciate diverse success stories, not just from Anglo-American cultures, but also from their own and others’ regions.
Procedure (33-42 minutes)
T welcomes the ss and starts the lesson with 3 photos of British famous people on their book. On the board, T asks these questions for ss to discuss: 1. What do you know about these people, if anything? Do you think people like them (musicians, authors, actors) are famous in your country too? Why or why not? 2. Do people in your country or region become famous for similar reasons (e.g., music, acting, writing)? 3. What kind of English do you think these people speak? British, American, something else? Does it matter? Ss discuss the questions with their neighbouring partner/s. Later, ss shares their answers with the class to have a class discussion.
T goes through the questions on the reading page (p. 86, activity 2) and elaborates the details of the questions. Ss read the texts individually, and answer the questions of activity 2a and 2c. After reading comprehension is done, ss compares their answers with their partner. Later, T shares the answer key on the board for ss to check their answers individually.
T shares the discussion questions with the whole class. Ss work in pairs and shares their ideas with their partners. The questions are: 1. These people all grew up in the UK. Do you think becoming famous would be different for someone growing up in your country or another non-English-speaking country? Why or why not? 2. Do you think English helped them become famous internationally? How important is English in your country for becoming successful? 3. If these people had learned English as a second or foreign language, how might their experience have been different? 4. What kind of English do you want to speak: British, American, international, or your own variety? Why? T opens the floor to the class discussion. T collects answers and encourage other ss' comments on each others.
T assigns ss with a speaking activity which is an extension activity that ss are required to design a 1-min speech in class for a famous person from their country who uses English (not necessarily perfectly), and reflect. They are supposed to research and present according to these questions: 1. How did this person learn English? 2. What kind of English do they speak? 3. How do they use English to connect with the world? T monitor ss and assist them individually for the language that they need and the structure that they are supposed to follow in their speech. Next lesson, ss will work in groups of 3. In each group, they will perform their speech using their notes from the designing part in previous lesson.
