A youth subculture

1. Read the text and describe in a written form a familiar to you youth subculture. Make a report in class on it.

A youth subculture is a youth-based subculture with distinct styles, behaviors, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of such social institutions as family, work, home, and school. Youth subcultures are meaning systems, modes of expression or lifestyles developed by groups in subordinate structural positions in response to dominant systems.

The study of subcultures often consists of the study of the symbolism attached to clothing, music, other visible affections by members of the subculture and also the ways in which these same symbols are interpreted by members of the dominant culture.

Subcultures that show a systematic hostility to the dominant culture are sometimes described as countercultures.

Youth subcultures are often defined or distinguishable by elements such as fashion, beliefs, slang, dialects, behaviours or interests. Vehicles—such as cars, motorcycles, scooters, skateboards, surf boards—have played central roles in certain youth subcultures. In the United Kingdom in the 1960s rockers, for example, were associated with motorcycles. Many youth subcultures are associated with specific music genres, and in some cases music has been the primary characteristic of the group, such as with Punks, Ravers, Metalheads, Goths, Emoes, and Indies.

COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

Pair-work:

Role-play:

Discussion:

Lesson 3 Communication: Youth as an Engine for Generation Change Grammar Focus: Language Use:

Part a reading and speaking

Think ahead

1. The Saudi Arabian proverb goes “What is learned in youth is carved in stone”. In what way can you interpret it?

2. The photograph above depicts four generations of one family - an infant, his mother, his maternal grandmother, and his maternal great-grandmother. Can you guess (predict?) their different stages life experience, their values, and patterns of behaviour?

3. Do you consider yourself part of the generation you belong to? Why?

Read the text and say if the statements that follow are true or false. Be ready to answer the questions on the text and speak on the stages of human development:

Youth as an Engine for Generation Change

People spend their youth in different social environments. These different social contexts accompanied by improvements in the development of a technology contribute a lot to the formation of certain values in the young people which they retain throughout their lifetime and which determine a unique character of the whole generation.

Besides social change, generational change is also determined by a particular conflict between successive generations, between “the instinct of social conservation" of a given generation and the "normal attribute of youth"— innovation.

In the 20^th century a serious attempt was made to systematical study of generations, and, for example, American sociologists William Strauss and Neil Howe identify four major generational types:

-- The Civic generation is a generation which experiences their youth in a time of major crisis, such as the Great Depression and World War II, or the American Revolution. As young adults, surrounded by unprecedented challenges, they rally around a common cause and struggle to overcome the obstacles. The most recent example is the "Greatest Generation" who were in their 20's and early 30's while the Second World War was being fought. Their values are duty, honor, courage, spiritual strength, love of family, love of country, and responsibility for one's self.

-- The Adaptive generation experiences their childhood in a time of crisis. They grow up in a frightening world in which, as children, they are fairly helpless, though when they grow up the crisis is already resolved. The most recent example is the "Silent Generation" who were children during the Second World War, and experienced young adulthood during the 1950's. The members of this generation are hardworking, loyal to their country and employer, submissive. Raised in a paternalistic environment, they were taught to respect authority, are good team players and generally don’t initiate conflict in the workplace, value traditional morals, safety and security as well as conformity, commitment and consistency, they are technically challenged and are slow to change their work habits.

-- The Idealist generation is a generation which has never experienced a crisis in their younger years. They are raised in a relaxing climate after a crisis, and these children are treated more indulgently, so they become idealists. They are often caught up in different revivals, like a "consciousness revolution" in the 1960's and 1970's, and start to challenge the social ideals of their parents. The most recent example is the "Baby Boom" generation who were young adults during the 1960's and 1970's. Baby Boomers value: change (Boomers thrive for possibilities and constant change), anti rules and regulations (they don't appreciate rules for the sake of having rules and they are eager to get rid of the command and control style of their Traditionalist predecessors), competition (Boomers value peer competition and can be seen by others as being egocentric), success (this generation is committed to climbing the ladder of success), hard work (Boomers started the "workaholic" trend. The difference between Traditionalists and Boomers is that Boomers value the hard work because they view it as necessary for moving to the next level of success while Traditionalists work hard because they feel that it is the right thing to do), fight For A Cause (while they don't like problems, if you give them a cause they will fight for it).

-- The Reactive generation is a generation which also has never experienced a crisis in their younger years. But they do have to cope with increasing individualism in society and an increasingly uncertain world due to the fact that the idealistic generation which preceded them has set society adrift in its social moorings. They learn to protect themselves and become pragmatic and results-focused. The most recent example is the "Generation X" which experienced young adulthood in the 1980's and 1990's. Members of Generation X are largely in their 30’s and early 40’s. On the whole, they are better educated than the Baby Boomers (over 60% of Generation X attended college), individualistic (generation X came of age in an era of two-income families, rising divorce rates and a faltering economy), independent, resourceful and self-sufficient (these qualities may be ascribed to the fact that women were joining the workforce in large numbers, spawning an age of “latch-key” children). In the workplace, Generation X values freedom and responsibility. Many in this generation display a casual disdain for authority and structured work hours. They dislike being micro-managed and embrace a hands-off management philosophy.

This theory is a cyclic theory. A new social crisis in which society is reorganized around a new value system starts the cycle over again. Each generation is born during a period of about 20 or 25 years, and an entire cycle takes about 80 to 100 years to complete, with a major social crisis marking the beginning of the repetition of the cycle.

Exercise 1. Complete the charter with the names of Anglo-American generations of the XX century by the qualities you think are most characteristic of them. Some hints are given to you. Argue your choice of the qualities:

The Lost Generation, primarily known as the Generation of 1914 in Europe, were those who fought in World War I.	Idealistic?
The Interbellum Generation is composed of those born at the end of the 19th century and up to 1915.	Reactive?
The Greatest Generation was born from around 1916 to the mid-1920s.	They were coming of age during the Great Depression and they fought in World War II. Civic generation
The Silent Generation born 1926 to 1938.	This generation includes those who were too young to join the service during World War II. Many had fathers who served in World War I. The Adaptive generation
The Baby Boom Generation was born during World War II and up to the 1960s, a time that was marked by an increase in birth rates.	One of the features of boomers was that they tended to think of themselves as a special generation, very different from those that had come before them. In the 1960s, as the relatively large numbers of young people became teenagers and young adults, they … . The Idealist generation
The Generation X is the generation of those born after the baby boom ended, with earliest birth dates from 1961 to the latest 1980 at its greatest extent.	Generation X is the generation generally defined as those born after the baby boom ended, with earliest birth dates from 1961 to the latest 1980 at its greatest extent. Reactive

Exercise 2. Say if this classification of generations in Anlo-American culture is similar to a classification of generations in Belarus. Speak about the major social events that took place when each generation was at the stage of youth and how they influenced the formations of values.

Exercise 2. People of what generations you may meet at work now? What are their values?

Exercise 3. Characterise the qualities of the present and predict the qualities of the coming generations feeling the following chart.

Generation Y is also known as Generation Next, or "Generation Me", the bulk of which are the children of the Baby Boomers. The earliest suggested birth dates ranging from the late 1970s to early/mid 1990's.	Civic? Generation Y represents people who have grown up during the high tech revolution. They have never known a world without high speed video games, speed dial and ATMs.This is the first generation to grow up with the widespread presence of the internet. Generation Y individuals are expected to be affected by the recession more than others and that these behaviors that are shaped during this time will stay with them for their life. They are careful shoppers, care a lot about finding good value when they shop. This generation has been noted as being quite family-oriented, in that many talk to parents at least once a day and live at home longer than ever before. The secret to motivating this group is to provide systematic and frequent feedback - as it happens. Generation Y Values... o Positive Reinforcement: Members of this cyber generation value positive reinforcement at accelerated rates compared to older generations. o Autonomy: This group wants more input into how they are learning and the independence to do it. o Positive Attitudes: This group grew up during tranquil times and as a result have a very optimistic outlook on life in general. o Diversity: This group grew up with more diversity than their predecessors and if not exposed to it in their community then they were introduced diverse people and cultures through the media. o Money: This group is used to making and spending money. o Technology: Technology is valued and is used as a tool for multi-tasking.
Generation Z, or the internet generation, Digital Natives was born between the mid-1990s and the late 2000s around the time of the 2008 Global financial crisis.	The Idealist generation ?
The new generation born after the 2008 Global financial crisis is a new generation with the proposed name Generation Alpha, and it should extend to approximately 2025.	The Adaptive generation?