- •Unit 3 learning for life
- •1.2 Correct the sentences that are not true, then, in pairs, compare and discuss your answers.
- •1.3 Which of the things in Task 1.1 would you like to see changed in your country?
- •1.4 Think of three other things about the education system in your country that you would like to change. Compare answers with other students.
- •2.2 Fill in the gaps in this life story of a British woman.
- •2.3 The education system in the usa is a bit different from in the uk. What do the following terms mean in the us education system?
- •3.2 Read the following text and fill in the gaps using verbs from the task above. Try to use each verb at least once.
- •4.2 Nine people were asked 'Are there any practical skills that you wish you'd been taught at school?' Listen to their answers, and answer the questions.
- •4.3 Now listen to a radio interview with William Atkinson, the head teacher of Phoenix High School in London, in which he discusses the life skills that they try to teach in his school.
- •4.4 Listen again. Correct the statements that are not true about William Atkinson's school.
- •4.5 Discuss in groups.
- •Government withdraws funding for gifted children
- •5.2 Do you agree with the point of view of the Minister of Education or the Head Teacher? Give your reasons.
- •6.2 Use the correct form of these verbs to complete the text below:
- •6.3 Now complete these whole expressions from the text. The first one has been done for you.
- •Let’s take leave of French
- •8.5 Match the following phrases with their definitions:
- •8.6 Read the following article how to pass exams
- •8.7 Now mark each piece of advice as follows:
- •8.8 Compare answers in pairs. Which do you think is the best piece of advice?
- •9.2 Use these verbs to complete the text below:
- •9.3 Do the same with this text:
- •11.2 Use these words to complete the sentences:
- •11.3 Use these words in the situations below:
- •The stars who did their own thing
- •12.2 Answer the following questions:
- •13.2 Read the text and explain in English the meaning of the italicized words and expressions. Proper education
- •13.3 Continue the following sentences:
- •13.4 Answer the following questions:
- •13.5 Using information from the text, discuss whether and to what extent the following suggestions would have helped him. Give reasons for your decisions.
Let’s take leave of French
One topic is rarely mentioned in all the talk of improving standards in our schools: the almost complete failure of foreign-language teaching. Despite the compulsory teaching of French in secondary schools, our ability to speak it is minimal.
Take any random sample of the population, and barely half of them will be able to say more than a few words. Those who can speak more than this probably owe their skills not to school, but to other experience or training.
As a French graduate who has taught for more than twenty-five years in state schools as well as independent schools, I believe I have some idea of why the failure is so total. Apart from the faults already diagnosed in the education system as a whole — such as child-centred learning, the 'discovery' method, and the low expectations by teachers of pupils - there have been several serious errors which have a direct effect on language teaching.
The first is the removal from the curriculum of the thorough teaching of English grammar. Pupils now do not know a verb from a noun, the subject of a sentence from its object, or the difference between the past, present, or future.
Another important error is mixed-ability teaching, or teaching in ability groups so wide that the most able pupils are held back and are bored while the least able are lost and equally bored. Strangely enough, few head teachers seem to be in favour of mixed-ability school football teams or choirs.
Progress depends on memory, and pupils start to forget immediately they stop having regular lessons. This is why many people who attended French lessons at school, even those who got good grades, have forgotten it a few years later. Because they never need it, they do not practise it.
Most American schools have accepted what is inevitable and withdrawn modern languages, even Spanish, from the curriculum. Perhaps it is time for Britain to do the same, and stop wasting resources on a subject which few pupils want or need.
7.2 Match these teaching methods from the article with the most suitable definition:
a child-centred learning b mixed-ability teaching с the 'discovery' method
1. pupils of different learning capacity are taught together
2. pupils are not taught, but are given the opportunity to find out things for themselves
3. the focus of learning is on the pupil, not the teacher
7.3 Answer the following questions:
1. Why is the writer against teaching foreign languages in British schools?
2. What serious errors does he think are responsible for the failure of language teaching?
3. Do you agree with the author? Explain your answer.
Task 8.1 Cross out the verb which does not collocate:
I do I make I take I sit I pass I fail an exam
8.2 Complete the dialogue with the correct form of these verbs:
re-sit pass fail revise
A: Hi Таrа, I'm so happy. I … all my exams. I even got a grade A in English!
B: I didn't do too badly, but I … biology. That means I'll have to … it next term.
A: Oh no, I'm so sorry. You spent ages on biology, didn't you? What happened?
В : Well, I guess I just didn't … hard enough. Perhaps I'll set it next time.
8.3 Discuss the following questions:
1. Are you the sort of person who loves or hates exams? How do they make you feel?
2. What's the most difficult exam you have ever taken? Why?
3. Have you got any 'exam horror stories' (times when you or one of your friends missed exams, were ill during exams, etc.). What happened?
8.4 Read the list in the box and tick the things you should do when preparing for an exam, and write a cross next to the things you should avoid. In groups, discuss which things you personally do/ don't do when you are revising for exams. Do you have any other useful advice?
draw up a revision timetable and stick to it
set yourself tough goals for your revision each day
meet a friend and study together
spend a lot of time with your friends moaning about your exams
get easily distracted
only study for about thirty minutes at a time
take regular breaks
give up your social life during the weeks before the exams
stay up late studying the night before the exam
arrive at least an hour before the exam starts
compare what you've revised with other students just before the exam