Job Discussion Forums

[Madame J]

I've just taken on some trial writing work for a company who produces lesson plans and worksheets for ESOL tutors, and my assignment involves creating 15-20 elementary level lessons on the topic of family, friends and relationships.

Now this seems like a huge unit on a relatively small topic. I am more than daunted by the task, and so far I haven't been able to get far beyond words for family members and acquaintances, relationship events (such as "marry", "split up" etc), and levels of friendship ("I don't really know her", "to get to know someone", etc).

I would really appreciate it if anyone could provide me with any ideas for other things I could do with the topic, because I'm feeling rather stuck at the moment! Areas of vocabulary would be particularly welcome. Thank you!

[misskismet]

Just off the top of my head some ideas that could all form the basis of a complete lesson:
weddings
dating - first dates/getting to know you
my best friend - describing, maybe past tense
generations - older members of the family - past tense
stages of life


There must be loads more, good luck. Just think about the ideas you already have and break them down into smaller chunks, then expand those.

[johnslat]

Dear Madam J

Some possible resources:

http://esljo.blogspot.com/2007/04/families-lesson-plan-we-created-these.html

http://www.eslholidaylessons.com/05/international_day_of_families.html


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/7434509.stm


http://www.henry4school.fr/Vocabulary/family/fam-lp.htm

http://drewseslfluencylessons.com/2-advanced/family/

http://www.englishcurrent.com/family-lesson-plan-upper-intermediate/


http://iteslj.org/questions/family.html

http://www.tefl.net/esl-lesson-plans/TP_FamilyMatters.pdf


http://www.cambridge.org/other_files/downloads/esl/academicencounters/ALE_LIS_TM_CH1.pdf

http://www.tolerance.org/lesson/my-family-rocks

Hope some of these, inspire a few more ideas.

Regards,
John

[nomad soul]

popular family activities
creating a family tree and/or chart showing who's related to who
family heritage
family traditions
single parent families
blended families

[Madame J]

Great, thanks. Really want to introduce more blended family vocab-it seems rather conspicuously absent from a lot of EFL literature.

[esl_prof]

My experience with most textbook units on family is that they tend to focus on the traditional U.S. nuclear family. While a good starting point, I'd look for ways to push the boundaries on this topic a bit more. Most countries I've worked in (Latin America and the Caribbean), the extended family is more significant than the nuclear family. It's not uncommon for single adults to live at home with their parents (and grandparents) until they get married, even if they get married in their late 20s or early 30s. Even then, newly-weds often live under the same roof (or in the same compound, or next door) as one of their parents. Giving students more opportunity to explore and talk about the differences between their extended families and U.S.-style nuclear families would be a good thing.

Pushing the boundaries in a different direction, I've often supplemented more traditional units on family with discussion of civil unions, gay marriage, and transgenderism. In U.S.-contexts there are a lot of opportunities to do that. For example, a few years ago the psych department at my college hosted a lecture by a transman who shared his experience transitioning from female to male. Since it coincided with my conversational unit on gender and families, I assigned some relevant readings and, then, took my students to the lecture and, needless to say, it stimulated a lot of discussion. One has to be sensitive, of course, to the fact that many ESL students have conservative viewpoints on these issues and come from cultures where openly discussing such topics is taboo. However, these are realities of American culture and I think it's good to prepare students for future encounters with them in the classroom. Obviously, if I were addressing such topics in a more conservative foreign context, I'd probably take a different approach than I have in the U.S.

In short, think outside the box and don't just rehash the same tried and true stuff that's been used in other textbooks.

Good luck, and please keep us posted on how your project goes!

[misskismet]

What's the market? International or specific countries. Have to say that as a teacher in Turkey, I would prefer not to use materials about same-sex parents etc. Not denying that they exist, but they don't here and it would be too distracting from the aims of the lesson.

[esl_prof]

[Madame J]

My market is ESOL students in the UK, so predominantly immigrants. I imagine most students will be from fairly conservative countries, and I wonder if as such the company I'm writing for will want to keep things fairly safe. I have noticed how male-centric and heteronormative most EFL literature is and I don't wish to continue that, but it is proving difficult to not perpetuate these norms whilst remaining accessible and to these learners, uncontroversial! (For example, how to define "marriage" in a simple yet non heteronormative manner?)

[misskismet]

Why not just ask the company directly. If the students are in the UK, then they will more than likely come across gay couples, single parents, step parents, etc. But no need to have every picture featuring a disabled black lesbian. Not that there is anything wrong with disabled black lesbians

[MotherF]

If this company that has hired you is smart, they will soon realize the could post on Dave'sand ccrowd source their publication rather than paying material writers.

[Madame J]

I did wonder that myself, actually.