GRADE 12A: Trade Discussion texts

About this unit

This unit is designed to guide your planning and teaching of English lessons. It provides a link between the standards for English and your lesson plans. The teaching and learning activities in this unit should help you to plan the content, pace and level of difficulty of lessons. You should adapt the ideas in the unit to meet the needs of your class. You can also supplement the ideas with appropriate activities from your schools textbooks and other resources. In this unit, students consider international trade and globalisation and its impact on developing countries.

UNIT 12A.9 13 hours

Expectations
By the end of the unit, most students will: systematically use bilingual and monolingual dictionaries and thesauruses to support vocabulary development; follow lectures and presentations, identify main and subsidiary points, make notes to aid understanding and formulate relevant questions or comments; prepare and make 10-minute presentations to an audience, on topics that interest, inform, and propose ideas or action; summarise and evaluate persuasive texts; understand a wide range of features of formal written English and text cohesion; read widely for information, skim and scan written and screen-based texts to extract information, and use advanced features of search engines on the Internet; read a variety of persuasive and discussion texts evaluating arguments, claims and recommendations, and comparing them to other evidence and beliefs to form a balanced view of a text; write information texts synthesising evidence from a variety of sources, and also write persuasive arguments in a logical structure for particular audiences; compose essays of at least 500 words discussing and weighing issues and drawing a reasoned conclusion; write email in an effective and coherent manner following the conventions of the genre; use common word-processing software to independently plan, compose, edit and present and save their own writing. Students who progress further will: write information texts and persuasive arguments using formal language and organisational features typical of the genre. Students who make slower progress will: write information texts and persuasive arguments in a logical structure for particular audiences.

Resources
The main resources needed for this unit are: a reading text about Marco Polo or another trader from history and a map to identify the trade routes; a recorded or live lecture or presentation on globalisation; an article of approximately 10001500 words that presents balanced arguments from different viewpoints on globalisation; an article of approximately 10001500 words that takes a particular standpoint on globalisation.

Key structures and functions

Narrative tenses simple past, past continuous, past perfect, present perfect: Marco Polo was born into a wealthy Venetian mercantile family, who travelled wherever business led them he did not meet his father until the latters return from Xanadu in 1269. While there, his father had become friendly with Kublai Khan and had returned to Europe as his ambassador to the Pope.

Vocabulary
Trade: globalisation, to subsidise, to pay a tariff, market access, a trade barrier, World Trade Organisation (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), import quota, dump, free trade, etc. Euphemism and connotation: use examples from the text.

363 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 12A | Unit 12A.9 | Trade

Education Institute 2005

Standards for the unit

13 hours
1 hour The history of world trade 6 hours Globalisation 3 hours Fair trade 3 hours Aid or trade? 12A.1.6

Unit 12A.9
CORE STANDARDS Grade 12A standards
12A.1.1 Recognise, understand and use at least 4500 words for listening, speaking, reading and writing, extending and consolidating the active vocabulary words from Grades K9.

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

Consolidate use of bilingual dictionaries in paper-based format and online. Use such dictionaries to find word meanings and alternative words and phrases to enhance speech and writing. Define new vocabulary in Arabic if there is a direct equivalent or in simple English if there is no equivalent, with alternative English phrases or expressions.

EXTENSION STANDARDS Grade 12A standards

12A.1.8

Extend the use of an advanced learners EnglishEnglish dictionary and a thesaurus in paper-based format and online. Use these resources to: find word meanings and alternative words and phrases to enhance speech and writing; define new vocabulary in simple English with alternative English phrases or expressions; check pronunciation of words and the part of speech and look at word etymology as part of vocabulary study in order to increase understanding of morphology.

12A.3.3

Follow longer (about 20 minutes) lectures and presentations on a range of abstract and/or technical subjects: identify main and subsidiary points; use notes to organise points into headings, sub-headings, maps, charts; diagrams etc. and link points using asterisks, arrows, side notes; understand detail and select or discard according to relevance; generalise and link to knowledge from other sources; formulate questions and comments to seek clarification, contribute views or comments, take issue.

364 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 12A | Unit 12A.9 | Trade

Education Institute 2005

13 hours
12A.4.3

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

Use a variety of interactive and language-repair strategies to initiate, maintain and conclude a conversation of at least 15 minutes involving a variety of linguistic and paralinguistic communication strategies. 12A.5.5

CORE STANDARDS Grade 12A standards

Prepare and present to an audience, or discuss in a simulation, a proposal that convinces or persuades: establish and develop a logical and controlled argument; organise the presentation with a consistent structure; include relevant and memorable evidence; use strong, positive language, short utterances for emphasis, and a friendly manner to be convincing; use persuasive strategies such as rhetorical devices; anecdotes and appeals to emotion, authority, reason, pathos and logic; differentiate between evidence and opinion to support position and to address counter-arguments or listener bias. 12A.6.1 12A.6.4 Independently and intensively read texts of at least 2000 words. Identify and interpret a wide range of features of discourse cohesion: reference; linking conjunctions which express other cohesive features; ellipsis; substitution; lexical cohesion; enumeration.

EXTENSION STANDARDS Grade 12A standards

12A.6.5

From Grade 11, extend use of advanced features of common search engines.

12A.6.6

Search the Internet for information related to a text. Infer information from evidence in the text, read, understand and respond to written arguments. Collate by downloading, cutting, pasting, etc. to form a coherent whole.

365 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 12A | Unit 12A.9 | Trade

Education Institute 2005

13 hours
11A.7.7

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

Read a variety of discussion, debate and argument texts which discuss and balance arguments from differing viewpoints. present, justify and defend a short oral evaluation to others using notes made from reading and drawing on the evidence from the text(s). 12A.7.7

CORE STANDARDS Grade 12A standards

Respond to a variety of discussion, debate and argument texts which discuss and balance arguments from differing viewpoints: analyse texts in relation to structure and organisation, typical language features; evaluate the text in terms of the presentation of the arguments, weighing of evidence, reasons and views, the validity of the conclusions in relation to the coherence and objectivity of the arguments presented, the relationship of arguments, claims, recommendations etc, to other evidence, beliefs and values, the use of language to infer, imply, objectify, persuade etc., bias and point of view, comparison with other texts on similar themes or alternative versions with the similar purposes; make notes while reading, and write a short critique (e.g. in the form of a response) drawing on evidence from the text(s); present, justify and defend a short oral evaluation to others using notes made from reading and drawing on the evidence from the text(s). 12A.8.4 Independently review and edit own writing with the needs of an identified audience in mind.

EXTENSION STANDARDS Grade 12A standards

366 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 12A | Unit 12A.9 | Trade

Education Institute 2005

13 hours
12A.8.6

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

Prepare for publication (e.g., for display or for sharing with others) writing that follows a manuscript form appropriate for the purpose, and which includes techniques to enhance the final product: principles of design; graphics. 12A.9.5

CORE STANDARDS Grade 12A standards

Extend ability to write essays drawing on work in another curriculum subject or an issue of topical interest, in the form of a discussion text, with balanced arguments and a conclusion based on evidence and reasons, and using features of formal written language: organisational features typical of a discussion text to balance and weigh arguments, and draw a conclusion an introduction which states issues, the arguments in favour and against plus supporting evidence or examples, conclusion which summarises and weighs the arguments, draws a conclusion or makes a recommendation; formal written English typical of the styles used in discussions and debates; acknowledgement of sources in the text, as footnotes, in a list or short bibliography, as appropriate to the text. Present essays in final form as edited and word-processed with suitable text organisation using sub-sections, paragraphs, headings, diagrams, and illustrations as appropriate to the topic and structure of the argument. 12A.9.6 Write for a range of functional purposes to report, organise and convey information accurately: requests for information asking precise questions in a form that is attractive to the reader and easy to understand; letters of complaint using formal English in firm, clear but courteous language, making clear the nature of the problem and the assistance or response that is expected.

EXTENSION STANDARDS Grade 12A standards

367 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 12A | Unit 12A.9 | Trade

Education Institute 2005

Activities
Objectives
1 hour The history of world trade Students are able to: recognise a wide range of features of discourse cohesion; identify narrative tenses; identify anaphoric and cataphoric references.

Unit 12A.9
Possible teaching activities
Students answer questions about international trade, for example: Which country is the worlds biggest exporter of rice/electrical goods/tea/coffee? Alternatively, have students look around the classroom and identify where different items have come from (e.g. school uniform may be made from cotton from Egypt, shoes made in India, cassette player made in Japan, pens and crayons made in China, gold earrings made from gold mined in Africa but crafted by goldsmiths in Qatar). Students read a biography of the life and travels of a trader, for example Marco Polo. They identify his journeys on a map and complete other comprehension tasks (e.g. ordering a series of jumbled events). Students note how paragraphs are used to separate, sequence and link the text, noting topic sentences and cohesive devices. They identify the chains of reference, noting the use of pronouns, demonstratives, articles, nouns that refer to other nouns (e.g. the latter) and references to time and place, for example: Marco Polo was born into a wealthy Venetian mercantile family, who travelled wherever business led them he did not meet his father until the latters return from Xanadu in 1269. While there, his father had become friendly with Kublai Khan and had returned to Europe as his ambassador to the Pope. Off again, the Polos reached Kashgar in what is now China. By now, they were on the main Silk Road, which they followed to the Chinese borders. Students discuss the use of tenses and time phrases (e.g. in 1269, while there, by now, etc.). Students discuss Marco Polos role in establishing global trade. Lead into a discussion of Qatars imports and exports today: Where do most of the imports come from? Where does Qatar export to? What changes has the discovery of gas made to Qatars economy? What effects has this had on life in Qatar? Are there any negative effects? Elicit the names of countries associated with the Silk Road and write them on the board. in random order, write a selection of words on the board that have come from these countries but have now been incorporated into the English language. Ask students to work in pairs and try to match the words and the countries. Students check the meaning of the words. In groups of three, they include all the words in a logical (but possibly humorous) story. Groups then present their story to another group. Words could include: bungalow, pyjamas, shampoo (South Asia) chocabloc, harem, sherbet (Turkey) tea, typhoon (China).

Notes
This unit has curriculum links with citizenship and economics. Prepare a short quiz about globalisation if using this method of introducing the topic.

School resources
This column is blank for schools to note their own resources (e.g. textbooks, worksheets).

368 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 12A | Unit 12A.9 | Trade

Education Institute 2005

Objectives
6 hours Globalisation Students are able to: use bilingual and English monolingual dictionaries to find word meanings and use; follow lectures and presentations of about 15 minutes on a range of abstract or technical subjects; independently and intensively read texts of at least 1500 words; read a variety of discussion, debate and argument texts which balance arguments from differing viewpoints; give a reasoned and critical opinion of a discussion text in terms of both content and style; use advanced features of common search engines; prepare and present to an audience, or discuss in a simulation, a proposal that convinces or persuades.

Possible teaching activities

Present students with a list of 56 vocabulary items related to trade, for example: quota, tariff, subsidy, dump, barrier. Ask them to use bilingual and EnglishEnglish dictionaries to look up the words and write sentences to show their meaning and use in the context of trade. Move around the classroom checking the students work. Write some sample sentences on the board. Highlight collocations, such as: to pay/receive a subsidy, to impose a trade barrier, etc. Discuss the use of bilingual and EnglishEnglish dictionaries. Which did the students find most useful? Why? Students listen to a lecture or presentation on globalisation. They identify the speakers view point, noting main and subsidiary points. They select relevant detail and take notes, organising them into headings, sub-headings, charts, diagrams etc. as appropriate. They use devices such as underlining and boxing to emphasise points. Students formulate questions and comments to seek clarification. They contribute views or comments and draw their own conclusions about the topic. Students read an article of approximately 10001500 words that presents balanced arguments from different viewpoints on globalisation. Students identify the structure and organisation of the text and typical language features. They comment on the presentation of the arguments and the weighing of evidence and views, noting the following: bias and point of view; the validity of the conclusions drawn in relation to the internal coherence and objectivity of the arguments; the use of language to infer, imply, objectify, persuade. In groups, students prepare, present, and defend a short oral evaluation using the notes made from the lecture and from the reading text on globalisation. Students read an article of approximately 10001500 words that takes a particular standpoint on globalisation. They compare the linguistic and organisational features of the text with the previous article. As a class, they evaluate the article, compiling a list of specific criticisms and responses to its arguments. Students focus on the use of euphemism and connotation in the text to create deliberate ambiguity, if appropriate.

Notes
Follow up this vocabulary activity in a later lesson by giving students a gapped text about trade and have them fill in the missing words.

School resources

A trade representative from a foreign bank or embassy may be willing to address the class on the topic of globalisation. Before the presentation, remind students of how to use the speakers introduction and logical sequence to help them follow the lecture and organise their notes.

369 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 12A | Unit 12A.9 | Trade

Education Institute 2005

Objectives

Possible teaching activities

In groups of three, students investigate the impact of globalisation on a developing country by making a case study of, for example, sugar, coffee, milk or cocoa production. Discuss the use of advanced searches, for example: + searches (e.g. globalisation + coffee) to find articles including both words. Students prepare a presentation of the problem to the rest of the class. Encourage students to use at least two different sources of information and to refer to their sources in the presentation. They should also prepare and refer to visuals, if possible. Discuss evaluation criteria. Students present their case studies. If possible record the presentations and have groups evaluate their own performance using the criteria established previously. Students role-play a world trade meeting in which current trade practices are discussed. Divide the class into as many groups as there are roles (i.e. delegates at the meeting) and hand out role-cards for the delegates, for example: a small farmer from a developing country; an agricultural minister from a developing country; a small farmer from a developed country; an agricultural minister from a developed country; a trade specialist from a non-government organisation; a director of a transnational company; an official from the International Monetary Fund. Students work in their groups to discuss and prepare a logical and controlled argument that includes relevant and memorable evidence and uses strong, positive language, short utterances for emphasis, and a friendly manner to be convincing. They should be prepared to address counter-arguments or listener bias. Make new groups with one representative of each role. Students act out the role-play. Monitor and record errors for later work on remedial work. Students write a 500-word essay on the topic of current trade practices. They discuss the various positions represented in the role-play. They use organisational features typical of a discussion text to balance and weigh arguments, namely: an introduction that states issues; the arguments in favour plus supporting evidence or examples, followed by the arguments against plus supporting evidence or examples (alternatively, students present a point-by-point argument and counter-argument); a conclusion that summarises and weighs the arguments, draws a conclusion or makes a recommendation. They use formal written English typical of the styles used in discussions and debates

Notes
Useful websites: www.globalisationguide.org www.tuc.org/Globalisation/issues.htm

School resources

370 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 12A | Unit 12A.9 | Trade

Education Institute 2005

Objectives
3 hours Fair trade Students are able to: prepare and present to an audience, or discuss in a simulation, a proposal that convinces or persuades; write email in an effective and coherent manner following all conventions of the genre; argue for or against a particular view on an issue of topical, or personal interest.

Possible teaching activities

Students conduct research into fair trade. Develop research questions, for example: What is fair trade? Why is fair trade important? How does fair trade work? Who benefits from fair trade? In groups, students share their findings on fair trade. They prepare a presentation on Why we should buy fair-trade goods. Present two emails, one informal and one formal. In pairs, students identify similarities and differences between the two. Elicit ideas and record on the board. Students draft an email to a shop or supermarket (e.g. Carrefour) to find out what (if any) fairtrade goods they stock. Students evaluate the emails and decide which to send. In pairs, students write a letter to a supermarket to persuade them to stock fair-trade goods. They refer to the persuasive features of the text on globalisation if necessary. They plan, compose and edit the letter using ICT. Print all the letters and display them around the class so students can see each others work. Vote on the best one and send it to the shop concerned.

Notes
Useful websites to find out about fair trade: www.fairtrade.org.uk www.oxfam.org.uk

School resources

3 hours Aid or trade? Students are able to: identify a writers opinions and supporting arguments; debate a topical issue; compose a balanced discussion essay.

In preparation for this topic, set two research tasks for homework: Find Qatars major trading partners Find out the size of Qatars overseas development aid budget and the main recipients. Divide the class into two groups, And B. Half the class reads the text Why aid works and the other half reads the text Why aid doesnt work. Students identify the opinion of the speaker and supporting arguments. They identify typical features of a persuasive text and use of persuasive language. In groups they discuss their own response to the ideas and opinions in the text. Make new groups with 2-3 students from group A and 2-3 from group B. Using the ideas and opinions from their text, students debate the effectiveness of international aid and alternative ways of helping developing countries. In their groups students draft a discussion essay on the effectiveness of international aid. The text should use: organisational features typical of a discussion text to balance and weigh arguments, and draw a conclusion; formal written English typical of the styles used in discussions and debates; acknowledgement of sources (See standard 12A.9.5). Students should use ICT to organise and present the text attractively, using paragraphs, graphics (e.g. charts, graphs), etc.

Curriculum links with citizenship and economics.

An interesting debate on the effectiveness of international aid can be found on the BBC website. See Why aid doesnt work at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4209956 Why aid does work at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/ 4210122.stm Before students begin the drafting process, discuss and agree evaluation criteria.

371 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 12A | Unit 12A.9 | Trade

Education Institute 2005

Assessment
Possible assessment activities
Listening Students listen to a narrative about a famous trader or explorer and sequence events in the correct order. Students read and discuss a text, expressing agreement or disagreement with the writers opinions. Students read a discussion text and identify main arguments and supporting evidence. Students create a poster to persuade fellow students to buy fair-trade products.

Unit 12A.9
Notes
Listening carries approximately 20% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Speaking carries approximately 30% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Reading carries approximately 20% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Writing carries approximately 30% of the assessment weighting for this grade.

School resources

Speaking

Reading Writing

372 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 12A | Unit 12A.9 | Trade

Education Institute 2005