Lesson POL-8

Welcome! Please consider how your attitude affects your and other students experience of the lesson.

Be respectful, come prepared with relevant material and show interest in order to have the best possible educational experience.

Learning outcomes

During the course of this lesson, you will learn:

  • Listen to and describe how to use rhetorically and grammatically empowered spoken English.

  • Choose and incorporate sources in your mock debate or negotiation.

  • Interact with another student (or alone) and record a rhetorically empowered mock debate or mock negotiation, using correct grammar, fluency and a varied vocabulary.

Lesson outline

Essential exercise: pre-watching exercises

Detailed exercise: The Great Debate, episode 4

Advanced exercise: vocabulary exercise

Homework and exit ticket

Essential exercise: pre-watching

Discuss the topic from The great debate: Ace your case and look at the vocabulary

Time for the exercise: 10 minutes

Before watching the show:

  • The topic is Should the Number of Flights be Limited by a Quota? What do you think, do you believe that travelling by aeroplane should be limited by a quota or should quotas apply to other means of transport as well, for instance cars?

  • What arguments do you think the debaters will use?

  • Click the vocabulary list below and read both the English and Swedish versions of the words used during this episode.

Vocabulary - Eng/Swe

  • Measures - åtgärder ■ Liberty - frihet

  • Emissions - utsläpp ■ Decrease - minska

  • Aviation - flyg ■ Unsustainable - ohållbar

  • Incentive - incitament ■ Apply to - applicera, ansöka till, eller, gäller alla (apply to all)

  • Promote - främja ■ Emphasis - betoning

  • Domestic - inhemsk ■ Diminish - minska

  • Limitation - begränsning ■ Urgent - brådskande

  • A vast amount of - en stor mängd av ■ Monumental - monumental

  • Significantly - betydligt ■ Subsidize - subventionera

  • Acknowledge - erkänna

Detailed exercise:

Watch The great debate: Ace your case and discuss

Time for the exercise: 30 minutes

Padlet: https://padlet.com/feke_norman/y8hjdjqctyv5dxd9


  1. Why are the rule of threes and anaphora particularly memorable in a speech, do you think? What other figures of speech were brought up in the episode? List some examples.

  2. Why is the emphasis of words so important?

  3. Why is Amanda more nervous than usual in this speech? How can you master your feelings when delivering a personal speech? Did she manage well, do you think?

  4. Are the speakers right in declining points of information?

  5. How do you think the speakers develop throughout the four episodes? Did any of them grow as speakers? Explain your answer.

  6. In your opinion, who won the debate?

  7. Using the assessment rubrics, how would you assess their spoken English? What are their strenghts and areas of improvement?

Source: UR, retrieved 2021

Advanced exercise: vocabulary

Defining vocabulary using a Frayer model

Time for the exercise: 20-30 minutes


  1. Select a word from the vocabulary list to describe.

  2. Watch the video to the right

  3. Create a Frayer model and include:

    • A definition

    • Characteristics

    • Examples

    • Non-examples

  4. After 30 minutes, 3 students will be randomly selected to show their Frayer model and explain their word.

Pro-tip!

    • Google your word + define = Oxford definitions

    • Google your word + anontym = Oxford similar or opposite words

Exit ticket

"From watching the episodes, I learned that ..."

Homework

Record a short spoken argument on Flipgrid on the topic:

Should the Number of Flights be Limited by a Quota?