Learning Activity 1 40 minutes (pair work)
Students should be asked to collect recent articles or passages about family violence from the mass media before this lesson.
(a) Students should complete the table by categorising the passages and naming the type of family violence reported.
Below are some websites where articles reporting on family violence can be found:
http://www.yesican.org/news.html
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/tag/domestic-violence http://www.wowzio.com/pulse/486662_family-violence
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/06/btsc.rowlands.batteredmen/index.html
Alternatively, this learning activity can be skipped and teachers can introduce the topic of family violence by showing students the information below.
Statistics on family violence: http://www.swd.gov.hk/vs/english/stat.html A news article reporting on the rise of family violence cases:
http://www.voanews.com/tibetan/archive/2007-05/2007-05-14-voa2.cfm Examples of types of family violence:
sexual abuse, physical assault, murder-suicide, verbal violence (e.g. insult), economic deprivation, isolation
(b)&
(c)
Teachers can explain to students that solutions can be generally categorised into preventive measures (Learning Activity (b)) and remedial measures (Learning Activity (c)).
Teachers should also point out that it is not enough for students to say, for example, family members should communicate more, or people should learn to control their emotions. Students should suggest methods to encourage such behaviour, rather than only naming what people should and should not do.
Students should also be asked to think about the details of the solutions, rather than coming up with only general headings like education or punishment. Below are some examples of solutions which students can further elaborate on.
Examples of solutions that will prevent family violence:
- promote family violence awareness and educate the public about the problem - report suspected cases of family violence
- provide support, e.g. counselling service, to families with problems such as gambling
- encourage the victims to seek support from friends or professionals such as social workers
- show care and concern to the victims and avoid giving judgemental advice
- listen to the victims and help them to understand their situation and see the possible ways out
Catering for Learner Diversity
For less advanced students:
You can give students a list of people and organisations that may be involved in the issue of family violence and have them think about what each of them can do to prevent or reduce the impact of family violence, e.g. the victim, the government, schools, social workers, the media, the victims’ family / relatives / friends and charitable organisations. Alternatively, students can be given time to do an Internet search for ideas.
Learning Activity 2 35 minutes (pair work)
(a) Teachers can point out that solutions are often easier said than done. In reality, things like money, legislation, and public support are required to implement solutions to social issues, and such things may not be readily available.
Suggested answers:
1. This may face strong public opposition.
2. It requires cooperation of the Shenzhen government to enforce such a rule.
3. This may face strong public opposition.
(b)&
(c)
Students apply what they have learnt from Learning Activity 2(a) to discuss how realistic the solutions they suggested in Learning Activities 1(b) and 1(c) are.
Learning Activity 3
35 minutes (individual work / pair work)
Before students work on the questions, teachers can go over the example sentence on air pollution with students and highlight the words and phrases used to describe solutions.
(a) Answers:
1. I would recommend 2. I propose that (b) Answers:
1. One way to deal with the problem is to…
2. To improve…
3. I suggest that…
Teachers can elicit phrases and expressions from students and ask students to make sentences using them. They can also use the last paragraph in the Internet addiction article (Supplementary Materials 3a-b) to demonstrate what expressions are useful and how they should be used in suggesting solutions.
(c) Answers:
1. to s __ l v __ to solve 2. to i __ p r __ v __ to improve 3. to a d __ __ __ s s to address
4. it is a __ v i s __ b __ e that it is advisable that 5. to __ e a l with to deal with 6. I s __ g __ e s __ that I suggest that 7. one way to p __ e v e __ t
this from w o __ s __ n i n g one way to prevent this from worsening 8. to c __ m __ __ t to combat
Catering for Learner Diversity
For less advanced students:
You can read the words or phrases aloud once as a hint for weaker students, not necessarily in the same order as in the table, depending on the level and motivation of students. Alternatively, you can assign students who have worked out the answer to read the words or phrases for the class.
Also, you can reduce the number of questions to make the learning activity easier.
After getting the answers, you may go over the language notes below with students to make sure they know how to use the words / phrases in the next activity.
Language notes
To + +
e.g. To improve the air quality in Hong Kong, the government could impose a higher tax on private cars.
+ solve
improve address deal with combat
noun phrase main clause
I suggest It is advisable It is possible
that- clause
Learning Activity 4 60 minutes (group work)
Teachers cut up and distribute the role cards on the next two pages. Students get into small groups according to the roles they play. They brainstorm ideas related to the solution their character suggests to prepare for the forum. Since in the role-play later students need to justify why the solution they suggest is the most effective, at this preparation stage, it is important that they discuss the feasibility of the solution in detail. Teachers could guide students with the questions below:
1. What is required for the suggested solution to be carried out?
2. What is the impact of carrying out this solution on victims and criminals in other domestic violence cases?
3. Is the suggested solution fair to all the parties involved?
Teachers regroup students so that each group contains students playing the four roles. In the new group, students present the solution they suggest and persuade the others in the group that their suggested solution is the most effective.
When the students finish the learning activity, teachers can ask them which solution they themselves believe will be the most effective. Students should then be asked to justify their choice. Teachers can round up by reminding students that whatever solutions they are suggesting, they should always elaborate and explain how the solutions will work in detail.
Catering for Learner Diversity
For less advanced students:
Instead of having ten groups of students doing ten separate forums, there can be fewer but larger forums in the classroom, with each group having more than one student playing one role. This gives students more confidence in giving their opinions and allows students in the same role to collaborate as a team during the discussion, e.g. making clarifications, taking notes while the others speak. They can also be given time to work before the forum to prepare what they will say, guess what the others may say and think about how they will possibly respond.
Alternatively, the number of roles in each forum can be reduced. Each group can be asked to choose two roles to work on, with two members working on each role.
Role cards for Learning Activity 4