1

6 Photocopiable activity
Collaborative task with a twist
1 Choose one of the six professions below, then discuss how important each of the five qualities
in the mindmap is in that profession.

bodyguard pediatrician judge

industrial tribunal

window dresser teacher of English

complaints officer

creativity

communication skills education

How important is
each quality in this
profession?

empathy empathy

2 Now decide which quality is the most important to be successful in the chosen profession.

Further discussion
What other qualities would you need for each profession?

Which of these professions would you be interested in doing? Why?

Which of these would be suitable/unsuitable for you? Why?

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Macmillan Publishers Ltd. This page may be photocopied and used within the class. TOC
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Unit 6 Collaborative task with a twist
Teaching notes
Activity
Pairwork and groupwork: speaking

Aim
To discuss career choices; to practise Advanced exam speaking tasks (Parts 3 and 4)

Vocabulary
Intelligence and ability; professions

Preparation
Make one copy of the worksheet for each pair.

Time
1015 minutes

Lesson link
Unit 6, page 73

Procedure
Photocopy and hand out worksheets to students in pairs.

Elicit or pre-teach the professions in the list: pediatrician (a childrens doctor), industrial tribunal (a
court in the UK where workers can bring complaints against their employers), complaints officer (an
officer, working for example at the municipal council, dealing with complaints from the public), window
dresser (a person whose job is to decorate shop windows).

Students first choose one profession to talk about, then follow the format of the Part 3 task from
the Advanced Speaking exam. They spend up to two minutes talking about the question and the five
qualities, then another minute or so on the follow-up question.

Ask students to switch partners with members of another pair, then choose another profession and
repeat the activity with their new partner.

Finally, ask the two pairs to get back together to form a group of four, and discuss the questions from
the Further discussion task.

Walk around and monitor the activity making a note of any interesting points mentioned.

Wrap up the activity with a class discussion of the interesting points you noted. Elicit comments from
the rest of the class.