SPEAKING SESSIONS

Instructions / Hints: New Proficiency PassKey (unit 3, pp. 49-50; 10.210)

1. Healthy eating

¾ What kinds of food do you consider to be ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’?

¾ Do you ‘eat to live’ or ‘live to eat’?
¾ Do you eat in a hurry? If so, why?
¾ Are we too obsessed with healthy eating nowadays?
2.1 What can de done to help animals in danger of extinction?

¾ Endangered species. eg. seal, whale, elephant, lion

¾ Ban hunting
¾ Create nature reserves
¾ Breed animals in zoos
¾ Support animal welfare organizations
2.2 Animal debates. Choose a topic and prepare a short presentation (5 minutes)

• People should not be allowed to keep very aggressive breeds of dog such as
Rottweilers as pets
• In a civilised society there is no place for entertainment which involves cruelty to
animals
• Animal activists are right when they object to animals being used in experiments
• It is hypocritical for people who call themselves animal lovers to eat meat and fish
• People who live in flats should not be allowed to have pets which require exercise
• Animals bred for food should be kept in humane conditions

FEATURES OF A GOOD PRESENTATION

9 Have a clear opening

9 Start with an outline of your talk
9 Follow a clear structure
9 Do not give too much information
9 Explain key terms
9 Give examples
9 Involve the audience
9 Look at your audience
9 Speak slowly and clearly
9 Use humour
9 Use visual aids
9 Vary your intonation
9 Keep an eye on your watch
9 Rehearse and time your presentation
3.1 Would the world be a better place if everyone was forced to speak the same
language?

¾ Which language?
¾ Advantages and drawbacks
¾ Educational implications
¾ Governments’ policy to impose or protect languages
3.2 Books
3.2 Tell your partner about a book that…

Choose at least 3 aspects to talk about:

• you were made to read at school/university and hated.

• you feel you should have read, but you haven’t.
• you have read but that you can’t remember anything about it.
• you decided to read after seeing the film.
• you started but couldn’t finish.
• you have bought, but have never opened.
4. What’s your personality type?

o For each section, find out which personality type you are.
o With your four types, find out which of the categories below you fit into.
o Comment on your category with your partner: Do you agree with this classification?
Why/Why not?
5. Celebrities in the film and music industries often seem to have unhappy private lives

¾ Agree / Disagree
¾ Pressures of the job
¾ Lifestyle
¾ The role of the media
6. It’s a small world and it’s getting smaller everyday. Do you agree with this comment?

¾ Globalisation: pros and cons

¾ Language barriers
¾ Role of international companies
¾ Development of technology
¾ World’s most popular sport, invention, drink, type of music, food
7. Are we hooked on addiction?

Talk in small groups about a person you know, or about yourself if you have an addiction you
don’t mind talking about.

o Addiction to:
ƒ A machine or a gadget
ƒ A particular TV series
ƒ Work (workaholic)
ƒ Shopping (shopaholic)
ƒ Chatting online
ƒ Electronic games
ƒ Anything else (chocaholic, gym, etc.)
o How long has it been going for?
o Does it interfere with their life?
o Does it affect the people around them?
o Do they talk about it?
o How serious do you think it is?
o Do you think they should do something about it?
8. To what extent does advertising influence the purchasing decisions of young people?

¾ Images in the media

¾ The influence of the Internet
¾ How advertising might change in the future
¾ Controls on advertising: censorship / banning

Hints:

- Think of an advertisement you especially like.

- Censored/banned advertisements:
Virgin Atlantic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPvlna_CRXQ
Mercedes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l38blGqVeHc&feature=related
9. A job you would love to do

¾ What the job involves

¾ Personal qualities required
¾ Rewarding aspects of the job
¾ Unpleasant aspects of the job
¾ Reasons why you could do the job
10. The national tourist board is concerned that the bad manners and behaviour of its
citizens on holiday abroad may be putting foreign tourists off visiting the country. It has
decided to launch a campaign in an attempt to encourage better behaviour and improve
the country’s image.
Discuss the relative importance of each area represented in the posters and how effective
you think each poster might be. Then select THREE which you think should be included
in the campaign. You may suggest changes to the illustrations and/or slogans, or you
may design one or more of the posters completely from scratch.
10. Tourism and Travel
Introduce yourself:

¾ Name and hometown

¾ Why you are doing a degree in English Studies
¾ Your future career
¾ Hobbies
¾ Your summertime
¾ Your being abroad, etc.
Spanish university students demonstrate / go on a demonstration

¾ Reasons
¾ Effects on students / society
¾ Other possible ways to complain
Problematic issues in your country

Choose THREE of them and prepare a short presentation (5 minutes).

¾ Employment
¾ Social security and health care
¾ Education
¾ Infrastructure
¾ Environment
¾ Immigration
¾ Homophobia
¾ Gender violence

FEATURES OF A GOOD PRESENTATION

9 Have a clear opening

9 Start with an outline of your talk
9 Follow a clear structure
9 Do not give too much information
9 Explain key terms
9 Give examples
9 Involve the audience
9 Look at your audience
9 Speak slowly and clearly
9 Use humour
9 Use visual aids
9 Vary your intonation
9 Keep an eye on your watch
9 Rehearse and time your presentation
Time questionnaire

o Work with a partner and answer the questions, giving examples whenever possible.
o Notice some useful phrases and expressions:
ƒ For example
ƒ For instance
ƒ An/One example of this is…
ƒ If we take the example of…
ƒ … serves as a good example of this