Activity 2: Listen for information and give a summary

Activity 2: Listen for information and give a summary

1 hour

You will need:

Study guide A newspaper article Text in facilitator’s guide

Vocabulary in context

prejudice: a feeling of like or dislike for someone or something especially when it is not reasonable or logical blog: frequently updated diary on a website intended for public viewing bizarre: amusingly odd blatitude: an empty, pointless comment or statement made as though it were important or helpful boisterous: noisy, energetic and rowdy, often wild assumption: something taken for granted; something believed to be true without proof abandoned: (in this context) given up; stopped using

Go through tenses and subject-verb agreement with the learners

Tenses

There are three main tenses: present tense, past tense and future tense.

Present tense: the action is happening now or it happens regularly. We add -s or -es depending on whether the subject is singular or plural.

For example: Naledi goes to town. He watches the television news broadcast. The sun sets in the west.

Past tense: the action took place in the past. To change a verb to the simple past add –ed to the verb or change the verb form. For example: Naledi went to town. He watched the television news broadcast. The sun set in the west.

Future tense: the action will take place in the future. We use shall or will for the future tense. We use shall for I/we (first person) and will for the other persons (you, he, she, they). In modern use, however, will is used more than shall. Shall is used mainly with I and we to make an offer or suggestion, or to ask for advice. For example: I will watch the television news broadcast. I shall tell you what we want you to do. She will go to town. They will go to town.

First person is the person speaking. Second person is the person spoken to. Third person is the person spoken about.

Ask learners to give one sentence in each of the three tenses.

Subject-verb agreement

Subject verb agreement means that the subject and verb have to agree with each other. If the subject is singular, then the verb should be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb should also be plural, for example: Naledi watches the television programme. Naledi and his friends watch the television programme.

Ask learners to give four sentences making sure the subject-verb agreement is correct.

Pre-listening

1. Discuss the meaning of the words in the vocabulary box with the learners. 2. Read the heading of the article and ask learners to predict what it will be about.

During listening

3. Before reading the article read the subheading which gives a more in-depth idea of what the article is about. Read the article once to the learners allowing them to get an overview of it. 4. Encourage learners to ask questions about any of the aspects of the article of which they are unsure. 5. Tell learners to jot down notes as you read the article a second time. If necessary, read the article a third time. 6. Read the questions in the study guide (pay particular attention to the language questions) with the learners before reading the text a third time.

After listening

7. Learners must answer the questions in their exercise books. Tell them to write only the number and the letter of the answer, for example 6f. 8. Mark the answers with the learners.

Young children must be protected from gender stereotypes

Whether in school or in the toy shop, gender assumptions about boys and girls may have a long-lasting effect on children. Luckily, some kids are on top of it.

Laura Bates blog

On Twitter this week, I saw one particular tweet, with an image attached, which immediately jumped out at me. A parent had shared a photograph of her six-year-old child’s homework – a worksheet asking pupils to research a scientist or inventor. So far, so normal. But the question read: “Who was he? Who was the person you have chosen to look at? How old were they when they began inventing? Did they have a wife and family?”

An angry mother appealed to other Twitter users to come up with a list of female inventors. The question, she said, made it seem like there were only male scientists and inventors. Was she overreacting? Do other parents feel the same? She is far from alone. Parents share similar homework woes on Twitter with startling regularity.

One parent spoke about her son’s physics homework, which used examples of men pushing vans, lifting weights, climbing trees and shooting arrows. The sole female example was a woman pushing a pram. Another parent described an assignment where children were asked to do research on a website, only to find that, of the 21 historical personalities listed, just two were women. Lots of the questions involved men doing active, strong tasks such as driving or playing sport, while women cooked, cleaned or, in one particularly bizarre example, simply “sat on a rug”.

To those who cry “overreaction”, a new study published this month by the US-based National Bureau of Economic Research, suggests that gender bias at primary school may in fact have long-term problems for pupils. In the study several groups of students took two exams, one marked blind by outside examiners, the other marked by teachers who knew the learners’ names. On the anonymously marked exam, girls outperformed boys in maths, but boys outperformed girls when assessed by teachers who knew their names. This suggests that they may have overestimated the boys’ abilities and underestimated the girls.

Keeping track of these pupils to the end of high school, the researchers found that boys who were given encouragement as youngsters not only performed better later on, but were also more likely to take advanced courses involving maths, compared with girls who had been discouraged. They concluded: “Teachers’ over-assessment of boys in a specific subject has a positive and significant effect on boys’ overall future achievements in that subject, while having a significant negative effect on girls.”

Of course, many teachers actively encourage girls into Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects. But gender stereotypes are not only passed on at school. They are also found in the advertising, television, books, magazines and conversations that children are exposed to from a young age. One parent recently told me about the moment that their three-year-old daughter picked up a toy stethoscope, only for another well-meaning adult to swoop in and comment: “Ah, are you going

to be a nurse?” Not, of course, that it wouldn’t be a fine choice of profession, but what comment would have been made if a little boy had picked up the same toy?

We should think carefully about the gender stereotypes we instil on children. How often do we heedlessly shower little girls with platitudes about prettiness and looks, or comment on how “big and strong” their brothers are growing? We hear comments about the sweetness and politeness of daughters, while sons are proudly described as boisterous instead.

In many toy stores, blue shelves mark off chemistry sets, dinosaurs and building tools as the domain of boys, while girls are left holding the (plastic) baby.

The silver lining is that change is happening. Several toy stores have abandoned gender segregation. The parent whose tweet first caught my eye later reported an excellent response and apology from the school. There is hope, too, in the reactions of children themselves. One mother described how, when her seven-year old son was asked to complete a drawing for homework showing “Mummy in the kitchen”, he added his daddy to the picture, doing the washing up.

It’s refreshing to see how ridiculous gender stereotypes can look through children’s eyes. If we could only stop passing our own inherited assumptions on to them.

Content questions

1. The heading tells me the article will be about: a) Racial stereotypes b) Gender stereotypes c) General stereotypes (1) 2. Where did Laura Bates (the writer) see the comment that made her write her blog? a) Facebook b) Instagram c) Twitter (1) 3. What age was the child who was asked to do research on a scientist or inventor? a) Seven b) Six c) Ten (1) 4. Choose the two words that made the blogger think this homework was sexist? a) He, they b) He, family c) He, wife (1) 5. In what way is this stereotyping? The question assumes the inventor or scientist is: a) Female b) Male c) Either one of the two sexes? (1)

6. What do you think the parent’s tweet to Twitter looked like? a) Can you name any female inventors or scientists? b) Can you name any male inventors or scientists? c) Can you name any inventors or scientists? (1) 7. Does the study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggest that gender bias in primary school: a) Has no effect on children as they are growing up b) Has a long-term effect on children as they grow up c) Only has an effect on girls? (1)

Facilitator’s Guide

G06 ~ English Home Language

Unit 1 8. When the maths tests were marked without the markers knowing the names of the learners: a) The boys outperformed the girls b) The girls outperformed the boys c) The results were the same in both (1) 9. Which of these does the blogger blame for influencing stereotypes? a) Books b) Television c) Conversations i) a and c ii) a and b iii) all of them (1) 10. Is the blogger optimistic that change is taking place? a) Yes b) No c) Undecided (1)

Subtotal: [10]

MEMORANDUM: Activity 2: Listen for information

1. b 2. c 3. b 4. c 5. b 6. a 7. b 8. b 9. iii 10. a

Language and general questions

Discuss the language and general questions with the learners.

a) Acronyms are words formed from initials, for example RAM – Random Access Memory. Did you find an acronym in the text? What is it? Stem b) Write the word that two of the letters stand for. science, technology, engineering and mathematics c) In literal language the words mean exactly what they say, for example spill the beans means that we drop some beans. In figurative language the words have a deeper meaning and do not mean what the words literally say, for example spill the beans means to tell someone some secret information. Do you think jumped out at me is literal or figurative?

It is figurative language. It means that I noticed it immediately. d) Break the word stereotypes into syllables. Ster–e–o–types e) Give the following sentence in the past tense. Each individual incident is easily dismissed as harmless. Each individual incident was easily dismissed as harmless. f) What is wrong with this sentence? A parent have shared a photograph of her six-year-old child’s homework.

A parent has shared a photograph of her six-year-old child’s homework. g) What do you think of gender stereotyping? Encourage learners to give their own opinions and a balanced argument as to why they feel this way. h) Do you think gender stereotypes are found frequently in your circle of friends? If so, state in which ways; if not, give reasons why you think so. If you have more than one learner, stress the importance of accepting that others may have different opinions. Emphasise the importance of respecting all opinions even if they do not agree with them.

i) Do you think that the information from this source is valid? Give reasons for your answer. Allow for learner’s own answer as long as they provide reasons. Possible answer: The source seems to be valid as the author quotes from various sources. j) How do you think people can be encouraged to discard and not continue stereotypes? Learner’s own opinion: Possible answer: It is up to each individual, and the way one speaks and acts is important. I would make sure that nothing I say is a stereotype.

Ask learners to write a summary of no longer than 90 – 110 words of the passage on gender stereotypes in rough. Encourage learners to use the words in the box in the study guide to write their summary. The summary must have a heading and the number of words must be written in brackets at the end. Point out the rubric at the back of the study guide so that learners know how they will be assessed. Let learners read their summary to you. Use the summary in the memorandum as an example only. Mark learners’ individual attempts.

Subtotal [10]

Total [20]

blog, gender, stereotypes, parents, Twitter, types of questions, reinforce, boys, portrayed, inventors, scientist, mathematics, sciences, girls, tests, not necessarily, passed on, media, advertisements, television programmes, conversations, author, challenge stereotypes, change, children, stand up, gender stereotyping

This is an example of the summary.

MEMORANDUM: Example: Activity 2: Write a summary

Gender stereotypes

This is a blog about gender stereotypes. It describes how parents have shared on Twitter some questions learners are asked for homework and how these questions reinforce gender stereotypes. Boys are generally portrayed as inventors and scientists and as being better in mathematics and the sciences than girls. Tests show that this is not necessarily the case. Gender stereotypes are also passed on in the media in advertisements, television programmes and also by conversations children hear. The author feels that we are starting to challenge these stereotypes and that change is happening. She feels that children themselves may be the ones to stand up against gender stereotyping. (109 words)