3 International relations

Unit Objectives
Grammar: subordinate clauses; modal perfect
Vocabulary: dependent prepositions; adjectives of character; international organisations;
international relations
Scenario: stating objectives and giving strong advice; devising an action plan
Study skills: active listening
Writing skills: a speech

3.1 NATIONAL SPEAKING AND READING

TRAITS 1 The main objective of this warm-up activity is to
allow students to access language that they
already know on the subject. Put students in
IN THIS LESSON groups of two or three (pairs are better than four).
Lesson topic and staging • Ask the groups to discuss the questions and then
This lesson deals with national characteristics. prepare mini-presentations to give their opinion to
Students compare their national characteristics with the class. Allow about ten minutes.
those of the British. They begin by discussing what • Do class feedback.
defines the national identity of a country before This activity will work fine if all the students in
considering what characteristics make up British each group are of the same nationality. If not, then
identity, comparing their views to the findings of a you should not look for consensus in the group.
newspaper article. Students go on to learn some Instead, any feedback should take all the
adjectives of character and finally complete a nationalities in the group into account and may
speaking activity which looks at specific types of focus on the similarities and differences.
behaviour that define national identity. 2a Students do the activity as per Coursebook
individually, then move on to the next exercise.
Objectives 2bStudents compare ideas in pairs and read the
By the end of the lesson, students will have: article to check. Allow three minutes for this.
• considered what traits make up national identity • Check answers with the class, making sure
and compared their own with that of the British students include not only the top 24, but also any
• read for specific information other traits that are mentioned in the text.
• learnt and practised adjectives of character
• talked about particular cultural differences. 1 F (good sense of humour)
2 T (inability to express emotions)
Timings 3 F (a love of bargains)
If short of time, set Exercise 6 for homework. 4 F (road rage)
Possible lesson break: after Exercise 5. 5 T (being proud of where we live)
6 F (not saying what we mean)
WARM-UP 7 T (obsession with class)
8 T (overly polite)
Before starting Exercise 1, direct students’ attention
to the title of the lesson and the photo below it. 3 Discuss this question as a class, encouraging
Elicit what they think this lesson is about. What does students to provide support for their opinions.
the picture show? 4 This task changes the focus of the discussion to the
Edward Grey quote: Ask students to discuss these students’ own national identity (or identities).
questions: What is he trying to say? How far Do they If the class is primarily of the same nationality, try
agree or disagree with the quote and why? to reach a consensus, as these activities will
probably be shorter. If you have a heterogeneous
Edward Grey: a British Liberal statesman who
group, however, these activities will take longer
held many positions during his career, including
and you should focus on comparing and
Foreign Secretary between 1905–1916.
contrasting the different identities.

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 1

5 As these dependent prepositions should be SPEAKING
revision, get students to attempt them in pairs and
also to work out the meaning first. 9a This exercise encourages students to reflect further
• Take feedback and check meaning. on their own culture and is a group activity. Tell
students that instead of thinking about national
1 for 2 of 3 with 4 with 5 to 6 to 7 of traits, they are now going to look at cultural
8 at differences related to behaviour. Check students
understand the concepts before considering in
6a Discuss the examples with the class before asking their groups how national identity is shown
students to come up with sentences about their through these behaviours. In a monolingual class,
own culture using phrases from Exercise 5. the discussion could be opened up to include
6bStudents compare sentences with a partner before other cultures as well.
class feedback. Elicit different ideas from the class. • Elicit and discuss ideas as a class.
9bDo this as a class discussion. If students are
VOCABULARY: adjectives of living/studying in a foreign country, you could
character ask them to discuss what they feel the order of
importance of the forms of behaviour for their host
7 As these words are not in the text, ask students to country would be.
work in groups to work out the meanings, Students write an introductory document for
drawing on their pooled knowledge. Try and foreigners visiting their country, explaining the
provide example sentences, either using students behaviour of the people living in the country and
in the class or possibly famous people. how visitors need to behave in order to fit in.
If many of these adjectives are new to the class or
difficult for them to pronounce, take this HOMEWORK OPTIONS
opportunity to discuss word stress and practise
pronunciation. You might wish to ask students to Students do Exercise V2–5 on page 131 in the
decide for homework how many syllables are in Language reference.
each word and where the main stress comes.
Students do the vocabulary, listening and
pronunciation exercises for this lesson in
1 emotional 2 self-effacing 3 cultured MyEnglishLab.
4 pragmatic 5 dogmatic 6 charismatic
7 aloof 8 meticulous 9 devious
10 hospitable

8a Students work in pairs or small groups to discuss

the adjectives.
If time is short or students are likely to need more
explanation/support, do this as a class activity.

Positive: charismatic, cultured, hospitable,

meticulous, pragmatic, self-effacing
Negative: aloof, devious, dogmatic
Neutral: emotional

8bThis activity could be done in small groups or as a

class discussion.

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 2

3.2 INTERNATIONAL READING
COLLABORATION 2a First read the title of the article as a class and make
sure students understand its meaning.
• Give them no more than two minutes to read the
IN THIS LESSON text and discuss the question in pairs.
Lesson topic and staging • Take class feedback.
This lesson focuses on international cooperation and 2bStudents do the activity as per Coursebook.
in particular, CERN (the European Organization for True/False/Not given is one of the common
Nuclear Research – the abbreviation is from the question types in the IELTS Reading section. The
original name in French, which is no longer used). addition of the Not given category significantly
Students start by speaking about international raises the challenge for students. For classes
collaborations. They read an article about CERN and preparing for IELTS, encourage students to
do some meaning-from-context tasks. This leads to underline key words in the questions and then to
the grammar section and work on subordinate underline and number where they find the
clauses. The lesson finishes with some vocabulary information relating to them in the text.
work on abbreviations followed by a writing task
about one of these organisations. 1 NG 2 T 3 T 4 T 5 F (there is movement
between roles: physicists become engineers)
Meet the expert video 6 F (a less hierarchical way of working,
Watch the video to hear the Head of Communication flattening out of traditional structures)
for the UK’s Disaster Emergency Committee talk
3a This activity focuses on word sets on particular
about his role and what the organisation does.
themes and is best done individually.
Objectives 3bStudents compare ideas in pairs before class
By the end of the lesson, students will have: feedback. Add in any missing answers, asking
• learnt about abbreviations and acronyms students to locate them in the text (in context)
• listened for specific information before discussing meaning as a class. Allow
• read for gist, specific information and meaning students to use dictionaries to find other word
from context forms, meanings or examples if helpful.
• learnt about subordinate clauses
• practised prioritising 1 hype, passion, excitement, love, crazed,
• discovered more about international organisations charged, intensity, passionately, terrific, buzz
and written about them. 2 trundles, smashed into, whizz
3 cooperating, collegiate, international
Timings
cooperation, common purpose, shared
If short of time, set Exercise 9 for homework. purpose, collectively
Possible lesson break: after Exercise 5a.
4 Do this as a class discussion.
SPEAKING
GRAMMAR: subordinate clauses
1 Do this activity as a class, noting any related
abbreviations or acronyms on the board as Students have already met most subordinate
they arise. clauses but they are likely to have learnt them as
set phrases, linking words etc., so this might be
construction and infrastructure projects, confusing for them. However, explain that this is a
natural resources, architecture, medicine, better way of remembering things they already
aircraft industry know and keep referring back to concrete
examples. You may want to go through the
different types of subordinate clause with the class
in the Language reference on page 130 and see if
students can come up with other examples for
each type, e.g. after for time.

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 3

5a Students do this individually and then in pairs. If VOCABULARY AND SPEAKING
students struggle with question 3, refer them to
the Language reference on page 130. 7a Elicit the meaning of abbreviation (a shorter form).
• Put students in groups to do this activity.
1A 2B 3A 7bStudents now listen and check their answers,
referring to Audio script 3.1 on page 168 if needed.
5bRead the first sentence as a class, eliciting the
subordinate clause. 1 IMF: the International Monetary Fund (an
• Students then work through the remaining three organisation that seeks to control international
sentences, checking in pairs before class feedback. exchange rates and support financial
development) 2 IOC: the International
1 As the tram trundles through the suburbs of Olympic Committee (organises the Summer
Geneva 2 that are helping us understand and Winter Olympic games) 3 UNESCO:
what the universe is actually made of United Nations Educational, Scientific and
3 whose countries are in conflict 4 who is not Cultural Organisation (promotes peace and
really up to speed on quarks, strangeness, mass security through international collaboration)
and gluons

Students can do exercise G1– 1 in the Language Audio script 3.1

reference on page 131 in class or for homework. Many international organisations are known by
6a Students do the activity as per Coursebook. abbreviations, or shortened forms of phrases. You
With weaker students, allow time for students to usually say each letter separately, with the main
compare ideas in pairs before class feedback. stress on the last letter. So the International
Olympic Committee, the organisation which
1 The scientists use video conferencing facilities organises the modern Olympic Games, is known
in order to work together … 2 The main as the IOC, with the stress on the final letter – C.
CERN site has a large computer centre which Similarly, with the IMF, the International
contains … 3 Although CERN is currently Monetary Fund, the stress is on the F – the IMF
famous for the Large Hadron Collider, it also being the international organisation that is meant
gained prestige … 4 In March 2013, CERN to oversee the global financial system. Some
announced that they had discovered the Higgs abbreviations use the first letter of each word to
boson particle. 5 The system was shut down form a new word. And this type of abbreviation’s
on 19 September 2008, when a magnet was called an acronym. Acronyms are pronounced as
found to be faulty. 6 Peter Higgs’ Nobel Prize words rather than saying each letter. So, the
in physics was controversial because several United Nations Educational, Scientific and
other physicists were also responsible for Cultural Organisation is known as UNESCO.
developing the mechanism to predict a particle. UNESCO is a specialised agency of the United
7 You will get a better understanding of Nations which tries to contribute to peace and
CERN’s work culture and values if you make a security by promoting international collaboration
personal visit./If you make a personal visit to through education, science and culture. CERN,
CERN, you will get a better understanding of the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, is
its work culture and values./You could make a another acronym. It originally stood in French for
personal visit to CERN if you want to get a Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, or the
better understanding of its work culture and European Council for Nuclear Research. However,
values. the name changed in 1954 when the word council
was changed to organisation. However, this meant
6bStudents do the activity alone then check in pairs.
the new acronym would’ve been OERN, which
• Elicit answers from the class and provide
seemed rather awkward. So they decided to keep
explanations (referring back to page 130 of the
the original acronym, CERN.
Language reference as useful).

1d 2g 3c 4f 5e 6a 7b

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 4

7c Write the word acronym on the board. Elicit the WRITING
meaning (a word formed by using the initial
letters of the name). Elicit the difference between 9 This can be done either in class or for homework.
this and abbreviation. Use NATO as an example of Remind students to incorporate subordinate
an acronym and UN as an example of an clauses into their writing.
abbreviation. • Students can then share their paragraphs and
• Students now work in their groups to complete check their information is correct.
the exercise. Alternatively, students take turns to read out their
• Check answers as a class. paragraph (either in groups or to the class,
depending on class size) and the rest of the
1 World Health Organisation; a specialised group/class has to guess which organisation they
agency of the United Nations that acts as a wrote about.
coordinating authority on international Some students may have little or no idea about
public health these organisations or they may want to do more
2 Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting than just a paragraph and find out more about
Countries; an intergovernmental association them. This task can then become a mini-project
of 12 states who work together to regulate where students research one of these
their industry organisations and prepare either a presentation or
3 Association of South-East Asian Nations; a short essay.
a geopolitical and economic organisation
comprising Indonesia, Malaysia, the
MEET THE EXPERT
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, 1 Give students three to four minutes to discuss the
Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam questions in pairs before eliciting ideas from the
4 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation; an class as a whole.
intergovernmental organisation whose 2 Allow time for students to read through the topics
member countries agree to protect each other and check their answers to Exercise 1 before
militarily playing the video.
5 European Union; an economic and political • Let students compare answers in pairs before
union between 28 West European countries doing class feedback.
6 World Trade Organisation; an international
organisation that supervises and liberalises 2, 3, 5, 7
international trade
7 International Civil Aviation Organisation; an 3a Split the class into two groups (A and B) or, if you
agency of the UN which fosters the planning have a large class, have four groups: two As and
and development of international air two Bs.
transport to ensure safe and orderly growth • Give students a minute to read through the points
8 National Aeronautics and Space and then ask them to predict the answers in their
Administration; an agency of the US groups before playing the video again.
government responsible for its civilian space
programme and aerospace research Group A
1 to explain very clearly and concisely what’s
8a Allow students a few minutes in their groups to
happened and how they are trying to help
discuss what each organisation is responsible for
2 governments, local church groups, NGOs and
before opening the discussion to the class.
others 3 when there’s a big power imbalance
8b Critical thinking: Prioritising. Students discuss
4 long hours and difficult travel
in their groups which organisations they consider
Group B
to be the most important and why.
1 traditional news media, digital media, social
• During class feedback, encourage students to
media and the web 2 listening to people
reach a class consensus on which they think are
3 It supports the people who need help, local
the five most important organisations.
businesses and farmers. 4 their resilience

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 5

3bGive students five minutes to compare answers in together and so when we fund one of our member
their groups. agencies, let’s say it’s Oxfam in Great Britain, and
3c Ask each student from group A to pair up with a they’re involved in drilling a well in, um,
student from group B and discuss their notes. Ethiopia, the lead agency in Ethiopia may well be,
4 Students form small groups by joining another um, Oxfam in the US.
pair. If there is an odd number of pairs, students
should form groups of threes. Give students five And then there’s a second level of international
minutes to discuss the questions before opening cooperation, which is in the vast majority of cases
the discussion to the class. our member agencies collaborate very closely
with local organisations. They have to liaise with,
Meet the expert video um, governments in the countries where they
Brendan Paddy, Head of Communications for DEC work but they also work with local church
groups, with NGOs and with other organisations
I’m Brendan Paddy. I’m the Head of to actually deliver the work. So that Oxfam GB
Communications for the UK’s Disasters project that we fund may involve Oxfam US
Emergency Committee. actually being the partner that implements the
What the Disasters Emergency Committee does is work in Ethiopia and it may then also involve an
bring together the big UK aid agencies – people Ethiopian organisation that actually do the
like the British Red Cross, Save the Children and drilling and liaise with the community.
Oxfam – to raise money at times of major I think probably the most important thing in, um,
emergencies overseas in poor countries. So quite er, successful international collaboration is an
recently, for example, we raised ninety-five understanding that you are going to encounter
million pounds for the Typhoon Haiyan Appeal, some cultural differences and differences of
after a huge typhoon hit the Philippines in expectations, things you take for granted, you will
November, um, 2013. find are seen very differently in other countries
As the Head of Communications, it’s my job to and other cultures, and I think it’s really therefore
make sure that we’re communicating with our incredibly important that you start those
main audiences clearly and persuasively. So most collaborations by listening to people. And I think
importantly of all, perhaps, that’s probably about that’s particularly true where there’s a big power
our donors. They’re ordinary members of the UK imbalance. So I think, historically, with many
public who choose to give us money in response international relations between richer countries
to our appeals for overseas disasters. And so for and poorer countries, there’s an assumption that
that audience, the critical thing is making sure richer countries knew better and had all the
that I’m explaining very clearly, very concisely, information and could go to poorer countries and
exactly what has happened when a disaster’s do the work that they were planning to do
occurred, how our member agencies have come without really much regard for the views and
together to try and help and how the members of knowledge of local people in those countries, and
the public can support us by giving us their I think again and again that’s found to be not just
money and I – I do that using a combination of mistaken but dangerous, because there’s all kinds
media, so some of that’s using traditional news of local knowledge and expertise that you’re
media, some of that’s by working with digital ignoring and failing to take advantage of, and also
media – so social media and the web – um and we if you don’t collaborate with people, if you don’t
also do a little bit of work with um, er, er, events involve them in your work, then their sense of
and also publications.
ownership and involvement in it is going to be
There’s two major ways that the DEC really really limited. So even if your approach is sound,
embodies the idea of international collaboration. your failure to engage people properly could
The first is, most of our member agencies – Save undermine the project.
the Children, The Red Cross, Oxfam – are
I think one of the really common misconceptions
multinational organisations. They’re
about the delivery of aid is that it’s done by
organisations with offices all around the world,
people in rich countries jumping on a plane with a
they’re families of organisations that work

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 6

 backpack full of stuff, which they then go to a played a small part to help them do that, is just
poor country and hand out, and aid really doesn’t amazing.
work like that. Occasionally you still find that
with people who are completely new – they’re HOMEWORK OPTIONS
well-intentioned but they have very little
experience. But aid organisations that have been Students do Exercise G1–1 on page 131 in the
doing this for decades find that it’s almost always Language reference.
far better to both work with local organisations –
Students do the reading, grammar, listening and
so they often employ national staff in the country
pronunciation exercises for this lesson in
that’s affected by a disaster – but also partner with MyEnglishLab. They can also do the MyEnglishLab
local organisations who do a lot of the work and video activities after this point.
are supported by the international organisation
based on their experience around the world. Students research an international aid agency of their
choice and prepare a short presentation (five minutes
But they also procure goods locally. It’s much maximum) to give in the next lesson. They should
better for a local economy, if you can, to find the explain what it does, how it came to be, how it is
things that people need locally. That way you’re funded, the countries it tends to work in, etc.
supporting not just the people who need
assistance, but also local businesses and the
people involved in importing goods. If you get
that wrong, you can actually end up undermining
local people. If you bring in a huge amount of
food from overseas, for example, and start giving
it away for free, local farmers are gonna have a
bad time.

One of the things that I find, um, really odd about

my role is that it’s hugely enjoyable. And it feels
like, er, a ridiculous privilege to get to help people
when they’re in the moment of absolute need and
to actually go and see how some of the money
that people in the UK have generously donated
helps people when they’re hit by one of these
crises. And it sounds like it should be depressing
and occasionally people commiserate with me and
say, ‘Oh, it’s – it’s wonderful what you do, but it
must be so hard.’ And sometimes it is. It involves
some very long hours, it can involve some
difficult travel, but it does feel, to me, like an
enormous privilege and I have to say, despite, you
know, dealing with people when they’re having
an incredibly difficult time and sometimes are
bereaved, the overall experience of it is amazingly
positive because people in the UK are so generous
and it’s so wonderful to give them the chance to
do something to help others, and actually, because
when you go to countries where people have been
affected – unless they are in shock through
bereavement – people are actually amazingly
resilient, and watching them struggle to put their
lives back together and knowing that you’ve

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 7

3.3 AMBASSADORS 3 Give students two and a half minutes to do the
activity as per Coursebook. If useful, students
compare answers in pairs before class feedback.
IN THIS LESSON Remember to get justifications for their answers.
Lesson topic and staging This task is similar to the paragraph matching
exercise in the IELTS Reading test. For classes
The lesson looks at the life of ambassadors and their
preparing for this exam, you can increase the
families. Students begin by choosing adjectives to
challenge by putting the questions on pieces of
describe an ambassador and then read interviews
paper and add two more distractors.
with ambassadors. They work on collocations
connected with the diplomatic world and listen to an
interview with an ambassador’s wife before focusing 1A 2E 3D 4B 5F 6C
on inferring attitude. The grammar work looks at the 4 Students work in pairs, choosing what they found
modal perfect and the lesson concludes with a the most surprising answer and discussing why.
speaking activity that gives oral practice on their use. • They then present it to the rest of the class.
Objectives • Conclude with a whole-class discussion.
By the end of the lesson, students will have: VOCABULARY: international
• learnt about the life of an ambassador
• revised adjectives of character
relations
• read for specific information and for gist 5a Check if students understand all of the words
• learnt and practised collocations connected with given before they do the activity.
the diplomatic world • Give them a minute to compare answers in pairs.
• listened for gist and specific information • During class feedback, elicit answers, adding in
• practised inferring attitude alternatives and explanations as needed.
• learnt about modal perfects.

Timings cultural awareness diplomatic crisis,

immunity, incident, meeting, negotiations,
If short of time, set Exercise 9 for homework.
posting international awareness, community,
Possible lesson break: after Exercise 5b.
conflict, crisis, incident, meeting, negotiations,
posting overseas community, conflict, crisis,
SPEAKING AND READING incident, meeting, posting summit meeting,
Begin by checking that students understand what an negotiations
ambassador is. Ask them to tell you what their
5b Students now write their own sentences using
responsibilities are. What does he/she do?
collocations from Exercise 5a. You might want to
1 Students do this activity in pairs. To begin with, limit the number of sentences to around ten.
don’t tell them any of the vocabulary they don’t This exercise could be set for homework.
know. Let them decide.
• Do feedback and check the understanding of all LISTENING
the adjectives with the students. Ask them if they
6a Before doing the task, read through the
wish to add or change any of the adjectives they
instructions with the students. Ask them to predict
have chosen. Make sure they justify their choices.
the ambassador’s wife’s answers.
2 Students do the activity as per Coursebook,
• Students then listen once only. Get class feedback.
comparing answers in pairs before class feedback.
However, do not make the feedback too detailed
This task requires quite intensive reading, so give
as you may affect the answers for the next exercise.
students at least seven minutes to do this.
She has mixed feelings because it can be hard
observant, analytical, good at solving
to learn about a new culture. Then, having
problems, strong, energetic, willing to learn,
made the effort, you have to leave and start all
respectful, sensitive, outgoing, charming,
over again in a new country.
articulate, assertive, dignified, committed,
passionate, diligent

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 8

 6bRefer students to the headings before getting them
Audio script 3.2/3.3 to listen again and make notes. Remind them to
Most people can’t begin to understand how you only take down key points and not to try to write
feel when you’re sent from New York to Tokyo, to down everything they hear.
Abu Dhabi, to Moscow, without a real break. You • With a weaker class, you might want students to
get a strange feeling of helplessness, as if you’re compare answers in pairs.
no longer in control of your life. • Take feedback and write the headings and key
points on the board.
You see, when you arrive in each new place, you
don’t have any friends there. You feel insecure,
Problems with overseas postings: hard to be
isolated; not part of the local scene at all because
sent to a place you haven’t chosen, whose
you probably don’t understand the culture very
culture you don’t understand and whose
well. So you gradually build up a life for yourself
language you don’t speak; also hard to leave,
and then, just when you’ve done that, you’re sent
having made the effort to integrate and made
somewhere else, where you have to start all over
friends, to start all over again in a new country
again.
Regrets: not travelling more when she was
Er, it’s important to be positive when your partner younger; not learning Russian sooner
gets a new overseas posting. It helps to remember
If students are having trouble distinguishing
that although you were unhappy when you
between key points and less important points,
arrived in the last country where your partner
you can underline certain phrases in the audio
was posted, er, you were in tears by the time you
script randomly. Then read these out as your
left because you knew you would miss so much of
notes and students tell you whether they think
what you liked about that country.
this is relevant information for note taking or not.
Our last posting was to Moscow – we’d 6c Critical thinking: Inferring attitude. Read
previously been in Saudi Arabia. It would have through the definition and check students
been helpful if I’d been to Russia before. My understand what ‘inferring’ means. The questions
husband had been there several times before we could be discussed in pairs or as a class. If useful,
got married, but I’d always spent my holidays in replay the recording after eliciting ideas and
France and Italy, and I’d never been to Eastern noting them on the board.
Europe before. Er, I found it really tough at first. It For classes preparing for IELTS/PTE-A and for
wasn’t just the freezing cold weather in January – classes in universities or university preparation
fifteen degrees below zero and lots of ice on the classes, this task is good practice. In academic
pavements – I also felt, er, really lonely at first. I writing, opinions are often not stated particularly
know I should have learnt some Russian before strongly and can be hidden. This skill is also
we went out there, but I didn’t have time. I required in the IELTS reading task for Yes/No/Not
suppose I could have found a local Russian to given questions and for some of the multiple-
give me lessons, but I just didn’t have the choice questions in the PTE-A Reading section.
motivation at that point.
We don't know how she would feel about a
It must have been at least a year before I felt
regular life in one place, but we can infer it: she
happy in Moscow. I attended a cultural awareness
would (or thinks she would) like some things –
course and I gradually began to understand
roots, community, longstanding, proximity to
Russian culture better, learnt more Russian words
family, etc., but she may miss the excitement of
and made some wonderful friends. I created my
meeting new people and cultures – making
own world and as soon as I’d done that, we were
new friends often, carving out a new life every
sent to Canberra, Australia, for a new posting! So,
time she goes to a new country, learning a new
to be honest, I guess I have mixed feelings about
language.
being an ambassador’s wife.
6d Students work in pairs or groups to discuss their
ideas before opening the discussion to the class.
Compile a list of pros and cons for each of the
two scenarios.

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 9

GRAMMAR: modal perfect SPEAKING
7a Although this is probably the first time that 10a Tell students that they are part of an organising
students have met modal perfects, it shouldn’t committee for a diplomatic reception.
cause too much of a problem as they already know • Brainstorm with the class all the things they would
both modals and the perfect aspect. The only one need to consider when organising a diplomatic
that may cause some difficulty is needn’t have. reception (e.g. guest list, food).
Students do the activity as per Coursebook and • Divide students into groups and tell them to think
then do class feedback. of all the things that went wrong in the disastrous
reception.
1 should have learnt 2 could have found • Tell each group to write down a list of at least five
disaster areas. (Only one list is needed per group.)
7bStudents match the sentences with the functions, 10b Students pass their list to another group.
checking ideas in pairs before class feedback. • Tell the groups to study their new list and to then
tell the group who wrote it what they should have
1 d/g 2a 3e 4 d/f 5 b/c 6b done, using different modal perfects.
• Round up by taking class feedback and discussing
8 Students do this in pairs before class feedback.
the ideas and suggestions made, eliciting the
modal perfect forms used.
1 3, 5 2 1, 2, 4 36 Students search the internet for events/disasters
Students can look at the Language reference on page which they write about and then comment on
130 and do Exercise G2–2 on page 131 either in class using model perfects, e.g. President Kennedy should
or for homework. not have visited Dallas.

9 Students rewrite the sentences. With a weaker HOMEWORK OPTIONS

class, this could be done in pairs.
Students do Exercise V1,3–4 on page 131 in the
• Elicit answers from the class, discussing any
Language reference.
possible alternatives.
Students do the listening, grammar, pronunciation
2 He should have/ought to have passed on the and reading exercises for this lesson in
information to the president. MyEnglishLab.
3 The ambassador can’t have said that.
4 I needn’t have finished the report by 5 p.m. Students write up a selection of their ideas from
(but I did). Exercise 10b.
5 I didn’t have to tell/needn’t have told the
head of security.
6 The ambassador may/might have missed the
plane.
7 We shouldn’t have/ought not to have left the
ambassador’s reception.
8 The ambassador must have enjoyed the
reception.

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 10

3.4 SCENARIO: THE KEY LANGUAGE: stating
objectives, giving strong advice
OIL SPILL CRISIS 3a Read the instructions with students. Then ask
IN THIS LESSON them to try and predict what the chairman will say
and why.
Lesson topic and staging • Students do the activity as per Coursebook.
This lesson provides a scenario (preparing an action • Check answers as a class.
plan to deal with an oil spill) to practise the key
language of stating objectives and giving strong Audio script 3.4 and answer key to Exercises 3a
advice. First, students consider the possible harmful (in bold) and 3c (underlined):
effects of an oil spill. They look at comments written UN Official, Chairman
by different parties and consider who is affected and O: You’re worried about the image of your
the seriousness of the effects. Students listen to a company, Ms Leiterman. I can understand
conversation between the chairman of an oil that, but at this time, you need to be very
company and a United Nations official and study the clear about your objectives and how to
Key language. They then prepare action plans in achieve them.
groups before holding a class meeting to select the C: I understand that. Of course, our image as a
final press release to present to a press conference. responsible company is important, but our
Objectives main objective now is to develop a strategy
to prevent the expansion of the oil flow.
By the end of the lesson, students will have:
O: Of course, you’re right. Your priority must be
• gathered information from short reading texts
to contain the oil spill, so you’ll have to act
• listened for specific information
quickly and efficiently. It’s vital that you have
• listened to and practised language for stating
a realistic plan of action as soon as possible. I
objectives and giving strong advice
know you’re working on that. But there’s
• participated in problem-solving meetings.
something else you should be doing…
Timings C: Oh yes?
O: Well, I appreciate it’s a very difficult situation
Possible lesson break: after Exercise 2 or 4.
for you, Ms Leiterman. So I urge you to get as
much outside help as you can to deal with it.
WARM-UP
C: Of course, I realise that. I’m well aware we
Before students open their books, ask them to think haven’t got the expertise or the resources and
of international events that would involve different labour to deal with the spill on our own. So,
countries working together to solve a problem. Using one of our main goals will be to involve the
elicitation, bring them towards the oil spill idea. international community.
O: You’re right. It’s essential to bring in some
SITUATION international companies for the clean-up
tasks, even though it could be very expensive.
1 Tell students to open their books and quickly read
And it’d be advisable to get help from UN
the introductory paragraph. Ask them quick-check
organisations as well as the governments of
questions, e.g. Which countries are involved? What
the countries that are most affected.
caused the spill? How big is it?
C: Yes, I’m counting on their support and
• Students work in pairs to consider the possible
financial help.
harmful impacts.
O: There’s another piece of advice I’d like to give
• End by doing class feedback and adding all the
you, Ms Leiterman. It would be very helpful
accepted impacts on the board.
to involve the International Maritime
Analysing possible consequences involves critical
Organisation and MAP, the Mediterranean
thinking and is important in academic settings.
Action Plan group. That should be a key
2 Students then read the comments presented and
objective, as they’ll have a lot of experience to
compare their information to the list on the board.
offer you. And then there’s the European
• As a class, work to list the consequences in order
Union, you’ll need their help as well.
of seriousness. Ask students to give reasons.

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 11

 Practise the pronunciation of the phrases and
C: Yes, we can’t do without the support of the
make sure students note the stress. You may also
EU, that’s for sure. We aim also to set up
like to quiz them on where to place stress when
meetings at regular intervals to monitor
they want to emphasise something, e.g. I’d
progress – we’re agreed that good
strongly advise you …
communications are an important objective
for us. We want to keep everyone in the
company fully informed about what we’re
TASK: devising an action plan
doing. As a warm-up, elicit from students what an action
O: Absolutely. There’s one other point I’d like to plan is. Make sure they understand that an action
mention. I’d strongly advise you to set up an plan outlines the steps they are going to take, in the
Emergency Action Committee as soon as order that they are going to take them.
possible. Your top management should be
involved, as well as the Ministers of the 4 Using the notes from the listening and the list you
Environment in the countries along the wrote on the board in Exercise 1, pairs (rather than
coastline. I know you’ve been very busy since groups) make an initial list. Make sure students
the spill and you haven’t had much time to think about short-term actions to stop initial
deal with the public relations side of things. damage/harm, as well as long-term actions which
But, you ought to organise a press conference may stop this happening again, for example.
in the very near future. I mean, as soon as 5a Divide the pairs with one student going into
you’ve devised a credible action plan. There Group A and the other into Group B.
are journalists from all over the world here • Before they start their discussion, get students to
and they’re crying out for information from look back at the Key language and think about
you. Of course, I can understand why you how they could use it.
haven’t made a statement yet… • Then, direct students’ attention to the Useful
C: Well, actually I’m just about to issue a short phrases box. Practise saying the phrases (as
statement. But I only want to talk to the complete sentences) with students before they do
international press corps when I’m fully the activity as per Coursebook.
briefed on what actions we’re taking. It’s Score the groups during the meeting for correct
always a bad thing to hold a press conference use of the Key language. A group gets two points
before you have all the facts. You can get into for using Key language correctly and one point
a lot of difficulties that way. for using Useful phrases correctly.
O: True! Look, I know you’ve, uh, got a lot on 5b Groups now give mini-presentations to each
your plate, but all the same, I strongly other, going over their action plans. This should be
recommend you visit the parts of the arranged so that each student has something to
coastline that are most affected. It’d be good present in each group, with an introducer and a
for your public relations and you might learn concluder.
quite a lot from your visit. • Allow each group the opportunity to ask
C: Yes, that’s a good idea, I’ll try to organise a questions at the end of each presentation. This can
visit as soon as possible. be another chance to see how good students are at
giving presentations.
3b Tell students that they are now going to listen • Give brief feedback at the end of the positive
again for the Key language. points on each presentation, e.g. good use of the
• Students do the activity as per Coursebook. key phrases, clear diction, good organisation, as
• Check answers as a class. If useful, refer students well as possible areas for development.
to Audio script 3.4 on page 168. 6a Discuss as a class which plans were the best and
then reach a consensus as to which should chosen
1, 3, 4 for the press conference.
6b Students now decide (either in their original
3c Students do the activity as per Coursebook. groups or as a whole class) who will be
• Conclude with a class check. responsible for each action and who should pay
for it. Remember to encourage students to support
and justify their opinions.

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 12

 You could divide students up into small groups Timings
to write a short press statement based on the final If short of time, set Exercises 9 and/or 11 for
decisions. Get students to think about what they homework.
want the press to know and how to show Possible lesson break: after Exercise 7.
themselves in the best light. They should also
consider the register of the press release. These STUDY SKILLS: active listening
can then be read to the class and the best chosen.
1 Before opening their books, ask students what the
HOMEWORK OPTIONS difference is between hearing and listening, and
then between listening and active listening.
Students do exercise KL–3 on page 131 in the • Students then do the activity as per Coursebook.
Language reference. • During class feedback, elicit the difference
between listening and active listening again.
Students do the listening, Key language and
pronunciation exercises for this lesson in
MyEnglishLab. 1 conscious 2 total 3 careful 4 distracted

2aPut students in pairs before they do the activity as

3.5 STUDY AND per Coursebook, i.e. individually. Go round the
class, giving support as they prepare.
WRITING SKILLS 2b Tell students that, in their pairs, they are now
going to listen to each other’s presentation. Make
IN THIS LESSON sure the listeners know that they are going to have
to give an oral summary of what they have heard
Lesson topic and staging
afterwards. However, do not tell them anything
This lesson is in two parts. In the first part, students else at this stage.
practise active listening, using life abroad as a topic. • After the first presentations are finished, oral
They first read a short text on active listening, adding summaries are given and checked and then the
key words. They prepare, give and listen to a talk on process is repeated again. Do not take any
the above topic. Through active listening, they are feedback at this stage.
expected to be able to give an oral summary and then 3 Students first answer the questions on their own
evaluate oral summaries. Students then listen to a and then discuss their answers.
short lecture on active listening. They work on • When doing class feedback, make sure you take
another short presentation, again evaluating note of when the pairs cannot agree on how the
listening skills. listener listened. Also ask students if they feel they
could improve their listening skills and if so, how.
In the second part, students look at preparing a
4a Ask students what active listening means to them
speech. They begin by investigating stylistic devices
and explain that it is a communication technique,
used by public speakers. They then study a short
often used in training, counselling and conflict
critical speech about the United Nations and put
resolution, whereby the listener feeds back to the
together their speech on the topic, using as many
speakers what they hear as a way to restate or
stylistic devices as possible.
rephrase what they have heard in their own words
Objectives and confirm what has been said.
By the end of the lesson, students will have: • Give students time in their groups to discuss how
• prepared, given and listened to a talk they could show they were an active listener
• considered and studied active listening before eliciting ideas from the class.
• evaluated and tried to improve their own 4b Students do the activity as per Coursebook.
listening skills 4c Students listen and make notes under the
• listened to take notes and for specific information headings.
• studied the stylistic devices used by public 4d Put students in pairs to compare their notes from
speakers the listening with their answers from Exercise 3.
• read and taken notes Encourage them to also consider what they need
• prepared a speech. to do in order to improve their listening.

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 13

• For class feedback, elicit ideas and write them on 5a Students do the activity as per Coursebook.
the board under each heading. If useful, give Remind them to justify their opinions.
students an extra two minutes to scan the audio As an alternative, students could prepare their
script for any missing points. Check that all three-minute talk for homework. This would
students have noted down the main points. ensure they have enough time to prepare/practise
their talks. Preparation could, however, be started
Audio script 3.5 and answer key to Exercises 4a in class, so that any questions students may
and 4c initially have can be answered.
How do you become an active listener? Well, I’d For classes preparing for IELTS, remind them that
say there are five things you have to do – five in part 2 of the Speaking test (the long turn) they
ways to behave, if you like – when you’re will need to talk about a set topic on their own for
listening to someone. two minutes, so this is good practice of talking on
their own. Explain that in the exam, however, they
Firstly, pay careful attention to what they’re will be given the topic and four related questions
saying. You must focus on the person speaking and will only have one minute to prepare what
and not be distracted in any way. Make eye they are going to say before being asked to speak.
contact – that’s very important. Listen and try to Tell students that the examiner will not talk
get the message they’re sending you. Secondly, during those two minutes and will indicate when
show the speaker that you are listening. Use their time has elapsed.
your body language to do this. You can, you can 5b Before students give their talk, allow them two
nod occasionally, and, er, show by your posture minutes to read through the main points they
that you’re being attentive. You should look noted down on how to be a good listener.
relaxed and receptive to what the person’s • Students then work in pairs, taking turns to give
saying. You can use verbal signals to show their talk (and listen to their partner’s). It might be
interest, by saying things like ‘Yes,’ ‘Uh huh,’ advisable to keep the same pairs as the first
‘Really?’ and so on. presentation (Exercise 2), as it will make it easier
for them to compare later. You may want the
Next, give the speaker feedback. You’re focusing
listeners to do an oral summary again.
on the speaker rather than your own ideas, so you
5c Students give each other feedback in their pairs.
may need to reflect on what is being said and ask
• For class feedback, go over the checklist that you
questions. For example, you may paraphrase
put on the board and discuss how students feel
what the speaker has said using phrases like ‘So
about different elements. Ask students what they
what you’re saying is …’ or ‘If I understand you,
think they could do to improve their listening
you’re saying …’. Or you may ask questions to
skills. This may help you as a teacher to plan extra
check your understanding, for example, ‘What
lessons or support work.
exactly do you mean … ?’ or ‘Have I got this right?
You’re saying …’. Now, having said that, it’s
WRITING SKILLS: a speech
important not to interrupt too often. Wait until
he or she finishes. It’s really annoying if you’re As a warm-up, ask students if they have ever given
trying to get across a message and someone keeps speeches before. If so, ask them how different it was
on interrupting you. from writing an essay, for example in terms of
purpose, content and style. Elicit why some people’s
And finally, respond in a positive, constructive
speeches are better than others – what is needed?
way. Show that you value the information
you’ve received. Give your opinions, but don’t be 6 Students do the activity as per Coursebook.
aggressive when doing so. Don’t put down the • Discuss answers as a class and check students
person speaking, even if you don’t agree with him understand each stylistic device. You might also
or her. Respond in an honest and direct way. want to elicit who each person from the list of
speech extracts is and why they are famous.
Now then, if you put into practice the advice I’ve
given you, you’ll show that you’re an active
listener and this will help you to become a better 1e 2b 3c 4d 5f 6a
communicator. Neil Armstrong: an American astronaut who was
the first person to walk on the moon. This quote

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 14

 was made after he walked on the moon for the 8a This can be done either at home or in pairs in
first time. class. The speech should be no longer than about
George W. Bush: a Republican politician and six minutes.
businessman who became the 43rd president of 8bGive students some preparation time to do a
the USA (2001–2009). His father, George H.W. rehearsal before giving the presentation in pairs.
Bush was the 41st president (1989–1993). You could use this as an assessment activity, but
Benjamin Franklin: a leading author, printer, do make sure that you give feedback to students
politician, civic activist, scientist, inventor, etc., not only on use of stylistic devices, but also on
who was one of the founding fathers of the USA. content and delivery as well as language. Students
Barack Obama: the 44th president of the USA and could record themselves and watch their videos to
famous for becoming the first African American decide how to improve their intonation, sentence
president. The quote was made by him after he stress, body language, etc.
won the US presidential elections in 2008. For classes preparing for IELTS/PTE-A, remind
Aung San Suu Kyi: a Burmese National League them that it is OK to correct themselves if they
for Democracy politician who was elected in 1990 make a mistake and that they need to try and get a
as the Prime Minister of Burma but who was balance between fluency and accuracy. In the
subsequently placed under house arrest until 2010 IELTS Speaking exam, for instance, they will be
by the Burmese military. She is famous for having assessed on their fluency, grammar, vocabulary
helped her country obtain democracy using non- and pronunciation.
violent means. As the focus of this lesson is less on public
7a Go through the instructions with the class. Tell speaking and more on speech writing, you could
them that all they have to do is to write the main get students to write speeches and then pass
points from the speech in their own words (i.e. them on to another pair to rehearse and give.
paraphrase). Revise what paraphrasing means and After all, a really good speech should be effective
elicit the ways that they can paraphrase a sentence in any hands.
(change the structure, change the vocabulary). As
this was covered in Lesson 2.4, students should be HOMEWORK OPTIONS
able to answer these questions.
Students do the study skills, writing and academic
For classes in universities and university
collocations exercises for this lesson in
preparation classes, remind students how
MyEnglishLab. This is also a good time to do the
important it is to paraphrase when referring to
MyEnglishLab video activities.
other people’s work. Stress that this is to avoid
plagiarism, which, in an academic setting, is a very
serious academic offence and may result in a
downgraded degree classification or expulsion
from a university without a degree. Remind
students that the use of any information, even
from the internet, without proper referencing is
classified as plagiarism. Thus, learning to
paraphrase is an important academic skill.
• Give students no more than five or six minutes,
then do a class check.
7b Put students in groups of three or four. Students
pool ideas and, if they have computers/internet
access, they can research in class. If the school or
the students do not have a wireless connection,
you could break the lesson at this stage to let them
do the research at home. Without time to research,
it might be quite difficult for students to have
enough information at their fingertips to create a
persuasive enough speech.

New Language Leader Advanced International relations 15