BUILDING BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE ON THE TOPIC

1

1 What Are Children Made Of?

2 Jack Be Nimble

3 Polly, Put the Kettle On

4 Little Miss Muffet

5 Georgie Porgie

Work in a small group. Look at the pictures below. These pictures illustrate some nursery rhymes – traditional children’s songs and poems – that are taught to children in many English-speaking countries. Describe what is happening in each picture.

2 Now listen to the nursery rhymes. In the chart below, write the personality traits from “Personalizing the Topic” that describe the girl(s) or boy(s) in each rhyme. You do not have to use all the traits and you may use some more than once.

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Rhymes

Personality Traits

Girls

Boys

1

aclyiwfarovs

2

3

helpful

4

5

timid

3

Share your answers with your group. Discuss how these rhymes characterize girls and boys. Do you think these characterizations are accurate?

Q AMERICAN VOICES: Linda and Shingo

In this section you will hear two people discuss the ways that boys and girls are raised.

First, Linda talks about how she has tried to bring up her son. Then Shingo, a 26-year-

old man from Japan who is living and studying in the United States, compares his and

his brother’s upbringing with that of his sister.

BEFORE THE INTERVIEWS

PERSONALIZING THE TOPIC

1 As boys and girls grow up, they are usually given chores – small jobs – to do around the house, but these chores are often assigned by gender. Think about yourself and your friends. As children, who was asked to help their parents with the chores listed below: boys, girls, both, or neither? For each chore, check (✓) the appropriate column.

Who was asked to. . .

Boys

Girls

Both

Neither

take out the garbage?

wash the dishes?

iron?

sew buttons on clothes?

clean the house?

cook meals?

repair household items?

In your community, what kind of behavior is encouraged among young gil ls and

boys (under the age of 10)? For each behavior, check (✓) the appropriate column.

Toys

Boys

Girls

Both

Neither

Who is encouraged to play with. . .

balls?

dolls?

trucks?

crayons and paints?

Games

Who is encouraged to. . .

play "house” (pretend to do household chores)?

play “mommies and daddies”?

play sports?

dress up in costumes?

Share your answers to steps 1 and 2 with a partner. Which answers were the same? Which were different?

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READING AND THINKING ABOUT THE TOPIC

1 Read the following passage.

Biology – detemiines what sex we are at birth – that is, whether we are male or female. However, society and culture determine our gender roles – that is, the socially learned patterns of behavior that distinguish boys from girls and men from women. Gender roles are learned through the process of socialization. In other words, we leant what society considers masculine and feminine as we grow up and interact with other people.

Becoming a man or woman is dramatically more complex now than it was a century ago. Boys and girls today have more freedom to explore their individuality and less

pressure to conform to traditional gender roles. For example, today both young men and young women can have jobs that were previously limited to only one sex. Children who are born today are given choices about the way males and females should behave and think. Many of todays gender roles were unthinkable in our parents’ or grandparents’ generations.

2 I Answer the following questions according to the information in the passage.

1 How do we learn about masculinity and femininity?

2 How have gender roles changed?

3

Read these questions and share your answers with a partner.

1 When you were a child, what did vour family, teachers, or friends tell you about mens and women’s behavior?

2 Do you think that gender roles will continue to change in the future? How?

PERSONALIZING THE TOPIC

1 Read the following list of personality traits. First, match the trail with the correct description. Then decide whether you believe these qualities are mostly biological (things you are born with) or mostly social (things you learn). For each trait, check (✓) the appropriate box. Then compare your answers with a partner.

Personality Mostly Mostly

Description Trait Biological Social

Gets along well with other people

__—Athletic

Is good at sports—————-

Brave

Can make decisions alone

Competitive

Is not afraid of doing things

Cooperative

Wants to be the best at things

Friendly

Does what he or she wants to do

Independent

Prefers to be led by others

Mischievous

Is afraid to talk to others; is shy

Passive

Works well with other people

Strong-willed

Behaves badly

Timid

Now work as a group. Look at the list of trails below and write a short description for each one. Do you think that these traits are mostly biological or mostly social?

adventurous aggressive cowardly gentle helpful

kind nice responsible sweet thoughtful

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Gender Roles

I

n this unit you will hear people talk about gender roles. Chapter 3 deals with the issues that boys and girls face as they grow up. You will hear an interview with a mother about how she is trying to raise her son, and an interview with a young man who discusses how he, his brother, and his sister were raised. You will also hear a lecture on single-sex education and the benefits it can offer girls, in Chapter 4, you will hear interviews with a woman and a man about gender equality at home and at work. The lecture in Chapter 4 is about issues of gender and language.

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NOTE TAKING: COPYING A LECTURER’S DIAGRAMS AND CHARTS

Whenever a lecturer draws a diagram or puts a chart on the board during a lecture, you should always copy it into your notes. You can add extra information from the lecture to the diagram or chart as the lecturer speaks.

1 Look at the diagram that Professor Zalz put on the board during the second part of the lecture. This diagram represents the "wave” that shows the different stages of culture shock. Notice that the lecturer numbered the stages і, 2, and 3.

As you listen to this part of the lecture, take notes on your own paper. Then use your notes to fill in the diagram with the names of the different stages of culture shock (in the left column) and the different emotions for each stage (in the right column).

► PLAY

Emotions of culture shock

adjustment

loneliness

euphoria

excitement

confusion

enthusiasm

Stages of culture shock

Letdown (becoming disappointed because something is not as good as you expected)

Honeymoon (feeling wonderful, like people who take a “honeymoon” trip after they get married)

Resignation (becoming accustomed to a new situation, even if it is difficult)

3

4

Compare your diagram with a partner.

Practice giving an oral summary of the three stages of culture shock with your partner.

AFTER THE LECTURE

SHARING YOUR OPINION

1 Work in a small group. Read the list of behaviors below. Discuss whether these behaviors are acceptable in your community? Why or why not?

1 Kissing your friends two or three times on alternating cheeks when you greet them

2 Holding hands with a person of the same sex when you walk in the street

3 Eating or drinking in the street

4 Pointing at someone with your forefinger

5 Crossing your legs in public

2

In your group, discuss the kinds of behavior that a person visiting your community should know about. What is considered acceptable or unacceptable?

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LECTURE, PART TWO: Stages of Culture Shock

GUESSING VOCABULARY FROM CONTEXT

1 The following items contain important vocabulary from Part Two of the lecture. Work with a partner. Using the context and your knowledge of related words, take turns trying to guess the meanings of the words in bold.

1 If you were to depict it on paper, you might draw a "wave" shape.

2 People do not usually react with fear. Surprisingly, there is often a feeling of euphoria.

____ 3 You are on your guard because of the strangeness of the situation.

__ 4 Differences are likely to seem exciting rather than threatening.

____ 5 They might never recapture the honeymoon period.

6 Many societies have recent immigrants, sometimes in large numbers.

____ 7 Cultural differences can lead to tense relationships.

____ 8 tense relationships between different ethnic groups

9 Different cultures have to live in close contact with each other.

Work with your partner. Match the vocabulary terms with their definitions by writing the letter of each definition below in the blank next to the sentence or phrase containing the correct term in step 1. Check vour answers in a dictionary if necessary, a watching for any danger b connection; association c get back d make a picture of e cultural or racial f stressful; not calm g dangerous h intense happiness

і people who have left their country to live in another country

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