(Academics, Upper Intermediate) Unit 2: Courage

REVIEW

Do you remember what these things were?

In tandem

A predictor

Function words

Mental lexicon

An entry (in a dictionary)

Do you remember the difference between word recognition and word comprehension?

Do you remember whether the reading said these these sentences about reading were true or false?

1 The ability to recognise words is a core reading skill.

2 It is extremely difficult to understand language if you can’t read it.

3 It can take a reader about one tenth of a second to recognise a word.

4 Fluent readers can read an average of 350 words per minute.

5 Recognising a word is a simple, one-step reading skill.

cloze

Reading and understanding a text involves a series of complex cognitive skills that ___ in tandem. In order to understand the nature of reading, it is useful to ______ these skills and look at them individually. To _____ with, we will consider some of the lower level processes where our brain tracks individual words or phrases in order to build up the overall meaning of a text.

Word recognition is ___ widely accepted by researchers as one of the most important lower level processes that contributes to reading comprehension. Many studies over the past 20 years have demonstrated that effective word recognition skills are a major predictor of well-developed reading ability ____ on. 

Chose the right option for the key information from the text 

The importance of word recognition for reading is hard / easy to overestimate.
We are extraordinary / terrible word recognizers.
A fluent reader can read a text comfortably at 300-350 / 250–300 wpm.
Inefficient word-recognition processes are a minor / major obstacle for learners.

In order for fluent recognition to occur, a reader must
1. recognize the actual words on the page very carefully / rapidly
2. activate links between the way the word is written  / spelled and the way it sounds
3. access resources associated with the meaning / sound of the word and where it appears
4. recognize features / obstacles such as prefixes and suffixes
5. access her or his mental / digital lexicon.
word recognition involves the / no  interaction of different activated processes associated with writing, pronunciation, meaning and grammar.
 In cases of word recognition difficulty social / contextual information plays an important role in word recognition. 



This week's topic is courage






Discuss

1. Do you see yourself as courageous?
2. Have you ever done anything brave?


In what ways might courage be an asset in these professions?

Nurse
Firefighter
Student
Employee
Sales manager
Soldier
Journalist


Lead in to Reading extension: think of an example of the following kinds of courage...

physical courage         

moral courage         

entrepreneurial courage         

managerial courage         

social courage

Listening

Lead in:

Have you heard of Philippe Petit?

Watch:

Philippe Petit: Somebody Has to Trespass

2:30 - 9:16

1. Which is the hardest moment in wire walking, according to Philippe?

2. What does Philippe compare the wire with?

3. Why was he arrested by the New York Police?

4. What was his "coup"?

5. Who taught Philippe to wire walk?

6. What does Philippe say about artists and their tools?

7. In what sense does Philippe believe he "never takes a risk"?

Language focus: from 4:40-7:11

My parents tried to stop me but to no a______

It was _______ natural that __________ many zig-zags in my young life I became a ____________ high-wire walker.

I had to ______________ everything

I decided to take the steel cable as a __________

This is not an _______ piece of steel

Look at these samples of Philippe's English:

put them to life

I learn to know how its design make friend the life of the cable.

to ask its forgiveness to allow me to

Now we pass 45 years later

Discuss:

1. Can you "correct" Philippe's English?

2. If you speak French, can you explain to others why Philippe expresses himself in this way?

3. Is Philippe a good English speaker, in your opinion? What is he "good" at and what is he "poor" at, when it comes to using English?