On Screen p 48. Culture and Identity. Extra Speaking

 

 

 

1. MONOLOGUE. Prepare a talk of AT LEAST 5 minutes on the subject. You may use the pictures above and the contents below if you wish:

"Home is where the heart is"

-Roman naval commander, Gaius Plinius Secundus, known to historians as Pliny the Elder (a.d. 23-79).- 

Is the incorporation of the wide diversity of residents in an area both necessary and beneficial?

What facets make up a person’s cultural identity?

What can trigger a sense of belonging in people? How do people build an emotional connection?

How can a person be made to feel at home if home is thousands of miles away?

Is clinging to a bygone practice of cultural heritage obsolete in today’s global society? Does it make sense now that we seem to emphasise the interconnectedness of society? Should we discern ourselves from the masses? Wouldn’t that alienate a person from the culture they reside in?

In the global community, should a culture be accommodating? What are the dangers of excluding newcomers? What could be the consequences of having splinter groups of isolated people in our society?

Should migrants abandon their roots? How important is it for our society to have a wide range of cultural expressions?

What can improve people's abilities to accept others for who they are? How can people appreciate others' idiosyncrasies with greater ease?

 

You may make some notes for your talk to take into the exam. These should not exceed five lines.


2. INTERACTION

In this part of the test, the examiner will ask you some questions about issues related to the TOPIC. Remember that you are expected to have a conversation as natural as possible and give full answers. This part of the examination will last AT LEAST 5 minutes. You will not see the questions below.

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TEACHER'S QUESTIONS  

1. Are you part of a family-centred culture? Does your social life revolve around your extended family? Or is your family spread out all over the place and family get-togethers are few and far between? What are the benefits and drawbacks of either situation?
 

2. How important do you think it is to maintain traditions? Why? Have younger generations lost touch with their traditions? Have they adopted foreign traditions? Why do you think this is so? Do you think this is a good thing?

3. Should immigrants adopt the culture and traditions of the new country? Should they also maintain their own? Should native inhabitants of a country take part in foreign cultural events taking place in their community? Have immigrants successfully assimilated into your local culture? Has it been a seamless transition for them? Is your local community very accommodating to foreigners? Has your country been hospitable to refugees? Have you come across obliging people when travelling overseas? Can you tell us about a place you have been to where the locals were extremely welcoming? Do you know anyone who married someone from a different culture? Did this pose any challenges? Did they rise to them? What challenges would you face if you moved abroad? Have you ever taken up similar challenges? What has been the most daunting challenge you have had to overcome?

4. Is life tough for some sections of our society? What are some of the major problems people face? How do people cope when they go through a rough patch? Do people generally have a positive outlook? Can certain problems take a heavy toll on people? Do people easily visit a psychiatrist or get counselling when they go through a sticky patch?

5. Are there pockets in our society that you find quite male-dominated? Do you think there's still a lot of gender discrimination? Is there widespread inequality for the LGBTQ community? Should governments encourage changes in attitudes to women and LGBTQ people? What could be done to tackle these inequalities?

6. Do we live in a fairly liberal society? Do people interfere in others' personal lives? or is it more "live and let live"? Can people always make their own decisions? Are there any meddlers or busybodies in the place where you work or study? How do you deal with people who meddle in your affairs?

7. Is class a big thing? Is social mobility easy? How? Do young people leave home and get on the property ladder as their parents did when they were young?

8. Have there been protest marches in your country recently? Why? Have you ever taken part in a peaceful demonstration? Did it turn violent? What kind of issues provoke public outcries in your country?

9. What's your opinion about the following overgeneralizations: "men are no good at listening," "women are terrible drivers," "young people these days are slackers and disrespectful", "people who are on benefits are just lazy- they don't want to work", "immigrants come here to use our services and get handouts without contributing to our  country's coffers." What other stereotypes can you think of? Are any of these stereotypes positive? How fair do you think they are?     

  

Vocabulary

Pictures

traditional/folk /fəʊk/ dance takes place in the streets throughout the year and everybody joins in.

a multicultural classroom has a number of advantages for students.

slaughter: /ˈslɔːtə(r)/ the killing of animals for their meat. E.g. The festival of the slaughter of pigs is an important event in the winter calendar in rural Mallorca, and families get together on the day of the slaughter. Pig slaughtering. Pig slaughter.

The Pilgrims' Road to Santiago de Compostela was to become a channel for transmitting culture and art.

The Pamplona Running of the Bulls is the most famous one in the whole world. But in the last few years the festival has also been at the centre of multiple controversies /ˈkɒntrəvɜːsiz/.

Ernest Hemingway visited Pamplona during the San Fermin festival for the first time. He immediately was fascinated by bullfighting.

On Bonfire night the town council in Calvià organise a big bonfire for all tourists and locals alike. There is food and drink, entertainment, a chocolate fountain, children's attractions, stalls, a large firework display and, of course, a bonfire.

A chocolate fountain is a device for serving chocolate fondue. It has tiers over a basin at the bottom. The basin is heated to keep the chocolate in a liquid state so it can be pulled into a centre cylinder then vertically transported to the top of the fountain. From there it flows over the tiers creating a chocolate "waterfall" in which food items like strawberries or marshmallows can be dipped.

Monologue

cling to something | cling on to something  ​to be unwilling to lose something or stop doing something. Sp. aferrarse.

E.g.

Throughout the trial she had clung to the belief that he was innocent.         

He had one last hope to cling on to.         

She managed to cling on to life for another couple of years.

cling: to hold on tightly to somebody/something.

E.g.

cling to somebody/something survivors clinging to a raft. Leaves still clung to the branches.     

cling on to somebody/something She clung on to her baby.

bygone adjective   /ˈbaɪɡɒn/   [only before noun]      ​happening or existing a long time ago. Sp. pasado.

E.g.

a bygone age/era         

The family story was that, in bygone days, he had been a rich farmer in Australia.         

The horse and cart belongs to a bygone era.

let bygones be bygones used to tell someone that they should forget about unpleasant things that happened in the past, and especially to forgive and forget something bad that someone has done to them. Sp. lo pasado, pasado está.

E.g.

Just let bygones be bygones and be friends again. 

alienate: /ˈeɪliəneɪt/

alienate somebody (from something/somebody) to make somebody feel that they do not belong in a particular group. Sp. apartar, alejar.

E.g.

Very talented children may feel alienated from the others in their class.

accommodating /əˈkɒmədeɪtɪŋ/ willing to help and do things for other people.

E.g.

David was gentle, generous and accommodating.     

accommodating to somebody 

They are very accommodating to foreign visitors.     

They are very accommodating to people with special needs.

 

splinter group /ˈsplɪntə ɡruːp/ a small group of people that has separated from a larger one, especially in politics.

E.g.

a radical splinter group of the organization

The extreme left wing of the party broke away into a splinter group.

 

splinter noun   /ˈsplɪntə(r)/ ​a small, thin, sharp piece of wood, metal, glass, etc. that has broken off a larger piece. Synonym: shard. Sp. astilla.

E.g.

splinters of glass         

to remove a splinter from your finger.

idiosyncrasy noun   /ˌɪdiəˈsɪŋkrəsi/

1 an unusual habit or way of behaving that someone has  

E.g.

My uncle’s idiosyncrasies

It's one of her idiosyncrasies. Sp. es una de sus peculiaridades.

2 an unusual or unexpected feature that something has  

E.g.

One of the many idiosyncrasies of English spelling.

 

ease:  lack of difficulty.

E.g.

with ease He passed the exam with ease.     

The ease with which she learns languages is astonishing

 

 Questions

extended family /ɪkˌstendɪd ˈfæməli/ a family group with a close relationship among the members that includes not only parents and children but also uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. E.g. She grew up surrounded by a large extended family.

nuclear family: /ˌnjuːkliə ˈfæməli/ a family that consists of father, mother and children, when it is thought of as a unit in society. E.g. Not everybody nowadays lives in the conventional nuclear family.

few and far between: not frequent; not happening often. E.g. Apartments that are both comfortable and reasonably priced are few and far between.

assimilate: /əˈsɪməleɪt/ to become, or allow somebody to become, a part of a country or community rather than remaining in a separate group. E.g. assimilate (into/to something) New arrivals find it hard to assimilate. Many new immigrants have not yet assimilated fully into the new culture. assimilate somebody (into/to something) Immigrants have been successfully assimilated into the community.

seamless: /ˈsiːmləs/ happening without any sudden changes, interruption, or difficulty. E.g. The intention is to achieve a seamless transition with a continuity of management. A seamless flow of talk.

accommodating: /əˈkɒmədeɪtɪŋ/ willing to help and do things for other people. Obliging. E.g. They are very accommodating to foreign visitors. David was gentle, generous and accommodating to a fault. They are very accommodating to people with special needs.

hospitable: /hɒˈspɪtəbl/ /ˈhɒspɪtəbl/ hospitable (to/towards somebody) (of a person) pleased to welcome guests; generous and friendly to visitors. Welcoming. E.g. The local people are very hospitable to strangers. He thanked Patricia for being such a hospitable hostess.

obliging: /əˈblaɪdʒɪŋ/ very willing to help. E.g. They were very obliging and offered to wait for us.

welcoming: (of a person) friendly towards somebody who is visiting or arriving. E.g. She gave everyone a welcoming smile.

challenge: collocations: The gallery has risen to the challenge of exhibiting the works of young artists. It's going to be a difficult job but I'm sure she'll rise to the challenge. He has taken on some exciting new challenges with this job. Finding a solution to this problem is one of the greatest challenges faced by scientists today.

daunting:​ /dɔːntɪŋ/. If something is daunting, it makes you worried because it is difficult or frightening. Intimidating. E.g. a daunting challenge/task.

patch: a period of time of the type mentioned, usually a difficult or unhappy one. E.g. to go through a bad/ difficult/ sticky (difficult or unpleasant) patch.

take a heavy toll (on somebody/something), take its toll (on somebody/something):  to have a bad effect on somebody/ something; to cause a lot of damage, deaths, suffering, etc. E.g. Illness had taken a heavy toll on her. The recession is taking its toll on the housing markets.

pocket: /ˈpɒkɪt/ a group, area, or mass of something that is separate and different from what surrounds it. E.g. Among the staff there are some pockets of resistance to the planned changes (= some small groups of them are opposed).The pilot said that we were going to encounter a pocket of turbulence (= an area of violently moving air). There are some pockets in our society, however, where hope is much more fragile.

meddler: a person who tries to get involved in something that does not concern them.

busybody: a person who is too interested in what other people are doing. E.g. He's an interfering old busybody!

meddle: meddle (in/with something) to become involved in something that does not concern you. Interfere. E.g. He had no right to meddle in her affairs. He’s just a meddling old fool!

the property ladder: a series of stages in owning houses in which you buy a small house or apartment first and then buy a bigger or more expensive house when you have enough money. E.g. House prices are so high now it is hard for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder (= buy their first house).

outcry (at/over/against something) a reaction of anger or strong protest shown by people in public. E.g. an outcry over the proposed change The new tax provoked a public outcry. There was outcry at the judge's statement.

slacker: /ˈslækə(r)/ a person who is lazy and avoids work. E.g. Those slackers have gone home early again.

benefits: money provided by the government to people who need financial help because they are unemployed, ill/sick, etc. E.g. The aim is to help people who are on benefits(= receiving benefits) to find jobs. You may be eligible /ˈelɪdʒəbl/ to receive benefits.

handouts: food, money or clothes that are given to a person who is poor. E.g. to be dependent on handouts. I'm not interested in government handouts - all I want is a job.

coffers: a way of referring to the money that a government, an organization, etc. has available to spend. E.g. The nation's coffers are empty.