1. Act out in pairs the following situations; use Essential Vocabulary II:

1. Mike’s father has been asked by the headmaster to come to school because of his son’s unusual behaviour: bad marks, lots of missed classes, rude behaviour. Discuss the causes of his behaviour and steps to be taken.

2. Next year George and Nick are going to take entrance examinations at the University. Imagine a talk between them about their plans and the reasons that have determined their choice.

3. mother and daughter have a very serious talk about the girl’s decision to take up teaching as a career. Her mother, though, is rather sceptical about her choice.

4. Imagine a talk between two friends, one of whom is fed up with his or her present boring, unrewarding job. The other tries to suggest what he or she should do.

P r o m p t s: might it be an idea to …; have you ever thought of …; you could always … , if I were you, I’d …; why don’t you …, you’d better …

b) Role-play the following situation:

You are at a Parent – Teachers association meeting. You are discussing a problem you feel very strongly about. Among you there is a mother who’s sure that children shouldn’t be strictly disciplined at school, a father who has the opposite opinion, a father who tends to blame teachers for his children’s faults, a grandmother who tends to spoil her grand-children, a mother who gives other parents advice for the only reason that her daughter is at the head of the class.

Interview a teacher at the school where you have school practice. Ask him or her the questions from Ex. XVI and also try to find out:

1. how long he or she has been in teaching;

2. if he or she ever regretted having taken up the job;

3. what is the most notable feature of teaching;

4. what advice he r she can give to a teacher trainee.

Act as an interviewer. Let the rest of the group speak about why and how they decided to qualify as a teacher of languages. Find out:

1. if anybody or anything influenced their choice;

2. when they finally made up their minds;

3. what attracts them in the work;

4. what they consider its advantages and disadvantages.

Here is a series of extreme opinions. Build a conversation about each topic. Begin as in the model:

English is a very easy language to learn.

A.: It says here English is a very easy language to learn.

B.: I’m not sure I quite agree. I’d say it’s fairly difficult.

A.: Why do you think that?

B.: Well, …

Opinions:

1. A teaching career isn’t suitable for men.

2. Teaching a foreign language in a school is pointless.

3. Education is the responsibility of teachers and parents shouldn’t interfere.

4. Schoolchildren should be allowed to choose the subjects they want to study.

5. In the near future schoolteachers will be replaced by computers.

a) Act out

b) Role-play a talk between an intending teacher and a will-be journalist on differences and similarities of the careers they’ve chosen.

SPEAK ABOUT:

1. Рossible change in the system of secondary education in Russia.

P r o m p t s: universal compulsory education, to extend the training course, to improve the educational process, to modernize programmes and manuals, to use up-to-date technical equipment, to improve labour education and career counselling (профорієнтація), to provide optional training in various subjects.