Breaking News English

1. DARFUR LATEST: Walk around the class and find out what people know about the latest situation in Darfur. Discuss where it is. If you don’t know look on a map! You may need to use the internet to do this. Share your findings with new partners / the class.

2. READING: Get students to read the passage aloud. Swap readers every paragraph.

3. VOCABULARY: Students circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

4. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting (circle) and which are most boring (underline).

 Khartoum / government of Sudan / Darfur / UN leaders / African Union soldiers / deployment / President Omar al-Bashir / superiors / country / 200,000 people killed / Darfur Peace Agreement

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

5.  DICTATION: The teacher will read to you slowly and clearly the first half of the first paragraph, repeating passages where necessary. Students will write down the speech. The teacher will repeat the passage slowly again.

Self correct your work. Be honest with yourself on the number of errors. Advise the teacher of your total no of errors. Less than 5 is very good. 10 are acceptable. Any more is room for improvement! More than 20 - we need to do some work!

6. REFUGEE CAMPS IN DARFUR

In pairs - Think of 10 things associated with refugee camps in Darfur. Discuss.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

The teacher will select some examples from the class

7. WAR IN AFRICA

Swap pairs! – Now think of 8 countries in Africa where there is or has been recently a war. Locate them on a map of Africa. You may need to use the Internet to do this.

For each of them answer the following

A. Who was fighting who?

B. Who supplied the arms?

C. What happened?

D. Was there a peace deal?

Discuss.

1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8.

The teacher will select some examples from the class

8. PRESS: ROLE PLAY: SPEAKING

‘Exclusive’ TV interview with President Omar al-Bashir.

Student A. Imagine you are a BBC / CNN television news reporter. You have an ‘exclusive’ interview with President Omar al-Bashir.  Prepare five questions you want to ask him. Discuss his stubbornness of the UN not being allowed in before now and of his U-turn in allowing a joint delegation in of African and UN peacekeepers.

Student B. You are President Omar al-Bashir. Think of five things (write them down) you want to mention to the world in the forthcoming interview with student A about what why you are being so stubborn and why you don’t want the UN in your country!

Role play: Student A asks Student B (president Omar al-Bashir) your questions. Listen to his response. React accordingly.

The teacher will select some students to role play their situations in front of the class

9. SENTENCE STARTERS: With your partner(s), finish these sentence starters. Talk about the sentences you made.

a. The latest in Darfur is ______________________________________

b The media _______________________________________________

c UN Secretary General said ___________________________________

d The UN troops will _________________________________________

e The Darfur Peace Agreement _________________________________

f The “occupiers” should ______________________________________

g Other factions include ______________________________________

h The fighting ______________________________________________

  

10. PRESS: ROLE PLAY: SPEAKING 2

‘Exclusive’ TV interview with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Student A. Imagine you are a BBC / CNN television news reporter. You have an ‘exclusive’ interview with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.  Prepare four questions yourself of what want to ask him.

Add the following…

Ask him about the weakness of the UN in resolving the crisis. What is he going to do next about it? What does he think of the breakthrough in getting the latest resolve through of African and UN peacekeepers? Etc…

Student B. You are UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Think of five things (write them down) you want to mention to the world in the forthcoming interview with student A about the Darfur crisis.  

Role play: Student A asks Student B (President Omar al-Bashir) your questions. Listen to his response. React accordingly.

The teacher will select some students to role play their situations in front of the class.

11. ONE MINUTE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you can associate with the Darfur crisis. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

12. FIVE MINUTES: Choose three of these words. Write a sentence using each word. Try to associate them with Darfur. Discuss with your partner. Spend five minutes on this exercise.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	Khartoum the capital of Sudan is in Darfur region	T / F
b.	The new peacekeepers could be as large as 28,000 troops	T / F
c.	200,000 people have already been killed	T / F
d.	Darfur is a region twice the size of Spain	T / F
e.	The Darfur President fears the UN troops calling them “occupiers”	T / F
f.	The UN Security Council isn’t worried about people dying in Darfur	T / F
g.	Some African Union troops haven’t been paid in months	T / F
h.	The UN deployed troops will come from Slovakia and Malaysia	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	joint	doubts
b.	force	shared
c.	superiors	detachment
d.	armed	changed
e.	reservations	area
f.	timetable	stage
g.	revised	last
h.	final	bosses
i.	region	to have weapons
j.	step	schedule

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article

a.	The new force of peacekeepers	twice the size of France
b.	Un Secretary-General Kofi Annan said	time to stop the carnage
c.	A region	has so far refused to allow…
d.	He said it was	has finally changed its mind
e.	Sudanese leaders	in the next couple of weeks
f.	Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir	with their superiors in Khartoum
g.	The next step is	could be as large as 27,000 troops
h.	It should take place	the government’s change of heart
i.	They needed to consult	for the UN and AU
j.	Sudan’s government	are yet to lay out a timetable

GAP FILL: READING

Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

Darfur crisis sees U-turn on peacekeepers
 

Sudan’s government has finally changed its ________  about whether or not to allow UN peacekeepers in Darfur. For the past two years, it has ________ opposed allowing UN troops in the country, allowing troops from the African Union only. However, the number of the African force is too low to be ________ in Darfur – a region twice the size of France. Sudan has now agreed in principle to allow a joint African Union (AU) and UN peacekeeping ________ into the conflict-ridden region of Darfur. Sudanese _________ met with other African, Arab, European and UN leaders recently and said they needed to consult with their ________ in Khartoum before the government could give final approval to the revised peacekeeping plan. The new force of __________ could be as large as 27,000 troops, including the ________ 7,000-strong African Union soldiers.

mind force superiors strongly peacekeepers existing effective representatives

Sudanese leaders are yet to lay out a timetable for the force to begin work, partly because Sudan had reservations. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the government’s change of ________ sounded promising and urged leaders to keep their _______. He said it was time to stop the ________ in Darfur, which has already seen 200,000 people killed. Annan said: "The next step is for the UN and AU to call a meeting of the non-signatories [of the Darfur Peace Agreement] ... and the government of Sudan. It should take place in the next couple of weeks to resolve ____________ issues by the end of the year.” He added that an __________ African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur would take place in three ________ over an ___________ period of time. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has so far refused to allow their __________, fearing they would be "occupiers."

outstanding deployment phases heart unspecified enlarged promises carnage

GAP FILL: LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Darfur crisis sees U-turn on peacekeepers

Sudan’s government has finally changed its mind about whether or not _____________ peacekeepers in Darfur. For the past two years, it has strongly opposed allowing UN troops in ____________, allowing troops from the African Union only. However, the number of the African force _______________ be effective in Darfur – a region twice the _______________. Sudan has now agreed in principle to allow a joint African Union (AU) and UN peacekeeping _______________ conflict-ridden region of Darfur. Sudanese representatives met with other African, ____, _______ and UN leaders recently and said they needed to consult with their superiors in Khartoum before the government could give final approval to the revised peacekeeping plan. The new force of peacekeepers could _______________ 27,000 troops, including the existing 7,000-strong African Union soldiers.

Sudanese leaders are __________ out a timetable for the force to begin work, partly because Sudan had _____________. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the government’s _______________ sounded promising and urged leaders to keep their promises. He said it was time to stop the carnage in Darfur, which has already seen 200,000 people killed. Annan said: "The next step ______________ and AU to call a meeting of the non-signatories [of the Darfur Peace Agreement] ... and the government of Sudan. It should _______________ the next couple of weeks to resolve outstanding issues by the end of the year.” He added that an enlarged African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur would take place _______________ over an unspecified period of time. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has so _______________ allow their deployment, fearing _______________ "occupiers."

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘occupiers’ and ‘peacekeepers’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text or subject in question.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

·      Sudan’s government ·      The force ·      Occupiers ·      UN ·      AU ·      Outstanding issues

·      27,000 troops ·      200,000 people killed ·      Khartoum ·      Darfur ·      France ·      promises

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. What do you think of the latest position in Darfur?
3. Why do you think the United Nations is so weak on the issue of Darfur?
4. How do you think the refugees in Darfur feel about the ongoing conflict?
5. Do you think the UN should be more forceful?
6. What do you think the neighboring countries think about the dispute?
7. Why doesn’t Africa do more to resolve the situation in Darfur itself?
8. Do you think the Darfur peace agreement will work?
9. Should the government of Sudan resign over its mishandling of the dispute?
10. What should President Omar al-Bashir do next?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Should European Union or NATO troops go in to help in Darfur?
4. Should the press and TV continue to show such graphic pictures?
5. Can you name the disputed parties involved?
6. Why is the armed militia killing innocent women and children?
7. Are the neighboring countries doing enough to help the refugees in Darfur who cross over into their country? ie Chad
8. Should the UN knock its heads together to sort this dispute once and for all?
9. When do you think the dispute will be settled
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet. Find out information about Darfur. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. DESERT HORROR HOTS UP: NEWS ARTICLE: You are a reporter for the International Herald Tribune newspaper. Imagine you have just returned from seeing at first hand the African Union troops in Darfur. Whilst there you saw the horrors the war brings to the women and children who are in the refugee camps. You interviewed and took some pictures of some. Mention the different factions who are fighting each other. Write a feature on what you saw. – Use the internet to help you - Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Which entry was best and why? (Minimum 100 words)

4. LETTER: Write a letter to the United Nations. Ask them why they are so incredibly weak with their responses to the Darfur crisis. Criticize them. Ask them what they do all day long? Ask them three questions on the crisis. Show your letter to your classmates in the next lesson. Your classmates will write a reply.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. T

d. F

e. T

f. F

g. T

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	joint	shared
b.	force	detachment
c.	superiors	bosses
d.	armed	to have weapons
e.	reservations	doubts
f.	timetable	schedule
g.	revised	changed
h.	final	last
i.	region	area
j.	step	stage

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	The new force of peacekeepers	could be as large as 27,000 troops
b.	Un Secretary-General Kofi Annan said	the government’s change of heart
c.	A region	twice the size of France
d.	He said it was	time to stop the carnage
e.	Sudanese leaders	are yet to lay out a timetable
f.	Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir	has so far refused to allow…
g.	The next step is	for the UN and AU
h.	It should take place	in the next couple of weeks
i.	They needed to consult	with their superiors in Khartoum
j.	Sudan’s government	has finally changed its mind

GAP FILL:

Darfur crisis sees U-turn on peacekeepers

Sudan’s government has finally changed its mind about whether or not to allow UN peacekeepers in Darfur. For the past two years, it has strongly opposed allowing UN troops in the country, allowing troops from the African Union only. However, the number of the African force is too low to be effective in Darfur – a region twice the size of France. Sudan has now agreed in principle to allow a joint African Union (AU) and UN peacekeeping force into the conflict-ridden region of Darfur. Sudanese representatives met with other African, Arab, European and UN leaders recently and said they needed to consult with their superiors in Khartoum before the government could give final approval to the revised peacekeeping plan. The new force of peacekeepers could be as large as 27,000 troops, including the existing 7,000-strong African Union soldiers.

Sudanese leaders are yet to lay out a timetable for the force to begin work, partly because Sudan had reservations. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the government’s change of heart sounded promising and urged leaders to keep their promises. He said it was time to stop the carnage in Darfur, which has already seen 200,000 people killed.. Annan said: "The next step is for the UN and AU to call a meeting of the non-signatories [of the Darfur Peace Agreement] ... and the government of Sudan. It should take place in the next couple of weeks to resolve outstanding issues by the end of the year.” He added that an enlarged African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur would take place in three phases over an unspecified period of time. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has so far refused to allow their deployment, fearing they would be "occupiers."

 

Sean Banville's Book You can download a free sample PDF showing various parts of my book, "1,000 Ideas & Activities for Language Teachers".