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Date: Nov 26, 2007
THE ARTICLEMen motivated by co-worker salariesNew research shows that men are not just motivated by money, but also by how much more or less they earn than their colleagues. Traditional thinking was that men were only interested in the size of their pay packets. New findings from a study at the University of Bonn reveal that men are also concerned about how much their peers are getting. The research is published in this month’s edition of the journal Science. Researchers put 38 male volunteers under the microscope. The men had to perform simple tasks so that scientists could analyse the activity in the “reward centre” in their brain. They played a game in which they received payments depending on how well they did. They were also told how much money the other men were getting. The researchers discovered a lot more brain activity with the men who knew they were beating their rivals. Lead scientist Dr Bernd Weber said he now wants to conduct a similar study on women. He wants to gauge whether they too are motivated by their peers’ earnings and not just individual success. It is not yet clear how the new findings will affect the workplace. There is a possibility that worker productivity could increase with the introduction of a system that created competition. Sales staff have long been in competition with each other to win bonuses. Human resource officers may now look at this research to find ways of bringing a sense of competitiveness to offices and perhaps schools. However, this may have a negative impact in the workplace if rivalries turn sour with jealousy. One company CEO, Jackie Baxter said: “It’s a balancing act between keeping harmony in the office and encouraging workers to be more efficient.” WARM-UPS1. SALARIES & WAGES: Walk around the class and talk to other students about salaries and wages. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your original partner(s) and share what you found out. 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently. 3. TWO-MINUTE SALARY DEBATES: Have the following fun 2-minute debates. Students A strongly believe in the first argument, students B the second. Change pairs often.
4. WORKPLACE MOTIVATION: With your partner(s), talk about whether you would be motivated by these things in your workplace. Rate them from 10 (= major motivation) to 1 (= couldn’t care less).
5. REWARDS: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘rewards’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. 6. QUICK ROLE PLAY: Student A is the leader of a country. His/her salary is $100,000 a year; Student B is a company CEO. His/her salary is $1,000,000 a year. Is this fair? Role play their conversation. Change partners often. Change partners again and talk about your roles and conversations. BEFORE READING / LISTENING1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):
WHILE READING / LISTENINGGAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.
LISTENING: Listen and fill in the spaces.New research shows that men _______________________ money, but also by how much more or less they earn than their colleagues. Traditional thinking _______________________ interested in the size of their pay packets. New findings from a study at the University of Bonn reveal that men are also concerned _______________________ peers are getting. The research is published in this month’s edition of the journal Science. Researchers put 38 male _______________________. The men had to perform simple tasks so that scientists could analyze the activity in the “reward centre” in their brain. They played a game in which they received payments _______________________ they did. They were also told how much money the other men were getting. The researchers discovered a lot more brain activity _______________________ were beating their rivals. Lead scientist Dr Bernd Weber said _______________________ similar study on women. He wants _______________________ motivated by their peers’ earnings and not just individual success. It is not yet clear how the new findings will affect the workplace. There is a possibility that worker productivity could increase _______________________ system that created competition. Sales staff have long been in competition with each other to win bonuses. Human resource officers _______________________ to find ways of bringing a sense of competitiveness to offices and perhaps schools. However, ____________________________ in the workplace if rivalries turn sour with jealousy. One company CEO, Jackie Baxter said: “It’s a ______________________________ harmony in the office and encouraging workers to be more efficient.” AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘pay’ and ‘packet’.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
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. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings. 5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:
STUDENT SALARY SURVEYWrite five GOOD questions about salaries in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.
DISCUSSIONSTUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
-------------------------------------------------------------------- STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
LANGUAGECORRECT WORD: Put the correct words from a–d below in the article. New research shows that men are not (1) ____ motivated by money, but also by how much more or less they (2) ____ than their colleagues. Traditional thinking was that men were only interested in the size of their pay packets. New findings from a study at the University of Bonn reveal (3) ____ men are also concerned about how much their (4) ____ are getting. The research is published in this month’s edition of the journal Science. Researchers put 38 male volunteers (5) ____ the microscope. The men had to perform simple tasks so that scientists could analyze the activity in the “reward centre” in their brain. They played a game in which they received payments depending on how well they did. They were also told how much money the other men were getting. The researchers discovered a lot more brain activity with the men who knew they were (6) ____ their rivals. Lead scientist Dr Bernd Weber said he now wants to conduct a similar study (7) ____ women. He wants to gauge whether they too are motivated (8) ____ their peers’ earnings and not just individual success. It is not yet clear how the new findings will affect the workplace. There is a possibility that worker productivity could increase with the introduction of a system that created competition. Sales staff have (9) ____ been in competition with each other to win bonuses. Human resource officers may now look at this research to find ways of bringing a (10) ____ of competitiveness to offices and perhaps schools. However, this may have a negative impact in the workplace if rivalries (11) ____ sour with jealousy. One company CEO, Jackie Baxter said: “It’s a balancing (12) ____ between keeping harmony in the office and encouraging workers to be more efficient.”
WRITING:Write about salaries for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper. _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ HOMEWORK1. 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 and find more information about the “reward centre” in the brain. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson. 3. PAY: Make a poster about average pay in different countries for different jobs and professions. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all include similar things? 4. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about how people’s pay should be worked out according to the jobs they do – how much should a nurse or a president get? Include imaginary interviews with a nurse and a president. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down new words and expressions. 5. LETTER: Write a letter to the boss of your company. Give him/her three reasons why you should get a pay rise. Make three promises on what you’ll do from now to deserve your pay rise. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions. ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: Men motivated by co-worker salariesNew research shows that men are not just motivated by money, but also by how much more or less they earn than their colleagues. Traditional thinking was that men were only interested in the size of their pay packets. New findings from a study at the University of Bonn reveal that men are also concerned about how much their peers are getting. The research is published in this month’s edition of the journal Science. Researchers put 38 male volunteers under the microscope. The men had to perform simple tasks so that scientists could analyze the activity in the “reward centre” in their brain. They played a game in which they received payments depending on how well they did. They were also told how much money the other men were getting. The researchers discovered a lot more brain activity with the men who knew they were beating their rivals. Lead scientist Dr Bernd Weber said he now wants to conduct a similar study on women. He wants to gauge whether they too are motivated by their peers’ earnings and not just individual success. It is not yet clear how the new findings will affect the workplace. There is a possibility that worker productivity could increase with the introduction of a system that created competition. Sales staff have long been in competition with each other to win bonuses. Human resource officers may now look at this research to find ways of bringing a sense of competitiveness to offices and perhaps schools. However, this may have a negative impact in the workplace if rivalries turn sour with jealousy. One company CEO, Jackie Baxter said: “It’s a balancing act between keeping harmony in the office and encouraging workers to be more efficient.” LANGUAGE WORK
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