Breaking News English

        

1. RACISM: Walk around the class and talk to other students about racism. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

racism / row / media / national team / youth academies / suspended / investigation / apologized / out of context / sensitive / wide ranging / xenophobia / dual nationality

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. DISCRIMINATION: Complete this table and share what you wrote with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

	What exists in your country?	How to defeat it?
Racism
Sexism
Homophobia
Religious intolerance
Ageism
Class / Caste…

4. EQUAL: Students A strongly believe there’ll be no racism in sport one day; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. PHOBIAS: Look these up in a dictionary. Why do people suffer from these? What can we do to make these phobias disappear?

xenophobia Islamophobia homophobia Anglophobia

claustrophobia arachnophobia technophobia hydrophobia

6. ROW: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘row’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	French football is in trouble because of a potential racism scandal.	T / F
b.	Reports are that officials want 70% of the French team to be white.	T / F
c.	The technical director of the French Football Federation lost his job.	T / F
d.	The French national team coach has been suspended.	T / F
e.	The coach said he had never said a word about this issue.	T / F
f.	He apologized for upsetting people.	T / F
g.	The coach has previously spoken about players of dual nationality.	T / F
h.	French players with two passports always chose to play for France.	T / F

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

1.	row	a.	origins
2	emerged	b.	opt
3.	place	c.	kinds
4.	descent	d.	put
5.	former	e.	argument
6.	admit	f.	brought up
7.	wide	g.	ex-
8.	forms	h.	came out
9.	raised	i.	confess
10.	choose	j.	broad

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	A racism row is	a.	quotas run deeper
2	approved proposals to limit the	b.	discrimination
3.	sources say the racial	c.	of an investigation
4.	pending the conclusions	d.	ranging subject
5.	French team coach and	e.	rocking French football
6.	his words were taken	f.	of racism
7.	a sensitive and wide-	g.	number of players
8.	He denied claims	h.	country of descent
9.	I'm against all forms of	i.	former national player
10.	choose to represent their	j.	out of context

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

A racism (1) ____________ is rocking French football after reports emerged of limits on non-white players. French media has reported that several (2) ____________ figures in the French Football Federation (FFF) approved proposals to limit the number of players in the national team to 30 per cent. Some sources say the racial (3) ____________ run deeper and that authorities want youth academies to (4) ____________ limits on the number of children they (5) ____________ up of North African and Middle Eastern descent. France’s government has already   (6) ____________ François Blaquart, the FFF national technical director, "pending the conclusions of an investigation”. Reports are that the French team coach and (7) ____________ national player Laurent Blanc also approved the (8) ____________.		suspended quotas row sign senior former proposals place
Laurent Blanc (9) ____________ on Saturday, saying his words were taken out of (10) ____________. "I admit that certain terms, used during a work meeting on a sensitive and (11) ____________-ranging subject, could be interpreted ambiguously if removed from their context and if I hurt anyone's (12) ____________, I apologize," he said. He denied claims of racism, saying: "To be suspected of racism or xenophobia when I'm (13) ____________ all forms of discrimination, I cannot accept." Blanc played in the French team that won the 1998 World Cup. He has often (14) ____________ the issue of dual nationality players playing in the national team, especially as many players train in the (15) ____________ team and then choose to (16) ____________ their country of descent at national level.		feelings youth context represent wide raised apologized against

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A _______________________ French football after reports emerged of limits on non-white players. French media has _______________________ senior figures in the French Football Federation (FFF) approved proposals to limit the number of players in the national team to 30 per cent. Some sources say the racial _______________________ that authorities want youth academies _______________________ number of children they sign up of North African and Middle Eastern descent. France’s government has already suspended François Blaquart, the FFF national technical director, "_______________________ of an investigation”. Reports are that the French team coach and former national player Laurent Blanc also _______________________.

Laurent Blanc apologized on Saturday, saying his _______________________ of context. "I admit that certain terms, used during a work meeting on a sensitive _______________________, could be interpreted ambiguously if removed from their context and if I hurt anyone's feelings, I apologize," he said. _______________________ racism, saying: "To be _______________________ or xenophobia when I'm against all forms of discrimination, I cannot accept." Blanc played in the French team that won the 1998 World Cup. He has _________________________ of dual nationality players playing in the national team, especially as many players train in the youth team and then _______________________ their country of descent at national level.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

racism

row

• 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.

• 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. 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 how they were used in the text:

rocking limit deeper sign up suspended former

words terms claims forms won choose

STUDENT RACISM SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about racism 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.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

RACISM IN FOOTBALL DISCUSSION

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

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘racism’?
c)	What do you think of the row in French football?
d)	How much racism is there in sport?
e)	How can we end racism in sport?
f)	If this story is true, what does it say about French sport?
g)	How much could this issue damage French football?
h)	What’s your image of French football?
i)	Should France be banned from international football tournaments?
j)	If found guilty, what should happen to François Blaquart and Laurent Blanc?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What three adjectives describe this story (and why)?
c)	Do you think Laurent Blanc’s apology will be enough?
d)	Do you think his words were taken out of context?
e)	Is it possible for Blanc, who won a world cup with many players of Middle-Eastern and North African descent, could agree to such quotas?
f)	What must French football now do to clean up its image?
g)	Is it a problem for a footballer with dual nationality to play for his country of descent instead of the country in which he lives and plays?
h)	What racism is there in sport in your country?
i)	Why do people think it matters what colour you are?
j)	What questions would you like to ask French coach Laurent Blanc?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

A racism (1) ____ is rocking French football after reports emerged of limits on non-white players. French media has reported that (2) ____ senior figures in the French Football Federation (FFF) approved proposals to limit the number of players in the national team to 30 per cent. Some sources say the racial quotas (3) ____ deeper and that authorities want youth academies to place limits on the number of children they sign (4) ____ of North African and Middle Eastern descent. France’s government has already (5) ____ François Blaquart, the FFF national technical director, "pending the conclusions of an investigation”. Reports are that the French team coach and former national player Laurent Blanc also (6) ____ the proposals.

Laurent Blanc apologized on Saturday, saying his words were (7) ____ out of context. "I admit that certain terms, used during a work meeting (8) ____ a sensitive and wide-ranging subject, could be interpreted ambiguously if removed from their context and if I (9) ____ anyone's feelings, I apologize," he said. He denied claims of racism, saying: "To be suspected of racism or xenophobia when I'm against all (10) ____ of discrimination, I cannot accept." Blanc played in the French team that won the 1998 World Cup. He has often (11) ____ the issue of dual nationality players playing in the national team, especially as many players train in the youth team and then choose to represent their country (12) ____ descent at national level.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	bow	(b)	vow	(c)	sow	(d)	row
2.	(a)	numeral	(b)	several	(c)	serial	(d)	decmal
3.	(a)	run	(b)	meander	(c)	traverse	(d)	float
4.	(a)	in	(b)	at	(c)	up	(d)	to
5.	(a)	suspension	(b)	suspends	(c)	suspended	(d)	suspending
6.	(a)	approval	(b)	approved	(c)	proof	(d)	proves
7.	(a)	taken	(b)	done	(c)	been	(d)	got
8.	(a)	in	(b)	by	(c)	at	(d)	on
9.	(a)	broke	(b)	hurt	(c)	pained	(d)	smashed
10.	(a)	bits	(b)	yarns	(c)	turns	(d)	forms
11.	(a)	increased	(b)	upped	(c)	raised	(d)	rising
12.	(a)	of	(b)	in	(c)	to	(d)	with

 
 

WRITING

Write about racism for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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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 and find out more about racism in sport. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. RACISM: Make a poster about racism. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. QUOTAS: Write a magazine article about the suspected quotas of non-white players in French football. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against it.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to the head of French football. Ask him three questions about racism. Give him three of your opinions on what’s going on. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

T

b.

T

c.

F

d.

F

e.

F

f.

T

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	row	a.	argument
2	emerged	b.	came out
3.	place	c.	put
4.	descent	d.	origins
5.	former	e.	ex-
6.	admit	f.	confess
7.	wide	g.	broad
8.	forms	h.	kinds
9.	raised	i.	brought up
10.	choose	j.	opt

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	A racism row is	a.	rocking French football
2	approved proposals to limit the	b.	number of players
3.	sources say the racial	c.	quotas run deeper
4.	pending the conclusions	d.	of an investigation
5.	French team coach and	e.	former national player
6.	his words were taken	f.	out of context
7.	a sensitive and wide-	g.	ranging subject
8.	He denied claims	h.	of racism
9.	I'm against all forms of	i.	discrimination
10.	choose to represent their	j.	country of descent

GAP FILL:

Limits on non-white kids in French football

A racism (1) row is rocking French football after reports emerged of limits on non-white players. French media has reported that several (2) senior figures in the French Football Federation (FFF) approved proposals to limit the number of players in the national team to 30 per cent. Some sources say the racial (3) quotas run deeper and that authorities want youth academies to (4) place limits on the number of children they (5) sign up of North African and Middle Eastern descent. France’s government has already   (6) suspended François Blaquart, the FFF national technical director, "pending the conclusions of an investigation”. Reports are that the French team coach and (7) former national player Laurent Blanc also approved the (8) proposals.

Laurent Blanc (9) apologized on Saturday, saying his words were taken out of (10) context. "I admit that certain terms, used during a work meeting on a sensitive and (11) wide-ranging subject, could be interpreted ambiguously if removed from their context and if I hurt anyone's (12) feelings, I apologize," he said. He denied claims of racism, saying: "To be suspected of racism or xenophobia when I'm (13) against all forms of discrimination, I cannot accept." Blanc played in the French team that won the 1998 World Cup. He has often (14) raised the issue of dual nationality players playing in the national team, especially as many players train in the (15) youth team and then choose to (16) represent their country of descent at national level.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - b

3 - a

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - a

8 - d

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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