British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will host talks with European Union leaders in Luxembourg today. He will try to solve the latest crisis over talks about Turkey becoming a full member of the EU. Mr. Straw said: “Last December, the EU agreed that negotiations with Turkey should [start] October 3, subject to Turkey fulfilling various conditions.…These conditions have been met.” However, Austria has suddenly decided Turkey should not have full membership of the Union, but instead have a weaker "privileged partnership."

Turkey is angry and said talks must continue as scheduled. A Turkish government spokesman warned the EU would be damaged internationally if it failed to “keep its word”. A leading Turkish politician stated: “Either Europe…remains in sync with the changes in the world and accepts our joining, or by hurting our membership bid it will turn into an old, nostalgic bloc that loses its influence in world politics.” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “European leaders will show political maturity and become a global power.”

WARM-UPS

1. BEING EUROPEAN: You are all Europeans. Decide which EU country you would like to be a citizen of. Walk around the class and talk to other “Europeans” about what it means to be a European. Is life in Europe better than life outside of Europe? Should Europe allow Turkey to become a member of the EU?

2. AUSTRIA Vs. TURKEY: What are the differences between Austria and Turkey? Talk about them with your partner(s) using the words below. After you have finished, change partners and discuss the differences you talked about with your first partners.

People Religion Culture History Geography

World importance Food Politics Human rights Other

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

Foreign Secretaries / Luxembourg / crisis talks / Turkey / European Union / negotiations / Austria / keeping one’s word / world politics / Christian clubs

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

4. TURKEY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with Turkey. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

5. TURKEY OPINIONS: Do you agree with these opinions on Turkey and its entry to the European Union? Discuss them with your partner(s).

1. Turkey should be allowed full membership of the European Union.
2. Turkey is too historically and geographically different to be considered European.
3. Austria is being racist about Turkey’s admission.
4. Turkey joining the EU would show Europe is not afraid of Islam.
5. After working hard for 40 years to join, Turkey deserves membership.
6. Most EU leaders are quietly afraid of large numbers of Muslims emigrating.
7. These talks send a shocking message to 12 million EU Muslims.
8. Turkey must first recognize Cyprus before it can join the EU.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	There is a big problem with Turkey’s entry into the European Union.	T / F
b.	Turkey did not fulfill many conditions that were created last year.	T / F
c.	Austria has suddenly decided Turkey should not join the EU.	T / F
d.	Austria has suggested a weaker form of EU membership for Turkey.	T / F
e.	Turkey has told EU leaders to take their time.	T / F
f.	A Turkish politician said the EU must keep its word.	T / F
g.	The EU is in danger of losing its influence in world politics.	T / F
h.	Turkey’s prime minister EU leaders would show political maturity.	T / F

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

a.	host	application
b.	solve	meeting
c.	crisis	promises
d.	fulfilling	clear up
e.	privileged	harmony
f.	scheduled	chair
g.	word	special
h.	sync	power
i.	bid	planned
j.	influence	emergency

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	British Foreign	its word
b.	host	fulfilling various conditions
c.	solve the	talks
d.	subject to Turkey	in the world
e.	These conditions	as scheduled
f.	talks must continue	world politics
g.	keep	Secretary
h.	remains in sync with the changes	maturity
i.	loses its influence in	latest crisis
j.	show political	have been met

AFTER READING / LISTENING

WHICH WORD? Strike through the incorrect choice in each pair of italicized words.

Crisis talks for Turkey to join EU

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will ghost / host talks with European Union leaders in Luxembourg today. He will try to solve / shelve the latest crisis over / under talks about Turkey becoming a full member of the EU. Mr. Straw said: “Last December, the EU agreed that negotiations with Turkey should [start] October 3, object / subject to Turkey fulfilling various conditions.…These conditions have been met / made.” However, Austria has suddenly decided Turkey should not have full membership of the Union, but instead have a stronger / weaker "privileged partnership."

Turkey is angry and said talks / chats must continue as scheduled. A Turkish government spokesman warned the EU would be damaged internationally if it failed to “keep its sentence / word”. A leading Turkish politician stated: “Either Europe…remains in sync / sink with the changes in the world and accepts our joining, or by hurting our membership bid / bad it will turn into an old, nostalgic bloc / blog that loses its influence in world politics.” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “European leaders will show political maturity / immaturity and become a global power.”

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

• 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. WHICH WORD? 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. STUDENT “TURKEY” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about Turkey’s application to join to the European Union.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

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

host solve December various suddenly weaker

angry word in sync bid influence maturity

DISCUSSION

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

1. What did you think when you read this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
3. Are you interested in the European Union?
4. What do you know about Turkey?
5. Do you think Turkey is a European country?
6. Do you think Turkey should be allowed to join the EU?
7. How do you think Turks feel at European leaders treating them like second-class citizens?
8. Do you think Turkey being in the EU could help the war on terror?
9. What do you think of Austria suddenly objecting to Turkish membership?
10. What are Austria’s objections?

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. What do you know about the history of Turkey trying to gain entry into the EU?
4. Do you think Islam plays a part in this problem?
5. Is Europe an exclusive “Christian club”?
6. Do you think Turkey should recognize the nation of Cyprus before it is allowed entry to the EU?
7. Do you think Turkey still has human rights issues?
8. Do you think some European countries are racist?
9. Do you think European leaders will show political maturity?
10. Did you like this discussion?

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

1. What question would you like to ask about this topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
3. Was there a question you didn’t like?
4. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
5. What did you like talking about?
6. Do you want to know how anyone else answered the questions?
7. Which was the most difficult question?

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Crisis talks for Turkey to join EU

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will _____ talks with European Union leaders in Luxembourg today. He will try to solve the latest _____ over talks about Turkey becoming a full member of the EU. Mr. Straw said: “Last December, the EU _______ that negotiations with Turkey should [start] October 3, subject to Turkey fulfilling _________ conditions.…These conditions have been met.” However, Austria has suddenly decided Turkey should not have _____ membership of the Union, but instead have a ________ "privileged partnership."

Turkey is angry and said talks must ________ as scheduled. A Turkish government spokesman ________ the EU would be damaged internationally if it failed to “keep its ________”. A leading Turkish politician stated: “Either Europe…remains ___ _____ with the changes in the world and accepts our joining, or by hurting our membership bid it will turn into an old, nostalgic _____ that loses its influence in world politics.” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “European leaders will show political _________ and become a global power.”

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 more information on this story. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. EUROPEAN UNION: Make a poster outlining the roles the European Union plays in the world. Explain how Turkey’s membership of the EU could make these roles better. Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

4. LETTER: Write a letter to British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw about Turkey becoming a full member of the European Union. Tell him why you think Turkey has every right (or otherwise) to join. Read your letter to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. F

c. F

d. T

e. F

f. T

g. T

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	host	chair
b.	solve	clear up
c.	crisis	emergency
d.	fulfilling	meeting
e.	privileged	special
f.	scheduled	planned
g.	word	promises
h.	sync	harmony
i.	bid	application
j.	influence	power

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	British Foreign	Secretary
b.	host	talks
c.	solve the	latest crisis
d.	subject to Turkey	fulfilling various conditions
e.	These conditions	have been met
f.	talks must continue	as scheduled
g.	keep	its word
h.	remains in sync with the changes	in the world
i.	loses its influence in	world politics
j.	show political	maturity

WHICH WORD?

Crisis talks for Turkey to join EU

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will ghost / host talks with European Union leaders in Luxembourg today. He will try to solve / shelve the latest crisis over / under talks about Turkey becoming a full member of the EU. Mr. Straw said: “Last December, the EU agreed that negotiations with Turkey should [start] October 3, object / subject to Turkey fulfilling various conditions.…These conditions have been met / made.” However, Austria has suddenly decided Turkey should not have full membership of the Union, but instead have a stronger / weaker "privileged partnership."

Turkey is angry and said talks / chats must continue as scheduled. A Turkish government spokesman warned the EU would be damaged internationally if it failed to “keep its sentence / word”. A leading Turkish politician stated: “Either Europe…remains in sync / sink with the changes in the world and accepts our joining, or by hurting our membership bid / bad it will turn into an old, nostalgic bloc / blog that loses its influence in world politics.” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “European leaders will show political maturity / immaturity and become a global power.”

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