Breaking News English

        

1. STUDYING OVERSEAS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about studying overseas. Change partners often. Share your findings with your first partner.

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

British government / foreign students / deported / scandal / academic community / media / higher education / the average student / Olympics / furious / trustworthy

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

3. BRITAIN: What's good or bad about it? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

	What do you know about it / them?	Good or bad (Why?)
Universities
Food
Sport
Sites
Politics
History

4. STUDYING: Students A strongly believe students should be able to study in any country they want; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. STUDY IN BRITAIN: Rank these courses - put the best at the top. Share your rankings with your partner(s). Change partners often and share your rankings.

The Beatles The history of football The British Royal family The history of the English language

British cooking Shakespeare British fashion London

6. VISA: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word 'visa'. 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.	Britain has stopped 2,500 of its citizens from studying overseas.	T / F
b.	Some students in Britain have 60 days to change their visa status.	T / F
c.	A London university can no longer accept non-EU students.	T / F
d.	Critics say the government wants to recruit more overseas students.	T / F
e.	Britain's decision may lose the country more than a billion dollars.	T / F
f.	The average overseas student spends $50,000 a year in Britain.	T / F
g.	The students with cancelled visas understand the situation.	T / F
h.	The students went through the correct procedures to get their visas.	T / F

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

1.	cancelled	a.	reducing
2.	desperately	b.	dependable
3.	mass	c.	urgently
4.	regarding	d.	name
5.	cutting down on	e.	very angry
6.	reputation	f.	scrapped
7.	cause	g.	course of action
8.	furious	h.	relating to
9.	reliable	i.	large-scale
10.	procedure	j.	lead to

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

1.	desperately trying to find an	a.	European Union students
2.	mass	b.	class higher education
3.	Britain's academic	c.	alternative
4.	visa rules regarding non-	d.	expulsion
5.	the government's attempt to reduce	e.	reliable country
6.	a provider of world-	f.	community
7.	The students	g.	procedure
8.	They enrolled in LMU in	h.	migration
9.	a trustworthy and	i.	themselves are furious
10.	…gone through a strict	j.	good faith

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

The British government has (1) ____________ more than 2,500 visas of foreign students studying at the London Metropolitan University (LMU). The students are now (2) ____________ trying to find an alternative to being (3) ____________. Britain has given the students 60 days to find other courses or leave the country. The (4) ____________ expulsion has created a           (5) ____________ within Britain's academic community.  Britain's immigration officials said LMU was not following visa rules         (6) ____________ non-European Union students and so has removed its right to teach those outside the EU. Critics of the    (7) ____________ believe it is part of the government's attempt to reduce migration into Britain by (8) ____________ down on overseas student numbers.		mass move desperately regarding cancelled cutting deported scandal
Britain's media is reporting the government's move will damage the country's (9) ____________ as a provider of world-class higher education. They also say it will (10) ____________ as much as $1.5 billion in damage to the British economy. The average student spends (11) ____________ to $50,000 each during their three-year stay in Britain. People also note the decision is bad (12) ____________, as London is the host of the Olympics and Paralympics. The students themselves are          (13) ____________. They enrolled in LMU in good (14) ____________, believing Britain to be a trustworthy and (15) ____________ country in which to study. Student Camila Alvarez, 25, from Brazil, said: "This is humiliating for us. We are here legally and have gone through a (16) ____________ procedure to get into Britain."		furious strict cause faith close reputation reliable timing

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The British government (1) ________________________ than 2,500 visas of foreign students studying at the London Metropolitan University (LMU). The students are (2) ________________________ to find an alternative to being deported. Britain has given the students 60 days to find other courses or leave the country. The (3) ________________________ created a scandal within Britain's academic community.  Britain's immigration officials said LMU was (4) ________________________ rules regarding non-European Union students and so has (5) ________________________ teach those outside the EU. Critics of the move believe it is part of the government's (6) ________________________ migration into Britain by cutting down on overseas student numbers.

Britain's media is reporting the government's move will damage the country's reputation (7) ________________________ world-class higher education. They also say it will (8) ________________________ $1.5 billion in damage to the British economy. The average student spends close to $50,000 each during their three-year stay in Britain. People also note the  (9) ________________________, as London is the host of the Olympics and Paralympics. The students (10) ________________________. They enrolled in LMU in good faith, believing Britain to be a trustworthy and reliable country (11) ________________________. Student Camila Alvarez, 25, from Brazil, said: "This is humiliating for us. We are here legally and have gone (12) ________________________ procedure to get into Britain."

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'foreign' and 'student'.

foreign

student

• 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:

trying 60 mass following right cutting

damage cause close timing furious legally

STUDYING OVERSEAS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about studying overseas 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.

 
 

STUDYING OVERSEAS 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 'Britain'?
c)	Are you surprised about what you read?
d)	Is the 60 days fair?
e)	What do you think those in Britain's academic community are saying?
f)	Should the British government accept the LMU might have made mistakes and honor the visas the students were given?
g)	Should the students take legal action against the British government and or the LMU?
h)	How tight are immigration rules in your country?
i)	Should immigration rules be relaxed for overseas students with the money to study?
j)	Why does Britain want to reduce immigration?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think this move has damaged Britain's reputation?
c)	What image does British universities have?
d)	Is the British government crazy to take an action that will lose them $1.5 billion?
e)	Would you like to study at a British (or American, Australian, Irish…) university?
f)	How would you feel if you were one of the students?
g)	What action should the British government take against the LMU?
h)	What do you think the students will do from now?
i)	Should other students now think twice about studying in Britain?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Britain's immigration minister?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

The British government has (1) ____ more than 2,500 visas of foreign students studying at the London Metropolitan University (LMU). The students are now desperately trying to find an (2) ____ to being deported. Britain has given the students 60 days to find other courses or leave the country. The (3) ____ expulsion has created a scandal within Britain's (4) ____ community.  Britain's immigration officials said LMU was not following visa rules (5) ____ non-European Union students and so has removed its right to teach those outside the EU. Critics of the move believe it is part of the government's attempt to reduce migration into Britain by cutting (6) ____ on overseas student numbers.

Britain's media is reporting the government's (7) ____ will damage the country's reputation as a (8) ____ of world-class higher education. They also say it will cause as much as $1.5 billion in damage to the British economy. The average student spends close to $50,000 each (9) ____ their three-year stay in Britain. People also note the decision is bad timing, as London is the host of the Olympics and Paralympics. The students themselves are (10) ____. They enrolled in LMU in good faith, believing Britain to be a trustworthy and reliable country in (11) ____ to study. Student Camila Alvarez, 25, from Brazil, said: "This is humiliating for us. We are here legally and have gone through a (12) ____ procedure to get into Britain."

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

1.	(a)	destroyed	(b)	blitzed	(c)	shut	(d)	cancelled
2.	(a)	altercation	(b)	alter	(c)	alternative	(d)	alternator
3.	(a)	pass	(b)	mass	(c)	lass	(d)	sass
4.	(a)	academic	(b)	pandemic	(c)	epidemic	(d)	endemic
5.	(a)	regard	(b)	regarded	(c)	regarding	(d)	regards
6.	(a)	up	(b)	over	(c)	through	(d)	down
7.	(a)	momentum	(b)	move	(c)	precision	(d)	play
8.	(a)	provider	(b)	conspirator	(c)	host	(d)	participant
9.	(a)	within	(b)	during	(c)	inside	(d)	encompassing
10.	(a)	furiously	(b)	fury	(c)	furious	(d)	furry
11.	(a)	which	(b)	when	(c)	where	(d)	while
12.	(a)	imprint	(b)	variation	(c)	exact	(d)	strict

 
 

WRITING

Write about studying overseas 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 studying overseas. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. STUDYING OVERSEAS: Make a poster about studying overseas. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. CANCELED VISAS: Write a magazine article about the canceled visas. Include imaginary interviews with the students and a British immigration official.

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 British immigration. Ask him/her three questions about the canceled visas. Give him/her three of your opinions on the situation. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

T

c.

T

d.

F

e.

T

f.

F

g.

F

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	cancelled	a.	scrapped
2.	desperately	b.	urgently
3.	mass	c.	large-scale
4.	regarding	d.	relating to
5.	cutting down on	e.	reducing
6.	reputation	f.	name
7.	cause	g.	lead to
8.	furious	h.	very angry
9.	reliable	i.	dependable
10.	procedure	j.	course of action

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	desperately trying to find an	a.	alternative
2.	mass	b.	expulsion
3.	Britain's academic	c.	community
4.	visa rules regarding non-	d.	European Union students
5.	the government's attempt to reduce	e.	migration
6.	a provider of world-	f.	class higher education
7.	The students	g.	themselves are furious
8.	They enrolled in LMU in	h.	good faith
9.	a trustworthy and	i.	reliable country
10.	…gone through a strict	j.	procedure

GAP FILL:

U.K. cancels visas of 2,500 students

The British government has (1) cancelled more than 2,500 visas of foreign students studying at the London Metropolitan University (LMU). The students are now (2) desperately trying to find an alternative to being (3) deported. Britain has given the students 60 days to find other courses or leave the country. The (4) mass expulsion has created a (5) scandal within Britain's academic community.  Britain's immigration officials said LMU was not following visa rules (6) regarding non-European Union students and so has removed its right to teach those outside the EU. Critics of the (7) move believe it is part of the government's attempt to reduce migration into Britain by (8) cutting down on overseas student numbers.

Britain's media is reporting the government's move will damage the country's (9) reputation as a provider of world-class higher education. They also say it will (10) cause as much as $1.5 billion in damage to the British economy. The average student spends (11) close to $50,000 each during their three-year stay in Britain. People also note the decision is bad (12) timing, as London is the host of the Olympics and Paralympics. The students themselves are (13) furious. They enrolled in LMU in good (14) faith, believing Britain to be a trustworthy and (15) reliable country in which to study. Student Camila Alvarez, 25, from Brazil, said: "This is humiliating for us. We are here legally and have gone through a (16) strict procedure to get into Britain."

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - c

3 - b

4 - a

5 - c

6 - d

7 - b

8 - a

9 - b

10 - c

11 - a

12 - d

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