UNESCO Mother Language Lesson Plan - Secondary
Topic:
The power of Languages and the importance of your Mother tongue
Age Group: Secondary school students
Aim:
To show the value of the student’s own mother language and the value of other
languages.
Objective:
 To illustrate to the students the necessity of language as a cultural tool and
the importance of communication as well as the importance of your mother
tongue
 To deliver basic facts/information on different languages/endangered
languages.
 Encourage students to think critically about the use of languages and its
power
Success Criteria:
All: will be able to discuss the importance of their mother language
Most: will be able to compare the difference between their mother language and
other languages
Some: will be able to critically debate the power and importance of the English
language in relation to their own country
Resources/ Preparation needed:
 Pictures of objects, can be a range of different objects used in daily life or
some more uncommon/unusual objects
 A passage or poem. Ideally a passage which is culturally relevant.
 A map would be useful to point out different countries for the quiz
Starter Activity:
Timing:
Divide students into groups. Give groups a selection of different words 10 minutes
on pieces of paper (e.g. Car).
 In the first round students must use their mother tongue to
describe the word, without saying the word itself. (e.g. “Car” –
has four wheels, you drive it etc.)
 In the second round the students can’t communicate in their
first language, they must either act out the picture or describe it
in another language if possible.
Someone from another group must stand behind the person to check if
they are cheating. A fun possibility would be to give them a horn or bell
of some sort to announce this.
Afterwards ask how they felt guessing pictures in another language or
through physical communication, was it easier or harder? Aim is to
emphasize how difficult it is to communicate without language and
importance of having a shared language
Main Teaching:
Find a poem from your local region or country and ask a student or
teacher to read the passage in the native language of your students.
Ask the questions in blue and then read the passage in English (you
may need help from someone to translate it) and ask the questions
again. The students will inevitably understand more in their mother
tongue and will understand the importance of their own language. If
you cannot get the same passage of poem translated you could use a
similar one instead.
1. What did you feel when you were listening to the passage?
2. Ask them to pick out emotive words/sentences- are there any
words/ phrases that you or students can think of that do not
translate into English directly?
3. Can you summarise the meaning of the passage?
You could ask the students to write down their answers.
Timing:
25- 30
minutes
Split the class into teams and have a quiz. There is a British Council quiz
about languages found here.
Alternatively you could create your own quiz, with questions like what
language is Bonjour or true and false questions which could include a
statement such as: ‘There is no word for ‘please’ in the Guyanese
language Patamonia’.
You could create some of your own questions based on the languages
of the world map provided below- e.g. what is the most spoken
language in Africa? A) French b) Swahili c) Arabic
Development: (Group or Individuals):
Divide the students into groups of 4-5. Give each group a different role
to take on, so there are a variety of views. The pupils have to argue as
if they were that person. Write a controversial statement on the board
to form the debate topic:
‘’English should be the universal trading language.’’
“The rest of the world speaks English – so what is the point of
Timing:
25 minutes
language X”
“Countries would be more united and functional if they spoke just one
language, with no confusing regional dialects”
Tailor the groups so they are relevant to your country context. E.g.:
Role A – A rural farmer whose first language is the local dialect, the
same language that your ancestors have spoken for decades.
Role B – A tourist visiting the country / the overseas director of
McDonalds
Role C – A business student at University in the capital city
Role D - A provincial government Minister that represents both rural
farmers and people living in a city
Role E - Yourself
Each Role will have 30 seconds to speak. There could be 3 rounds of
points, counter-points and defending arguments before finally a
conclusion round.
The facilitator should think of stats/facts to add to the debate to
stimulate conversation.
Additional questions could be:
How important are local languages and traditions to you?
What languages are spoken where you live?
Plenary:
Write down your favourite phrase in your mother tongue and explain
your decision
Write down you favourite English phrase and explain you decision
Timing:
5 minutes
Write one thing that you have learnt about your language or another
language
Homework:
You could explore the possibility of having an Other Languages club
involving films, music or books outside of class hours
If you have computer access British Council have a huge array of
resources for an English Club http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/
Timing:
n/a