Diversity Now
Related section of pack: The United Kingdom as a Diverse Society
(to supplement NIACE pack SECTION 4.1, pp 112 – 115)
Aims:
to raise awareness of Britain as a diverse society; to develop intensive and
extensive reading and listening skills; to encourage acquisition of new vocabulary
through extensive reading; to present and practise functional language used to
express possibility
e.g. He could/might be an athlete. He’s probably a comedian.
She looks like a musician. Maybe she’s a politician.
Materials:


pictures from section 4.1 in the NIACE pack (enlarged if possible)
printed cards with occupations on them: politician, comedian (x2),
journalist, musician, athlete

mini-biographies from p113 - 114, section 4.1

(optional) video recordings of all except Oona King; audio recordings of
Vanessa Mae and Oona King (See The Listening File, Harmer/Elsworth,
File 1)
optional:

Websearch task sheets

Internet access or hard copies of the articles used
Timing:
60 mins at Intermediate 1 (add 30 – 40 minutes if Listening 2 is covered).
Can be done over 2 or 3 sessions if learners are interested in following up their
research.
ESOL level:
Intermediate 1 - Higher
SCQF level:
4-6
In class:
1) Put pictures up around the room. If possible, play music or a short video clip
to engage learners’ interest. Invite speculation about the people in the pictures
or on video.
2) Teach or review target language (modal verbs, possibility). With higher levels,
present a wider range of expressions.
3) Learners walk round, discussing the pictures, using the language presented.
4) Give feedback on language use.
5) Reading: hand out the short biographies (slightly adapted from p115 of
NIACE pack) – one between a pair of students at lower levels, all six between
a pair at higher levels. Ss discuss and match their biography with a picture.
Teacher confirms the answers (or, if possible, video clips of all six could be
used as a way of confirming answers).
6) Listening1: use a short clip of Lenny Henry or David Baddiel to develop
listening comprehension e.g. a clip from Chef
7) Listening 2: The Listening File(Harmer/Elsworth) contains an authentic
interview with Oona King when she first became an MP. The tasks in the book
will require adaptation with lower levels but even Intermediate 1 level learners
can get the gist of the interview.
Follow-up Research (lesson 2):
1) Review what learners remember from the first lesson and ask them to select one of the six
people they read about to research further. Encourage learners to share out all six between
them. Give them the Websearch 1 task sheet and allow about 30 minutes on the computer.
Encourage learners to read onscreen but allow them to print out a hard copy if they prefer.
2) Learners return to the classroom and share information about their chosen subject. If they
have read from a hard copy, ask them to turn this over and summarize using their notes.
Swapping partners a couple of times will encourage fluency and ensure learners hear
information about more than one of the subjects.
3) Using context and English/English dictionaries, learners work on and peer teach new
vocabulary from their reading. (Ask them to write each new word or expression on a slip
of paper and give it to you for recycling in the next lesson.)
Lesson 3 procedure:
1) Use a game to recycle the vocabulary learners selected in the previous lesson.
2) Elicit what learners now know about diversity in British society.
3) Give out the Websearch 2 tasksheet and ask learners to work in A/B pairs to complete it.
4) Follow-on classroom discussion could include a comparison with learners’ own countries
and their own stories, if they plan to stay in Scotland long term.
5) Follow-on writing of their own family story could be set for homework.
Assessment:
The task helps prepare learners for the following summative assessments:
Intermediate 1 English Language Study Outcomes 1, 2 & 3 (DA9E 10)
Intermediate 2 English Language Study 1, 2, 3 & 4 (DA9E 11)
Higher English Language Study 1, 2, 3 & 4 (DA9E 12)
Diversity Now
BIOGRAPHIES
Vanessa-Mae is a famous international violinist who made three albums as a child. She was
born Vanakorn Nicholson on 27 October 1978 in Singapore, the daughter of a Chinese
mother, Pamela Tan-Nicholson and a Thai father, Vorapong Vanakorn. Vanessa relocated to
London after her parents split up. After settling in London, her mother re-married a
British lawyer.
David Baddiel is a stand-up comedian and comedy writer. He was born in England on 28 May
1964. His mother’s family were German Jews who owned a brick factory until 1933, when
the Nazis took over Jewish businesses. Baddiel’s parents were among the last of the Jews
to leave Germany, just three weeks before war was declared.
Oona King is a politician and a member of the Labour party. She was born on 22 October
1967 in Sheffield and brought up in Camden. Oona’s father, Preston King, a professor of
political science, is an African-American from Georgia. Her mother, Hazel King, a teacher,
is Jewish.
Linford Christie is a famous runner and British team captain. He won the Olympic and
World Cup 100 metres races. He was born in Saint Andrew, Jamaica on 2 April 1960. When
he was two, his parents came to live in the UK. Linford stayed behind with his grandmother
until his parents sent for him.
Mariella Frostrup is a journalist and television presenter. She was born on 12 November
1962 in Oslo, Norway and moved as a child to a small village outside Dublin in Ireland. Her
Norwegian father was a journalist and her Scottish-born mother an artist. In 1977,
Mariella left Ireland to move to London where she lives today.
Lenny Henry is a famous comedian and comedy actor. He works in film, television and in the
theatre. He was born Lenworth George Henry in Dudley in the West Midlands on 29 August
1958. The son of Winnie and Winston Henry, he was one of seven children and the first of
his family to be born in the UK after the family moved there from Jamaica in the 1950s.
Diversity Now
WEBSEARCH 1
Task
Choose one of the people you read about in the last lesson. You are going to find out more
about them using Google and these websites:
www.movinghere.org.uk
and
www.100greatblackbritons.com
1 Go to the Moving Here website and click on Migration histories. Select the area your
subject’s family came from. What can you find out about the history of immigrants from
that area?
2 Go to the 100 Great Black Britons website and click on the People Database in the Site
Index. Click on your subject’s name for more information about them.
3 If you can’t find your subject, try Google. Enter your subject’s name + biography.
When you have found a good article,

Write down 3 interesting facts about your subject.

Can you find any Scottish connections?

Write down 4-8 new words you want to know the meaning of.
Diversity Now
WEBSEARCH 2
Go to www.onescotland.com/ and do the tasks. Discuss your answers with a partner.
Task 1
All students
1 Who created this website? Choose your answer.
a) A community group
b) A government organisation
c) An individual
2 Click on the link to The Campaign, then go to Campaign Material and watch the TV
adverts. Which advert do you think is the most effective? Why?
3 Now click on History of Migration. Is your home country listed there? If so, click and
find out about the history of migration to Scotland.

When did migration from your country to Scotland begin?

What did people do when they came here?
Task 2.1
Work in pairs, A and B.
You are both going to read about Scots whose family came here from another country.
Answer these questions about your subject:

Where were they born?

Which city do they live in now?

What do you know about their age and occupation?

What do you know about their education?

Do they have a good opinion of Scottish education? Why?
Student A
You are going to read a story on the One Scotland website. Go back to the Home Page and
look at the Tell your story section. Click on Read one woman’s story
Student B
You are going to read about Hardeep Singh Kohli. Go to The Independent Online at this
web address.
http://education.independent.co.uk/careers_advice/article310924.ece
Task 2.2
When you know the answers to the questions on page 1, speak to your partner and use your
answers to find out:

What do the two people have in common?

What is different about their attitudes? Why do you think this is?