CPE - Holiday Weekend Assignment - The U.K. Election

With public holidays falling over the next two weekends, our next lesson won't be until Saturday 9th May. In the meantime though, you can practice your English by completing the following assignment. Read the articles in the links below and listen to the podcast from The Public Philosopher. We can discuss your answers, views and observations when we meet again in May - by which time we will know the result. 

The U.K. Election (May 7th 2015) 

Discussion:

1. What do you know about this year’s U.K. Election (the parties/the leaders/the issues)?
2. Will the outcome have any effect here in Europe/Italy (politically/economically)?
3. What is the first past the post system? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-past-the-post_voting
4. How can wasted votes and gerrymandering lead to unfair results?
5. How does FPP compare with Italy’s system?
6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each system?
7. Which do you think is more democratic?
8. Which do you think leads to better government?
9. Should you vote with your head or your heart?

Vocabulary:

Before you read, check the meaning of the following terms:

swing vote, marginal seat, to lag, to bewail, psephology, out of kilter.

Reading:

1. What does the author mean by it’s nose-peg time?
2. Why are swing votes and marginal seats so important this election?
3. What does the author think of the first past the post system?
4. Find examples of the writer’s political bias. 
5. Would you ever consider using an app like Vote-swap? Why/Why not?

Britain’s rotten electoral system means that once again it’s nose-peg time

Polly Toynbee 15/04/2015

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/15/britain-rotten-electoral-system-nose-peg-vote-swap-tories-out?CMP=fb_gu

Going Further

Listening

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4sandel/r4sandel_20150120-0754c.mp3

Why Democracy?

Tue, 20 Jan 15

Duration:53 mins

Michael Sandel presents a special BBC Democracy Day edition of The Public Philosopher, recorded in the Palace of Westminster with an audience of MPs, peers and the public. This is an extended version of the recording broadcast on Radio 4's Today programme.

See also: http://seansstudypage.blogspot.it/2015/04/election-time-english.html

Post CPE Lesson 24

Lesson 24

Class
(1) Fair Pay & Inequality
Listening and Discussion - The Public Philosopher:  Should a banker be paid more than a nurse? 
Professor Michael Sandel at the LSE
Link to BBC iPlayer
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4sandel/r4sandel_20120410-0930b.mp3

Notes:

What is fair pay? (2:19)

Big pay differences are unjustified:

For

Income inequality is not good for wellbeing (Jonathan 3:15)

Luck - social class - not hard work (Alice 3:50)

Image of a banker - overweight man behind a desk (4:25)

Fair pay should reflect hard work (5:00)

Against

Creativity and intelligence also important (Wes 5:25)

Football players (6:00)

Aggregate choice - Market (7:00)

People who create the most deserve the highest pay

Kaley’s (8:09) counter argument - it’s about the size of the pay difference. 

soccer/football player 

Harry (9:40) accident of birth argument - income inequality shouldn’t respond to these things in such a dramatic way. Effort can also be affected by upbringing. The justice of the universe - luck - the lottery of life. How can the lucky deserve this vast advantage (12:00) Moral arbitrariness. 

Ceilia (13:00) intrinsic value of the work - choosing from behind the veil of ignorance (Theory argued by John Rawls in his book A Theory of Justice). 

Different from the market argument as markets don’t pass judgment on the intrinsic importance of the activities. 

Charles (15:30) counter argument - nurse/doctor theoretically should be paid more in a free market as the rich would pay anything to to be cured but better to be in a society that sees health as a right. Huge banker’s pay doesn’t reflect risk therefore unfair. Intrinsic value should be one factor but not the only one. 

Michael (19:00) best way to put an intrinsic value on something because it is the most efficient otherwise - hard to define. Redistribution - through tax? 

Jonathan (21:00) Why people go into the profession - non pecuniary benefits. (22:00 - unsatisfying job joke) 

Harry’s Question (24:00) To what extent do the pay differences we observe today reflect luck?/effort and other things we can control? 

Thomas (25:00) poor boy made good argument. Steve Jobs example need luck + effort

Zariff (28:00) In Western Economies there are fewer obstacles to advancement therefore a lot of opportunities. 

29:30 If we had a perfect meritocracy society (perfect equality of opportunity) then would the results of the market economy be fair? (Zariff - agrees, Harry - disagrees - effort/willingness also depends on circumstance and luck)

Lillian (32:40) Yugoslavian experience - distinctions still appear when people capture the choice - access to the market/executive/media. 

Neer (34:00) Even if we had equal opportunity there would still be differential rewards and those differences still might exist because of luck (i.e. being born into a society that values and prizes (in renumeration and status) certain skills and jobs is a matter of luck) 

(36:00) 2 Dimensions to luck in a meritocracy (1) Whether we deserve the talents and skills that we use to get ahead (2) Whether we deserve to live in a society that values the skills that we have in abundance. 

Conclusion

Identified the competing philosophical principles of fairness in defining what is fair pay:

contribution?

effort?

markets? 

Market “fairness” skewered by inequality of opportunity

Perfect Meritocracy would still be influenced by luck 

Going Further:

Reading

http://qz.com/383096/after-reading-an-article-on-happiness-a-company-founder-is-paying-a-new-minimum-wage-70000-a-year/

http://oxfamblogs.org/mindthegap/2015/04/17/graphs-of-the-day-on-labour-unions-and-income-

inequality/

Film

Snowpiercer (Joon-Ho Bong, 2013)

(2) The Financial Crisis 

Language Leader Advanced Unit 11.2 

Reading

Body idioms and metaphors

Commonly confused words

rise, arise, raise

discreet (tactful) discrete ((separate/distinct)

Alternatives to if

Unless, as long as etc. 

Listening for the features of natural speech

Going Further: 

http://www.idiomconnection.com/body.html#A

Films & Philosophy

Looking for a film (on DVD or at the cinema) to stimulate the brain cells over the two consecutive holiday weekends? This article from The Guardian "I watch therefore I am", offers some interesting choices:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/14/force-majeure-films-philosophy-memento-ida-its-a-wonderful-life?CMP=fb_gu

Their list of films which have a philosophical question at their heart include:
Ida, Force Majeure, It's A Wonderful Life and Momento.

Force Majeure will be released in Italian cinemas on May 7th.

Election Time English

This teacher decided to mark a flyer that came through the letterbox from UKIP. The U.K. Independence Party is (in)famous for its anti-EU and anti-immigration policies. For a party so proud of its "Englishness", they may need to brush up on their own English. Click on the image to see the full photo. 

Source: http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2015/04/17/english-teacher-decided-mark-ukip-election-flyer-came-letterbox/

British Council at ANIA Lesson 6

Lesson 6 - Tuesday 14/04/2015

Group 5 C2 12:30pm
Class

• The problem with translation http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442650/Sentence%20Structure
• Creating an editing checklist http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/37583119/Correction-Checklist-For-L1-Italian-Speakers
• CPE writing - task one essay - planning/introduction/using the editing checklist

Homework

Read the following article from the Time website. 

http://time.com/3585847/mandarin-lingua-franca/

Could you use any of the arguments put forward here in your essay? 

Do you agree with the author's comment that English is a "a radically egalitarian and modern language"?

Group 7 C1 2pm
Class

• Pronunciation continued - problem sounds, "ed"endings, stress timed intonation 

Homework
Browse through your new textbook, Language Leader Advanced. Which chapters do you think will be the most interesting and/or useful for you?

Lie/Lay - Songs That Get it Right

In yesterday's post I lamented the grammatical confusion caused by Bob Dylan's Lay Lady Lay (Eric Clapton's Lay Down Sally is another culprit). Don't despair however, you can still use pop music to improve your English and here are five songs that use lie and lay correctly in their titles and/or lyrics.

1. Keren Ann Lay Your Head Down

2. Hello Sailor Lying In The Sand

3. Mazzy Star Lay Myself Down

4. Paul Young Wherever I Lay My Hat

5. Moby Lie Down In Darkness

Post CPE - Preparation for Next Week (Lesson 24)

Next week's lesson will focus on the financial crisis providing another opportunity to look at commonly confused words, the features of natural speech as well as alternatives to if in conditional constructions.

In preparation I would like you to have a listen to this podcast on BBC iPlayer and have a think about the questions below.

Should a banker be paid more than a nurse? 
Professor Michael Sandel at the LSE

Link to BBC iPlayer http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4sandel/r4sandel_20120410-0930b.mp3

1. How important are the following factors in determining what someone is paid?

effort
creativity
intelligence
the market
wealth creation
contribution to social well-being
luck (to be born with certain skills and/or to be born in a time and into a society that values those skills)
2. Which views expressed in the podcast are closest to your own? 

3. What is the veil of ignorance?

4. What does the businessman say about the relationship between the free market and health?

5. To what extent do pay differences reflect luck?

6. How important is the access to government and media in this debate?