Globalisation

LESSON OVERVIEW

This free ESL lesson plan on globalisation has been designed for adults and young adults at an intermediate (B1/B2) to advanced (C1/C2) level and should last around 45 to 60 minutes for one student.

Thanks to globalisation, people all around the world have access to products from other countries which in turn has led to the creation of many jobs and an increase in economic growth. However, other people argue that this has been at the expense of lowering working conditions and the importation of cheap foreign imports has actually led to job losses in many places. In this ESL lesson plan on globalisation, students will have the opportunity to discuss and express their opinions on issues such as what globalisation means, how it has had a positive impact and whether there have been any negative side effects.

For advice on how to use this English lesson plan and other lesson plans on this site, see the guide for ESL teachers.

PRE-CLASS ACTIVITIES

Reading activity
Before the English class, send the following article to the students and ask them to read it while making a list of any new vocabulary or phrases they find (explain any the students don’t understand in the class):

BBC | “Will globalisation take away your job?”

The article talks about how automation, increased use of robots and faster internet speeds could result in many jobs being conducted remotely from countries with lower wages. The result will be huge job losses in white collar professions, particularly in developed countries. At the start of the class, hold a brief discussion about what the students thought about the article. What do they think about the issues raised in the article? Do they agree with what was said? Will it be a good thing or a bad thing if jobs are relocated from developed countries to developing countries?

Video activity
To save time in class for the conversation activities, the English teacher can ask the students to watch the video below and answer the listening questions in Section 3 of the lesson plan at home. There are intermediate listening questions and advanced listening questions so teachers can decide which would be more appropriate for their students. Check the answers in the class.

The video for this class is called “The Problem With Globalization” by International Hub which explains some of the negative effects of globalisation and how governments can deal with these problems.

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

The focus in the class is on conversation in order to help improve students’ fluency and confidence when speaking in English as well as boosting their vocabulary.

This lesson opens with a short discussion about the article the students read before the class. Next, the students can give their opinion on the quote at the beginning of the lesson plan – what they think the quote means and if they agree with it. This is followed by an initial discussion on the topic including how globalisation has affected their countries, what foreign products they buy and how they would feel if globalisation caused job losses where they live.

After this, students will learn some vocabulary connected with globalisation such as race to the bottom, telecommuting and interdependent. This vocabulary has been chosen to boost the students’ knowledge of less common vocabulary that could be useful for preparing for English exams like IELTS or TOEFL. The vocabulary is accompanied by a cloze activity and a speaking activity to test the students’ comprehension of these words.

If the students didn’t watch the video before the class, they can watch it after the vocabulary section and answer the listening questions. Before checking the answers, ask the students to give a brief summary of the video and what they thought about the content.

Finally, there is a more in-depth conversation about globalisation. In this speaking activity, students will talk about issues such as whether or not globalisation has made the world a better place, which counties are taking advantage of globalisation and what the future holds for globalisation.

HOMEWORK

After the class, students will write about their opinion of globalisation. This could be a short paragraph or a longer piece of writing depending on what level the student is at. The writing activity is designed to allow students to practise and improve their grammar with the feedback from their teacher. For students who intend to take an international English exam such as IELTS or TOEFL, there is an alternative essay question to practise their essay-writing skills.