Aim: To increase awareness of appropriate behaviour in English – speaking cultures; to compare and contrast these behaviour patterns with those in the students’ own culture

Materials: a task sheet for each student;

Level: pre – intermediate

Time: 45 minutes

Preparation: each student has to learn a rhyme

In class:

Teacher:

Dear students and our guests,

We have gathered here to discuss and study some cultural peculiarities of proper behaviour in English – speaking cultures.

We will try to learn and use in different situations the best phrases which can help us to sound polite. So if you don’t mind we shall begin.

1. Hospitality

Offering

Student 1 acts as a teacher. She recites the rhyme:

When a person visits you, remember he’s your guest,
Receive him very kindly, and be sure he has the best;
Make him very comfortable and show him all your toys,
And only play the games you’re very sure he enjoys.
When you pay a visit, never grumble or complain
Try to be so affable they’ll want you there again;
Don’t forget the older ones, your hostess least of all,
When you’re leaving tell her you have had a pleasant call![1]

Student 1: Now, will you please imagine that we are receiving a guest – she is a colleague of your parents who came to talk to your parents, but unfortunately your parents got into traffic jam and are a bit late. How could you entertain the guest? What can you offer to her? You can offer the following: a newspaper, a book, a photo album, a cup of tea, a glass of juice, some mineral water, watching TV, DVD, etc.). I will play as that very guest.

Possible dialogues:

- Would you mind sitting in the armchair and looking through the magazines?

- That’s very kind of you.

- I hope you don’t mind having a cup of tea.

- I do appreciate your offer. Thank you very much.

Examples:

Let’s play cards

(Suggesting doing something together) –
Do you mind our playing cards together?
Do you mind if we play cards together?
Do you think that it might be a good idea to...
Would you…
Could you…
What about having…?

2. Interruption

Order

Student 2 acts as a teacher. She recites the rhyme:

Don’t interrupt your father when he’s

Telling funny jokes;

Don’t interrupt your mother when she’s entertaining folks;

Don’t interrupt the visitors when they have come to call,-

In fact, it’s generally wiser not to interrupt at all.[1]

Student 2: So, if you don’t object we can talk about interrupting people, sometimes we have to interrupt, but how can we do it politely? Make up dialogues in the following situations:

You have to interrupt two shop assistants, who are talking and don’t notice you.

You have to interrupt your sisters, who don’t hear the phone calling.

You have to interrupt your mother and her friend so that to invite them to drink tea.

You have to interrupt two nurses so that to ask for a thermometer.

You have to interrupt your teachers so that to ask if you could write in pencil.

You have to interrupt a secretary talking on the phone so that she could give you some documents

- I am very sorry to interrupt you…

- I hate interrupting you…

- Could you excuse my interrupting you, etc…?

- I really hate to…

- It would be great if you could…

- I am wondering if you possibly can…

- Could you please try and….

Possible dialogue:

• Excuse me please. I do hate to interrupt you, but could you give me a correction pen for a moment?
• Of course, no problem. Here you are!
• Thank you very much.

3. Quietness

Order

Student 3 acts as a teacher. She recites the rhyme:

Hush! For your father is reading.

Hush! For your mother is ill.

Hush! For the baby is sleeping, and maybe

He’ll catch a nice dream if you’re still

Kiss me and promise you will.[1]

Student 3: Most of all, I think, teachers need quietness in class so that to be able to concentrate on what they are explaining. Most of the time teachers raise their voice to calm us down. What phrases would you use if you were a teacher?

Not to run in the class, not to talk back, not to prompt, not to copy, not to sleep, not to ask silly questions, not to fight, not to stick the bubble gum to the bottom of a desk

Example: a teacher wants a student not to chew a bubble gum and she can say:

Alright if I ask our new student not to chew a bubble gum at the lesson

Do you mind if I ask our new student not to chew bubble gum at the lesson? I wondered if you could possibly not to chew a bubble gum at the lesson.

I hope you don’t mind my asking but I wonder if it is possible for you not to chew a bubble gum at the lesson/

Do you happen to know that it is not nice to chew a bubble gum at the lesson.

I wonder if you happen to know that it is not nice to chew a bubble gum at the lesson

I hope you don’t mind sparing me a few minutes.

Could you please try to remember that it is not nice to chew a bubble gum at the lesson?

All the children taking part in making dialogues can answer using the models:

I am sorry, I am very (awfully, terribly, extremely) sorry, I apologize, I apologize for losing my temper, I should not have done it.

4. Advice

Student 5 acts as a teacher. She recites the rhyme:

The Goops are spotted on chin and on cheek,

You could dig the dirt off with a trowel!

But you wash your face twenty times every week,

And you don’t do it all with a towel!

The Goops are all dirty, and what do they do?

They like to be dirty, and stay so.

But if you were dirty, you would wash, wouldn’t you

If you needed a bath, you would say so.

How can we give some advice to a person with not very good manners? [1]

5. Polite order

Table manners

Student 6 acts as a teacher. She recites the rhyme:

The Goops they lick their fingers,

And the Goops they lick their knives;

They spill their broth on the table – cloth

Oh, they lead disgusting lives!

The Goops they talk while eating,

And loud and fast they chew;

And that is why I am glad that I am not a Goop – are you? [1]

Let us try to express our advice in a very polite form to a person who:

Is wearing very dirty boots, has not combed his hair, bites his nails, sneezes without using a handkerchief, uses many dirty words.

We can follow the examples given below:

I want you to wash the floor.

Wash the floor!

I’d like you to wash the floor.

Could you wash the floor?

Have you ever thought of washing the floor?

Do you mind washing the floor?

I was wondering if you could wash the floor.

Could you please wash the floor?

Would you mind if I asked you to wash the floor?

When you have time could you wash the floor?

I was wondering if you could possibly wash the floor.

When time permits could you please wash the floor?

I hope you don’t mind my asking you to wash the floor.

I was hoping when you had the time you could please wash the floor.

Might it be a good idea to wash the floor?

How would you like to wash the floor?

It would be really nice if you let me know when you will be able to wash the floor.

6. Reply

Why?

Student 7 acts as a teacher. She recites the rhyme:

Josephus never yet was heard

To say but just one single word:

When father said to go to bed,

Then "Why?” was all Josephus said.

When mother bade him stop to play,

Then "Why?” Joseph used to say.

He always made the same reply.

It was never anything but "Why?”[1]

To give a polite answer is not easy for a person who doesn’t know properly how to do it. Let us try to give nice and useful response to the people who need our help. They are formulated in the letters addressed to psychologists:

1. Dear Liz,

There are a couple of bullies in my school who are bullying another boy. I feel very sorry for him. He doesn't tell anyone. They steal his money and make him cry. Once they got his glasses and smashed them and threw them in the toilet. Is there anything I can do to put a stop to this. I don't want to get on the bullies bad side either. Claire

Hello Claire,
It's kind of you to want to help this boy, he must be terribly upset. Could you be his friend to start with, it sounds as though he needs one?

Would you be able to tell his mum what has been happening because she needs to go into school about it? If you could discreetly tell a teacher that would be a good idea but don't get into difficulty with the bullies yourself.

What about going to the school office to borrow some sellotape or a pen and then quietly mentioning it to the school secretary?

Liz

2. Dear Liz,
I'm 9 and at primary school. When I'm playing football I get tripped up and they are always pushing me around and taking my dinner money. I often tell teachers about it because I've had a few injuries.
Robert

Hello Robert,
I think you need to have some tactics to avoid problems. Stick to areas of school which you know are patrolled by staff because bullies are less likely to strike if there are a lot of people around.

I know it's difficult if you like playing football but that will also mean they won't have access to your coat and dinner money. This is really a short term measure because their behaviour isn't right.

Ask your mum or dad to write to your head teacher to outline what's been going on. Perhaps they could suggest that supervision is stepped up in the playground and that dinner money is handed in at the beginning of the day to be kept in a safe place.
Liz

Children can give different advice showing their respect to the person who needs help.

7. Excusing oneself

Willy

Student 8 acts as a teacher. She recites the rhyme:

Willy broke the window – pane
Willy spilled the ink,
Willy left the water – pipe
Running in the sink!
Did his mother punish him?
No! I will tell you why.
Willy, he owned up to it, and didn’t tell a lie!
Willy told his mother
Before she found it out
He said: "I am so sorry!”
She said: "I have no doubt!”[1]

Very often we find ourselves in the situations when we have done something wrong, how to avoid hurting our relatives and friends, how to excuse yourself. Let us demonstrate possible answers in difficult situations:

You have spilled coffee on the white table cloth, you got a bad mark, you broke you dad’s favourite cup

Phrases you can start excusing yourself:
Don’t say anything please until I explain what really happen…
You might think I am crazy, but let me explain the case…
I am afraid I have some unpleasant news for you…
Oh, mum I know that you are very understanding…
I can’t tell you how sorry I am…
I am extremely/awfully/so sorry…

8. Teacher finishes the lesson:

Now, the lesson is finished
(It is too long by half,
Mere didactic chaff),
One more rule won’t hurt you:
When you practice Virtue,
Do it with laugh! [1]

I hope this lesson has helped us to revise a lot of useful phrases and we have had quite a lot of fun acting different situation.