ESL/EFL Level: B2/C1 (Upper-Intermediate)
Lesson Topics: social class, India's caste system, social equality
Skill Focus: Reading, Speaking, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 2 hours
Lesson Plan Download: social-equality-india-upper-intermedaite-092024.docx
Lesson Overview:
Lesson Topics: social class, India's caste system, social equality
Skill Focus: Reading, Speaking, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 2 hours
Lesson Plan Download: social-equality-india-upper-intermedaite-092024.docx
Lesson Overview:
- After warm-up questions, read a 254-word passage about India's caste system. The passage first introduces the caste structure and then tells the story of Sujatha Gidla, a woman born into the lowest caste in India (Dalit), who later moved to the United States. While the video focuses on India, note that the majority of the lesson focuses on social equality in general.
- The video is followed by comprehension and a vocabulary-matching activity. After vocabulary matching, students form discussion questions with the target vocabulary.
- There are two debate topics related to social equality. This is followed by one roleplay activity about marriage between a young adult and her parent.
- Next, students focus on a structure in their society and try to identify problems related to it, causes, and finally, solutions.
- As a more lighthearted activity, students next make a list of five 'classy' and unclassy types of behavior. (This is more about etiquette than social divisions.)
- After famous quotations, the lesson ends with a review of vocabulary before presenting some final discussion questions.
UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2/C1) Lesson on Class & Social Equality
Warm-up-Questions
- In most societies, people belong to a class based on their wealth or social status. Where you are from, is class important? Are there big gaps between the upper, middle, and lower classes?
- What does "social equality" mean to you? Can you give examples where equality is lacking in your country?
- What do you know about the social and class system in India?
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This lesson plan was created by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. ChatGPT was used to generate answer keys and some famous quotations. For questions, contact the author.
Comprehension Question Answer Key
- The caste system is a traditional way of dividing society into different groups based on birth. Each group is linked to specific jobs and levels of social status.
- Salespeople would typically belong to the Vaishyas caste, which is made up of merchants and traders.
- A Dalit might be forced to clean sewers or remove dead animals from roads.
- When Sujatha first moved to the U.S., she struggled with the fear that others would see her as "polluted" if they touched her, a belief rooted in her experience as an untouchable.
- Sujatha feels good about herself because of the value she brings to society through her job as a subway conductor, which gives her a sense of self-worth and confidence.
- True – Sujatha mentions that in the U.S., people judge her based on her skin color, not her birth status.
Vocabulary 1-h, 2-j, 3-i, 4-g, 5-k, 6-a, 7-e, 8-f, 9-l, 10-c, 11-d, 12-b
Collocation: 1-a, 2-c, 3-d, 4-d, 5-b