Unit 12 – A School Recycling Program
Warm-up and Vocabulary
Key Vocabulary
Actions and Plans
- Initiative: A new plan or process to achieve something or solve a problem.
- Implement: To put a plan or system into operation.
- Mandatory: Required by a rule or law; compulsory.
- Voluntary: Done, made, or given willingly, without being forced.
- Incentive: Something that encourages a person to do something.
Advocacy and Issues
- Drawback: A disadvantage or problem.
- Advocate: A person who publicly supports a particular cause or policy.
- Raise Awareness: To make people more conscious of a particular issue.
Activity: Recycle, Reuse, or Reduce?
Building Your Report: Summarizing Key Points
Let’s quickly review the Integrated Speaking task. Your job is to be a reporter: you read about a topic, listen to an opinion on it, and then report what you learned. The key is to be efficient and focus only on the most important information.
Focusing Your Notes
When you take notes using your two-column chart, have a clear goal for each source.
- For the Reading: Find the main plan/proposal and the two main reasons the reading gives to support it.
- For the Listening: Find the speaker’s opinion (do they agree or disagree?) and the two main reasons they give to support their opinion.
| Reading Passage | Listening Clip |
| Plan: (What is the change/idea?) | Opinion: (Agree or Disagree ) |
| Reason 1: (Why they propose it) | Reason 1: (Why they agree/disagree) |
| Reason 2: (Another reason/goal) | Reason 2: (Another reason) |
Reviewing the Speaking Template
Your spoken response should follow a clear, predictable structure. The structure below ensures you cover all parts of the question in a logical order.
- (Summarize the reading): Start with the main point of the reading.
Examples:
- “The article announces a plan to…”
- “The school is going to implement a new policy that…”
- (Introduce the speaker’s opinion): State clearly if the speaker agrees or disagrees.
Examples:
- “The man in the conversation agrees with this plan.”
- “The woman disagrees with this idea for a couple of reasons.”
- (Report the speaker’s reasons): Explain the two reasons from your listening notes.
Examples:
- “The article announces a plan to…”
- “The school is going to implement a new policy that…”
Now, with you have learned about the structure, let’s try to implement them in a speaking response example. We will take a look at two brief scenarios of a reading passage and a transcript of a listening clip.
- Reading Passage: “The university plans to require all first-year students to live in the dormitories. The goal is to help them adapt to campus life and build a sense of community.”
- Listening Clip: “A male student in the conversation disagrees with this plan. His main reasons are the high cost of the dorms and the loss of freedom to choose where to live.”
Here is a sample transcript of what you would say. The lines that helps indicate which part is which is bolded and in italic.
- (Summarize the reading) “The article announces a plan by the university to make it mandatory for new students to live in the dorms. According to the reading, the purpose of this new policy is to help students adapt and feel like part of the campus community.”
- (Introduce the speaker’s opinion) “The man in the conversation disagrees with this plan.”
- (Report the speaker’s reasons) “First, he states that living in the dorms will be a financial burden for many students because the cost is very high compared to renting a room off-campus. Second, he also points out that this policy takes away students’ freedom to choose where they want to live, which is an important part of becoming an adult and being independent.”
Tips for Success
Keep these three key tips in mind to improve your performance:
- Use Keywords, Not Sentences: When taking notes, you only have seconds. Write down single words or short phrases (e.g., more bins needed, not fair). Don’t try to write complete sentences.
- Focus on “Why?”: The most important information is always the reasons given. Why is the school making this change? Why does the student agree or disagree? Listen specifically for words like because, since, and the reason is.
- Manage Your Time: In your 60-second response, aim for about 15-20 seconds to summarize the reading and introduce the speaker. Spend the remaining 40-45 seconds explaining the speaker’s two reasons in detail. The listening part is the most important.
Skill Practice
Let’s check your understanding of the task and vocabulary.
A. Multiple-Choice Questions
Choose the best answer for each question.
B. Fill in the Blanks
C, Crossword Puzzle
D. Word Search
E. Video Practice
Imagine you are running for Student Council President. Watch this short video that shows the problem of plastic waste. After watching, your mission is to record a 30-second campaign speech. In your speech, propose one clear idea for a recycling program at your school and convince other students why it’s a good plan.