Activity I

Read the following dialog. Answer the questions that follow.

Situation : Two students are discussing an article they read on the Internet.

Karim: You know, I personally think that parents who don’t vaccinate their children should be
arrested for child negligence.
Yunita: Umm... I am not sure what you mean by child negligence.
Karim: Child negligence means that parents don’t take care of their children as they are supposed
to.
Yunita: You mean they, like, abandon their children?
Karim: Exactly. That’s child negligence.
Yunita: In my opinion, there must be strong reasons why parents don’t vaccinate their children.
Karim: So, if parents don’t vaccinate their children, we must condone their decision. Is that what
you mean?
Yunita: That’s not exactly what I mean. The point is, every parent wants the best for their
children. Maybe parents don’t vaccinate their children because the children have underlying
health problems like severe allergy or compromised immune system. I mean, we cannot judge
any parents for their decision if we don’t know their reason for taking such a decision.
(and the dialog continues)

What is the topic of the dialog?

= The topic of the dialog is parents who don’t vaccinate their children.

What does Karim think of the issue?

= Karim thinks that parents who don’t vaccinate their children should be arrested for children
negligence.

What does Yunita think of the issue?

= Yunita thinks that maybe parents who don’t vaccinate their children have strong reasons, such
as underlying health problems like severe allergy or compromised immune system. And we
cannot judge if we don’t know their reason for taking such a decision.

Whom do you agree with? Karim or Yunita?

= I agree with Yunita. But, actually I think every parents should vaccinate their children. Except,
their children have underlying health problems like severe allergy or compromised immune
system. If the reason parents don’t vaccinate is because of conspiracy theory they heard from the
internet, I think it’s a wrong thing.

Write down expressions used to give opinion, agreement and disagreement from the dialog.
Giving opinions:
 I personally think that parents who don’t vaccinate their children should be arrested for
child negligence.
 In my opinion, there must be strong reasons why parents don’t vaccinate their children.
Agreeing:
 Exactly. That’s child negligence.
Disagreeing: 
 I am not sure what you mean by child negligence.