CB1 Unit 2

Unit 2: Academic English Culture
UNIT OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION

In this unit, you will analyse the concept of culture and explore your own and other’s cultural identity.
You will also learn about the impact of this on academic culture in order to understand the Australian
academic context. You will then learn about the differences between academic written English and
informal spoken English along with how to deal with difficult words and the logical division of ideas. The
overall aim of the unit is for you to understand the kinds of cultural differences that can affect your
studies in Australia.
Key Learning Objectives

The key learning objectives for this unit are to:
Understand the structure of a paragraph
Understand the differences between formal academic style and informal spoken style
Develop strategies for dealing with longer texts and unknown words in the context of reading
Listen for broader content
Practise active reading techniques such as:
° Using pre-reading strategies to focus reading

° Orientating yourself to a text
° Identifying specific information
° Practise effective note taking
° Use notes to answer test type questions
Tasks
The task you will complete in this unit is:
Write a paragraph on some of the difficulties of learning English and peer edit a classmate’s
paragraph.
30 UWA Centre for English Language Teaching

UNIT 2: LESSON 1
WHAT IS CULTURE AND CULTURE SHOCK?
Objectives
In this lesson, you will
▪ Discuss the meaning of culture and consider cultural differences in society, and
▪ Talk about the stages of culture shock
What is Culture?
There are many definitions to describe culture and its features. The online Cambridge dictionary
(Culture, 2019a) defines culture as “the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a
particular group of people at a particular time” and dictionary.com (Culture, 2019b) say it is “the ideas,
customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society”.
With a partner, brainstorm what you think are the features of culture. Add your ideas to the following
mind map.
Language
Culture
Academic English and Study Skills Bridging Course Book 1 31

On your device, watch this YouTube video and take note of each of the aspects discussed. You can find
the link also in Blackboard (Online Weekly Materials/Week 2).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2a9OP3_-U0)
Seven Aspects of Culture
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Did you have all of these on your mind map? Which extra aspects of culture did you add? Share this with
your class.
Discussion
In what way can you see, hear or experience culture? How do you know if a group or someone is from a
different culture to yours?
The Cultural Iceberg

Many years ago, the cultural anthropologist, Edward T. Hall, in his book Beyond Culture (1976), came up
with the still relevant comparison of culture and icebergs. He suggested that when you look at an
iceberg, you will only see the top 8-10% of it above sea-level, and the rest is below the surface. Hall felt
that culture was similar in that you could only see 10% of the features of culture whereas the other 90%
was hidden from view (otherwise known as internal culture).
Look at the diagram on the following page.

Figure 1.1 Visualising the Iceberg Model, n.d.
Can you try to explain the concept of the cultural iceberg to a classmate. How do you think this impacts
on the way people think about different cultures? How do you think this concept impacts on cross-
cultural differences and the way people from different cultures interact? Discuss with the class.
Choose several of the different features of culture in the above diagram (both visible and invisible), and
complete the following chart:
Feature Visible or Invisible? My culture Australian culture
Performing arts Visible
Notions of cleanliness Invisible

You may already know that Australia is a multicultural society. How do you think this multiculturalism
relates to the list above, in relation to the Cultural Iceberg concept? Discuss with a partner/your class.
Culture Shock
Open the following link on your device by going to Weekly Online Materials on Blackboard and clicking
on the link:
https://college.adelaide.edu.au/blog/5-stages-of-culture-shock-and-how-to-deal-with-them/
Read the information about the 5 stages of culture shock and discuss the following questions with your
group:
• What are the five stages of culture shock?
• Can you relate to any of these stages? Which ones?
• What can you do to minimize the effects of stage 2?
• Why do you think the author wrote this article?
• In your view what is the author’s background?

UNIT 2: LESSON 2
BRAINSTORMING AND ORGANISING IDEAS
Objectives
In this lesson, you will practise brainstorming and organising ideas, which is a basic pattern in
academic writing. This is a method of thinking in which ideas are classified into groups or a topic is
divided into subtopics.
Classifying Things Into Groups

Classification is one of the most common processes used in the sciences. This is because classification
is used to divide things into categories, so that they can be analysed or discussed more efficiently. One
of the most difficult aspects of classification is deciding which class to put things into.
Read the text below, which gives directions for a classification task. In order to complete the task,
you will need to construct a diagram like the concept map template that follows:
Assemble this collection of common objects found in the home, office or classroom: wooden clothes-
peg, piece of yellow “post-it” paper, metal teaspoon, drawing pin, paper clip, piece of cotton wool, piece
of soap, sewing pin, five-cent coin, wooden pencil, empty matchbox, match, elastic band, Kleenex
tissue, plastic “screw-on” cap from cool-drink bottle.
Construct a classification scheme for these objects.
First choose a characteristic by which you can divide all the objects into two or three groups.
Within each of these groups, choose a characteristic by which you can further subdivide the objects
and so on.
Try to end up with several groups each containing no more than 2-3 objects. A classification scheme
showing a possible division for the first two levels is given below. In this scheme, three groups are further
divided into sub-groups with particular characteristics. You could use this scheme, or you could develop
your own scheme. For example, you could begin with only two groups and you could develop a second
level of sub-groups.
Adapted from School of Social and Cultural Studies, 2003

Characteristic 2
Characteristic 1 Characteristic 3
Example Example
Group 1
Example Example
Characteristic 1
Characteristic 1
Characteristic 2 Group 3 Group 2 Characteristic 2
Characteristic 3
Characteristic 3
Example Example
Develop a classification scheme for the objects and construct a diagram of the scheme on a blank
sheet of paper. Include names for all groups and characteristics and add the objects that fall into
each category. Then construct a second map, but this time do not include the objects themselves.
Give your classification scheme to another member of your class and ask them to classify the objects
using the scheme you have just constructed.
Check if the objects were classified in the same way, in other words, placed under the same groups
and characteristics as in your original map.

Understanding Logical and Illogical Classifications
Read the following classifications of animals. One is an extract from a short story and the other is the
kind of classification that can be found in many high school biology texts. Discuss both
classifications with a partner and decide which is logical and which is illogical.
i. Animals are divided into: (a) belonging to the Emperor, (b) embalmed, (c) tame, (d) suckling pigs, (e)
sirens, (f) fabulous, (g) stray dogs, (h) included in the present classification, (i) frenzied, (j)
innumerable, (k) drawn with a very fine camelhair brush, (l) et cetera, (m) having just broken the
water pitcher, (n) that from a long way off look like flies.
Jorge Luis Borges, cited in Foucault 1970
ii. Animals can be classified in groups according to characteristics that distinguish them from other
groups of animals. The most well-known groupings of animals are insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles,
birds and mammals. Insects are distinguished by having exoskeletons. Fish are distinguished by
living in water and breathing through gills, while amphibians are distinguished by living in both land
and water environments. Reptiles are distinguished by being cold-blooded. Birds are distinguished
by the ability to fly, with the use of feathered wings. Finally, mammals are distinguished by giving
birth to live young. Despite similarities between all groups of animals, such as sharing many similar
organs, it is these unique characteristics that distinguish them.
Discuss the first classification in more detail with your partner and decide which of the following
reasons explain why it is not logical.
a) There is no logical reason why those items were chosen, instead of other items
b) Many of the items are too specific
c) The items do not belong together
Apart from the fact that most of the items in the first classification are too specific, there is also a
lack of general terms to indicate the groupings in which the items could belong. Discuss the
diagram on the following page with a partner and fill the empty boxes with possible terms. Does
the complete diagram help you to make sense of the classification?

Not owned Stray dogs
Possession
Belonging
Owned to the
Emperor Having just
broken the
water pitcher
Living Behaviour Frenzied
Condition Tame
Actual
Embalmed
Fabulous
Animals State Fictitious
Sirens
Drawn with a
Represented very fine camel
hairbrush
Number Innumerable
Suckling
Young
pigs
That from a long way

off look like flies

Now complete the following diagram of the second classification by adding characteristics in the
boxes provided.
characteristics
insects
characteristics
fish
characteristics
animals reptiles
characteristics
birds
characteristics
mammals
characteristics
amphibians
Using Classification to Organise Discipline-Based Vocabulary

Classification is a useful way of organising terms that are commonly used in your discipline. The
following word list contains terms that are commonly used in environmental science. Alphabetical word
lists like this are difficult to remember, but categorising the words into groups can increase your
understanding and recall.

1) Skim the word list and tick the words you are familiar with.
agriculture extinction migration rain forests
aridity fauna moisture recycling
atmosphere fire natural gas remains
bacteria flora niche resources
carbon-dioxide glacier nitrogen river
carnivore growth nitrous oxide salinity
coal habitat nutrients soil
continents health ocean sunlight
coral reef herbivore oxygen species
crop hydrogen ozone temperature
decay ice petroleum transpiration
depletion industry photosynthesis tropic
desert land planet universe
digestion clearing pole water
disease lichens pollution web
earth life material precipitation wind
emission mountain proteins waste
evaporation methane radiation

2) Categorise the words in the wordlist above by writing them in an appropriate box in the right
column of the table below. Some words can be placed in more than one of the boxes. Place a
cross (x) next to any words you are unable to categorise.
CLASSES TERMS
astronomical bodies
geological bodies and masses
climatic zones
natural environments
organisms
biological products
elements
compounds
sectors of human activity
processes
concepts

3) Work with a partner to compare your categories.
4) Discuss the words you marked with an (x). If you are unable to place the words into a category,
try to think of another category that these words could belong to and list a few additional
terms that could also be placed into the category you devise.
5) Another way to organise words is according to collocations. Collocations are groups of words
that are commonly used together. Match the words in the table below to form collocations
commonly used in environmental science.
radiation (of) gases
extinction (of) remains
depletion (of) energy
emission (of) species
decay (of) the ozone layer
6) Begin to develop similar word taxonomies and collocations for terms in your discipline area
and build on these throughout the course.

UNIT 2: LESSON 3
WRITING ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF LEARNING ENGLISH
Objectives
Write a body paragraph that could be part of a longer essay on the challenges faced by international
students.
One of the challenges faced by international students is studying in Australia. Write a paragraph
about some of the difficulties facing international students when they study in an Australian
environment, based on your own experience and the experiences of other students in the class.
(Limit 120-140 words)
There are a number of strategies that form the basic steps in academic writing and which will enable
you to write effective paragraphs, essays and research papers.
Analysing the question
Brainstorming
Researching
Planning
Drafting
Editing
Final Draft
In this unit, you will follow each of these steps to write one paragraph in the context of a longer essay.
You will not be required to write the whole essay.

Analysing the Question
Analysing means looking at the parts in order to understand the whole. It is vital to analyse the question
accurately, so that you focus your answer correctly when writing your response. Many students perform
badly on essay examinations and assignments because they incorrectly analyse the question at the
beginning, or drift away from it during the writing process, instead of staying focused on the question.
Look at the second sentence in the essay question again and identify the following:
Instruction words which are words that tell you what to do. These are often verbs or verb phrases.
Topic words which indicate the main topic and subtopics. These are often nouns or noun phrases.
Limiting words which limit the topic to particular kinds of things such as areas, places and groups
of people. These are often adjectives or adverbials of time and place.
Brainstorming and Researching

Now using a concept map, brainstorm your ideas for the essay question in the space below.

Planning or Outlining Using a Diagram
One way to begin planning is to use a diagram, an example of which is given below. It is a frame that can
be used to structure a text according to a specific genre or rhetorical pattern.
Topic Sentence
First Event Second Event Third Event
Detail/Elaboration Detail/Elaboration Detail/Elaboration
Concluding Sentence

Understanding Paragraph Structure
Read the following description of a paragraph and discuss your understanding of paragraphs with a
partner.
A paragraph is a series of sentences (more than one and usually less than ten) which discusses one main
idea.
The Structure of a Paragraph
1. Topic Sentence
2. Supporting points, explanations or examples
5. Concluding sentence
The most important part of a paragraph is the topic sentence. The topic sentence has several functions:
It clearly indicates how the paragraph relates to the main point of the essay
It typically expresses the main point of the paragraph
It indicates the general content of the paragraph
Usually appears as the first sentence of a body paragraph and is made up of the topic and the
controlling idea (the main point that the writer wishes to express)
The next most important parts of a body paragraph are the supporting sentences. These function to
support or develop the idea expressed in the topic sentence.
The body paragraphs also contain examples, which act to explain or provide evidence for the supporting
points.
Finally, the concluding sentence is a summarising sentence which ties all the ideas in the paragraph
together.

Note: Body paragraphs make up the ‘middle’ of essays and articles and generally function to provide
arguments to support the main point of the essay. Introductory and concluding paragraphs do not have
the same structure as body paragraphs.
Now, write a topic sentence for your paragraph, based on the ideas you have developed. Then,
complete the following outline by writing in your topic sentence and organising your ideas into
supporting points and explanations or examples. Add extra supporting ideas, if necessary.
PARAGRAPH OUTLINE
Topic sentence:
1st supporting idea:
Explanations/Examples:
2nd supporting idea:
3rd supporting idea:
Concluding sentence:

Drafting and Editing
The next step in the process is the writing itself. This is usually done in several drafts. A draft is a
preliminary version of a text. In other words, it is a complete version but not the final version.
Write a first draft of your paragraph. In the first draft, you should follow your outline but try to let
your sentences flow freely. Think about the organisation, but do not worry too much about the
grammar.
Once you have completed your first draft, read it several times to make sure that it is well organised
and that it makes sense.
Exchange your first draft with your partner. Read your partner’s paragraph and underline any
sections that do not seem to be well organised or that you cannot understand. Use the editing
handout provided by your teacher to help you to understand your feedback.
Write the second draft. Once you have finished, use the correction guide on the handout provided
by your teacher to check the grammar, spelling and other features. Exchange with your partner once
more to double-check.

Peer-Editing Checklist
Here is a checklist to use later in the week when you edit your partner’s paragraph:
1) Did you enjoy reading the paragraph? Yes/No

What did you like about it?
2) Could you understand the paragraph? Yes/No

Why/why not?
3) Is the paragraph 120-140 words? Yes/No
4) Does the paragraph contain a topic sentence? Yes/No
5) Does the paragraph describe each event and Yes/No

provide detail or elaboration?
6) Is there a concluding sentence? Yes/No
7) Are there any spelling errors? No/few/some/many
8) Are there any grammar errors? No/few/some/many
9) Do you have any advice on how to improve

the paragraph? Write it here.
10) What is the best thing about this paragraph

in your opinion? Write it here.

UNIT 2 LESSON 4
INTRODUCTION TO ACADEMIC STYLE
Objectives
The conventions or rules of academic written English make it very different in style from everyday
spoken English and developing these different styles of expression is a challenge for international
students. In this lesson, you will learn some of the differences between informal, spoken English and
academic written English.
Understanding Style
Read the following explanation and then discuss your understanding of style with a partner.
Style refers to the kind of words and expressions, in other words, the kind of vocabulary and sentence
structure, which are used in particular instances of speech or writing. In speech, the kind of words and
expressions used, as well as the kind of intonation and stress, greatly affect the mood or tone of the
speech. For example, by choosing different words and intonations, a speaker can sound either very
formal or very informal. In writing, where intonation is not a factor, the same effects can be achieved by
different choices of vocabulary and syntax.
Style is largely determined by the distance between the person talking or writing and the listener or
reader. Distance here refers to personal distance rather than physical distance. Academic writing is often
aimed at a wide academic or general audience, most of whom are not present and are not familiar with
the writer, and it therefore tends to be formal by having more distance. In tutorials, on the other hand,
the audience is present and largely consists of peers. Tutorial discussions therefore tend to be less
formal by having less distance.

Developing Formal Academic Style
Developing an appropriate academic writing style involves identifying the differences between
spoken and written language, and building up a repertoire of written expressions that you can use
in your writing.
Kinds of expression Written style Spoken style
Technical words
Personal pronouns like “I” and “we”
Passive expressions
Noun phrases
Contractions like “don’t”
Slang
Qualifying expressions like “most” and “tend to be”
Complex sentences

Match the statements by overseas students with the written statements on the right. Work with a
partner and try to find as many differences as you can between each pair of spoken and written
statements.
personal pronouns

Some Conventions of Academic Writing
Sometimes we learn more when we have to teach someone else a concept; So…
Read the conventions of academic writing presented below and teach the points you have been given
to the students in your group of four. You will need to find more examples to fully explain these general
points.
Student 1 will teach these points.
• Be as concise as you can without affecting meaning. That is, try to use fewer words but make the
same meaning. For example, “The teacher demonstrated some of the various ways and methods
for cutting words from my essay that I had written for class.” could be shortened to “The teacher
demonstrated methods for cutting words from my essay”.
Use specific words that convey precise meaning rather than more general words or clichéd
expressions. This means, for example, avoiding words or expressions like “stuff”, “a lot of”, “things”,
and “sort of” and choosing exact expressions instead.
Use inclusive language that does not exclude anyone on the basis of group traits such as gender,
race or ethnicity. Particularly important in academic writing is not to use the pronoun “he” when
you are referring to both genders. Use the plural form of nouns and the pronoun “they” instead, or
use “he” or “she”.
Student 2 will teach these points
Make sure that each sentence contains a subject and a complete verb. A subject is what the sentence
is about and a complete verb gives the reader a sense of time: past, present or future. “Going to the
shop” is not a sentence because it does not contain a complete verb. “He goes to the shop” is a
sentence, as is “Going to the shop is something he likes to do”.
Use end punctuation to show that you have finished a complete idea. Give examples of incomplete
and complete sentences.
Keep modifiers close to the words they modify. For example, “The Bridging Course that I am doing
is very useful for tertiary study” implies that you are doing the Bridging Course now. “The Bridging
Course is very useful for the tertiary study that I am doing,” however, gives quite a different meaning.
Use word order to focus readers’ attention on your key ideas. Primary placement in a sentence (i.e.
whatever appears first) indicates importance. The active form of a sentence, therefore, focuses
attention on the doer of an action, as in “The researcher places the flask into the cooling chamber.”
Here, the focus is on the researcher. Passive forms focus on the recipient of the action as in “The
flask is placed into the cooling chamber.” In this sentence, the flask is emphasised.
Make sure that nouns and pronouns agree, and that verbs agree with their subjects. Find examples
to teach this point.

Use the full forms of words rather than contractions. Replace contractions such as “can’t”,
“shouldn’t”, “it’s” and “doesn’t” with “cannot”, “should not”, “it is” and “does not.”
Focus on ideas rather than on your own personal relationship with your reader. This means
replacing expressions like “I think” and “you must agree”, with expressions such as “For example” and
“It is clear that.” Find other appropriate examples to add to this teaching point. It also means
eliminating emotive expressions such as “personally”, “actually”, and “you know what I mean?”
Demonstrate the relationships between ideas by using appropriate linking language such as
“another reason why”, and “in addition to this”. Find other examples that connect ideas together.
Conversational expressions like “Well, ...”, “Anyway, ...”, “OK, …”, “Like, …” at the beginning of a
sentence or “...OK?”, “...see?” at the end of a sentence are also inappropriate.
After all points have been taught, as a group look at the following pairs of sentences and decide which
sentence in each pair is acceptable in written academic English and which is not. Discuss the reasons for
your decisions with a partner.
a) It is clear from the evidence presented that questions remain about this hypothesis.
b) To be honest, I don’t think much of this hypothesis.
c) Leading researchers became incensed after the media ridiculed their findings publicly.
d) Famous researchers totally flipped when the media laughed at their results.
e) I think if we continue to follow these policies, we will get poor results.
f) It is clear that if these policies are pursued, there will be poor results.
g) Following the new plan the fitness levels were pretty good.
h) Following the new strategy the fitness levels were much improved.

Revise the following sentences by making them more academic:
1. The researcher collects samples from the laboratory.
2. Scientific studies say that deforestation can lead to changes in the climate significantly.
3. So why did the building collapse? There are tonnes of reasons.
4. You can clearly find the similarities between those two ideas.
5. Freedom from the excessive control of governments.
6. The respondents didn’t find the task too hard.
7. These environmental laws have been enacted in four countries; The United States, Great
Britain, etc.
8. There are many and various ways of showing and demonstrating how the ways in which
animals survive are being limited.

Making and Qualifying Generalisations
Another convention of academic style is the use of qualifying expressions. The examples listed in the
table in Lesson 1 about Australian and students from your culture may be true, on the whole, but they
would not apply to all students, since there are always exceptions. Rather, these points are
generalisations. A generalisation is a statement which has a general application and is concerned with
what is true in most situations
In many academic contexts, it is necessary to give and describe factual information, and often it is
necessary to generalise, or make general comments, about the information. However, because these
statements are not true 100% of the time, it is necessary to use a qualifying expression to acknowledge
this fact.
Look at the following sentences. How are they different?
a) Australian students give personal opinions and views freely
b) Australian students generally feel free to give their personal views and opinions
Study the expressions in the table below and then work in a group to discuss the differences
between your academic cultures again, but this time use qualifying statements.
Generalising words that can come at the beginning or in the middle of sentences
generally speaking
on the whole
normally
usually
often
sometimes
rarely

Other ways of introducing generalisations
the vast majority of
a large number of
most
In cases …
some
a few
(+other quantity words)

Expressions to describe tendencies or appearances
There is a tendency for … (most) Australians
tend
to…..
(Most) Australians appear
seem
Examples
In the vast majority of cases I think that French communication styles are virtually the same as
those used in Australia.
Generally, it appears that Asian students accept the information they are given.
On the whole, I would say that Eskimo communication styles are different from those of
Australians.
Generally speaking, there is a tendency for Asian students to only think about exams.
The academic relationships of Australian students seem to be characterised by a tendency

towards equality and a lack of hierarchy, while those of Asian students appear to be largely
hierarchical.
Often, instructors are seen as ultimate sources of knowledge. Relationships with other students
are also based on hierarchy.
I believe it’s true to say that Australian students tend to be rather informal.

Add qualifying expressions to the task you wrote in Lesson 3 of this unit.
It is also necessary to support generalisations by including facts, examples, statistics, personal

experiences, and so on. Think of some examples and add them to your sentences.
Edit your paragraph draft to ensure that it is written in a formal academic style.

UNIT 2: LESSON 5
DEALING WITH UNKNOWN WORDS
Objectives
In your future studies, you will encounter many words that you do not know, but there are a number of
strategies that you can use to help you to deal with these words.
What do you usually do when you come across an unknown English word? Do you go straight to your
(phone) dictionary? If you do this it is likely that the meaning will remain in your phone and will not be
transferred to your memory. There are alternative ways of dealing with unknown words that are more
likely to store the meaning in your brain.
Have you seen the word before?

Consider whether you need to know this word. If it seems familiar then you probably do need it. If you
have never heard of it, it may be a word that you will never use and therefore you do not need to learn
it. You will often be able to understand the meaning without this word.
You may have seen part of the word before. Often words you know are hidden inside words you don’t
know. For example,
• Inconsequential not of consequence

• Enclosure something to do with the word ‘close’
• Categorisation the action of making something into a category
Sometimes suffixes and prefixes will add to the meaning of the word. For example,
• Excitability excite + ability = able to do something

• Unsustainable un + sustain + able = not able to do something
• Urbanisation urban + isation = an action (something happening)
Consider the context

Along with words inside words, and prefixes and suffixes, the context can also help you to guess the
meaning.
In comparison to last week’s earthquake, the one today was inconsequential.
At the Perth Zoo, animals are kept inside large enclosures.
It is necessary to use a form of categorisation to organise living things into groups.
Due to the excitability of the children, it was difficult to get them to sleep.
Working seven days a week is unsustainable.
It is a fact that in some countries people are moving away from country areas to be closer to better
facilities. This is causing unprecedented urbanisation.

You may not know the word ‘unprecedented’ in the last example but you may be able to guess what it
means anyway.
Exercise for guessing words in context (more difficult)

Directions: Read each sentence and determine the meaning of the word in bold using cross sentence
clues or your prior knowledge. Then, explain what clues in the sentence helped you determine the
word meaning.
a. I wouldn't mind sharing with Patrick if he didn't act like being a part of the Witherspoon family
entitled him to a piece of everything on campus.
Definition: ___________________________________________________________________________
What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?
b. Though Joseph was the true king, his uncle usurped the throne and was now ruling the land quite
cruelly.
Definition: ___________________________________________________________________________
c. When around his coworkers, Alan said that he agreed with the boss's new policy, but his candid
opinion was that it would drive away customers.
Definition: ___________________________________________________________________________
d. The magnanimous judge released the young offender who had been caught stealing bread by
saying, "Everybody has to eat," and slamming down his gavel.
Definition: ___________________________________________________________________________

e. Angela did not want to go to the party. She wanted to study for the exam, but her sister nagged her
so much that Angela finally acquiesced and agreed to go.
Definition: ___________________________________________________________________________
f. The workers wrote an anonymous letter to their boss in which they expressed their grievances: long
working hours, low pay, and dangerous working conditions.
Definition: ___________________________________________________________________________
g. The police officer seized the firework from the underage children.
Definition: ___________________________________________________________________________
Morton, n.d.

UNIT 2: LESSON 6
READING CHAPTERS IN TEXTBOOKS
Objectives
The goal of this lesson is to explore one chapter of Global Issues in order to develop the skills needed to
read longer texts, such as textbook chapters.
Orientating Yourself to the Text

Textbooks like Global Issues are written and formatted to make them easy to read. As a reader, it is up
to you to use the formatting and textual information to help you to get the information you need.
Look at the sub-headings in ‘Chapter 1: Population’ in the Contents section. Notice that there are
two levels of sub-headings, with indentations used to indicate the levels. With a partner, predict
the content of the chapter from the information in the sub-headings.
Read the following statements and questions and match each with a section in the contents page.
1. In a discussion of the changing population of the world, explain what is happening, where growth
is taking place, and why there is movement of population within developing nations.
section 2
2. Discuss the causes of the population explosion, and explain why birth rates are high in less
developed nations.
section 1
3. Discuss some of the main negative features of a rapidly growing population.
4. Discuss the main problems that can be created when a country’s population growth is low and
when the elderly begin to increase in number.
5. Discuss what UN conferences have concluded about the relationship between population growth
and poverty, and how population growth can be reduced.
6. Explain the demographic transition and show the differences between the experiences of the more
developed and the less developed nations with the transition.
7. Discuss the factors that cause birth rates to decline.

8. Discuss governmental policies that are designed to control the growth of population; include
experiences of Mexico, Japan, India and China.
9. Explain why some governments have wanted to promote population growth in their countries,
giving some specific examples of such countries and their reasons for having such a policy.
10. When and at what level will the world’s population probably stabilize? In a discussion of whether
the planet will be able to support this population, explain and use the concept “carrying capacity.”
11. What are some of the factors that must be considered when one tries to answer the question “How
many people can the earth support?” Explain why it is difficult to answer the question “What is the
optimum size of the earth’s population?”
12. Identify some of the most likely population-related problems that may occur in the future.
Reading for Specific Information

Work as a group of three to read the first section, ‘The Changing Population of the World’ on pages
8-16 in Global Issues in order to answer the first question: “In a discussion of the changing
population of the world, explain what is happening, where growth is taking place, and why there is
movement of population within developing nations”. Notice that there are three sub-questions
within this longer question. As a group, identify the paragraphs that relate to each of these sub-
questions. Then divide the sub-questions between the members of your group, and read the
relevant sections individually to find the answer and report back to your group.

UNIT 2: ACADEMIC ENGLISH CULTURE UNIT REVIEW
Reflection Questions
1. Do you understand the structure of a paragraph?
2. Do you understand the differences between formal academic style and informal spoken style?
3. Are you confident about dealing with unknown words?
4. Do you understand the process of classification?
5. How interesting was your discussion on your culture and culture shock?

CB1 Unit 2

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Unit 2: Academic English Culture

UNIT OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION

Key Learning Objectives

Understand the structure of a paragraph

Listen for broader content

Practise active reading techniques such as:

° Using pre-reading strategies to focus reading

30 UWA Centre for English Language Teaching

▪ Talk about the stages of culture shock

Academic English and Study Skills Bridging Course Book 1 31

Seven Aspects of Culture

The Cultural Iceberg

Look at the diagram on the following page.

32 UWA Centre for English Language Teaching

Feature Visible or Invisible? My culture Australian culture

Performing arts Visible

Notions of cleanliness Invisible

Academic English and Study Skills Bridging Course Book 1 33

• What are the five stages of culture shock?

• Can you relate to any of these stages? Which ones?

• What can you do to minimize the effects of stage 2?

• Why do you think the author wrote this article?

• In your view what is the author’s background?

34 UWA Centre for English Language Teaching

Classifying Things Into Groups

Construct a classification scheme for these objects.

Academic English and Study Skills Bridging Course Book 1 35

Characteristic 2 Group 3 Group 2 Characteristic 2

36 UWA Centre for English Language Teaching

b) Many of the items are too specific

c) The items do not belong together

Academic English and Study Skills Bridging Course Book 1 37

Living Behaviour Frenzied

That from a long way

38 UWA Centre for English Language Teaching

Using Classification to Organise Discipline-Based Vocabulary

Academic English and Study Skills Bridging Course Book 1 39

agriculture extinction migration rain forests

aridity fauna moisture recycling

atmosphere fire natural gas remains

bacteria flora niche resources

carbon-dioxide glacier nitrogen river

carnivore growth nitrous oxide salinity

coal habitat nutrients soil

continents health ocean sunlight

coral reef herbivore oxygen species

crop hydrogen ozone temperature

decay ice petroleum transpiration

depletion industry photosynthesis tropic

desert land planet universe

digestion clearing pole water

disease lichens pollution web

earth life material precipitation wind

emission mountain proteins waste

evaporation methane radiation

40 UWA Centre for English Language Teaching

geological bodies and masses

sectors of human activity

Academic English and Study Skills Bridging Course Book 1 41

radiation (of) gases

extinction (of) remains

depletion (of) energy

emission (of) species

decay (of) the ozone layer