4th Form Unit 3 Lesson 6 : Brain Drain Mrs Nahla Lazid

Stage One
 Comment on the following pictures and guess what the lesson will be about.

 Match these confusing words with their right definitions :

Words Definitions Answers

1- emigrate a) move from one place to go to live or work in another. 1/ ……
2- immigrate b) person who has been forced to leave his country, home and seek 2/ ……
3- migrate refuge (esp. from political or religious persecution) 3/ ……
4- refugee c) a person who has come, especially legally, into a foreign country 4/ ……
5- immigrant in order to live there permanently. 5/ ……
d) leave one’s country to go and live in another.(eg: to(….) from
Tunisia to America to find work.
e) enter a foreign country in order to live there permanently.

 Complete the spider gram with the reasons that make people emigrate:

to pur…………… one’s education

to se.. better job opp………… to esca……… political persecution

to look f.. a job Why do people to seek ref…… / political asylum

migrate ?

to ea.. much money / to improve one’s fi…………… situation

 Develop the following notes to get a definition of Brain Drain:
The brain Drain / movement/ highly/ skill/ qualify/ people/ developing/ nations/ developed/ countries/ earn/
more money.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
 Guess the missing words to complete the definition of brain drain

Brain drain is a term that defines the act of highly s…………………… people moving from their home country to
another country where they can e………………… more money and maintain their a………………………… improvement. The
cause of brain drain can lie in three areas which consist of low s……………………, lack of opportunities and lack of
necessary equipment. When these people leave, their c…………………… is harmed in two ways. First, expertise is
lost with each emigrant, diminishing the supply of that profession. Second, the country's e……………………… is
harmed as each professional represents additional spending elements. Professionals often earn large salaries, so
their departure removes significant consumer spending from the country.

 While reading the text, try to reinsert the words in their appropriate places.

Fled / turmoil / intolerance / in the hope / during / for example / better / future / seek / persecutions
/ escape / wave / opportunities

Why They Came – Why They Come

Major changes in the pattern of immigration have been caused by wars, revolutions, periods of

starvations,…………………………., religious ………………………… and, in short, by any disaster which led people to believe

that America was a …………….……… place to live. More than a million Irish, ……………………………, emigrated to

America between 1846 and 1851 in order to ……………………… starvation and diseases in Ireland. During the same

period, large numbers of other Europeans ……………………… political persecution. And in the 1870’s another

…………………… of refugees left the political ………………………… of Eastern and Southern Europe to ……………………

freedom and a better……………………… in America. The largest streams of European immigrants came between

1900 and 1920, that is before, after, and …………………… World War I. At other times, during the Depression of

1929 and during W.W II, smaller numbers of immigrants came to the USA. Since the1960’s, more and more

people have fled the poverty and wars in Asia and Latin America …………………………… of finding better

……………………… in the “Promised Land”.

These are the reasons why people emigrate. Classify them into pull and push factors:

Safety – political agitation – poverty – religious / ethnic persecution – high salaries – freedom –
availability of jobs – stability – unemployment - attraction of urban centers - desire for higher
qualification and recognition - Lack of satisfactory working conditions - Better career expectation -
Better level of living and standard of life - Better research facilities

Push factors Pull factors

 Stage Two

Text A
1. Read the text and complete the table with the appropriate information:
People involved .......................................................................

Effects a- ….....................................

b- ….....................................

Solution ….....................................................................

2. Match the words in column A with their explanations in B:

A B
1. Contentious (L1) a. redeem – compensate 1.
2. Debate (L4) b. Motivation – encouragement 2.
3. Futile (L8) c. discussion 3.
4. Offset (L8) d. controversial 4.
5. Incentives (L8) e. useless – vain 5.

3. Express the following sentence differently; begin as shown:

“Efforts to reduce skill shortages through improved educational opportunities may be futile unless measures
are taken to offset existing incentives for highly educated people to emigrate”.

If.............................................................................................................................................................................
Unless + …………
Let’s complete the rule!
…………+ Negative verb
Let’s practice now!

1. I will never speak to her again if she doesn’t apologize. I……………………………………… unless……………………….

2. Unless he comes to the party, I’ll be really bored. If …………………………………………………

3. She won´t go to the concert unless she books the tickets. She………………………………if…………………………
4. You won´t arrive on time unless your hurry. If …………………………………………………………

Text B

1. Complete the table with benefits of human migration to:

Developed countries Developing countries

2. Tick the best meaning of the following idiomatic expression:

“play their cards right “ (L10)

means Play the cards well / Deal successfully with a particular situation / Play the game right
 2. Match the words with their appropriate definitions:

Words Definitions
[Link] ( v/n) [Link] 1.
[Link] (v/n) [Link] 2.
3. cost [Link] price 3.
4. to profit from [Link] take advantage of 4.
5. expatriate(n/adj) [Link] make approximate judgment or calculation  approximation(n) 5.
6. inevitable (adj) [Link] who is living in a country which is not theirs. 6.

4. According to the World Bank, what should both nations do?

It’s important that ………………………………………………… so that …………………………………………………………
This sentence expresses: a- cause b- purpose c- result

What does the following sentence express?

Developing countries were so poor that many young people emigrate to search for work.

This sentence expresses: a- cause b- purpose c- result

 Let’s practice! Paraphrase the following sentences as indicated:

-she left him a message. She wanted him to call her. / She wanted………………………………………………… (so that)

-she was furious. She started shouting. / She ………………………………………………………………… (so……that)

- I have to get up early. I can study for the exam. / …………………………………………………………………… (so that)

- The coffee was hot .We couldn’t drink it. / …………………………………………………………… (so…..that)

Text C
1. Find the irrelevant (unimportant) sentence in the text and cross it out.

2. List 3 reasons why African emigrants left their homes? ………………………/ …………………………/ …………………………

3. Correct this false statement.

African emigrants mainly return home because they are (deported/expelled/sent away) to their homeland.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

4. How can reverse “brain Drain” bring an economic recovery?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

a. Find idiomatic expressions meaning:

 Oppose the attitude or opinion that most people have .......................................
 Start a process that leads to a particular result ..............................................

b. Tick the right opposites:

 Thrive (L2): - prosper - develop - fail
 broader (L8): - limited - larger - wider
 revival (L8): - falling - improvement - comeback
Stage Three

Order these scrambled paragraphs in order to get a coherent writing on the brain drain.

(……….)Indeed, investment in higher education is lost when a trained individual leaves and does not return. Also,
whatever social capital the individual has been a part of is reduced by his or her departure. Brain drain can
occur either when individuals who study abroad and complete their education do not return to their home
country, or when individuals educated in their home country emigrate for higher wages or better opportunities.

(……….)However, the second form is arguably worse, because it drains more resources from the home country.
This phenomenon is perhaps most problematic for developing nations, where it is widespread. In these
countries, higher education and professional certification are often viewed as the surest way to escape from a
troubled economy or difficult political situation.

(……….)A brain drain or human capital flight is an emigration of trained and talented individuals ("human capital")
to other nations due to conflicts, lack of opportunity, health hazards where they are living or other reasons. It
parallels the term "capital flight" which refers to financial capital that is no longer invested in the country
where its owner lived and earned it

(……….)To conclude, I believe that brain drain is a major problem that our continent has to face up to. It is
obvious that developing countries such as Morocco are even losing more human capital than developed countries

(……….)Even though little has been discussed about the effects of brain drain in Africa, it is believed to be one
of the biggest issues to the developing nations. Each year millions of Africans escape to Europe and the states;
therefore, the continent is using lot of its human capital.