Index of mediation activities
Activity
1 Teaching assistants needed
2 Can you explain?
3 An average student’s day
4 Apartment for rent
5 Images of the past
6 Loanwords
7 Which smartphone?
8 A folk tale
9 Trip to Toronto
10 First meeting
11 Origami animals
12 Housemates
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Page Mediation Type Links with CEFR Descriptor (A2):
Can convey the main points in short, simple texts
304 Overall mediation
on everyday subjects
Can use simple words to ask someone to explain
305 Overall mediation
something
Mediating a text: Can interpret and describe simple visuals on
306
Explaining data in speech familiar topics, e.g. a table
Mediating a text:
Can list and summarize the main points in short
307 Processing text in speech
informational texts
and writing
Mediating a text:
Can express reactions to a work, reporting
308 Expressing a personal
feelings and ideas in simple language
response to creative texts
Mediating communication:
Can contribute to an intercultural exchange,
309 Facilitating plurilingual
using simple words to ask for clarification
space
Mediating a text: Relaying
Can relay specific information contained in short
310 specific information in
simple informational texts
speech and writing
Mediating a text: Analysis
Can identify and briefly describe the key themes
311 and criticism of creative
and characters in a short, simple narrative
texts
Mediating a text: Relaying
Can relay specific information contained in simple
312 specific information in
announcements
speech and writing
Mediating communication:
Can contribute to an intercultural exchange,
313 Facilitating plurilingual
using simple words to ask for clarification
space
Mediating concepts:
314 Can give simple instructions to a group
Managing interaction
Mediating communication:
Facilitating communication Can recognize when people disagree and adapt
315
in delicate situations and simple phrases to seek agreement
disagreements
Mediation activities
WHAT IS MEDIATION?
Mediation occurs when we use language to explain ‘something’
to someone who doesn’t fully understand it without our help. This
‘something’ could be a text, a concept or another person or group
of people.
1 Mediating a text
Sometimes we may need to ‘mediate’ a text in order to convey the
main points. Here are some things we can do to explain a text to
someone who doesn’t fully understand it:
a Simplify, shorten or amplify, or ‘process’ the text, so that the other
person can understand it
b Relay specific information (i.e. the key points in the text) using
clearer or simpler language, or a different language
c Interpret and explain information that includes visual data such as
graphs
d Translate the text into a language the other person understands
e Take notes on the text (either a spoken text – a lecture, for
example – or a longer written text) so that the other person can
understand the notes
f Clearly express a personal response to – or analysis of – a creative
text, using simple words and expressions
2 Mediating concepts
Language is a tool used to think about a subject and to talk about
that thinking. To do this effectively, a mediator needs to be able
to facilitate collaboration in a group (which establishes the right
conditions for mediating concepts) and lead that group work (which
allows the development and elaboration of ideas).
To facilitate collaboration and lead groupwork, we can do the
following:
Mediation activities Teacher’s notes
UNIT 1 Teaching assistants needed
Aim: to read, summarize and relay the key details of a letter
containing personal information
When to use: after Exercise 9 in Lesson 1E
Procedure: Put students in pairs. Give one student a Student A
card and the other student a Student B card. Tell students that they
both have the same job advertisement, but they have application
letters from different people. Their job is to work together to choose
the best applicant for the job. First, have both students read the
job advertisement and underline the key details (e.g. 13-year-old
students / going to Ireland / teaching assistants / good English / love
teenagers). Then, have Student A ask B questions to find out about
their job applicant (What’s their name? What’s their English ability?
etc.). Student B should answer the questions using the information
in their application letter, and Student A should make notes in the
a Ask students to practise groupwork skills such as inviting others
to speak, asking and answering questions, giving reasons, making
suggestions, defining goals, reformulating questions, highlighting
issues or summarizing main points.
b Ask students to play the role of group leader, which involves
giving instructions and checking understanding, monitoring the
participation and understanding of others, and intervening and
adapting their contribution according to the needs of others.
3 Mediating communication
There are many reasons why one person doesn’t understand another.
It could be that they don’t speak the same language, or they do
speak it but with different levels of proficiency; or they have different
accents or use different cultural references. It could also be to do with
age, background or beliefs.
To develop the ability to mediate communication, students can
practise the following:
a Acting as an intermediary in informal situations – this could
be explaining something that may be culturally different or
summarizing information concisely.
b Facilitating communication in delicate situations and
disagreements – so, helping out when people disagree,
establishing common ground or trying to resolve disagreements
The following mediation activities bear the above in mind. In all
these tasks, students are asked to explain, reinterpret, simplify and
make something clearer. Each activity practises a sub-skill identified
in the Council of Europe (2020) Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages (CEFR) – Companion Volume with New
Descriptors. These are listed in the chart on page 300.
There is one Mediation activity for each unit of the book. Suggestions
for when to use each activity are included in the teacher’s notes.
table provided. Students then switch roles, and finally work together
to compare the two applicants, decide who is best for the job and
give reasons.
Answers: Answers will vary, but students may conclude that Tomas
is the most suitable candidate due to his superior English ability.
UNIT 2 Can you explain?
Aim: to review language for listening to understand
When to use: after Exercise 11 in Lesson 2D
Procedure: Give each student a copy of the worksheet. Note that
Exercises A and B provide scaffolding for the mediation task in C.
First, ask students to complete the conversation using the words in
the box. The incomplete phrases were all encountered in the Useful
language box on page 31 of the Student’s Book. Next, explain that
students are going to carry out a similar dialogue and describe
the job of a person they know. Give them five minutes to prepare
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Mediation activities Teacher’s notes
and make notes in the box provided. Finally, ask them to work
with a partner and take turns to describe the jobs. When listening,
encourage students to use some of the language from the model
conversation to ask for clarification and to show interest.
Answers: 1 Really 2 explain 3 interesting 4 mean 5 see 6 Right
UNIT 3 An average student’s day
Aim: to interpret, summarize and relay visual information about
daily habits
When to use: after Exercise 1 in Lesson 3C
Procedure: Give each student a copy of the worksheet. First, ask
students to work with a partner to interpret the pie chart and
complete sentences 1–5. Check answers as a class. Next, ask students
to use the template provided to draw a pie chart that represents their
own typical weekday. When students have finished, put them in pairs
and ask them to take turns to describe their typical weekday using
their pie chart as reference. Encourage students to take notes as
they listen, and then, finally, ask them to create another pie chart to
represent their partner’s typical weekday.
Answers: 1 how the average university student spends their
weekdays 2 sleeping 3 sports and leisure activities 4 eating and
drinking 5 Answers will vary.
UNIT 4 Apartment for rent
Aim: to summarize the main points of an email describing an
apartment
When to use: after Exercise 9 in Lesson 4D
Procedure: Give each student a copy of the worksheet. Note that
Exercise A provides scaffolding for the mediation tasks in B and C.
First, ask students to read the email and use the details to complete
the property agent’s advertisement. Next, explain to students that
they are going to describe their dream house or apartment to a
partner. Give them five minutes to prepare and make notes. Then,
put students in pairs and ask them to take turns to describe their
house or apartment. Encourage students to take notes as they listen.
Finally, each student creates an advertisement to sell their partner’s
property. Encourage them to use the property agent’s advertisement
on the worksheet as a model. For further mediation practice, collect
in the students’ property advertisements. Put students in groups and
give each student one of the ads. Ask groups to imagine they are
purchasing a property together. They share information and work
together to decide on which property from their selection they would
choose.
Answers: 1 Potong Pasir 2 bedrooms 3 kitchen 4 modern
5 city centre 6 restaurants 7 train station 8 lake
UNIT 5 Images of the past
Aim: to describe and express thoughts and feelings about
photographs of famous locations in the past
When to use: after Exercise 10 in Lesson 5E
Procedure: Put students in pairs. Give one student a copy of photo A
and the other a copy of photo B. Both images show famous locations
(London and Paris) in the past. Tell students that they are going to
describe their photo to their partner. Give them three minutes to
make notes on the important details, such as where and when the
photo was taken and what it shows. Next, ask them to take turns
to describe their photos, encouraging them to ask extra questions
while listening. When both students have finished, ask them to work
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together and discuss the two photos. Write the following questions
on the board:
1 What differences between 'then and now' do the photos show?
2 What do you think life was like for the people in the photos?
3 How was your country similar or different during the same time
period?
Give students five minutes to discuss the questions. At the end, elicit
answers from the class. For extra mediation practice, consider asking
students to look online for a photo of their country in the past. Ask
students to research information about the photos and finally have
them work in pairs or groups to share their findings. Allow students
to research in their first language but encourage them to take notes
in English.
UNIT 6 Loanwords
Aim: to discuss and take part in a quiz about the origins of various
English words
When to use: after Exercise 11 in Lesson 6E
Procedure: Note that Exercises A and B provide context for the main
mediation tasks in C and D. First, ask students what they think a
loanword is (a word borrowed from a different language). Write an
example on the board (e.g. tsunami) and ask students if they know
the language from which it was borrowed (Japanese). Tell students
they are going to play a game in which they must guess which
country a number of English loanwords come from. Put students
in pairs. Give one student a Student A card and the other student
a Student B card. Student A should go first and guess the origin of
the loanwords on their card (I think shampoo comes from Italian).
Student B should tell A whether they were right or wrong. After A
has guessed all six answers, have the student make a note of their
score. Students then switch roles. Next, give students ten minutes to
work alone and go online to find information about five loanwords
in their own language. Allow them to research in their first language
but encourage them to make notes in English. Finally, give them five
minutes to work with their partner and share information about the
words they researched.
UNIT 7 Which smartphone?
Aim: to read, summarize and relay information in a smartphone
review
When to use: after Exercise 9 in Lesson 7E
Procedure: Put students in pairs. Give one student a Student A card
and the other student a Student B card. First, ask students to read the
smartphone reviews and complete the summaries. Next, ask students
to work together to discuss and compare the two smartphones,
making notes and asking for clarification where necessary. Finally, ask
each student to decide on which phone they would prefer. Follow up
with a class vote to find out the most popular phone.
Answers:
Student A: 1 2,000; 2 white, red, blue and black; 3 20; 4 140; 5 3;
6 20; 7 4; 8 16; 9 280
Student B: 1 1,000; 2 silver, grey and black; 3 6; 4 30; 5 10; 6 3;
7 12; 8 150
UNIT 8 A folk tale
Aim: to read and summarize the key themes and characters in a
short, simple story
When to use: after Exercise 10 in Lesson 8E
Mediation activities Teacher’s notes
Procedure: Give each student a copy of the worksheet. First, ask Allow students to research in their first language but encourage them
students to work alone to read the story. Then, ask students to note to take notes in English. When each student has completed the ‘You’
answers to questions 1–3, before eliciting responses from the class. column, ask students to begin the roleplay, using the Useful language
Next, explain to students that they are going to find out about a story at the bottom of the worksheet to help. Ask students to note down
from another country. Ask them to choose a country and then go any information they learn about the other students’ identities in
online to research a folk tale or other traditional story. Allow students the table.
to research in their first language but encourage them to take notes UNIT 11 Origami animals
in English using the table provided. Finally, put students in pairs and
Aim: to give simple instructions for making an origami animal
ask them to take turns to explain the outlines of the stories to each
When to use: after Exercise 5 in Lesson 11D
other. Encourage students to ask questions as they listen. Monitor
and assist as necessary. Procedure: Separate the class into two groups, A and B. Give each
student in group A a copy of the Student A worksheet, and each
Answers: 1 a merchant, his son, a dog, a cat, a snake, Raja Indrasha
student in group B a copy of the Student B worksheet. Explain that
2 A merchant gives his son 300 rupees. The son spends all the money
students will need to use the diagrams on their worksheet to give
on saving the lives of a dog, a cat and a snake. The father is angry
oral instructions to another student so that they can create the
and tells his son to leave home. The boy finds out the snake is the
pictured origami animal. First, however, ask students to work with a
son of King Raja Indrasha. The boy takes the snake to the king. The
partner from their own group and discuss the best way to explain the
king gives the boy a magical ring which creates a beautiful house.
instructions. Allow students to write out the instructions if necessary.
3 If you’re kind, good things will happen to you.
Then, organize pairs of As and Bs and give each student a blank,
UNIT 9 Trip to Toronto square piece of paper. Ask students to take turns to give instructions
Aim: to relay travel information in a table and to listen and while their partner attempts to make the origami animal. Monitor and
understand simple announcements assist with language as necessary.
When to use: after Exercise 9 in Lesson 9E UNIT 12 Housemates
Procedure: Put students in pairs. Give one student a Student A card Aim: to review language for having difficult conversations
and the other student a Student B card. Explain to students that they
When to use: after Exercise 9 in Lesson 12D
need to choose the most suitable form of transport to travel from
Procedure: Put students in groups of four. Explain that they are going
New York to Toronto based on their budget ($140) and their arrival
to carry out a roleplay in which three students are housemates and one
time (4 p.m.). However, they currently have incomplete information.
student is their landlord. The landlord has called a meeting to discuss
First, ask students to work together and exchange information to
some problems in the house. Give one role card to each student,
complete the gaps in their timetables. Elicit questions that students
ask them to read the information and look at the Useful language
will need to ask and write examples on the board such as ‘What’s the
prompts. The landlord should begin the conversation by raising one of
cost per kilometre?’ and ‘How long does it take by plane?’. When
the problems on the card (e.g. Can we talk about the rent?). The other
students have completed the timetables, check answers as a class.
students should volunteer relevant information on their cards to help
Next, explain that there are other factors that will affect the journey.
the group come to a decision. Draw students’ attention to the Useful
Read out the announcements listed below one by one. Tell students
language on the card and encourage them to use tact when discussing
to listen and note any relevant details on their timetables. Finally,
the problems (e.g. I noticed that I have the smallest room. I’m not sure
remind students of their budget and desired arrival time, and ask
I should pay the same amount of rent.). The discussion continues in
pairs to work together to work out the most suitable way to travel
this way until all three problems have been solved.
to Toronto.
Possible answers: How much should each tenant pay? Housemate
Announcements:
3 has the smallest room, so they should pay the least. Housemate 1
1 Your car has an engine problem! It will take two days to be
and Housemate 2 should pay a similar amount. Housemate 1’s room is
repaired.
bigger, but Housemate 2’s has a nicer view.
2 The 2 p.m. plane departure is delayed by one hour. Expected travel
Who should use the bathroom first? Housemate 2 should go first since
time is still 1h 30m.
they start work early. Housemate 3 next and Housemate 1 last because
3 The cost of the train journey has increased to $0.20 per km.
they work from home.
4 The 5 a.m. bus has been cancelled due to bad weather forecast.
Who should clean the kitchen? Housemate 3 should do most of
Answer: Only the 1 a.m. bus departure is a viable option.
the work since they cook every day. Housemate 2 might help a
UNIT 10 First meeting little because they cook at the weekends. Housemate 1 only eats
Aim: to review language for making small talk, showing interest and takeaways, so doesn’t need to help.
asking for clarification Who should apologize to the neighbours? Housemate 1 is the most
When to use: after Exercise 10 in Lesson 10D likely person to have been playing loud rock music since they play the
Procedure: Put students in groups of three. Explain that they are electric guitar.
going to carry out a roleplay in which they are meeting some new
people while at a party. First, however, students need to take on new
identities. Ask them to research details about a famous or interesting
person online and complete the ‘You’ column in the table provided.

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