Editorial
For more information on the Campaign see in this issue of HLT:
Disabled Access Friendly Campaign
Readers Letters

Disabled Access Friendly Campaign: Sample Activities

Rachel Finnie and Luke Prodromou, Greece

Rachel Finnie was born in England, where she studied at both Nottingham University (B.A. Hons) and the University of North Wales, Bangor (CQSW, MA). However, Rachel and her family have spent the last 17 years living in Greece, where Rachel initially taught English as a foreign language for eight years, both in language schools and privately. For the last 11 years, she has worked on the publishing side of English Language Teaching, as an editor, project manager and author. She has written a number of ELT books, including course books, grammar books, workbooks and test material, for learners at different stages of development. At present she is particularly interested in helping to develop and improve the skills of teachers in the ELT world, and is also researching the teaching of grammar and phonetics to young learners.

Dr. Luke Prodromou is a freelance teacher, teacher-trainer and materials writer. He has trained teachers in many countries. He has conducted teacher-training courses for Pilgrims, ESADE, Barcelona and NILE and many other organisations. Luke has published numerous articles, and written textbooks for all ages and levels. He has a special interest in drama for teaching purposes, the washback effect of exams and mixed-ability classes. Luke has published widely in ELT magazines and journals and is the author of Smash (Macmillan) Flash on (ELI, Italy) and co-author of Dealing with Difficulties (Winner of the Ben Warren Prize and an English Speaking Union Award and shortlisted for an ELTON). Luke graduated from Bristol University and has an MA in Shakespeare Studies (Birmingham University) Dip. TEFL (Leeds University) and a PhD (Nottingham University). His book English as a Lingua Franca was reissued in paperback in 2010. He has recently taught young learners in private language institutes and is one half of the Dave’n’Luke English Language Theatre group. E-mail: lukep@otenet.gr

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From disability to capability: SPORT
Raising awareness of disability

From disability to capability: SPORT

VOCABULARY

1. Which of the sports in the table have you done? Tick the boxes.

READING

2. Read the texts. Which sports have Oscar and Erik done? Complete the chart above.

OSCAR
Oscar was born in South Africa in 1986.

• When he was 13, he played rugby in the school team
• he has also played water polo and tennis
• he has won gold medals in the 100, 200 and 400 meters sprints
• he has taken part in Olympic wrestling
• In 2005, he won first prize in the South African Championships in the 400 meters
• In 2007, Oscar ran in the 400-metre race at Rome’s Golden Gala and finished second.
• He has done a degree in business management and sports science
• He has published an autobiography, Dream Runner, in Italian and in English
• In 2007, Oscar won the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award.
• In 2008, Oscar was one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world
• Oscar is a supporter of Italian football club, Lazio
• In 2008, in Italy, he made a music CD called Olympic Dream.

ERIK
Erik was born in Hong Kong in 1968.

• He has climbed Mount Everest
• He has written a book about the journey and an autobiography
• At school, he was the wrestling captain and a star wrestler
• He has done a master’s degree in Education
• He has also done skydiving, scuba diving, cycling, ski-ing; he has run the marathon
• he has climbed the Andes with a group of blind teenagers
• Erik is an inspiring speaker; his talks have inspired hundreds of people all over the world
• In 1997, he married his wife, Ellen, at the top of the Mount Kilimanjaro

But there’s something about Oscar and Erik we haven’t told you yet. Look at the title of the text: From disability to capability. Can you guess what it is? Read the note at the end of this lesson for the answer.

READING

3. Complete the chart:

Who is it, Erik, Oscar or both? Tick the boxes.

GRAMMAR

4. Make questions from these prompts.

1. Where/Erik/get/married? Where did Erik get married?
2. Who/climb/Andes? _________________________.
3. Who/be/sports personality of the year?________________.
4. Who/write/travel book?________________.
5. Who/write/ autobiography?____________________.

GRAMMAR

5. Write 7 examples of the present perfect and simple past using some of these verbs.
climb beat run do win marry write publish take part

GRAMMAR

6. Complete the gaps in the following sentences using the correct form of these verbs.
win play climb beat run do break

1. Brazil have ______the World Cup five times.
2. In 2006, Italy _______France 5–3 in the final.
3. Edmund Hilary ______ Mount Everest in 1953.
4. In the Beijing Olympics, Usain Bolt _______ 100m at 9.69 seconds
5. Bolt, the fastest man on earth, has ______ a lot of world records
6. Have you ever ______ any scuba doing?

VOCABULARY

7. Match the equipment with the correct sport:

VOCABULARY

8. In which game or games do we…? Write the names of the sport:

(a) throw the ball_________ (b) kick the ball______ (c) head the ball ______(d) catch the ball______(e) hit the ball with a racquet or bat________ (f) pass the ball with our hands_________ (g) jump for the ball__________

WRITING

9. Make a note of your answers to these questions.

Which sports…?

1. are popular in your country?
2. do you enjoy watching?
3. do you play?
4. are dangerous?
5. are expensive?
6. is your country good at?

10. Now write a paragraph about ‘Me and Sport’ using your notes from above to help you.

DIALOGUES

11. Write dialogues, like this:

A: Which sport have played?
B: Football and basketball
A: Which sports have you never played?
B: I’ve never played golf
A: Why not?
B: It’s expensive.

12. Practise the dialogues with a partner.

SPEAKING

13. Write answers to these questions:

1. Which sports….

1. do you play regularly?
2. which sports have you played in the past?
3. which sports do you watch regularly?
4. have you never played or watched?
5. What sport has made you feel free?

Now ask and answer questions with a partner.

ROUND UP

14. Fill in the gaps with ONE word:

Oscar was (1)_______in South Africa in 1986.

• When he was 13, he played rugby in the school (2)_______
• he has won gold medals in the 100, 200 and 400 meters (3)_________
• he has taken part (4)_________ Olympic wrestling
• In 2005, he won first (5)______ in the South African Championships in the 400 meters
• In 2007, Oscar (6)________in the 400-metre race at Rome’s Golden Gala and finished second
• Oscar is a (7)___________ of Italian football club, Lazio

ERIK
Erik was born in Hong Kong in 1968.

• He has (8)_________ Mount Everest
• At school, he was the wrestling (9)______ and a star wrestler.
• He has (10_______ the marathon

SPELLING

15. Put these letters in the correct order to make words to do with sport.

1. N N T E I S: ___________________
2. B K E T B A S A L L :___________________
3. A Q U S H: ___________________
4. B E B A A S L L:___________________
5. C C K R E I T:_________________
6. U R B Y G:_________________
7. F O T O B L A L :__________________
8. C I M B N G L I:_____________________
9. K Y S V I N D I G:______________________
10. H A T T I L E C S:______________________

HOMEWORK

1. Think about the advantages and disadvantages of the following sports for people with disabilities. Choose one, search the net and other resources for ideas. Make notes about why practising these sports can be beneficial. horse-riding swimming archery wheelchair basketball

Think about these questions
What equipment do you need?
Where do you do it?
It is a team sport or an individual sport?

2. What other sports do people in disabilities take part in? Do some research and write a summary of 150 words.

3. Write a letter to a person with a disability. Ask him or her three questions about their life. Ask about how they feel about sport. Which sports does he/she like/take part in? Tell the person what you have found out about sport and people with disabilities and how it has changed your way of looking at sport and people with disabilities.

Note
Oscar Pistorius has artificial legs; Erik Weihenmayer is blind

ANSWERS

4. 1. Where did Erik get married? 2. Who climbed the Andes? 3. Who was the sports personality of the year? 4. Who wrote / has written a travel book? 5. who wrote/has written a biography?

5.

1. He has climbed Mount Everest/ He won first prize
2. Who beat the world record? Who has beaten the world record?
3. I ran all the way to school/I have never run the marathon.
4. I did all my homework / I have done a lot of sports but I’ve never done any ski-ing.
5. I won first prize/ She has never won a prize at school.
6. She married him because he was a good man / Maria has never married.
7. I wrote an email yesterday / I have written ten text messages today.

6.
1. won 2. beat 3. climbed 4. ran 5. broken / beat 6. done

7.
1 tennis / squash 2. basketball 3. tennis / football 4. golf 5. cricket / table tennis 6. football / rugby 7. ski-ing 8. water polo 9. all except for ski-ing 10. cricket

8.
a. football / water polo / cricket basketball b. football c. football / water polo d. rugby / cricket / basketball e. tennis / cricket/ squash f. basketball/ rugby / water polo g. rugby / basketball/ cricket

15.
1. tennis 2. basketball 3. squash 4. baseball 5. cricket 6. rugby 7. football 8. climbing 9. skydiving 10. athletics

The other answers are in the text or are open-ended.

Raising awareness of disability

1. QUIZ

Tick (√) the things you can do.

1. Read the board when you’re sitting at your desk.
2. Hear what the teacher is saying.
3. Go round the shops with your friends.
4. Play sports.
5. Talk to your friend on the phone.
6. Make yourself something to eat or drink.
7. Climb stairs, trees and hills.
8. Listen to music and/or sing along to music.
9. Go supermarket shopping.
10. Cross the road.

2. Read and think.

1. Imagine you can’t see well. Which of the things in the quiz would be more difficult to do?
2. Imagine you can’t hear well. Which of the things in the quiz would be more difficult to do?
3. Imagine you can’t walk well. Which of the things in the quiz would be more difficult to do?
4. Imagine you have to use a wheelchair all the time. Which of the things in the quiz would be more difficult to do?

3. Look at the picture. Circle the ten things that could be a problem for someone with a disability.

4. Work with a partner.

1. Look together at the things you circled in the picture. Talk about each one. Say why it is a problem and what could be done to make it less of a problem for people with disabilities.
2. Discuss what things could be done at the following places to make life easier for people with disabilities:
   1. a school,
   2. a shopping centre,
   3. a sports centre.

5. Read, think and write.

Imagine you are in a wheelchair. You have to go to the supermarket in town to buy some food for the weekend. You need milk, bread, potatoes, two tins of tomatoes, a chicken and some eggs. There is nobody to help you, so you have to do the shopping alone.

Think about leaving home, your journey to the supermarket and what you will do inside the supermarket. Think about how you will get the shopping home. Think about how you feel.

Write about your shopping trip. Remember to include your feelings.

TEACHER’S NOTES

Why do a lesson like this?

One important lesson for all our students to learn is that everyone is different and diversity is a strength, not something negative. Disability is simply another way in which people can be different from one another. People with disabilities are no less intelligent than anyone else but they sometimes have additional physical difficulties to overcome. Our students need to understand that sometimes the things they do every day and take for granted can be a lot more challenging for people with disabilities. If we can help students to think about that and to take into account the difficulties that people with disabilities can experience, we are enriching their lives and helping to make them more considerate and compassionate young people.

Lesson Plan

Starting the lesson

Start by asking the students to think about all the things (large and small) they have done in the last 24 hours. They can call out the activities – write them on the board if you like. You will end up with a very long list – typical of a class of healthy, lively young students. Draw their attention to the fact that they all do an awful lot of things in a day!

Explain that the lesson is about people with disabilities.

Tell the students that you now want them to focus on some basic everyday activities that we all do.

1.
Hand out the quiz and ask the students to answer the questions.
Check their answers as a class – it’s likely that all the students can do all the activities without any difficulty.

2.
Put the students in pairs to do activity 2.
Encourage them to discuss the problems fully.
Share thoughts and opinions as a class.

As an extra, you can bring industrial ear muffs and a blindfold to the lesson. Ask for volunteers to either be blindfolded or to wear the ear muffs. Then give them instructions – for example, ask the blindfolded student to walk from one side of the class room to the other – the student will have problems with obstacles; ask the ear-muffed student to do various small tasks – but each time, speak quietly – the student will have difficulty hearing you properly. Both activities simulate disability to an extent and give students an insight into how it feels not to have full ability in one of their senses.

3.
Ask the students to look at the picture and circle the ten potential problems. Walk round while they do this activity and help if necessary.

The problems are:

• the street lights are a potential obstacle for people who don’t see well or are in wheelchairs
• the very high kerbs are difficult for anyone with mobility problems
• the buttons on the pelican crossing are hard for someone in a wheelchair to reach
• someone could walk into the glass door if they couldn’t see it well
• people who didn’t see well, or people in wheelchairs would have problems with the pot holes on the pavement
• the parked cars are a potential obstacle and also make pavement less wide so wheelchair access is difficult
• the fact that the ATM machine is quite high up on the wall makes it hard for wheelchair users
• wheelchair users couldn’t reach the buttons on the bus ticket machine
• the fact that the instructions are in writing on the machine could be difficult for people with impaired vision
• someone with impaired vision might have a problem crossing at the crossroads where the traffic lights are
• the high step up onto the bus would make it difficult for someone with mobility problems to actually get onto the bus.

4.
Put the students in pairs to talk about the problems in the picture, and then to talk about how the places listed could be improved so they are easier for people with disabilities to use. Allow plenty of time for the pairs to discuss everything, then bring the class together to share all their ideas.

5.
Go through the rubric with the students to make sure they are clear about what they’re going to do.
You might like to elicit some thoughts from the students at this stage, once they have had some time to read and consider the instructions.
They can write in class if there’s time – if not set the task for homework.

Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Methodology and Language for Secondary Teachers course at Pilgrims website.