There are many ways to travel, and in life some choose to be tourists while others become travellers. This month we propose a ready-to-use lesson plan revolving around the theme of tourism, to raise students’ awareness of the richness of linguistic and cultural diversity across the world’s countries while developing key skills through scanning and skimming activities!
Register on MLA EDU Resources to download it for free!
Premise
The field of tourism is vast and complex because it encompasses economic, environmental, social, political, linguistic, historical and cultural phenomena. Travelling, therefore, is not the light activity one might think it is. “The real voyage of discovery,” wrote Marcel Proust, “does not consist in seeking new lands, but in having new eyes.” The writer Paul Bowles, on the other hand, made a sharp distinction between “tourist” and “traveller” in his famous aphorism: “The tourist thinks of the return home, the traveller thinks of the journey” (from The Sheltering Sky).
Educating teenagers to have new eyes means training them to see the habits and values of other countries and peoples as enriching; encouraging them to be travellers rather than tourists is therefore a rather complex task. Have you ever struggled with food abroad? Have you ever worn inappropriate clothing for cultural or religious reasons? Have you ever witnessed “cultural vandalism” in a museum or other historical/archaeological site?
In this lesson plan, we have designed didactic interventions for you that, in a semi-serious way, present the “right” ways to approach a trip or holiday—from the type of itinerary to clothing mistakes to avoid, to cultural and food habits. In this case, the choice of the definition of “responsible tourism” refers to a 2017 UN declaration that focuses on tourism to “spread awareness of the great heritage of various civilisations and appreciate the intrinsic values of different cultures.” And you—are you a “tourist” or a “traveller”?
Educational Goals
The educational goal of this month’s lesson plan is to make students aware of the richness of linguistic and cultural diversity in the world’s countries. The final aim of the lesson is to educate students to travel as a way of discovering the world and themselves.
Learning Objectives
With this proposal, we aim to guide students towards the following learning objectives: reading a text quickly to grasp its overall meaning (skimming), reading a text in depth to find specific information (scanning), and vocabulary enrichment.
Activities
The activities included in the lesson plan are designed to foster students’ linguistic development through independent and group tasks such as: giving titles to texts, matching images and definitions, consulting a website for information, and carrying out a project work. Here are some examples:
Activity 1: Arousing motivation
Match these descriptions with the correct type of holiday.
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Sporting holiday
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Group holiday
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Theme Parks
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Short breaks
A. Two is company, three is a crowd and four is a party! Sharing the sites, food and culture during your travel experience with friends and family can take your holiday to another level.
B. Sometimes a brief rest is all you need to re-energise your body and mind. Treat yourself to a weekend escape to let loose, unwind and indulge in life’s pleasures.
C. Combine your love of fitness and passion for travel with this kind of holiday. Be part of the action and experience your favourite activities in arenas, stadiums and tracks all around the world.
D. Combine exciting rides, fun entertainment, resort accommodation and more! These holidays are sure to leave you with fond and unforgettable memories.
During this activity, the teacher will explain to students that this is an “overall comprehension” exercise and that they do not need to read the provided texts in full to make the match. This is, in fact, a skimming activity—a quick reading that helps grasp what is called “the general gist.” Naturally, the correct key lies in the vocabulary used. For example, in text A, the keywords “crowd, sharing, friends, family” point to the idea of sharing and the number of people, clearly indicating that the type of holiday referred to is number 2, Group holiday.
Now all you have to do is register in the MLA EDU Resources section and download the ready-to-use PDF lesson plan complete with plenty of exercises to use with your students!
