Lesson 59: Unit 198 - Gender Roles
This lesson explores the topic of gender roles in the family and in society through an authentic text about a woman who is the family "breadwinner". Students practise key vocabulary and hold discussio
About this lesson
In this lesson students will expand their vocabulary with words and phrases related to gender roles in society and will learn how to discuss social and professional stereotypes in English. The work is based on an authentic text about a woman who is the "breadwinner" in her family, and the emotional and financial challenges of an untypical division of roles are analysed. Students will practise grammatical structures for expressing opinions and well-argued positions on this topic. Skills for critical thinking and constructive dialogue in English on current social issues are developed.
40 minutes
What you'll learn
- Understand and discuss a text about gender roles in the family in English.
- Use key vocabulary such as 'breadwinner', 'maternity leave', 'chores' and 'equality' correctly.
- Distinguish true from false information on the basis of a text you have read.
- Complete sentences with suitable words from the lesson.
- Express and argue your own opinion on questions of gender roles.
- Use the phrasal verb 'bring up' and verbs such as 'earn', 'quit', 'swear' and 'support' in context.
Lesson vocabulary
- breadwinner I didn't think of myself as becoming the breadwinner.
- maternity leave After a short maternity leave, I would continue to work.
- quit He would quit his job to take care of the baby.
- earn Who earns more money — your mother or your father?
- hurdle The main hurdle was figuring out how to afford the shift from two incomes to one.
- equality Equality is an overworked word, but to me it meant sharing the income, chores and child care.
- chores Should all family members share the household chores?
- support My parents have always supported me and my decisions.
- bring up I was brought up to respect honesty and hard work.
- inappropriate What is an inappropriate question to ask a woman in your country?
- swear I can't stand all that shouting and swearing at football matches.
- negotiations After long and difficult negotiations with my boss, he agreed to let me have a two-week holiday.
- sole earner The number of households where the wife is the sole earner jumped from 4.1 percent to over 7 percent.
- second shift Many frustrated women are still working what the sociologist dubbed 'the second shift.'
- dual-earner household We are all quite comfortable with the dual-earner household — it's become a cultural template.
In other languages: Български