Secondary PlusUPPER INTERMEDIATE 1

AIMS I can read and understand an article

about body language.

I can follow an authentic video about North American gestures.

I can use relative clauses and expressions for generalisations to analyse and describe body language.

Look at the photos. Discuss the questions.

What are the people in the photos doing? What messages do you think the people are

communicating? Why do we sometimes communicate with

gestures instead of words?

PROJECTCreate and interpret a mini-drama.

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER

The eyes can tell us a lot, especially eye contact. On the whole, maintaining eye contact during conversation suggests a person is interested. However, if a person looks away a lot during conversation, the listener may be distracted, uncomfortable or even hiding something.Another indicator of emotion can be blinking. On average, we blink about 15–20 times per minute. However, people who are distressed or uncomfortable may blink more rapidly than normal. In contrast, people who look as if they’re blinking less than normal may be trying to control or conceal their true emotions.

The face and eyes alone don’t tell the whole story; you need to look at posture too. How we hold ourselves can show how confident we’re feeling. In general, curved shoulders indicate we’re nervous, while standing with our heads up and shoulders back suggests confidence. So when you need to look as if you’re full of confidence, make sure you stand ‘tall’. As a rule, crossing your arms over your body is an indication that you feel nervous, insecure or defensive. So if you want to appear open and friendly, avoid crossing your arms and legs.

Imagine this: you see a friend at school. Her shoulders are curved and her head is hanging down. You ask her what’s wrong. ‘Nothing,’ she replies, smiling weakly and looking away. But you’re not convinced and ask again. She sighs and then explains that she’s just had a huge argument with her sister. So, how could you tell she was upset? You didn’t read her mind; you read her body language. The term body language is used to describe the non-verbal signals we use to communicate. And it seems that these non-verbal signals convey as much, if not more, information than the things we actually say. In fact, experts suggest that body language may account for up to 70 per cent of all communication. They also suggest that humans are hard-wired to understand other people’s body language.

BECOME A

Generally speaking, a smile shows that we’re happy, but did you know that there are around 19 types of smile? Six of these indicate happiness, but we also smile when we’re embarrassed or even frightened. The most genuine smile is when the corners of our mouth go up, teeth are visible and our eye muscles ‘smize’ (i.e. we smile with our eyes). So, if you’re not sure if a smile is genuine, check for the smize. And remember, it’s pretty hard to fake it.Other movements of the mouth can show different feelings. An open mouth may indicate surprise or confusion; closing the lips may show disapproval or anger; and a frown could suggest unhappiness or concern.

BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT

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TALKING WITHOUT WORDS

I can understand the important information in an article about body language.

I can understand and use verbs to describe body language and emotions adjectives and nouns.

I can understand and use expressions for making generalisations.

I can describe and discuss people’s body language.

5. LOOK AT LANGUAGERead the sentences from the text and observe the expressions in blue. Why does the writer use these expressions?

A. As a rule, crossing your arms over your body is an indication that you feel nervous.

B. In general, curved shoulders indicate that we’re nervous.

C. Generally speaking, a smile shows that we’re happy.

D. On the whole, maintaining eye contact during conversation suggests a person is interested.

My Practice 2

6. PRACTISEThe text says that body language can vary from culture to culture. Rewrite these sentences using the expressions from activity 5 so that they’re true for your culture.

1. We smile when we’re embarrassed.2. We avoid eye contact with strangers. 3. We don’t sit or stand close to strangers.4. We close our lips when we’re angry.5. We open our mouths when we’re shocked.

7. USE ITLook at these situations. What body language might the people in these situations use?

Someone is angry with you and they don’t want to speak to you.

Someone is giving a presentation and they feel confident.

Someone has been caught cheating in a test. They’re talking to a teacher.

1. PREPARE TO READWork in pairs. Look at the title and the pictures in the article. What do you think the article is about?

2. READ THE ARTICLERead the article quickly and check your answers to activity 1.

3. READ AGAINAnswer the questions.

1. What can these elements of body language tell us about how people are feeling? a. Posture b. The position of the arms and legsc. The shape of the mouthd. Eye contacte. Eye movement

2. What advice does the writer give the reader about improving their body language?

4. EXPLORE VOCABULARYLook at the words in bold in the text. Try to guess their meaning, then check your answers in a dictionary. Divide the words into three groups: verbs to describe body language, emotions nouns, and emotions adjectives.

My Practice 1

Do you know?Humans can make about 4,000 different facial expressions, using just 20 muscles in the face.

?

33© British Council | B2.1 01 | V1.1

I can understand the important information in an article about body language.

I can understand and use verbs to describe body language and emotions adjectives and nouns.

I can understand and use expressions for making generalisations.

I can describe and discuss people’s body language.

8. PREPARE TO LISTENWork in pairs. Look at the photo with the robot and discuss the questions.

1. Where can we see robots in our everyday lives?

2. What do you know about humanoid robots? How similar are humanoid robots to humans? What are the main differences?

Exam skills ListeningUnderstanding gist and specific detailsWhen you hear a listening twice, listen for the gist (the main idea or ideas) the first time, and then listen for specific details the second time.During the first listening, don’t try to understand all the words. Listen for content words (such as verbs, nouns and adjectives) that give you the general idea.

1 9. LISTEN TO THE PODCASTWhat is the main topic of the podcast?

1. Teaching robots to do jobs 2. Robots and body language 3. The future of body language

1 10. LISTEN AGAINAnswer the questions.

1. What jobs are robots already doing in some countries?

2. What kinds of jobs will robots do in the future?

3. Why will robots need to learn about facial expressions? What example does the podcaster use to demonstrate this?

4. What other aspects of body language will robots need to learn about?

5. What skills has the robot Sofia already learned?

6. Does the podcaster think that robots will understand body language soon?

A

B

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I can understand a podcast about robots. I can compare robots and humans and discuss differences between them.

I can collaborate to create a robot teacher.

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Project 1

11. DISCUSSThe podcast mentions that schools in some countries are testing out robot teachers. You’re going to design your own robot teacher. Work in groups. Follow the steps to design your teacher.

1. Look at the photos (A–D) and practise reading the body language in the photos. What are the people in the photos doing? How do you think the young people in the photos are feeling? What body language tells you this? Use the language of generalising to describe the photos.

I think he’s feeling … because people generally … when they’re …

2. What other emotions do students show at school or in the classroom? Why? Brainstorm some ideas.

3. Think about the emotions you identified in questions 1 and 2. Which is the most important for a robot teacher to understand? Choose one emotion.

4. Use your own ideas or research online to find out the kind of body language people use when they feel the emotion you have chosen. Make notes. Decide what kind of body language your robot teacher needs to understand.

5. Draw a picture of your robot teacher. Write a short description of the body language that it can understand.

6. Present your robot teacher to the class.

Exam skills SpeakingUsing general and specific languageWe often use general and specific language to talk about something. Look at these statements:Generally speaking, a smile shows that we’re happy. Did you know that there are around 19 types of smile?The first statement is more general and although it may be true, it cannot be supported by facts.The second statement is very specific and can be supported by data.With your partner, discuss these topics using both general and specific language:

blinking facial expressions

My Practice 3

C

D

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Project 1Choose a situation from activity 7 on page 3, or create a situation of your own. Create a short plan for a silent role play based on the situation.

I can understand a podcast about robots. I can compare robots and humans and discuss differences between them.

I can collaborate to create a robot teacher.

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CatMad 5 minutes ago

My favourite gesture, which all my friends use, is the fist bump. It’s like a high five, but you gently bump your fists together.

Dani 01 2 hours ago

Great video, but I don’t agree that it’s common for teenagers to use the eye roll. I never use it. I think people who roll their eyes are rude.

Starman 3 hours ago

Amazing video and so true. In New York, where my mum’s family’s from, they use a lot of these gestures.

Angel 02 7 hours ago

We use most of these gestures in the UK too. The only one that I don’t use is the chin nod. The gesture I use most is the thumbs up. It means ‘good’ or ‘OK’.

1. EXPLORE VOCABULARYRead the descriptions of five common North American gestures. Guess the meaning of the words in bold and check your ideas with a dictionary. Which gesture can you see in the photo?1. Make eye contact with your friend. Lift

your chin and nod once. Let your chin drop again.

2. Using the side of your hand, wipe your hand across your forehead and make a ‘phew’ noise.

3. With the palm of your hand facing you, cover your eyes and tilt your head down.

4. Roll your eyes 360 degrees to the right. 5. Stretch your hand towards the other

person. Slap palms.

2. PREPARE TO WATCHWork in pairs. Act out the gestures from activity 1. What do they mean?

1 3. WATCH THE VIDEOYou’re going to watch a video about the five gestures in activity 1. Make notes about what each one means. (Note: One gesture has two meanings.)

1 4. WATCH AGAINAnswer the questions.1. In which two situations is the chin nod used?2. When do people cover their eyes with their

hands?3. What can make an eye roll more dramatic?4. What does it mean when you ‘leave someone

hanging’? Why shouldn’t you do it?5. Which two expressions invite a high five?

5. TALK ABOUT ITDiscuss the questions.

1. Read about the gestures from activity 1 again. Are they similar or different in your country?

2. Which gestures from the video might be misunderstood in your culture? Why?

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My Practice 4

6

HIGH FIVE!

I can learn, understand and use verbs to describe gestures.

I can understand an authentic video about North American gestures.

I can understand and use relative clauses to talk about gestures.

I can relate what I’ve learned to my own culture.

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6. LOOK AT LANGUAGEComplete sentences A–E using a relative pronoun when needed. Read the comments about the video on page 6 to help you.

A. My favourite gesture, all my friends use, is the fist bump.

B. I think people roll their eyes are rude.

C. In New York, my mum’s family’s from, they use a lot of these gestures.

D. The only one I don’t use is the chin nod.

E. The gesture I use most is the thumbs up.

Now read the rules. Match the rules (1–2) to the sentences (A–E).

1. Non-defining clauses give us extra information. We could omit these clauses without changing the meaning of the sentence. We use commas before and after these clauses.

Sentences 2. Defining clauses provide information that

you need in order to understand the whole sentence. We don’t use commas before and after these clauses.

Sentences

Look at sentences A–E again and choose the correct option to complete each rule.

1. We can / can’t use the relative pronouns ‘who’, ‘which’ and ‘where’ in both defining and non-defining relative clauses.

2. We can / can’t use the relative pronoun ‘that’ in non-defining relative clauses.

3. In defining relative clauses, we can / can’t omit the relative pronoun when it is the object of the relative clause.

My Practice 5

7. PRACTISELook at the sentences. Find and correct one mistake in each sentence.

1. Thumbs up is a common gesture in the UK and the US who means ‘Good job!’ or ‘Great!’.

2. The YouTuber who’s channel I love often points at the screen to show he’s talking directly to the viewer.

3. One gesture where I learned in the UK is rubbing your thumb and first two fingers together. It means money or expensive.

4. In some cultures, people which nod are actually saying no!

5. Thumbs down, which is another common British gesture means you don’t like something.

6. Our teacher, that’s generally very nice, taps her watch when we’re late for class.

Which are defining relative clauses and which are non-defining relative clauses? Write D or ND.

In which sentence can you omit the relative pronoun?

8. USE ITRewrite the sentences, changing the words in bold so that they’re true for you. Then share your sentences with a partner.

1. One gesture I find annoying is the thumbs up.

2. I think people who roll their eyes are rude.

3. In the UK, where I’m from, people often wave to say hello.

4. A gesture that my parents always tell me not to do is tapping my head to say ‘Don’t forget’.

5. My favourite gesture, which a lot of people I know use, is the fist bump.

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I can learn, understand and use verbs to describe gestures.

I can understand an authentic video about North American gestures.

I can understand and use relative clauses to talk about gestures.

I can relate what I’ve learned to my own culture.

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9. PREPARE TO READWork in pairs. Discuss the questions.

1. What did you think the gestures in activity 1 meant before you watched the video? How could they be misinterpreted?

2. Apart from in general conversation, when might we use gestures?

10. READ THE POSTSWhat’s the subject of the online forum posts?

11. READ AGAINRead the posts again. Make notes for each post about:

1. the gesture that caused a problem2. what the problem was.

Exam skills ReadingScanning for specific informationScanning helps you to quickly find details in a text, such as dates, numbers, words or phrases. Before scanning, read the question to find out what information you are looking for. Then quickly read the text. It may help to underline the information. Then read again to check your ideas.

My Practice 6

Teen TalkEmbarrassing stories

CelticThistle ScotlandEmbarrassing moment yesterday … I was having my first scuba diving lesson. I’d been under the water for a while, when the instructor gave me a thumbs up. Because I was having a great time, I used a thumbs up back. Then all the other students started going back up to the top so I did the same. That’s when I discovered that thumbs up in scuba diving means you must go back up to the surface, because you’re running out of air! I felt so silly. Has anyone else misunderstood a gesture?

Roma06 Italy I have. It happened last year when we were on holiday in Bangkok, Thailand. The first day we did a guided tour of the city with a Thai guide. As part of the tour, we visited a temple, which was so cool, and I kept pointing at the things and people in the temple and asking the guide questions. Later, when I was back in my room, I was reading the guide book and I discovered pointing at people is really rude in Thailand. I’d had no idea, but I didn’t do it again!

Prince S EnglandMe too! My mum’s got some friends from Ecuador and they came to stay with us. Their son, Dominic, is really tall, so I used the gesture for tall that we do in the UK – I held my hand up above my head and the palm of my hand was flat, facing downwards. My mum’s friends looked a bit shocked. Apparently, they use that gesture to talk about the height of animals in Ecuador! I felt terrible for insulting Dominic. Luckily, everyone laughed.

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I can understand an online forum about misunderstandings.

I can identify similarities and differences in different forum posts.

I can identify, define, and explain different gestures.

Project 2

12. WRITE A GUIDE Follow the steps to write a guide about gestures.

1. Look at the words and expressions. What gesture do you use to express these in your country?

2. Think of three other common gestures in your country.

3. Imagine how the gesture could be misunderstood. Brainstorm ideas.

4. Imagine aliens have landed on Earth. They’re friendly and have come to study humans. Choose three gestures from steps 1 and 2 to teach the aliens.

5. Write a paragraph for each gesture, explaining:

what the gesture means how to do the gesture whether it’s common in your country.

Exam skills WritingWriting paragraphsA text usually contains several body paragraphs. Each paragraph should contain one main idea. The first sentence says what the paragraph is about and is the topic sentence. The other sentences in the paragraph give more information about the main idea.

My Practice 7

I don’t understand.

Oh no!

I’m not sure.

Please be quiet.Look at that!

Why?

That’s good.

Stop!

Come here.

It’s over there.

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Look again at your plan for the role play. Add some gestures that the people in the role play could use. Discuss how you can improve your role play.

I can understand an online forum about misunderstandings.

I can identify similarities and differences in different forum posts.

I can identify, define, and explain different gestures.

Project 2

PROJECT

x x x x x x

PROJECT TOOLKIT

1. PREPARE TO WATCHWork in pairs. Discuss the questions.

1. Have you ever seen a play or musical at a theatre? What was it like? How was it different from watching a film at the cinema?

2. What kind of body language might actors in the theatre need to think about? Why?

2 2. WATCH THE VIDEO (PART 1)

You’re going to listen to an actor giving advice on stage acting. What subjects do you think he’ll mention? Now watch and tick the subjects he mentions.

gestures body language your voice

make-up facial expressions active listening

2 3. WATCH AGAINListen and make notes about the advice he gives for the subjects in activity 2.

3 4. WATCH THE VIDEO (PART 2)

Watch the second part of the vlog. Make notes of what he says about each video.

6. PRACTISEPractise acting out the scene in activity 5.

ACT 1 SCENE 1Scene: A brother and sister are playing football in their garden. The girl is the goalkeeper.

[The boy gets ready to kick the ball. The girl, who is standing in goal, is ready to catch the ball.]

Boy: (Doing fake football commentary.) And it’s Ronaldo taking the penalty. He shoots. He …

[The boy kicks the ball. The ball smashes a window.]

Girl: (shocked) Oh no! Mum is going to kill you!

[Enter Mum, looking furious and holding a ball. The boy and girl look guilty.]

Mum: Right. What happened here?

Boy: It was Maddy, not me. She didn’t catch the ball. I can’t help it if she’s a terrible goalkeeper.

[Mum and girl both look at the boy with a mixture of anger and disbelief.]

2 5. PRONUNCIATIONIn the video, the actor says using your voice is important. Read the information about stressing words.

We usually stress ‘content words’ like verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs because they contain important information. We also stress words for contrast (e.g. ‘It’s not your turn! It’s mine!’).

Look at the script. Underline the important words. Which words could you stress to show contrast?

Listen and check your answers.

My Practice 8

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I can understand an instructional presentation about acting.

I can write a mini-drama with a variety of roles. I can give a performance in public confidently and with gestures.

I can emphasise key points in my performance, using word and sentence stress.

Follow the steps to complete your project.

x x x x x x

STEP 1Choose a situation from activity 7 on page 3, or invent a situation of your own. Create a short plan for a mini-drama based on the situation. You don’t need to write a script yet. Just plan what happens (i.e. the events and what people do), how the people feel, and what body language they could use to show how they feel.

STEP 2Look again at your plan for the mini-drama. Add some gestures that the people in the mini-drama could use. Discuss how you could improve your mini-drama.

STEP 3In your groups, assign roles to each member of your group. Practise acting out your mini-drama. You should keep the topic and your rehearsal secret.

STEP 4Work with another group. Perform your mini-dramas for each other. As you watch, make notes about each thing that happens in the mini-drama and the body language and gestures the actors use.

STEP 5When each group has performed their mini-drama, share your notes in your original groups. Say what you think has happened in each mini-drama and why. Use expressions for generalising. Keep your ideas secret.

STEP 6Based on your notes from Step 5, write a script for the mini-drama you watched in Step 4. Then practise acting out your mini-drama. You should keep your rehearsal secret.

STEP 7Perform your mini-drama for the class. As you watch the other mini-dramas, make notes on what was good. Hold a class vote to choose the favourite mini-drama.

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I can understand an instructional presentation about acting.

I can write a mini-drama with a variety of roles. I can give a performance in public confidently and with gestures.

I can emphasise key points in my performance, using word and sentence stress.

1. REVIEWFollow the steps to review vocabulary from the magazine.

1. Look at the words in the word bank. Circle the words you know. Look back at pages 2 to 5 of the magazine and find the meaning of the words you don’t know.

2. Now look at pages 6 to 9. Find 12 words that were new for you. Create your own word bank.

3. Swap the word bank with a partner. Repeat the first step.

2. REFLECTLook at the sentences and circle the correct number of stars for you (1 star = not an expert, 5 stars = an expert). Then compare with a partner. How can you improve these skills?

I can describe body language with expressions for generalising.

I can use relative clauses to talk about gestures.

I can use vocabulary for describing emotions.

I can use verbs for describing gestures.

I can create a mini-drama with body language and gestures.

3. NEXT STEPSChoose ONE task to do next.

Option 2

WRITEWhat are the most common gestures and forms of body language in your country? Write a short guide to them for visitors to your country.

Option 1

WATCHWatch the video. Turn off the sound while you watch. Take notes on the body language and then discuss what it means.

confident

conceal

appear

insecure

defensive

positive

frightenedconvey

EMBARRASSED

concerndistracted

distressed

uncomfortable

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MY LEARNING