subject one family matters subject one family matters learning objectives understanding family...

Subject One

Family Matters

Subject One Family Matters

Learning Objectives

Understanding family issues,

-family structures

-family values

-family relationships

Exploring family relationship in American culture

Exploring cultural differences in the concept of a happy family

Subject One Family Matters

Unit One

Interview 1 A Happy Family

Interview 2 Relationship

Passage A A Thankful Woman and

Mother

Passage B The American Parents

Unit One Listening and Speaking

Objectives

Understanding the meaning of a happy family

Understanding cultural differences in cross-cultural marriage


All happy families resemble one another,

every unhappy family is unhappy in its own fashion.

Lev Tolstoy


Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), Russian author, essayist and philosopher wrote the epic novel War and Peace (1865-69),


Warm-up discussion

What does a family mean to you?

Briefly describe what kind of family is a(n) happy/unhappy family?

What makes a happy family?


Interview 1 A Happy FamilyUseful expressions:nuclear family vs. extended family decent people disintegratedouble shifts after-carereassess retailing industrycave in soothconnotation

Map of United States of America


Cultural information: The Median Income of Households of Some States in the USRanks States INCOME 1 New Jersey $54,226 2 Connecticut $53,108 3 Alaska $52,876 4 Maryland $52,436 5 Hawaii $51,046 UNITED STATES $42,409 20 Pennsylvania $42,043 48 Arkansas $32,819 49 Mississippi $31,434 50 West Virginia $30,695


Suggestions for discussion1. What is Megan’s idea of a happy family? - family members stay together; - having a big, extended family2. What is life like in a lower mi - annual income at around $30 000; - parents work double-shifts; - children no enough care from their parents3. What is her view of American families in general: - disintegrating into many different categories –

single parent families, mixed parent families


4. What are her expectations of the children?

- give them all she could give,

- be well educated,

- become decent adults

5. What change has Sept 11th caused in the attitude of American families in general?

- re-evaluate the value of family life;

- prefer to stay with their children/family

members

- cook more at home than eating out


Interview 2 Relationship —Husband and Wife: A Cross-Cultural

Marriage

Warm-up discussion

What do you think of a cross cultural marriage? Would you like to marry someone from another

culture? Why or why not?


Related Vocabularysiblingssubstantialfeel obligated tohave a commitment to doing …cosmopolitana sophisticated guyenvision


Suggested points for discussion1. When Bill says a happy family is an intimate one, how does he explain

this idea? -being able to communicate their feelings to each other; -a genuine closeness among siblings and parents.

2. How does Bill feel about Lin Lin’s frequent calls to her family? a strong sense of respect for and taking care of her elders in her

family.

3. From what Bill said about his father, can you envision what kind of man he is? -strives to be independent, especially financially -doesn't need anybody's help.


4. What is the worry of Lin Lin’s mother? -her daughter married an American who would not have

the commitment to taking care of the elders.5. But what prevents their communication? -more concerned about the language barrier than cultural

difference. 6. How does Bill think of Lin Lin’s father? -cosmopolitan -sophisticated -a professor who had received education in several

countries -he travels often.


7. What is Lin Lin’s misunderstanding?

-all the people are relatives except for immediate members.

8. What is the joke between the husband and wife?

-spent more time with his wife's family than his own family

-it didn't bother him.

9. Bill mentions the financial arrangement for the wedding. What point does he want to make here ?

-cultural differences between him and his wife.

-it is more open to talk about financial issues in a Chinese family than in an American family.


10. Think of Megan’s view in the first interview. How does Bill’s view differ from hers about an ideal happy family?

Megan, a happy family means -all the family members being together -children become decent people when they grow up. Bill, a happy family means -husband and wife can have open and intimate communicat

ion -family members have a genuine closeness in relationship. Besides, whether a family is happy or not has nothing to do

with social status. Both of them stress that happiness is not based on material wealth.


Mini-cultural Study: Comment on the following aspects from a cross-cultural perspective

1. The relationship between Lin Lin’s mother and bill: Lin Lin’s mother had her reservations about Bill at the beginning i) afraid that Lin Lin would live far from home if she married Bill. ii) thought that Bill was an irresponsible American who would not be committed to taking care of her when she gets older. However, the relationship has changed after the new couple visited Ch

ina. Lin Lin’s mother became concerned about her safety and health and learned to appreciate them.


2. In Chinese culture, parents , children and relatives are regarded as one family To Americans, a family only consists of parents and their children3. In Western marriages, the bride’s parents pay for the wedding It was a kind of embarrassment to Bill when Lin Lin wanted him to pay for the wedding.


4. American value: -self-reliance -independence -individualism Chinese value: -loyalty, -close contact among family members -harmony and union Although Lin Lin married Bill. She still kept these value in he

r married life, which seemed to Bill that “he married almost her family as well”.


5. Lin Lin may have experienced a cultural shock that Bill failed to notice -she may have felt anxious and uncomfortable in a strange new environment -Chinese are sometimes more conservative and slow to adapt to new cultures

Reading Passage AA Thankful Woman and Mother

Vocabularycornucopia Velcrolandfills diaper/nappyplain disposal blimpholistic medicine natural herbs pediatric cough syrupdrowsyformative years pantyhosecustom furniture trendy clothes

Reading for Fun: A Thankful Woman and Mother

Discussion:

Have you noticed any changes in your

parents after you went to college /became an adult?

Cornucopia—symbol of affluence—used to suckle Jupiter

A Cornucopia of Thanks by Debbie Farmer

Pattern of Development-comparison & contrast.-differences of priorities before/after

she had children:

A Cornucopia of Thanks by Debbie Farmer

1. Before: grand concerns: her country,

democracy, freedom or power

of her nation. Now: her children, and the things they did

A Cornucopia of Thanks

2. Before: environmental protection Now: her children --the comfort and convenience of her son’s clothes.3. Before: eating healthy food, such as fresh, and organic vegetables. Now: convenience of cooking -using microwaves and precooked food more.4. Before: able to complete her education. Now: tied up to family and children, not even having time to think for a while.


5. Before: tried to use non-chemical product. Now: convenience and effectiveness of medicine6. Before: her education and her future. Now: with her age advancing, her weight and look. 7. Before: a free woman, enjoying freedom of youth by traveling around the world. Now: so busy that a trip to the driveway becomes a luxury.


8. Before: cook healthy food. Now: calls to order rather than cooks.9. Before: enjoyed carefree life with her family Now: no free time for herself; bathroom – the only place where she can stay alone for a while.10. Before: pursued material wealth. Now: very realistic; has hardly anything to herself unaffected by her children.


11. The only thing that remain unchanged

Her love for the family.

Passage B The Parent Trap

Group Discussion

-Did you have a similar schedule when you were in primary or high school?

-How did you respond to it?

-Did your parents urge you to study when you were in high school?

Passage B The Parent Trap

Group work Work in a groups Divide the text into logical parts and work

out the main idea of each part Three parts: 1: situation 2~10: problems faced by parents11~20: solutions for both parents and kids

Passage B The Parent Trap Structure Analysis

1: Introducing the current situation -raising children is like attending a competition. 2: Giving an account of the rushing life of American

parents and their children --the example of Suzanne Upton 3~5: Reasons of American parents giving so much pressure to children a. no guarantee of good future b. instability of society c. for personal safety

Structure Analysis

6~10: describing consequences incurred due to the pushed life

- parents as agents: (6)

kids deprived of the chances to learn from their

failures;

more eating disorders,

alcohol abuse;

other stress-related problems

- raise winners (7)

Tiger Woods

Williams Sisiters

Structure Analysis

- great effort demanded by both work and child raising(8-9) stimulating young brains the demand of corporate culture the demand of big pay check the frustration of children and parents as well - the soul of childhood and the joy of family life lost (10) parenting experience is ruined no right kind of guidance all the teaching is on how to be on the top

Structure Analysis

11-20 Actions taken by parents 11. transitional paragraph: problems— solutions Actions taken a. quit jobs (12) b. cut back on required games and practices(13) c. reduce sports if there is a conflict with schoolwork(14)

Structure Analysis

d. only one major activity per child(15)

e. closely supervise children’s

assignments(16)

f. doing homework for kids (17)

Structure Analysis

18-19: New problems brought by parents’

constant intervention

a. children are robbed of the opportunity to

develop maturity and independence

b. emotionally shut-down--- a feeling of lost

and confusion

20. Conclusion: reducing pressure is good for

both parents and children

Discussion

How about the situation in China? Describe how Chinese parents urge their kids nowadays and exchange your views with your partners.

How to view the parents’ behavior in an objective way?

Methods of Developments

Analysis: breaking up a whole into its parts and examining these parts in order to solve a problem or reach a conclusion

-facts, examples, statistics Argument: an essay in which the writer

presents a point of view and attempts to persuade others of the validity of his/her opinion

Methods of Developments

Patterns of development: cause-effect, chronology,

classification, process,

comparison-contrast, definition, description, enumeration, exemplification, problem-solution

spatial order …

Methods of development

What overall method of development is used in this passage?

Justifying an argument by examples.

(pars 2, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20)

cause and effect

problem and solution

Style

Formal vs Informal Personal vs impersonal Business (formal vs informal) Conversational Journalistic Academic Technical vs nontechnical Literary Poetic

Formal vs Informal Diction

Formal usu. from Latin,

Greek, French, etc polysyllabic (long) abstract words normal form of

words single words

Informal usu. from Old

English monosyllabic (short) verbs preferred clipped or

contracted form phrases

Polysyllabic vs Monosyllabic

approximately about experience feel communication letter inform tellimplement carry out initiate startsufficient enough prevent stop communicate write transmit send assist help request ask commence begin utilize uselocality place purchase buymajority most terminate end

Abstract Words

1. A. The position in regard to the supply of

coal may become serious.

B. There may be a serious coal shortage.

2. A Rules have been made for the avoidance

and settlement of disputes.

B Rules have been made for avoiding

and settling disputes.

Formal vs Informal Sentences

Formal: I suggest that we meet to discuss this issue at a mutually convenient time in the near future; otherwise, we will not be able to effect a change in the policy.

Informal: Let’s try to get together to talk about this right away, or else we won’t be able to change the policy.

Impersonal

1. avoidance of “I, you, we”

2. use of passive voice

3. sentences beginning with “it”

4. use of abstract words

Example (personal vs impersonal)

Personal: I have heard that some managers are not complying with the smoking guidelines. This displeases me greatly, and I expect all employees to follow these guidelines.

Impersonal: There have been reports that some managers are not complying with the smoking guidelines. This is having a negative impact on the company, and these guidelines must be followed by all employees.

Journalistic

1. wide use of direct & indirect speech2. many parenthesis (插入语 )3. simple sentences extended by appositive, prep

ositional phrases, participle phrases, 4. comparatively short paragraphs5. disagreement in tense, eg. tense in that-clause

after “said, told, added, reported”etc6 use of idioms, proverbs, stories, etc7 sometimes dramatic narrative description8 omission of prep. conj. articles etc. in the titles

Academic

1. Formal, academic choice of vocabulary

2. Long, complex sentence structures

3. The absence of contracted verb forms (don’t, can’t)

4. The avoidance of any first-person

reference (I, we)

Writing Style

How would you describe the writing style of the authors?

Journalistic How would you feel about the validity of the

passage? Why?

Convincing.

Use of references & factual examples

Tone

A manner of writing that shows the attitude of the writer toward the subject and the audience and results from word choice, sentence structure, and phrasing.

eg. objective/subjective, positive/negative, witty, optimistic/pessimistic, emotional, neutral, critical, humorous, analytical, authoritative, persuasive, factual, tentative, serious, scholarly, balanced, uncertain, ambiguous, discouraged, …

Tone of Writing

What would you describe the tone of the passage?

Objective, factual, analytical

References 1. Academic books and textbooks

2. Articles on academic journals

3. Some articles in quality newspapers and

magazines

4.Published/unpublished papers given at

academic conferences

5. Published/unpublished monographs and

dissertations

6. Published/unpublished letters

7. Recorded interviews

subject one family matters subject one family matters learning objectives understanding family...

Documents

happy family slide

family matters unit

nuclear family

family issues

family mean

kind of family

happyunhappy family

happy family interview