Summary
This downloadable PDF lesson plan for English teachers examines the "specialist vs. generalist" career debate. This ESL class material is perfect for C1 students, using a video and discussion activities to explore modern paths to success and skill development. This engaging lesson plan helps C1 students explore the pros and cons of deep specialization versus developing a broad range of skills. Activities are built around a video comparing the career paths of Tiger Woods and Roger Federer.
The lesson includes a pre-listening vocabulary match, comprehension questions, a contextual vocabulary gap-fill, a grammar focus on inversion for emphasis, and a structured list of useful phrases. It all culminates in a lively group debate where students must defend one of the two approaches.
Activities
- Students start with a warm-up discussion, sharing their opinions on whether it's better to be a "master of one" or a "jack of all trades," using real-world examples to support their initial ideas.
- After learning key vocabulary, students watch a video about different developmental paths and answer comprehension questions on concepts like "kind vs. wicked learning environments" and the "10,000-hour rule."
- The lesson focuses on the advanced grammatical structure of inversion for emphasis. Students practice rewriting sentences using negative adverbials like "Not only..." and "Rarely..." to create a more formal and impactful tone.
- The lesson concludes with a dynamic group debate. Students are assigned either the specialist or generalist viewpoint and must use the lesson's vocabulary, phrases, and grammar to argue their case effectively.
Vocabulary focus
This lesson introduces vocabulary for discussing skill development and career strategy. Key terms include words like quintessential, to plateau, precocious, to meander, and phrases such as wicked learning environment and deliberate practice. Students also learn useful phrases for describing different career trajectories, such as a linear career path versus a winding career path, and concepts like transferable skills and deep domain expertise.
Grammar focus
The grammar focus is on using inversion for emphasis. This C1-level lesson teaches students how to invert the subject and auxiliary verb following negative or limiting adverbials such as Not only..., Not until..., Rarely..., Seldom..., and Under no circumstances.... This structure is essential for creating more sophisticated, formal, and persuasive arguments, both in writing and in formal discussions like the final debate activity.
