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Unit 14 Lesson 3
Enriching the workforce
Objectives: By the end of the lesson you will have
• Enriching the workforce
• the end of the lesson you will have read a text about workforce
• found meanings of words and framed sentences with them
• written a summary
A Do women in your area work outside their homes? What sort of work do they usually do? Discuss in pairs.
B Now read the following text.
Working women - a great stride ahead!
One very conspicuous change in our society is the presence of working women outside the home. Of course, it has to be acknowledged that women have always worked within the household but this commonly is not counted as 'work'. It is unfortunate that women's roles in agricultural societies (as in our villages, particularly during harvest time) have not been recognised either.
Whether it is due to economic necessity or the urge to establish an individual identity or both, nowadays many women are entering the outside work, force. They are joining a wide range of professions. Moreover, it is not only educated women who are opting to work but women with little or no education have come out of their cocoons to earn and become self-reliant.
This does not mean that life is any easier for women now. In many ways it is more difficult, since women must still fulfil their traditional roles of wife, mother and homemaker. At work, as they compete with men they have to prove their worth twice over in order to survive.
C Now discuss the questions below in pairs.
1 What arc some of the important agricultural works that village women do in Bangladesh?
2 There are many illiterate women who have joined the workforce m cities. Give some examples of the kind of work they do.
3 Are working women, particularly illiterate ones, treated equally as their male counterparts? Give some examples.
4 Do you agree with the last sentence in the text? Give reasons.
5 In pairs list 2 positive and 2 negative aspects about women going to work.
D Discuss with your partner and find out what the words below mean. Provide synonyms for each. Frame sentences with the synonyms. The first one is done for you.
e.g. 'Conspicuous' 'noticeable'
The changed policy of the company is noticeable by the fact that it has employed more women in the last couple of years.
1 unconventional
2 exclusive
3 cocoon
4 self-reliant
E You are now going to talk about a different kind of workforce - those who migrate to other countries in search of work.
Look at the following and explain what it means.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe
free."
This is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty in New York, USA. Remember these words were meant for the persecuted from Europe just after the First World War. Ironically, those who go there today are not always the poor and the wretched but skilled and the highly qualified people from other countries.
In pairs answer the following.
1 Do you think that the lure of higher salaries prompt many to leave their countries? Or are there any other reasons?
2 Often highly qualified professionals leave their homelands and migrate to other countries. This is called "brain drain". Write your views about this in 50-60 words.
Focus:
Skills.
Speaking, discussing, reading, writing.
Functions.
Evaluating, giving reasons, giving opinions.
Grammar/Structure.
Present tense for discursive writing and speaking
Vocabulary.
conspicuous, boundaries, opting, cocoons, self-reliant, disadvantaged, huddled, yearning, persecuted.
This text will be replaced
Unit 14 Lesson 3
Enriching the workforce
Objectives: By the end of the lesson you will have
• Enriching the workforce
• the end of the lesson you will have read a text about workforce
• found meanings of words and framed sentences with them
• written a summary
A Do women in your area work outside their homes? What sort of work do they usually do? Discuss in pairs.
B Now read the following text.
Working women - a great stride ahead!
One very conspicuous change in our society is the presence of working women outside the home. Of course, it has to be acknowledged that women have always worked within the household but this commonly is not counted as 'work'. It is unfortunate that women's roles in agricultural societies (as in our villages, particularly during harvest time) have not been recognised either.
Whether it is due to economic necessity or the urge to establish an individual identity or both, nowadays many women are entering the outside work, force. They are joining a wide range of professions. Moreover, it is not only educated women who are opting to work but women with little or no education have come out of their cocoons to earn and become self-reliant.
This does not mean that life is any easier for women now. In many ways it is more difficult, since women must still fulfil their traditional roles of wife, mother and homemaker. At work, as they compete with men they have to prove their worth twice over in order to survive.
C Now discuss the questions below in pairs.
1 What arc some of the important agricultural works that village women do in Bangladesh?
2 There are many illiterate women who have joined the workforce m cities. Give some examples of the kind of work they do.
3 Are working women, particularly illiterate ones, treated equally as their male counterparts? Give some examples.
4 Do you agree with the last sentence in the text? Give reasons.
5 In pairs list 2 positive and 2 negative aspects about women going to work.
D Discuss with your partner and find out what the words below mean. Provide synonyms for each. Frame sentences with the synonyms. The first one is done for you.
e.g. 'Conspicuous' 'noticeable'
The changed policy of the company is noticeable by the fact that it has employed more women in the last couple of years.
1 unconventional
2 exclusive
3 cocoon
4 self-reliant
E You are now going to talk about a different kind of workforce - those who migrate to other countries in search of work.
Look at the following and explain what it means.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe
free."
This is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty in New York, USA. Remember these words were meant for the persecuted from Europe just after the First World War. Ironically, those who go there today are not always the poor and the wretched but skilled and the highly qualified people from other countries.
In pairs answer the following.
1 Do you think that the lure of higher salaries prompt many to leave their countries? Or are there any other reasons?
2 Often highly qualified professionals leave their homelands and migrate to other countries. This is called "brain drain". Write your views about this in 50-60 words.
Focus:
Skills.
Speaking, discussing, reading, writing.
Functions.
Evaluating, giving reasons, giving opinions.
Grammar/Structure.
Present tense for discursive writing and speaking
Vocabulary.
conspicuous, boundaries, opting, cocoons, self-reliant, disadvantaged, huddled, yearning, persecuted.