Subject File ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: Additional Concerns

 

1 Carbon Footprint 

Ex. 1: What is the carbon footprint? 

Ex. 2: Read about options to reduce your personal carbon footprint.

Climate change: top 10 tips to reduce carbon footprint revealed

Subject file WORLD of WORK: Employability _ Reading Job Adverts

Reading job adverts is a crucial, strategic step in a successful job search, going far beyond simply seeing if a job is open. A thorough analysis of an advert allows you to customize your application, prepare for interviews, and determine if the role and company are a good fit for you.

Ex. 1: Study the job advert for a teacher of history below and consider the following questions while looking at it. Then compare your findings with the KEY.

• What job is advertised?
• What are the overall responsibilities?
• What are the daily duties and routines?
• What is offered by the employer?
• What perks and incentives are offered?
• What hard and soft skills are required?
• What additional qualifications and experience are required?

KEY: 

The vacancy advertised in this job ad is that of a teacher of history. 

Overall responsibilities comprise teaching history and cover supervision.

Daily duties are: teaching history across all stages, teaching cover lessons, arranging the cover timetable for absent staff, and deploying and managing cover staff;

The employer, a school, offers a permanent position and a teacher's salary according to the salary scale for teachers in Inner London.

Additional perks are not mentioned, but the incentives include working for a successful school and becoming a member of a strong team. 

In terms of hard skills, qualifications, and experience, the school requires the qualifications for teaching history (usually a university degree) and a lot of teaching experience. 

Regarding soft skills, the school expects the applicant to be skilled and a good teacher with a lot of enthusiasm, prepared to work in teams, and the dedication to promote the school's future success. 

Subject File ISSUES on the INTERNET

Does Over-Sharing Leave You Open to the Risk of Identity Theft?

Generally speaking, social media is a pretty nifty tool for keeping in touch. Platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn offer us a thousand different ways in which we can remain plugged in at all times. However, our seemingly endless capacity for sharing, swiping, liking and retweeting has some negative ramifications, not the least of which is that it opens us up as targets for identity theft.

People are often surprised at how simple it is for fraudsters to commit identity theft via social media. However, we seem to forget just how much personal information goes onto social media – our names, location, contact info, personal details – all of this is more than enough for a skilled fraudster to commit identity theft.

Simple phishing software or malware can swipe users’ account information without their having ever known that they were targeted, thus leaving all of the user’s friends and family vulnerable to such attacks.

Subject File ENGLISH AROUND THE WORLD: How to learn English

To learn English, the most effective strategy is to immerse yourself in the language and practice consistently across all four core skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Subject File ENGLISH ALL AROUND THE WORLD: Why Learning English Is Important

 

Courtesy: https://www.studiocambridge.co.uk/why-it-is-important-to-learn-english/

Discover 5 reasons why learning English is important for your career and profile.

In today’s world, multilingualism is becoming more and more important. In addition to opening up employment opportunities, being able to speak a foreign language helps to make a real connection with people and to know more about diverse cultures, places and lifestyles. The more proficient you are, the better you can express yourself.

Out of the 6 500 spoken languages in the world today, why choose to learn English? As the third most widely spoken language in the world, English is spoken and taught in over 118 countries and is commonly used around the world as a trade language or diplomatic language. It is the language of science, aviation, computers, diplomacy, and tourism. Last but not least, it is the language of international communication, the media and the Internet.

Whether it is for professional or personal reasons, understanding the importance of English will help you reach your goals. Here are a few reasons why you should keep learning and practicing your English language skills.

1. English is the Language of International Communication

Although English is not the most spoken language in the world, it is the official language in 53 countries and is spoken as a first language by around 400 million people worldwide. But that’s not all, it is also the most common second language in the world. According to the British Council, by 2020 about two billion people in the world will be studying English.

Therefore, it is highly likely that if you meet someone from another country, you will both be able to speak English. It gives you an open door to the world and helps you communicate with global citizens.

2. English gives access to more entertainment and more access to the Internet

Nowadays, many films, TV shows, books and music are published and produced in English. By understanding English, you won’t need to rely on translations and subtitles anymore. By accessing these media, you will also continuously improve your English listening and reading skills.

English is currently the language of the internet. An estimated of 565 million people use the internet every day and about 52% of the world’s most visited websites are displayed in English. Therefore, learning this language gives access to over half the content of the internet, which might not be available otherwise. Whether it is for fun or for work, if you understand English, you will be able to exchange information with more people online and use many more materials.

3. English makes it easier to travel

As highlighted before, since English is spoken as a first language in 53 countries and as a second language in over 118 countries, learning the language makes it much easier to travel anywhere. Indeed, airport announcements, train timetables, emergency information and street signs are often available in English, including in countries where the native language uses a different type of alphabet. It goes without saying that, when travelling to a country where you don’t speak the language, you are practically guaranteed to find someone who understands at least some English.

4. English can make you ‘smarter’

Learning a foreign language enhances your cognitive and analytical abilities. Learning a new language can be difficult and it involves a lot of mental exercises. Research from a 2012 Swiss Study shows that learning a new language changes the brain structures, impacting the parts of the brain responsible for memory, conscious thought and it can make you more creative. In the long term, bilingualism can keep the brain strong and healthy into old age and supports concentration and memory skills. On an individual level, it improves personality and increases sense of self-worth. In simple words, learning a foreign language makes the brain stronger and more versatile.

Ex. 1: Think about your personal reasons for learning English.

Subject file GLOBALIZATION: Exploitation

 

Courtesy: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/world-3-0-global/9781422142752/HBSP38649_chapter09.html

Globalization's economic model can lead to worker and resource exploitation by allowing multinational corporations to relocate production to less-regulated regions with cheap labor and lax environmental standards, often leaving the host countries with little independent economic growth and exacerbating global inequality. This exploitation manifests as low wages, dangerous working conditions, and the depletion of natural resources, creating a new form of economic colonialism where wealthier nations benefit at the expense of poorer ones. 

How Globalization Leads to Exploitation

Cheap Labor and Low Regulation: Companies can exploit weaker labor and environmental laws in developing countries by shifting production to these regions, reducing their operating costs. 

Increased Competition: Globalization increases competition between local labor markets, which can drive down wages and worker protections as companies seek the lowest possible labor costs. 

Corporate Dominance: Large multinational corporations can gain significant control in developing nations, leading to monopolies, resource depletion, and violations of human and labor rights, often bypassing national accountability mechanisms. 

Dependency on Global North: The global south's reliance on the global north for manufacturing and demand for low-cost labor can trap developing economies in a cycle of dependence, hindering their industrialization and economic self-sufficiency. 

Displacement and Land Grabbing: The demand for resources and agricultural land by foreign entities can lead to the displacement of local communities and the loss of fertile land, as seen in the depletion of fishing stocks and agricultural decline in some regions. 

Consequences of Exploitation

Increased Inequality: While some nations and individuals benefit, others become poorer, creating a polarized world with growing wealth disparities. 

Brain Drain: Skilled workers and graduates may leave their home countries in search of better opportunities abroad, weakening the local economy and creating a "brain drain". 

Environmental Degradation: Resource exploitation by foreign corporations can contribute to the depletion of natural resources and environmental damage in vulnerable countries. 

Erosion of Human Rights: The pursuit of profit can lead to widespread human rights abuses, including forced labor, dangerous working conditions, and the violation of workers' rights. 

New Form of Colonialism: The economic exploitation of the global south by the global north has been described as a modern form of colonialism, where power is exerted through economic rather than direct political mean.

Subject File GLOBALIZATION

 Introduction: What is globalization?

Ex. 1: Topic vocab. Match the words with the correct definitions.

	Topic vocabulary	No.	Definition
1	global trade		… countries with little or no industrial or economic activity where people have low incomes
2	developed countries		… a nation’s economy progressing towards developed and advanced
3	global village		… refers to the economy of the world comprising economies of different countries closely interrelated
4	outsourcing		… a workplace with unacceptably severe conditions and usually extremely low wages
5	developing countries		… the whole world looked at as a single community that is connected by electronic communication systems
6	emerging economy; emerging market economy		… countries with a lot of industrial or economic activity where people have high incomes
7	global economy		… the exchange of goods between countries
8	sweatshop		… finding goods or services outside the country

Ex. 2: Watch the video and check your answers in Ex. 1. Then compare them with the KEY.

Ex. 3: Pros and Cons of Globalization.

-> Read the text and decide whether the statements are true or false.

The Pros and Cons of Globalization

  

		True	False
a)	The outsourcing of manufacturing jobs in advanced economies is due to the higher level of skills in developing countries.
b)	Globalization leads to higher productivity and output in countries, more jobs, increased wages, and decreased product prices in the world economy.
c)	Globalization has contributed to reducing the number of people suffering from poverty around the world.
d)	Consumer goods such as household appliances, cars, or apparel have become less affordable due to globalization.

KEY 

Ex. 1: 5; 6; 7; 8; 3; 2; 1; 4

Ex. 3: a) False/due to cheaper labor costs; b) True; c) True; d) False/more affordable