General English I

(101253)
2022-2023

Anca Daniela Frumuselu, PhD

ancadaniela.frumuselu@udl.cat
 UNIT 2
Black Lives Matter (BLM)

Outline
 Readings of speeches & newspaper articles
 Group discussions on racism, multiculturalism,
race, gender
 Video watching +listening comprehension
 Language focus: collocations, idioms, proverbs,
phrasal verbs
 Grammar: unreal time + subjunctive
The Statue of Edward Colston in Bristol -a 17th
century British slave trader
In June 2020, in one of these anti-racism demonstrations in Bristol (England),
the bronze statue of Edward Colston, a 17th century British slave trader, was
toppled down and thrown into the harbour as a symbolic way of highlighting
the injustice of slavery and the long-lasting effects of institutionalised forms of
racism.
The replacement of Edward Colston statue with the
statue of the Black Lives Matter protester
The Roots of
BLM Listen to the following piece of news from BBC News Slave trader’s statue toppled in Bristol as
thousands join anti-racism protests and answer the questions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs36SAytfuE
Vocabulary:
 Pull down= destroy, tear down
 Topple=collapse, fall down
 Urge smo= to advise smo strongly
 Subvert=attack, harm a government/a law
 Thuggery=violent behaviour
 Fall from grace=lose you position/respect
 Revile for=hate or criticize smo
 Cast (in bronze)=form an object with a mould
 To dog (vb)=to cause problems/embarrass
 Docks=harbour
The Roots of
 Vandalism=destroy/damage deliberately public properties
 Kick in the face= upset/disturb

BLM  Counter protest=opposing protest

 Follow up= to do something more to deal with it
 Disorderly=behaving in a noisy and violent way
 Low-key approach=discrete
 Disperse=people separate and go in different directions
 March= group of people protesting about sth
 Tackle=deal with
 To mar= to spoil something
 Take to the streets=start doing something as a habit
 Trigger=make something happen
 Police custody= arrest
 Call for efforts=public and formal request
 Criminal damage= illegal harm/destruction
 Aftermath= the effects and results of something bad or important
 The Roots of BLM

 Handling of something=dealing with something

 Red rag to a bull= something that will make someone very angry
 Overarching cause=affecting and including everyone
 Brutality=extreme violence
 Tangible=important, obvious
 Riots=violent protests
 Speaking Activity
Role Play. Work in groups of 3. Each member should take one of the following
roles:
1. You are one of the BLM local organizers. Talk about the origins of the
movement and why you decided to organize a similar event in your city. Talk
about the implications of this movement worldwide and how it spread around
various cities in the world.
2. You are a BLM protester who was invited together with one of the local
organizers to the local radio station to talk about the recent BLM movements that
have taken place in the city. Talk briefly about the movement and explain why
you decided to take place in the event.
3. You are a local radio host and you’ve been following the recent BLM
movements around the world. You decided to interview one of the local BLM
organizer that has been involved in promoting the event in the city and one of the
protesters that has participated in the event. Prepare a few questions for them to
make the local audience aware of this movement and its implication in the world.
 I have a dream…
Martin Luther King
Civil Rights Movement
American civil rights movement
 Mass protest movement against racial segregation and discrimination in the
southern United States that came to national prominence during the mid-1950s
 This movement had its roots in the centuries-long efforts of African slaves and
their descendants to resist racial oppression and abolish the institution of
slavery  which had been in abolished in 1865, after the Civil War
 Although American slaves were emancipated as a result of the Civil War and
were then granted basic civil rights through the passage of the Fourteenth
and Fifteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution  struggles to secure
federal protection of these rights continued during the next century
 I have a dream…
Martin Luther King
 Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael
Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin
 His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist
Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931
 From 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor
 Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from
high school at the age of fifteen
 He received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished
Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had
graduated
 With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston
University receiving his doctorate degree in 1955
 In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon
intellectual and artistic attainments  Two sons and two daughters
 I have a dream…
Martin Luther King

 In 1954 Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
in Montgomery, Alabama.
 A member of the executive committee of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation
 In December, 1955  accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent
demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott 
lasted 382 days
 On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had
declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and
whites rode the buses as equals.
 During these days of boycott  King was arrested, his home was bombed, he
was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro
leader of the first rank
 I have a dream…
Martin Luther King

 Between 1957 and 1968  travelled over six million miles and spoke over
twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and
action
 Led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama  caught the attention of the
entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience and inspiring his
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the Negro revolution
 Planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters
 Directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he
delivered his speech "l Have a Dream“
 Was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times
 Was awarded five honorary degrees  was named Man of the Year by Time
magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks
but also a world figure
 I have a dream…
Martin Luther King

 At 35  Martin Luther King, Jr.  the youngest man to have received the
Nobel Peace Prize
 When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the
prize money of $54,123 to the civil rights movement
 April 4, 1968 while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis,
Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking
garbage workers of that city  he was assassinated
 I have a Dream…..
 Listen to the I have a Dream…speech and answer the following questions:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs
 What was the impact of his speeches and lectures for the humanity?
 What was the main aim of his ‘I have a dream..’speech?
 How could you define his leader figure in comparison to the BLM figures of the
protesters nowadays?
 What similarities and differences can you find between the civil right movement
and the BLM movement?
 What was the impact of his actions? Were the demonstrations he led
transformed into concrete facts in favour of the black community?
 What was the most striking aspect from his speech for you?
 What about the language used to deliver his speech? The tone, the pace? Is it
different in any way from the BLM protesters’ use of language? In what way?
 I have a Dream…..
 His lectures and remarks stirred the concern and sparked the
conscience of a generation
 His courageous and selfless devotion gave direction to thirteen
years of civil rights activities
 His charismatic leadership inspired men and women, young and
old, in the nation and abroad
 Concept of somebodiness  gave black and poor people a
new sense of worth and dignity
 His philosophy of non-violent direct action led to rational
and non-destructive social change
 The Voting Rights Act of 1965  went to Congress as a result
of the Selma to Montgomery march
 I have a Dream…..
 "I Have a Dream" is a 17-minute public speech  delivered on August
28, 1963
 Called for racial equality and an end to discrimination
 The speech, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the march on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom  a defining moment of the
American Civil Rights Movement
 Delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters
 "Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those
steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be
recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he
informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and
unborn generations” (U.S. Representative John Lewis)
 I have a Dream…..
 Vocabulary:
 Creed=set of religious beliefs
 Swelter=be affected in an uncomfortable way by extreme heat
 Vicious=extremely violent
 Dripping=very wet
 Interposition=the action of a state that interposes its sovereignty between the citizens and
the federal state
 Nullification=the action of a state impeding something from happening within its territory
 Exalt=to raise in rank, power
 Crooked=dishonest, not straight
 Hew out=continue to use or do something
 Jangling=to make noise
 Discords=disagreement between people
 Curvaceous=busty, curving shapes
 Hamlet=small village
 I have a Dream…..

We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the

fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and
the hotels of the cities (M.L King).

 Green Book is a 2018 American biographical comedy-drama film

directed by Peter Farrelly.
 Set in 1962, the film is inspired by the true story of a tour of the
Deep South by African American classical and jazz pianist Don
Shirley and Italian American bouncer Frank ‘Tony Lip’ Vallelonga,
who served as Shirley’s driver and bodyguard.
Rivers of Blood Speech by Enoch
Powell

 Read Powell’s speech and watch the following video and answer the
questions:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G4ydhxeFrA&feature=related
 Follow the instruction sent to the Virtual Campus
 Reading comprehension-answer the questions in the word document
sent to the virtual campus
 Rivers of Blood Speech by Enoch
Powell
 John Enoch Powell (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998)  British politician,
classical scholar, poet, writer, linguist and soldier
 Served as a Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP)
 Attained most prominence in 1968  a controversial speech against immigration,
now widely referred to as the "Rivers of Blood" speech
 A poll at the time  74% of the UK population agreed with Powell's opinions
 His supporters claim that this large public following that Powell attracted helped
the Conservatives to win the 1970 general election
 Before entering politics  a classical scholar, becoming a full Professor of
Ancient Greek at the age of 25
 Served in both staff and intelligence positions during the Second World War
 Wrote poetry and many books on classical and political subjects
 Rivers of Blood Speech by Enoch
Powell
 "Rivers of Blood" speech
 On 20 April 1968  a controversial speech in Birmingham in which he warned his
audience of what he believed would be the consequences of continued unchecked
immigration from the Commonwealth to Britain
 The Times declared it "an evil speech", stating, "This is the first time that a serious
British politician has appealed to racial hatred in this direct way in our post-war
history."
 The main political issue addressed by the speech was not immigration as such
 Introduction by the Labour Government of the Race Relations Act 1968  he
found it offensive and immoral
 The Act  prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race in certain areas of British
life, particularly housing, where many local authorities had been refusing to provide
houses for immigrant families until they had lived in the country for a certain number
of years
 Rivers of Blood Speech by Enoch
Powell
 One feature of his speech  quotation of a letter he claimed to have received
detailing the experiences of one of his constituents in Wolverhampton
 The writer described the fate of an elderly woman who was supposedly the last
white person living in her street
 She had repeatedly refused applications from non-whites requiring rooms-to-let,
which resulted in her being called a "racialist" outside her home and receiving
"excreta" through her letterbox
 The Sunday Times branded his speeches "racialist“  Powell sued it for libel but
withdrew when he was required to provide the letters he had quoted from because
he had promised anonymity from the writer, who refused to waive it
Rivers of Blood Speech by Enoch
Powell
 After the 'Rivers of Blood' speech Powell transformed into a national
public figure and won huge support across Britain
 Several mass demonstrations took place three days after his speech 
the working class support, such as trade unionists in London and
Wolverhampton
 Thirty years after the speech  Edward Heath admitted that Powell's
remarks on the "economic burden of immigration" had been "not without
prescience"
 In an interview for Today in 1991 Margaret Thatcher said that Powell
had "made a valid argument, if in sometimes regrettable terms"
 Rivers of Blood Speech by Enoch
Powell
Vocabulary:
 Whence=old term from where/as a result
 Beset=to cause smo danger or difficulty
 Dispose=likely to behave/think in a certain
way
 Shirk=avoid something
 Stir up=cause/provoke
 Inflow=amount of something that arrives
 Outflow=amount of something that goes away
 Heap up=leading
 Pyre=a pile of wood to burn dead bodies at
funeral ceremonies
 Tail off=become quieter/weaker
 Suffice=be enough
 Vociferously=express your idea loud and with force
 Peril=danger
 Fare=to say how well or badly someone does something
 Disgruntled=disappointed and annoyed
 Pillory=criticize someone publicly
 Ominous=serious/grave
 Ludicrous=extremely silly
 Vested interest=special interest in something because you
know it will benefit you
 Overcast=sky full of clouds
 Canker=disease that affects plants and tress
 Overawe= to frighten someone
 Foreboding=feeling something badly will happen
 Volition=will
 Avert=prevent something bad or harmful from happening
 UNREAL TIME + SUBJUNCTIVE

 Conditional

 Wish / If only

 Imagine / what if / suppose /  Did it happen? NO!

supposing
 Did s/he do it? NO!
 As if / As though

 I’d rather/ I’d prefer

 It’s (high/about) time

 CONDITIONAL
 For hypothetical and unlikely current, future or general conditions (2 nd
Conditional)

 I wouldn’t accept a job unless I was absolutely sure what the salary was. (no job
opportunity)

 If you worked as a politician, would you get involved in our environmental

breakdown? (no politician)

 For hypothetical past conditions (3rd Conditional)

 If I had known, I would have taken some dollars with me. (no money)

 If I had been running the bank, I would have helped you. I promise. (no help)
 WISH / IF ONLY

 Wishes where you want to change a present/future state.

 I wish I had more money / If only we could come to your party.

 Wishes referring to a past event, which cannot be changed and it is a

regret.

 I wish I hadn’t eaten so much / If only I had bought that lottery ticket.

 Situations we are not happy about/annoying habits and where we want

someone else to change them.

 I wish it would stop raining / If only you wouldn’t make such a mess.
 IMAGINE / WHAT IF / SUPPOSE /
SUPPOSING

 To consider hypothetical or unlikely current, future or general situations

 Imagine your sister told you that she was a spy.

 To consider hypothetical or unlikely past situations

 Supposing you had won the lottery last year, what would you have done?

 If the event has a real possibility, you can use the present tense. Which one
is more likely to happen?

 Suppose it starts raining, what will we do? (more likely)

 Suppose it started raining, what would you do? (less likely)

 AS IF / AS THOUGH

 The situation is true present

 You look as if you’re having second thoughts. (True. You’re having

second thoughts)

 She looks as if she’s really wealthy. (It’s very possible she’s wealthy)

 The situation is unreal  past

 I feel as if an express train had hit me. (It didn’t hit me)

 He acts as if he were in charge. (He isn’t in charge)

 I’D RATHER/ I’D PREFER
 Wishes for current, general and future preference

 Preference, same person:

 Rather bare infinitive: She’d rather not borrow any money from you.

 Prefer full infinitive: She’d prefer not to borrow any money from you.

 Preference regarding someone else:

 Rather clause: I’d rather you didn’t smoke in here.

 Prefer it + past verb: I’d prefer it if you didn’t smoke.

 Prefer object + infinitive: I’d prefer him to sit in your seat.

 Wishes for past preference

 IT’S (HIGH/ABOUT) TIME

 To suggest that something should be done now or in the immediate

future

 It’s time I went home.

 It’s high time something was done about this.

 Use of an infinitive?

 CORRECT it’s time: It’s time to think about getting a loan.

 INCORRECT It’s high/about time: It’s high time *to think about
getting a loan.
 Hypothetical Situations/Unreal
time-Practice
Role-play. Engage in a conversation with your
partner using If only/I wish/Supposing, etc
Student A
You are white upper class male person born and
raised in London who is opposing the massive
inflow of immigration to the UK because you think
this would lead to social conflicts, to poor social
and health services, to a lack of opportunity for
the local population.
E.g. I wish you went back to your country of
origin.
If only you would stop taking advantage of our
health system!
Student B
You are an immigrant from Nigeria moving to
the UK to look for better life opportunities.
You are eager to study and get a job in order
to be able to maintain your family and soon
help them come to live with you. You are in
favour of the inclusion of immigrants and you
state that any person could bring benefits to
the country of residence.
E.g. It’s high time you accepted us as part of
this country.
I wish you understood we are coming here
to look for new life opportunities.
 BLM (Black Lives Matter)
The New York Times-newspaper article
Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History by Larry
Buchanan, Quoctrung Bui and Jugal K. Patel July 3, 2020
https://
portside.org/2020-07-09/black-lives-matter-may-be-largest-movement-us-history

“It looks, for all the world, like these protests are achieving what very few do:
setting in motion a period of significant, sustained, and widespread social,
political change,” Professor McAdam said. “We appear to be experiencing a
social change tipping point — that is as rare in society as it is potentially
consequential.”
 BLM (Black Lives Matter)
The New York Times-newspaper article
Read the newspaper article and discuss the following aspects:
 Why are the recent BLM protests considered one of the largest movement in the
country’s history?
 How many people stated they participated in recent demonstrations?
 How are these protests compared to the civil rights marches in the 1960s?
 Why is this movement different from the rest?
 How is the BLM movement related to the Trump administration?
 Who are the main protesters in the US?
 What is Juneteenth and why have the demonstrations increased during that
period?
 Multiculturalism

“We can love what we are, without hating what – and who – we are not. We can
thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their
teachings.”
Kofi Annan (1938 – 2018), former Secretary-General of the United Nations
 Multiculturalism

Which countries or cities Would you describe

What is multiculturalism?
would you describe as where you live as
What are the main benefits
multicultural? Do the different multicultural? What are
of multiculturalism to a
cultures in these places have the different cultures
society? Are multicultural
a good relationship with each that live in your
societies more successful
other? Would you like to live country? Do they all get
than less diverse societies?
in any of these places? along?

Should children be Are people who live in

What are the benefits of
taught about multicultural societies
multiculturalism for
multiculturalism and are more or less
businesses and for the
tolerance of different tolerant than those that
economy of a country?
cultures in school? don't?
 Multiculturalism
Vocabulary
 to assimilate (verb), assimilation (noun) – to adopt the cultural values of the wider
population.
 to integrate (verb), integration (noun) – to retain cultural values and practices while
also participating and contributing to a new society and also to be accepted by that
society.
 to segregate (verb), segregation (noun) – to be apart from others or to separate
people from others; the state of being apart from others or the policy of separating
people.
 melting pot (noun) – a society in which different cultures 'melt together' towards a
common, homogeneous culture, usually by assimilation.
 salad bowl / cultural mosaic (noun) – a society in which different cultures are
integrated while maintaining their different cultural identities.
 intercultural (adjective), interculturalism (noun) – a community that promotes
communication, understanding and dialogue between different cultures and
challenges the self-segregation of certain members of that community
 Multiculturalism
 You are going to watch a video by TRT World which asks whether multiculturalism
has failed.
 https://yourenglishpal.com/blog/esl-conversation-lesson-plan-multiculturalism/
Multiple choice
 1. What policy has the UK never had?
 a) how to segregate immigrants b) how to integrate immigrants c) how to deport
immigrants
 2. What did immigrants establish in the UK?
 a) their own communities b) their own religion c) their own laws
 3. Some people have criticised immigration to the UK saying it could result in what?
a) integration b) segregation c) better food
 4. What did David Cameron and Angela Merkel call for?
 a) more mixing b) more deportations c) more segregation
 Multiculturalism
 You are going to watch a video by TRT World which asks whether multiculturalism
has failed.
 https://yourenglishpal.com/blog/esl-conversation-lesson-plan-multiculturalism/
Multiple choice
 1. What policy has the UK never had?
 a) how to segregate immigrants b) how to integrate immigrants c) how to deport
immigrants
 2. What did immigrants establish in the UK?
 a) their own communities b) their own religion c) their own laws
 3. Some people have criticised immigration to the UK saying it could result in what?
a) integration b) segregation c) better food
 4. What did David Cameron and Angela Merkel call for?
 a) more mixing b) more deportations c) more segregation
 Multiculturalism

 Sentence completion
 5. Many people interpreted David Cameron's speech as targeting _______
communities.
 6. Kimberly Mcintosh accused David Cameron of confusing multiculturalism with
_________.
 7. British Bangladeshis make up the largest _________in Tower Hamlets.
 8. There is resentment in the Bangladeshi community in Tower Hamlets because of
immigration from ____________.
 Short answer
 9. Immigration has caused a rise in which kind of movements across Europe?
 10. How many gold medals did Mo Farah win at the Olympics?
 11. Which areas of British society have immigrants and their children become integral
to? 12. What exposed deep rooted frustrations with the idea of multiculturalism?
 Multiculturalism

 Sentence completion
 5. Many people interpreted David Cameron's speech as targeting Muslim communities.
 6. Kimberly Mcintosh accused David Cameron of confusing multiculturalism with
extremism.
 7. British Bangladeshis make up the largest ethnic group in Tower Hamlets.
 8. There is resentment in the Bangladeshi community in Tower Hamlets because of
immigration from Eastern Europe.
 Short answer
 9. Immigration has caused a rise in which kind of movements across Europe? Far right
 10. How many gold medals did Mo Farah win at the Olympics? 4
 11. Which areas of British society have immigrants and their children become integral to?
Health, media, politics, business
 12. What exposed deep rooted frustrations with the idea of multiculturalism? The EU
Referendum
 Multiculturalism
Speaking task
You are invited to give a talk on the topics of multiculturalism and immigration at the local library. In groups of 3 or 4
explain the following terms to the audience as if they have never heard of them. Use the vocabulary and the
terminology discussed in class:
 Choose 3-4 terms from the list below and also use examples to support your ideas:
 Multiculturalism
 Segregation
 Interculturalism
 Salad bowl
 Melting pot
 Assimilation
 Civil Rights Movement
 Somebodiness
 The Voting Rights Act
 Anti-racist protests