Learn In Your Sleep, Researchers Say
U.S. researchers suggest sleeping can help us remember things we have just learnt. A team from Northwestern University report that a 90-minute nap can help people learn a new skill. The article on their research is published in the June edition of the journal "Nature". The scientists say: "Information acquired during waking can be reactivated during sleep, promoting memory stabilization." Test volunteers practised musical tunes before and after a short sleep. During the nap, the researchers played one of the tunes the volunteers had practised, but not the other. The team found that the participants made fewer errors when playing the melody that had been played while they slept.
Study co-author Dr Paul J. Reuber points out the research might not work with learning a foreign language while you sleep. He said: "The critical difference is that our research shows that memory is strengthened for something you've already learned." He added: "Rather than learning something new in your sleep, we're talking about enhancing an existing memory by re-activating information recently acquired." However, Dr Reuber did say there were possibilities for language learners: "If you were learning how to speak in a foreign language during the day, for example, and then tried to reactivate those memories during sleep, perhaps you might enhance your learning," he said.
Work in pairs or groups
2. Putin is ‘Time’ magazine’s person of 2007
1. TIME MAGAZINE WINNERS:With your partner(s), discuss why the following previous winners of Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” award won. Do you think they deserved to win?
| · Mahatma Ghandi (1930) · Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson (1936) · Adolf Hitler (1938) · Joseph Stalin(1939,1942) · Martin Luther King Jr (1963) · American Women (1975) · The computer (1982) | · Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (1987, 1989) · The Peacemakers (1993) · Bill Clinton (1998) · George W Bush (2000 & 2004) · The American soldier (2003) · Barack Obama (2008) · Mark Zuckerberg (2010) |
Person of the year SURVEY
In pairs / groups, interview other students. Write down their answers. Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.
| Survey | STUDENT 1 _____________ | STUDENT 2 __________ | STUDENT 3 _______ |
| Q.1. · Do you like the idea of a person of the year award? · Do you think the Time award is too biased towards Americans? · What do you think of Vladimir Putin as the winner? · What do you think of an award that either a hero or villain can get? · How do you think Vladimir Putin has shaped the world? · Do you think one of the runners up were more deserving than Vladimir Putin? | |||
| Q.2. · What do you think of the past winners of the award? · Do you think there are or have been perfect leaders in any country? · Is it right for a leader to bring the country’s media under control? · Why do you think Vladimir Putin is so popular in his country? · Do you agree with the Kremlin that the award will help people understand that Russia is a democratic country? · What questions would you like to ask Vladimir Putin? |
Calls to Punish Bad Language in Football
1.SWEARING: Complete this table with your partners. Share what you wrote with the other couple.
| Swearing… | How bad? | Should it be stopped? How? |
| at parents | ||
| with friends | ||
| in sports | ||
| in politics | ||
| in front of kids | ||
| under your breath |
2. ROLE MODELS:Who should definitely not use bad language? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best role model at the top. Share your rankings.
| · grandmother · teacher · monarch · son/daughter | · political leader · church leader · captain of national sports team · spouse |
3.TWO-MINUTE DEBATES:
Students A stronglybelieve there is a place for foul language; Students B strongly believe not. Present your arguments to the group.
Four-letter language SURVEY
In pairs / groups, interview other students. Write down their answers. Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.
| Survey | STUDENT 1 _____________ | STUDENT 2 __________ | STUDENT 3 _______ |
| Q.1. · What springs to mind when you hear the term 'bad language'? · What do you think of people who use bad language? · Have you ever been shocked because of bad language? · Do you think bad language in English is worse, not as bad or the same as in your language? · Do you think there are people who never use bad language? · Do you think it's OK for sports players to use bad language? | |||
| Q.2. · Is thinking bad language as bad as using it? · What should soccer players say instead of a 4-letter word when they are really frustrated with themselves? · Do you think players would swear less if they knew they could be sent off for using foul language? · Do footballers have a bigger responsibility to not swear because they are paid so well? · Which is worse – a tennis player using bad language or a soccer player? Why? · Who should never use bad language? |