The language lessons designed to follow on from the story focused on comprehension skills, grammar (tenses) and writing (personal diary and informal letter). I wanted the students to get more out of the lesson.
For 15-year olds living in the 21st Century and struggling with the English Language, I decided to do two things.
1. Design a bilingual vocabulary exercise.
VOCABULARY: Minamata
Match the words to the correct meanings by writing the letters (A-P) in the table below. (The Malay translation has been given to help you understand the word better)
|
|
| English | Malay |
| 1 | representative (line 7)
|
| wakil |
| 2 | dumping (line 8)
|
| membuang |
| 3 | insisted (line 9)
|
| menyatakan dengan tegas |
| 4 | waste (line 9)
|
| sisa |
| 5 | puppet (line 13)
|
| patung |
| 6 | residents (line 14)
|
| penduduk |
| 7 | victim (line 14)
|
| mangsa |
| 8 | symptoms (line 20)
|
| tanda |
| 9 | numb (line 20)
|
| kaku |
| 10 | suspect (line 22)
|
| mengesyaki |
| 11 | contaminate (line 33)
|
| yang dicemarkan |
| 12 | protestors (line 33) |
| orang-orang yang membantah |
| 13 | compensation (line 36)
|
| ganti rugi |
| 14 | memorial (line 39)
|
| tanda peringatan |
| 15 | diminished (line 41)
|
| berkurang |
| 16 | prohibited (line 42)
|
| ditegah |
| A. Something that is built or done to remind people of an event or a person | B. Money that you pay to somebody because you have injured him/her or lost or damaged his/her things | C. To get rid of something that you do not want, especially in a place which is not suitable | D. To become smaller |
| E. Materials that are not needed and therefore thrown away | F. A person who has been chosen to act or speak for somebody else or for a group | G. A person or animal that is injured, killed or hurt by somebody or something | H. Not allowed |
| I. Signs of illness | J. To infect or pollute | K. People who publicly say or show that they do not agree with something | L. To say firmly that something is true |
| M. To believe or guess that something may be true | N. A doll that you can move by pulling the strings tied to it or by putting your hand inside it | O. Not able to feel anything | P. People who live in a place |
2. Provide visuals for a deeper understanding.
THE OUTCOME
A student who had previously been unable to stay on-task and was generally disruptive, upon looking at the vocabulary exercise, was the first to start and complete the exercise. I was genuinely taken aback by his response. As I observed and talked to him, it was as though finally there was something he could do. He was focused and appeared quite please with himself. Overall, this exercise helped with the comprehension passage.
However, the impact of the event only truly hit the students after watching the video clip.
Questions began to surface: Is this real? Is this disease still around? Do the Japanese still suffer from this tragedy?
Understanding that some Bruneians work as fishermen, I got the students to consider the implications of such a tragedy on the nation. By this point, the students could easily describe the emotions they would feel; that of anger and sadness. We also considered motives of businesses and the type of information made available to the public, as well as the price of industrialization.
I believe that the students received more from that then they would have by completing tasks on grammar and writing. The simple lesson provided the students with opportunities to think critically about the factors affecting our environment and the possible repercussions.
(Note: This was based on my practicum at Mentiri Secondary School last semester)
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