Free Talk: Revitalized neighbourhoods or ghost towns?

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

• identify and talk about the concept of community and gentrification;
• watch an informational video on gentrification and analyse its key points;
• complete opinions on gentrification with correct vocabulary and discuss solutions to tackle gentrification problems.

In this lesson, students brainstorm the meaning of ‘community’, talk about neighbourhood dynamics, watch a short video on gentrification and examine its main aspects. They also develop their critical thinking by talking about gentrification and its impacts. Students explore and practise vocabulary (e.g. urban sprawl, cultural divide, up-and-coming neighbourhood, etc.), analyse opinions, look into possible solutions to tackle the challenges of gentrification and assess their effectiveness.   

DISCUSSION AND VIDEO

This lesson focuses on talking about gentrification and starts with a warm-up in which students brainstorm what ‘community’ means and evaluate whether its meaning has changed in their lifetime. Following that, they discuss questions about community and neighbourhood dynamics and share their perspectives. Then, students prepare to watch a short video about gentrification. They read a piece of information about a protest and brainstorm what the issue was. After that, students watch the first part of the video to check their ideas. Then, they watch the second part of the video and discuss what is mentioned about some specific points (foreign investment, ghost towns and loss of community).  

TALKING ABOUT GENTRIFICATION

In this part of the lesson, students continue talking about gentrification and discuss questions on recognizing and understanding its effects. Then, they analyse some opinions about gentrification and choose the correct word to complete useful phrases (e.g. displace existing residents, cultural divide, revitalize urban areas, etc.). After that, students choose any four statements from the previous task and explain whether they agree or disagree with them. Afterwards, they examine some solutions to tackle the problems of gentrification and assess their effectiveness, thinking of specific examples and potential challenges. Finally, students complete some statements about tourism with their own ideas. The statements are about challenges and considerations for tourists in experiencing authentic local culture.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This lesson also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students create social media posts for hypothetical scenarios using the vocabulary from the lesson. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.