Summary
This ESL lesson plan is designed for C2-level English students to master advanced conditional structures essential for formal communication, particularly in policy writing. The material uses a variety of exercises to teach inverted conditionals (e.g., "Had we...", "Were we to..."), and implied conditions using phrases like "provided that" and "otherwise."
This lesson helps proficient students enhance their formal writing and speaking skills. Activities include a warm-up discussion on policy drafting, a listening gap-fill exercise, a vocabulary matching task with terms common in policy documents, and a reading comprehension activity based on a sample hybrid work policy. Students will practice these complex grammatical forms through targeted exercises and a final speaking activity involving policy-based scenarios, enabling them to communicate with greater precision and formality.
Activities
- A warm-up discussion about the goals and challenges of drafting effective policies, setting the context for the lesson's grammatical focus.
- A listening gap-fill exercise where students identify advanced conditional structures used in a formal, policy-related context.
- A grammar focus section and practice exercise on inverted conditionals (omitting 'if') and implied conditions to build accuracy and confidence.
- A reading comprehension task based on a corporate blog post about a hybrid work policy, allowing students to see the target language used in an authentic context.
- A guided speaking practice where students discuss hypothetical policy scenarios, applying the advanced conditional structures and vocabulary learned throughout the lesson.
Vocabulary focus
The vocabulary section introduces essential terms for understanding and drafting policy documents. Key words include "anticipate," "mitigate," "resilient," "liabilities," "rigorously," and "capital expenditure." Students learn these terms through a definition-matching exercise that solidifies their understanding in a relevant context.
Grammar focus
This lesson concentrates on advanced conditional structures that are prevalent in formal and policy-related writing. The primary focus is on inverted conditionals, where "if" is omitted and an auxiliary verb is used to start the clause (e.g., "Had we known...", "Were the council to approve..."). It also covers implied conditions using phrases like "provided that" and "otherwise" to convey conditionality in a sophisticated manner.
