Learning English with CBC
Listening Lessons for Intermediate Students
Based on CBC Manitoba Radio Broadcasts
September 27, 2013
Lesson 90: Self Study Edition
Level:
CLB 6 and up
Topic:
Career Planning in Changing World
Language Skills and Functions:
Listening – listening to a short interview for fact and
opinion
Speaking – expressing opinions; asking information
questions
Reading – reading/completing a chart
Writing
– writing a descriptive paragraph
Language Competencies:
Language Tasks:
Vocabulary, Pronunciation, Listening and Speaking
Strategies, Socio-cultural/sociolinguistic Competence
Answer questions about student career planning services in your
country
Use new vocabulary in context
Listen to an interview about career planning for students and their
parents; decide what is fact and what is opinion
Write a descriptive paragraph about student career planning services in
your community
Read a chart and check off personal work-related likes/dislikes
Write sentences to explain work-related likes/dislikes
Write/ask information questions about a job/career
Essential Skills: Reading text, oral communication, writing, document use
Appendices:
Transcript of the podcast
Answers to Worksheets
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 1 of 17
Manitoba Memo
Some people are lucky. They know from a young age what they want to do in life. They
pursue the right education, develop the necessary skills and find a job in their field when
they graduate. Twenty years or more later, they still love the field they chose.
But that kind of career path is more the exception than the rule. For many people, career
paths zig and zag. Their path is more a combination of life experiences than a straight road
to one career. Often, young people start out thinking they’ll go in one direction but change
their minds several times. Others graduate only to find that there are no job openings in
their field. Some get their degree but then find themselves working in a field they had never
even considered. Many young people take a year or two off after high school or in the
middle of obtaining a degree. They work at different jobs, volunteer, travel or do all three.
At some point during those “gap” years, they hope to figure out what they want to do in life,
or at least, in their first career.
Newcomers to Canada understand how challenging it can be to change careers and find job
opportunities. Like young people, they often find themselves wondering what kind of
training and skills they will need in their new country. They must also figure out which path
will be best for them in a changing job market and an unstable economy.
Anyone who wants more information about what career path is right for them or what kind of
jobs will be available in tomorrow’s economy can benefit from the advice of a career
counsellor. Whether it is a guidance counsellor at school, counsellors available through
colleges and universities or through special programs like Manitoba Start1, these trained
professionals can help you decide what kinds of things you like to do and where your talents
lie. They follow the trends in the economy and the job market. They know what employers
are looking for and how to help you best present your personal skill set.
What they can’t tell you is what you should do or which career is best for you. That’s
something you have to decide for yourself. Their role is to help you identify career options
that might work for you and help you figure out how you can pursue them.
There are also many books and on-line resources available to help with career planning.
That’s important because there’s one thing career counsellors agree on – the vast majority
of us will have two or more careers in our lifetime.
1
Manitoba Start counsellors assist adult newcomers identify their skills and talents and find jobs. The website is:
http://manitobastart.com/
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 2 of 17
Background
1. Answer questions about how students in your community plan their careers
Think about your community and how students plan their careers. Answer the following
questions. Do you have the language skills to give detailed information?
1. In high school, who helps students set goals and plan their careers? e.g. guidance counselors
2. What role do parents play in the decision-making?
3. What kind of financial assistance is available to enable students to access post-secondary
education?
4. Are both genders equally encouraged to get further training after high school and establish a
career?
5. What differences do you see between your community and other communities in how young
students set career goals and are able to achieve them?
2. Vocabulary definitions
Here are some words you need to know to understand the CBC interview.
a career counsellor
A career counsellor is someone who helps others
plan their career by giving advice etc.
a written guide to something
A guide is a book, brochure etc. that provides
information on a particular subject or explains how
to do something, e.g. an instruction book.
a career path
Your career path is how you progress in your career
and where you see yourself going. Where do you
want to be in five years? If you have a final
destination (e.g. teacher, V.P. of a company) you
will likely need a plan so you can get there.
Alternatively, a career path may be a series of jobs
and experiences rather than one goal.
to figure something out
If you figure something out, it means you think
about a problem or situation until you find out or
figure out the answer.
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 3 of 17
to cross the line
If you cross the line with your comments or
behaviour, it means you have gone too far. What
you are doing or saying is unacceptable to others.
For example, parents sometimes cross the line
when they tell their children they must follow a
specific career path without taking into
consideration their children’s wishes or talents.
a career planning service
A career planning service is an organization,
website, counsellor etc. that people use to help
them plan their career.
a scenario
A scenario is a situation that could possibly happen.
It’s realistic, but it isn’t necessarily true.
motivations
Someone’s motivations are the things that make
them want to do something, especially because
they find it interesting or exciting.
to impose something on someone
If you impose something on someone, you try to
force them to do something that they don’t want to
do.
to live in today’s reality
When people talk about living in today’s reality, it
means that they think about what’s happening now
when they make decisions.
the unemployment rate
The unemployment rate is the percentage of people
who are looking for work but are unable to find work.
to be underemployed
If someone is underemployed, it means that they
have a high skill level but cannot find a job to match
their skills. They are forced to take a lower skill/
lower paying job.
to be worse than
If you compare two things and one is worse than
the other, it means that it is a lower number, of
poorer quality etc. For example: The
underemployment rate for young people is worse
than the unemployment rate. Underemployment is
20% while unemployment is only 14%.
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 4 of 17
3. Can you predict what the interview is about?
In this interview Marcy Markusa interviews Winnipeg career counsellor and author Robert
Shewchuk. Can you predict what kind of career advice Robert might give today’s young
people and their parents? Here are some examples:
I think …he’ll tell them not be discouraged.
He might … tell young people to start planning their career before they go to
university.
Maybe…he’ll advise parents to let young people make up their own minds
about what career they want to pursue.
I wonder if … he’ll share information about what kinds of jobs will be available
in the future.
4. Get ready to listen
In this podcast, you will hear two speakers. You will hear:
Marcy Markusa – host
Robert Shewchuk – career counsellor and author of Careers for Kids
Play the podcast for the first time.
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 5 of 17
After-listening activities
1. Review pre-listening predictions
Were you able to predict what kinds of career advice Robert had for young people and
their parents?
2. Listen for fact and opinion
Is it fact or opinion? Sometimes it can be hard to tell. Listen to the podcast again. Decide
whether the following statements made by Marcy and Robert are fact or opinion. Here is a
guide you can use to help you determine what is fact and what is opinion.
F
fact
A fact is a statement that can be proven true or false, by using an
objective standard.
To determine whether something is a fact, ask yourself: Can I prove it?
Can I check whether it is true? Can I find statistics on this topic?
O
opinion Opinions are ideas or beliefs about a subject that someone believes to
be true but which cannot be measured against an objective standard.
People often believe opinions are facts when others share the same
opinion. But if it can’t be proven, it’s not a fact, it’s an opinion.
Words such as always, never, should, all, none, most, least, greatest,
best and worst are often used to express an opinion.
Statement
Fact or
Opinion?
F
1
Many university students don’t know what to do for their career.
2
Parents should be careful not to cross the line when they give career
advice to their children.
3
The best thing parents can do is understand what their kids like and dislike
and what motivates them.
4
Parents need to live in the reality of today’s workforce.
5
Some young people follow a career path but then find out there are no jobs
in that field when they graduate.
6
The underemployment rate for youth between the ages of 16 and 24 is
higher than the unemployment rate for this age group.
7
Many people have two or more careers in their lifetime.
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 6 of 17
3. Match expressions with their meaning
Sometimes when you listen, you find yourself wondering what particular expressions mean.
Even when you have a context, it can still be difficult to understand idioms and expressions.
Can you guess what each of the following expressions means when they are used by Marcy
or Robert? Find each of the expressions in the transcript. Look at how each expression is
used in a sentence. Think about the context. Choose the correct meaning.
1.
to impose what you think on someone
a) to force your ideas or views on someone
b) to improve your opinion of someone
c) to influence someone
2.
to head to university
a) to go to university, to be a student there
b) to select a university
c) to register for university
3.
to cross the line of telling someone what they should do
a) to lose your temper
b) to give orders to others
c) to go too far and say something that offends someone
4.
to be underemployed
a) to be employed in a non-managerial position
b) to be laid off and unable to find work
c) to be in a low paying job that does not match your skills or experience
5.
to figure something out
a) to form an opinion or solve a problem after thinking about it
b) to undertake a series of mathematical calculations
c) to guess the answer to a problem
6.
to live in today’s reality
a) to forget about the past
b) to take into account things that are happening now
c) to plan for the future
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 7 of 17
4. Write a descriptive paragraph about career planning services in your community
Think about how you answered the questions at the beginning of the lesson about student
career planning in your community. Use the writing guide below to write a paragraph on this
topic.
Opening sentence
to introduce the
topic
I think my community does a (good / poor) job of helping young people
set career goals and achieve them.
First point of
comparison
Students in my community begin to plan their careers when
_______________________________________________________.
They __________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________.
Second point of
comparison
Further, in our community, parents play a (major / minor) role
in helping their children decide ________________________
_______________. Parents are (very likely / unlikely) to
tell their children what they should study or where they should study.
They__________________________________________________.
Third point of
comparison
Finally, there is (a lot / very little) of financial assistance available to
students in my country. For example, _____________________
____________________________________________________.
Concluding /
summarizing
sentence
In conclusion, I think that career planning services for young people in
my country are (good / poor). We need to do (more / less) in this
area.
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 8 of 17
5. What are your work-related likes and dislikes?
When you are making career choices, it’s important to think about your work-related interests.
Read the following chart and check () whether you like or dislike each item.
WORK-RELATED INTERESTS2
LIKE
DISLIKE
Have a desk job
Ο
Ο
Earn a super-high income
Ο
Ο
Work outdoors
Ο
Ο
Make the decisions
Ο
Ο
Do the same things daily with little change
Ο
Ο
Have a high status job
Ο
Ο
Do contract work
Ο
Ο
Have job security
Ο
Ο
Do work that involves travelling
Ο
Ο
Be self-employed
Ο
Ο
Work in one location only
Ο
Ο
Have regular fixed hours
Ο
Ο
Work as part of a co-operative team
Ο
Ο
Work indoors
Ο
Ο
Work in multiple locations around the city/region
Ο
Ο
Work alone
Ο
Ο
Have flexible hours
Ο
Ο
Do physically active work
Ο
Ο
2
From Robert Shewchuk’s book, Careers For Kids. The worksheets are also available on his website:
http://startsmartcareers.com/
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 9 of 17
WORK-RELATED INTERESTS
LIKE
DISLIKE
Do different things each day
Ο
Ο
Keep accurate records
Ο
Ο
Keep learning new stuff
Ο
Ο
Deal directly with customers
Ο
Ο
Communicate ideas to others
Ο
Ο
Work with computers
Ο
Ο
Work in a large company with hundreds/thousands of employees
Ο
Ο
Be an expert in a specific career field
Ο
Ο
Work to make the world a better place
Ο
Ο
Do work that is dangerous or adventurous
Ο
Ο
Work at a job that won’t take over your life
Ο
Ο
Be your own boss
Ο
Ο
Wear whatever you like at work
Ο
Ο
Do something that is competitive
Ο
Ο
Dress up to go to work
Ο
Ο
Work in a small company where everyone knows you
Ο
Ο
Follow directions from your boss
Ο
Ο
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 10 of 17
6. Explain your work-related likes/dislikes in a sentence
First, think about the top five work–related likes that you chose in the last activity. 3
Write down your top five work-related likes and explain in one or two sentences why this is
something that you would like in a career.
Here is an example of how someone might explain why they like to do physically active work.
Like: physically active work
Why: I like physically active work because I like work that helps me stay fit.
I don’t like to sit at a desk all day.
1. Like:______________________________________________
Why?
_______________________________________________________
2. Like:______________________________________________
Why?
_______________________________________________________
3. Like:______________________________________________
Why?
_______________________________________________________
4. Like:______________________________________________
Why?
_______________________________________________________
5. Like: ______________________________________________
Why?
_______________________________________________________
From Robert Shewchuk’s book, Careers For Kids. The worksheets are also available on his website:
http://startsmartcareers.com/
3
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 11 of 17
Now, think about the top five work–related dislikes that you chose in the last activity. Write
down your top five work-related dislikes and explain why this is something that you would not
like in a career.
Here is an example of how someone might explain why they dislike working alone.
Dislike: working alone
Why: I dislike working alone because I’m a very social person. I like being around
others and bouncing ideas off them.
1. Dislike: ______________________________________________
Why?
_______________________________________________________
2. Dislike:______________________________________________
Why?
_______________________________________________________
3. Dislike:______________________________________________
Why?
_______________________________________________________
4. Dislike:______________________________________________
Why?
_______________________________________________________
5. Dislike:______________________________________________
Why?
_______________________________________________________
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 12 of 17
7. Ask Questions to Find Out about a Job or Career4
Can you ask questions to find out more information about a topic? Asking questions of
someone about their career or job is a great way to find out if it is the type of work that
might interest you. Information questions usually begin with one of the following:
Who
What
When
Where
Why
How
How often
How many
Write questions for each statement below.
1. You want to know why they chose this type of work.
Question: Why did you choose this type of work?
2. You want to ask them how they would describe a typical work day.
Question: _______________________________________________________
3. You want to ask what they like best about their work.
Question: ______________________________________________________
4.
You want to know what they like least about their work.
Question: ______________________________________________________
5.
You want to know what types of skills and abilities are required to do this type of work.
Question: ______________________________________________________
6.
You want to know what education or training is required to do this type of work.
Question: _______________________________________________________
7.
You want to know where they received their training.
Question: ______________________________________________________
Adapted from Robert Shewchuk’s book, Careers For Kids. The worksheets are also available on his website:
http://startsmartcareers.com/
4
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 13 of 17
8.
You want to know what advice they would give to someone who is thinking of doing this type
of work.
Question: ______________________________________________________
9.
You want to know what types of pressure they deal with on a daily basis.
Question: ______________________________________________________
10. You want to know how often they are required to work out of town.
Question: ______________________________________________________
11. You want to know how many times a month they wish they had a different kind of job.
Question: ______________________________________________________
If you want to know more about this topic…
For more information on Robert Shewchuk and his book, go to:
www.winnipegfreepress.com/our-communities/times/Career-advice-aplenty-in-NorthEnders-book-221375281.html
There is information on Robert Shewchuk’s book and his career counselling services on
his website: startsmartcareers.com/
You can find information on Manitoba Start at: manitobastart.com/
The federal government has information on career planning and jobs for youth and for
immigrants to Canada on these websites:
http://www.youth.gc.ca/eng/topics/career_planning/counselling.shtml
http://www.credentials.gc.ca/immigrants/workbook/index.asp
CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external websites
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 14 of 17
Appendix 1: Transcript
September 03, 2013 (broadcast date)5
Speaker
Podcast
Line
Marcy
Hi I'm Marcy Markusa and you're listening to Learning English
with CBC. Thousands of students head to university for the
first time every fall but many don’t have any idea what they
want to do for their career. Their parents often worry about
spending money on a university education their son or
5
daughter may never use. Robert Shewchuk helps people sort
out what kind of training they need for the careers available in
today’s economy and what kinds of careers best match their
interests and skill set. He’s recently written a book called
Careers for Kids, a guide for young people and their parents.
10
We spoke with him on the morning show.
Marcy
Good morning to you.
Robert
Ah, good morning Marcy. Thank you.
Marcy
So how did you get into writing this in the first place? I
understand it came from a question that you had when you
15
were seventeen, right?
Robert
Well the original, ya actually, it was about twenty years ago
today to be honest, ah I was thinking about going to University
of Winnipeg and ah I asked the counsellor at the time, y’know,
how do I figure out what kind of careers are out there and I was 20
lookin’ at all the buildings and the person couldn’t answer the
question. So I thought y’know what, there’s gotta be
somebody out there that can do that and I found out there
wasn’t too many things goin’ on for that, so I decided to get into
the career myself.
5
25
For the complete interview or other recent CBC Information Radio podcasts, go to: www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/mbinforadio.xml
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 15 of 17
Marcy
How do you help ah parents help their kids figure out what they
want to do without crossing the line of telling them what they
should be if maybe the student or young person doesn’t want
to do that.
Robert
Well to be honest, the first thing that you should do is to
30
consider, you know, what your kids are like and who they are.
Ah when you’re looking at a career planning service/scenario,
you have to start looking at yourself first, so the first thing that
parents have to do is say, okay, let`s figure out what my kids
are actually all about. What kind of ah interests do they have?
35
What kind of motivations do they have? What are their talents,
their specific individual talents? So if you decide to say you
should do what I do it may not match your skills and talents
that they have. So the first thing you wanna do is say to the
parents, y’know, don’t ah, don’t ah don’t tell them what to do.
Marcy
Don’t impose what you might think.
Robert
Yes.
Marcy
Okay. How important is it for parents to live in the reality of
40
today’s workforce? Because they may have a dream or think
that their child is going to be a wonderful “pick a career
45
here” 6 and there’s no jobs in the workforce for it.
Robert
Well that’s a huge problem, one of the reasons I wrote the
book. I mean we are talking about a fourteen percent
unemployment rate for ah youth between the ages of sixteen
and twenty-four, um under-employment is actually quite worse
50
than that, when you look at that, it’s twenty percent plus. Um
so you’re right. To be honest, most people nowadays,
including myself, and maybe even yourself, ah that idea of
going through one career, one job for forty years is gone. Most
people are going to be expected to probably go through two or
55
three or even four completely different careers in their lifetime.
When Marcy says “pick a career here” she means fill in the blank with a career of your choice. For example, parents may dream their
child will be a wonderful doctor or teacher or electrician etc.
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 16 of 17
6
Answers to Worksheets
Match Expressions with Their Meaning
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
a
a
c
c
a
b
Listen for Fact and Opinion
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
F
O
O
O
F
F
F
Ask Questions to Find Out about a Job or Career
(Answers will vary)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Why did you choose this type of work?
How would you describe a typical work day?
What do you like best about your work?
What do you like least about your work?
What types of skills or abilities are required to do this type of work?
What education and training is required to do this type of work?
Where did you receive your training?
What advice would you give someone who is thinking of doing this type of work?
What types of pressure do you deal with on a daily basis?
How are often are you required to work out of town?
How many times a month do you wish you had a different kind of job?
Self Study: Career Planning in a Changing World
Learning English with CBC
Page 17 of 17