Why You Will Always Sound Like You
Grammar: Embedded Questions
A Level 5 English lesson exploring science.
What's in this lesson
A Level 5 (advanced) ESL lesson on science, practising embedded questions. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary, a grammar reference with practice and discussion questions.
From the reading: Why You Will Always Sound Like You
Here is something that might surprise you. A baby born in Tokyo and raised from birth in São Paulo will grow up speaking perfect Brazilian Portuguese — no trace of Japanese, no hesitation, no accent. Yet move that same person to Brazil at age fourteen, and something different happens. They will learn Portuguese. They will become fluent. But they will almost certainly sound foreign for the rest of their life. What changed? Roughly thirteen years of brain development, and a window that quietly closed.
Vocabulary
- accent fossilisation
- critical period
- dominant language
- mark someone out
Grammar: Embedded Questions
- Embedded Q + will
- Nobody knows whether dialects will survive the next century. — speculative future inside a noun clause
- Embedded Q + may/might
- I wonder whether the window may reopen with intensive training. — softer speculation; hedge with may or might
Discussion questions
- Imagine you could permanently erase your accent overnight — would you?
- If a machine could teach you a perfect native accent in one hour, would you use it?
- What would you do if your accent stopped you from getting a job you wanted?
Why You Will Always Sound Like You
Grammar: Embedded Questions
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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