Урок-дискуссия в 11-м классе по теме: «Britain — Russia: the Religious Profile. Do we have much in common or are we completely different?»

Цели урока:

Формирование обобщенных знаний по теме: “Христианство в Великобритании” и оперирование ими.

• Образовательный компонент цели: расширение лингвистического кругозора учащихся, приобретение социо-культурных знаний о Великобритании, расширение социо-культурных знаний о России.
• Развивающий компонент цели: развитие языковых способностей учащихся, умения самостоятельной работы, творческого мышления, готовности к коммуникации.
• Воспитательный компонент цели: создание условий для формирования у учащихся уважения и интереса к религии, культуре и народу Великобритании, воспитание толерантного отношения к представителям различных религиозных конфессий, поддержание интереса к учению.

Практический компонент:

• формирование и совершенствование лексических навыков говорения и расширение словарного запаса учащихся по теме;
• развитие и совершенствование навыков различных видов чтения с обращением внимания на смысловые связи и контекстуальную догадку;
• развитие навыков восприятия речи на слух.

Методы обучения:

• Коммуникативный метод с использованием индивидуальной, парной и групповой работы учащихся;
• личностно-ориентированный подход;
• эмоционально деятельный подход.

Оборудование:

• Вывески с названиями различных религиозных конфессий;
• карта Великобритании;
• раздаточный материал: текст “Religion in the United Kingdom” с заданием, текст
• “Religious structure of the population of the Russian Empire and modern Russia (in % to the total population)”, вопросы для дискуссии;
• дополнительный материал на доске: слова для усвоения, вопросы и проч.

Presentation

Vocabulary and pronunciation:

Sighs of different religious confessions:

Christianity

Orthodoxy/Orthodox - Православие/православный

(Roman) Catholicism/Catholic – (римо)католичество/католический, католик

Protestantism/Protestant – протестантство/протестантский, протестсант

Anglicanism/Anglican – англиканство/англиканский, англиканин

Presbyterianism/Presbyterian – пресвитерианство/пресвитерианский, пресвитерианин

Methodism/Methodist – методизм/методистский, методист

Baptism/Baptist – баптизм/баптистский, баптист

Non-Christian religions

Islam/Islamic, Muslim (Moslem) - мусульманство/исламский, мусульманский

Muslim (Moslem), Islamite – мусульманин (~ка)

Hinduism/Hindu – индуизм/индус

Sikhism/Sikh – сикхизм/сикх

Buddhism/Buddhist – буддизм/буддист

Judaism/Jewish, Judaic/Jew – иудаизм/иудейский/иудей

Paganism, heathenism/pagan, heathen – язычество/язычник, языческий

Before reading

1. What religions are represented in the British society?
2. Is the United Kingdom predominately a Christian country?
3. Does the UK have the official church?
4. What religions are popular amongst ethnic minorities of the UK?
5. Is Religious Education an obligatory subject in the curriculum in British schools?

Religion in the United Kingdom.

Everyone in the United Kingdom has right to religious freedom. The UK is predominantly a Christian country, with two of the Home nations having official faiths.

Anglicanism, in the form of the Church of England, is the established church in England. The Queen is Supreme Governor of the Church of England. There are nearly 72% of Christians among the population of England (about 64% of them are the Anglicans).

Presbyterianism, in the form of the Church of Scotland, is the national church of Scotland. The Queen is an ordinary member of the Church of Scotland. About 65% of the Scottish population are the Christians (42% of them belong to the Church of Scotland).

The Anglican Church in Wales was disestablished in 1920. This means that there is no officially established church, but Methodism and Baptism (both are Protestant Churches) are the two most widespread religions. Nearly 72% of the population are the Christians.

The Anglican Church in Ireland was disestablished in 1871. In Northern Ireland, about half the people regard themselves as Protestants and nearly 40% as Roman Catholics.

These data were taken from the 2001 census data, when people were asked about their beliefs. A survey in 2002 found average weekly attendance at Anglican churches in England varied between 4.0% of the population in the diocese of Hereford, down to just 1.4% in Birmingham. Church attendance at Christmas in some dioceses was up to three times the average for the rest of the year. On the whole, despite its Christian tradition, the number of churchgoers fell over the last half of the 20^th century. Society in the United Kingdom is markedly more secular than in the past and atheism is also widespread.

A 2004 YouGov poll found that 44% of UK citizens believe in God, while 35% do not. This disparity between the census data and the YouGov data has been put down to a phenomenon described as “cultural Christianity”, whereby many who do not believe in God still identify with the religion they were brought up as, or the religion of their parents.

More recently, immigration has led to the introduction of other religions that are popular amongst ethnic minorities, such as Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. The United Kingdom has one of the largest Muslim communities in Western Europe, more than 1.5 million people, with 600 mosques and prayer centres. One of the most important Muslim institutions in the Western world is the Central mosque in London and its associated Islamic Cultural Centre. The Sikh and Hindu communities in Britain comprise nearly 900.000 people altogether.

Until recently, daily acts of Christian worship were required in schools (the“school assembly”), but because of a greater religious mix among parents and pupils this requirement has been relaxed. Religious education (RE) is still an obligatory subject in the curriculum, but tends to aim at providing an understanding of the main faiths of the world than forming a strictly Christian viewpoint.

Religious diversity has led Charles, Prince of Wales to muse publicly on the desirability of being Defender of Faith rather than Defender of the Faith.

(Actual data are taken from [1])

Glossary

the established church that is the church legally recognized as the official church of the State [2] ;

census – an occasion when government officials count all the people in a country and record information about them [2] ;

poll – an occasion when a lot of people are asked their opinions about something, usually as research for a political party, television programme etc. [2] ;

YouGov poll is a high-profile British Internet-based opinion poll.

Comprehension

1. What is the established church in England/Scotland? What kind of churches are they?
2. Who is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England?
3. Are there officially established churches in Wales and Northern Ireland?
4. What are the figures of average weekly attendance at Anglican Church in England?
5. What does a phenomenon described as “cultural Christianity” mean?
6. What is the most important Muslim institution in Britain?

Questions for discussion

1. Do you think that the great variety of religious confessions in the UK means that the British are tolerant of different religious confessions?

Is there any difference between tolerance towards representatives of different religious confessions and tolerance of their teachings?

In what sense are the British tolerant?

What is the difference between “being Defender of Faith” and “being Defender of the Faith” in the last paragraph of the text?

Were there any religious conflicts in the history of the UK?

2. Do the Russians have right to religious freedom?

Is Russia predominately a Christian country?

Was it predominately a Christian country in the past?

What are the main religions in the Russian Federation?

Do you think that phenomenon of “cultural Christianity” is typical not only of Britain but of Russia too? Why?

Are the Russians tolerant of different religious confessions and towards their representatives?

Look at the chart below and check your ideas (the chart is taken from [3]).

Religious structure of the population of the Russian Empire and modern Russia (in % to the total population)

Report, if you were right.

Summing up

What are the common features and what are the differences in the religious profile of the UK and Russia?

Homework

Write a summary on the topic of discussion under the heading: “Britain – Russia: the religious profile. Do we have much in common or are we completely different?”

Sources

1. http://en.wikipedia.org
2. Macmillan Essential Dictionary for learners of English – London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 2003 – 861 p.
3. История религий в России: Учебник/Под общ. ред. Н. А. Трофимчука. – М.: Изд-во РАГС, 2002 – 592 с.