PLOA -_ESAMI DI STATO DI LICEO LINGUISTICO
Tema di : LINGUA STRANIERA
LINGUA INGLESE (AMBITO SOCIALE)
(comprensione e produzione in lingua straniera)
We need to look past, not at, disability
People living with disability face fear, prejudice and awkwardness in their interactions with others, says Koren Helbig.
They are small, seemingly inconsequential moments of awkwardness. Attempting to shake a hand that isn’t there. Trying to get the attention of someone you’ve just realized is deaf. Deciding between crouching down to meet the eye-line of someone in a wheelchair or standing up straight asnormal.
Problem is, these cringe-worthy moments – which are depicted in a new End the Awkward national television campaign by British disability charity Scope – occur daily in the lives of people with disabilities and too often lead to unintentional prejudice or socialexclusion.
In Britain, two out of three people feel uncomfortable talking to people with disabilities, according to a new survey. It found younger people, especially men, are twice as likely as older people to feel awkward – and that one-fifth of 18 to 34-year-olds have actually avoided talking to a person with a disability because they weren’t sure how to communicate withthem.
‘For most people that’s not down to prejudice or any real hatred for disabled people, it’s more down to not knowing what to do and being worried about saying the wrong thing,’ says Daniel Mazliah, spokesperson for Scope. ‘If three-quarters of your interactions with other people involve awkwardness, involve someone avoiding you or being worried about what they say, then that starts to become a real barrier in your life and it can be the difference between you getting a job or getting on in a workplace or makingfriends.’
More than one billion people around the world live with some form of disability; that’s about 15 per cent of the global population, according to a 2011 World Health Organization report on disability. Prevalence is on the rise as our population ages, particularly in developed countries. Yet many continue to experience significant barriers, including inadequate policies and standards, lack of services, inadequate funding and lack of accessibility. Many people with disabilities struggle to pay their bills and cover their often expensive medicalneeds.
Negative attitudes, too, remain a major barrier. People with disabilities continue to be hugely under-represented in the workplace and are often overlooked for jobs because potential employers can’t see past their disabilities. Ill-informed employers can assume people with disabilities are not intelligent enough, will take lots of sick days, or might frustrate other members of staff. In a survey conducted by the UK government 12 years ago, the majority of the 2,064 people canvassed thought the primary reasons for prejudice against people with a disability were fear of difference, lack of awareness andignorance.
In some cases negative attitudes even breed violent behaviour. About 4 per cent of people with disabilities who responded to Scope’s survey said they had experienced a physical attack in the previous year. Aggressive or hostile behaviour and name-calling were also common. People with mental-health conditions and learning disabilities were more likely to experience negative attitudes and discrimination, while people seemed more comfortable around those with visible disabilities such as physical or sensorydisabilities.
These problems are certainly not new. But Scope takes a refreshing approach to raising awareness, tackling the subject with light-hearted humour in a social media-savvy campaign fronted by comedian Alex Brooker, best known for his role on Channel 4’s The Last Leg.
The charity was conscious that it was walking a fine line in using humour to highlight inequality, aware that ill-received social-media campaigns can quickly take on a damaging life of their own. ‘I think you always run the risk of trivialising it slightly,’ says Mazliah on the decision to attempt education via comedy. ‘But hopefully we’ve found that sweet spot between using humour to get people to think about disability and doing something that feels credible to disabled people themselves. It’s such a balancingact.’
Whatever the reason, it is clear that discrimination and exclusion are rooted in fear and stereotyping, which is reinforced by a lack of personal contact with people who have a disability. Perhaps Scope’s campaign takes a small step towards ending the awkward, and therefore ending theinequality.
Il testo è un adattamento dell’articolo da “New Internationalist” magazine ( maggio 28, 2014) di Koren Helbig
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
1 What is people’s first reaction when copying with a disabled person?
2 Can you explain the meaning of the slogan “End of the Awkward” launched by the British television campaign?
3 What does a new survey reveal about people’s feelings when talking to disabled people?
4 Apart from interacting with disabled people which other serious problems can arise according to spokesperson for Scope Daniel Mazliah?
5 Even if disability is on the rise in developed countries, what other significant barriers do disabled people have to face every day?
6 What are their main problems once they succeed in getting a job?
7 May these problems sometimes turn into a violent attitude towards disabled people? Give evidence.
8 What new approach is the comedian Alex Brooker trying to carry out?
9 What is Mazliah’s main concern on the decision to attempt audience’s education via comedy?
10 Treating disability by using humour on TV could have been very risky. How did they avoid this danger?
COMPOSITION :
How does the passage explore the problem between disabled people and the daily difficulties they have to cope with every day? Explain your ideas with reference to the text in a 300-word essay.
Alternatively , discuss your personal experience ,as a student, in a school where we are in close contact with our disabled class mates. Write 300 words on the topic.
Esami di stato 20 /20
Griglia di valutazione 2a prova (comprensione + produzione)
Lingua straniera:......
Candidato:......
INDICATORI / DESCRITTORI / LIVELLO / PUNTEGGIOCOMPRENSIONE / · Completa e supportata dai necessari elementi di giustificazione
· Abbastanza completa e supportata da alcuni elementi di giustificazione
· Essenziale
· Incompleta
· Nulla o frammentaria / Ottimo
Discreto-buono
Sufficiente
Insufficiente
Gravemente insufficiente / 15-14
13-12-11
10
9-8-7
Da 6- a 1
PRODUZIONE / · Testo articolato e originale
· Testo piuttosto articolato
· testo semplice
· testo a volte un po' confuso
· testo di difficile comprensione / Ottimo
Discreto-buono
Sufficiente
Insufficiente
Gravemente insufficiente / 15-14
13-12-11
10
9-8-7
Da 6- a 1
COMPETENZA LINGUISTICA / · Corretta, chiara, sciolta; lessico ricco ed appropriato
· Sostanzialmente corretta/abbastanza sciolta, con errori che non compromettono la comprensione
· Non sempre sciolta/Alcuni errori e imprecisioni lessicali
· Poco sciolta, piuttosto scorretta/confusa; lessico impreciso ed inadeguato
· Molto scorretta, stentata, anche nelle strutture di base; lessico inadeguato / Ottimo
Discreto-buono
Sufficiente
Insufficiente
Gravemente insufficiente / 15-14
13-12-11
10
9-8-7
Da 6- a 1
Punteggio complessivo prova /15