| LESSON OVERVIEW
The main objectives of this lesson plan on corporate responsibility are to:
- talk about the purpose of ESG (environmental, social, and governance practices in business);
- watch and discuss a video about ESG backlash;
- discuss opinions on the topic and look at some real-life ESG implementation.
In this lesson plan on corporate responsibility, students talk about ESG regulation. They discuss changes in company policies, analyse the definition of ‘ESG’ and look at its role in one’s own country and place of work. Students also watch and discuss a video about growing anti-ESG sentiment and explore some divisive opinions on the topic. They read about some case studies of real-life ESG practices and discuss the practicalities of ESG implementation. There is an optional vocabulary activity to help students discuss the topic.
C2 / Proficiency45 min
60 minSpeaking ClassUnlimited Plan
This is a Speaking Class worksheet. It includes a variety of tasks that let your students practise their speaking skills. This lesson format does not focus on grammar or vocabulary. Learn more about it here.
VOCABULARY AND GENERAL DISCUSSION
This lesson plan on corporate responsibility starts with a warm-up. Students look at changes in corporations in recent years (e.g. leadership policies, employee treatment). They have an optional vocabulary task at this point to prepare them for the lesson, in which they read sentences and complete collocations related to the topic (e.g. push an agenda, secure external investment). Students also have the option to discuss these sentences in depth and share opinions. The next activity involves reading a short text about ESG and finding the correct definition from this information. Students then discuss some questions about ESG and their own country/workplace, as well as analyse each aspect of ESG regulation (environment, social, and governance).
VIDEO AND IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS
In this part of the lesson plan on corporate responsibility, students watch and discuss a video about the growing backlash against ESG policies. Before watching it, students are given a quote from the video about the backlash and are asked to predict why this might be happening. After watching the video and checking their ideas, students discuss divisive opinions on ESG (e.g. ESG is nothing but a destructive force, the demands of which only hinder economic growth and reduce efficiency.) Following this discussion, students look at some real-life examples of ESG implementation from well-known companies (i.e. Salesforce, Microsoft, Patagonia). To finish this lesson plan on corporate responsibility, they explore some questions related to these examples, considering challenges, consequences, feasibility of implementation, etc.
WORKSHEETS
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ESG is cancerous
Defining what ESG stands for earlier in the material would be good. It’s not a common phrase amount ESL students or among the average English speaker in the US
Hi, Robert! Thanks for the comment. The definition of ESG is in the second exercise. Students are given contextual information and then they have to choose what they think the correct definition is. For teachers, the correct definition (C) is highlighted in yellow. For the first exercise (the warm-up), a definition or knowledge of ESG isn’t necessary. Hope that helps!
Great lesson. Always grateful for proficiency-level business lessons!!!
You’re more than welcome; thanks so much for the feedback!