Jane Austen Festival
WORKSHEET
1. Suggested Use
Culture and literature focus, followed by closed practice B1+-level vocabulary and grammar activities.
2. Suggested Activities
A. Project-based learning
Students work in small groups to design their own literary or cultural festival inspired by a favourite author, film, or historical period. They plan the theme, the location and activities (e.g. readings, parades, costume events), who might attend and why and what makes their festival unique. Students then present their ideas in a short spoken or visual presentation. Encourage them to use language from the script.
B. Mediation task: Encouraging conceptual talk
Students imagine they have been invited to this event by a friend and they need to decide whether they want to attend or not. Put students into groups to discuss the reasons for and against attending this kind of event, the things they would learn from it, and whether they would recommend it to anyone else. Ensure one of the students in the group is bringing every student into the discussion.
C. Pronunciation task: Word stress in multi-syllable nouns
Have students identify words from the script with 3 or more syllables, e.g. regency, promenade, prejudice, festival etc. Have them work in pairs to identify where the stress is in each word, using the video to help them if necessary. Have students work with another pair and say some of the words with the correct stress and some with incorrect stress. The pair have to guess which is correct.
3. Vocabulary
Culture and literature
novel
author
character
book
film
story
literature
adaptation
romantic
classic
Phrasal verbs
dress up
take part in
turn into
Dependant prepositions
associate with
adapted into
excited to
a way to
play a part in
4. Grammar
Tenses:
(present perfect) People have come here to celebrate the life and work of Jane Austen; (present perfect continuous) she has been planning this for over a year. (Past simple) Jane Austen was …; she lived in …
Relative clauses:
People who come here dress in …; famous English writer who lived in the late …; see all the sights that I have read about …
TRANSCRIPT
Jane Austen Festival
NARRATOR:
The image of men and women dressed in 18th-century clothes is something many British people might associate with the author Jane Austen. In Bath, in the south-west of England, this image comes to life. Every year, hundreds of people come here to dress up and walk through the streets in period clothing. Women wear long dresses and men wear old-fashioned suits, just like the characters you find in Jane Austen’s novels. The event is part of the Jane Austen Festival.
Jane Austen was a famous English writer who lived in the late 1700s and early 1800s.She wrote romantic novels, such as Pride and Prejudice and Emma. Many of her books have been adapted into films and TV shows. Bath is an important place in Jane Austen’s life. She lived here for several years, and the city appears in her stories. People from many different countries come to Bath to take part in the festival.
SOUNDBITE - Charlotte Crumper:
"We get people from all over the world who come here to celebrate the life and work of Jane Austen in the beautiful regency city of Bath. We have nine days of all sorts of events. There's so much. There's something for everybody at this festival."
NARRATOR:
The festival opens with a large parade, known as a promenade. There are a wide range of events: People read from her books, they watch plays, and attend traditional dances called balls. Some visitors spend months — even years — planning their trip.
SOUNDBITE- Christine Terrance:
"I heard about it a couple of years ago and I have sort of been planning this for over a year now, and I'm just excited to do the promenade and the balls and see all the sights that I have read about from Jane Austen's novels."
NARRATOR:
For many people, it’s a unique way to experience the world of Jane Austen. This festival turns the images of her novels into something real. It’s a chance to step into the past and play a part in a classic story.