Description
Diplomacia y poder blando is a three page C1 Spanish lesson designed for advanced learners who want to develop their Spanish through the contemporary context of diplomacy, international influence and soft power.
The lesson uses external reading material as its starting point. Students work with two Spanish language articles, one examining the concept of poder blando and another looking at countries and their international soft power.
Students begin by producing a critical summary using contrast connectors such as sin embargo, no obstante and a pesar de. They then explore vocabulary including poder blando, poder inteligente, prestigio internacional, organismos multilaterales and propaganda, developing the ability to explain complex concepts in their own words.
The grammar activities focus on matización and advanced reformulation. Students use concessive structures such as aunque, pese a, si bien, incluso si and aun cuando to express more nuanced relationships between ideas.
A substantial academic transformation activity develops formal written Spanish through sustantivación and other structures characteristic of academic and institutional language. Students reformulate statements about cultural diplomacy, international prestige, propaganda, sport, science and global influence into more sophisticated Spanish.
The lesson also develops higher level comprehension and critical thinking. Students compare the treatment of soft power in the two external sources and discuss questions concerning cultural diplomacy, external perceptions, sport, gastronomy, cinema and the relationship between hard and soft power.
Complete suggested answers are included for all seven activities, making the resource suitable for teacher led lessons as well as advanced independent study.
The PDF includes:
3 pages of teaching material
Advanced Spanish vocabulary
Diplomacy and international relations
External Spanish language reading
Critical summary practice
Connectors and expressions of contrast
Matización and concessive structures
Sustantivación
Academic and institutional Spanish
Comparison of sources
Inference and critical thinking
Advanced debate
Complete suggested answers
Important: An internet connection is required to access the external source material used with this lesson. External resources are not contained within the PDF and their availability depends on the third party providers.
