LESSON PLAN 5 (WITH AUDIO)

LEFT-HANDED

LinguaHouse
August 16, 2021

Level: Intermediate (B1-B2)
Type of English: General English
Tags: IELTS; Special Report; Education, Teaching and Learning Memory, Brain and Mind; Medicine, Biology and Health; Challenges; Health and Wellbeing
Publication date: August 16, 2021

Students briefly discuss left-handedness and define some vocabulary before listening to an in-depth podcast on this subject. The language point relates to phrases used for hedging or being cautious about the information that you are presenting. Students can respond to the theme of the lesson in either a discussion or an interview and writing activity, and there is an optional extension relating to “left” expressions (by Stephanie Hirschman).

• CLICK HERE to download the student's worksheet.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher's worksheet.
• CLICK HERE to download the audio in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the audio in British English.

TRANSCRIPT

Presenter: Hello, listeners! It’s time for another edition of our podcast, Mind and Body. Today’s guest is Janna Cooper. Janna, tell us why you’re here.
Janna: Hi. I’m here to talk about being left-handed.
Presenter: And how is this topic important to you?
Janna: Well, I am one of the lucky ten percent of people who are left-handed, and I also run a blog about left-handedness called Swipe Left.
Presenter: Great. Let’s start by defining exactly what we mean by left-handed.
Janna: Sure. Basically, someone is left-handed when they’re more skilled and comfortable with using the left hand for everyday actions, like eating, writing, and throwing a ball. But it’s not as simple as it sounds. It appears that left-handedness is on a spectrum, so some people are very left-handed while others are only a little bit.
Presenter: And why are some people left-handed?
Janna: First of all, it’s important to say that being left-handed is not a choice. Handedness is controlled by several different genes that are related to the interaction between the left and right sides of the brain and body. Left-handers seem to have much stronger communication between the two sides of their brains than right-handers. And interestingly, studies indicate that left-handedness develops before birth. Some researchers claim that it can be predicted by the position of the baby inside the mother.
Presenter: So, if your parents are left-handed, are you more likely to be left-handed?
Janna: Yes, you are. If both parents are left-handed, the chance of the child being left-handed is around twenty-five percent. If both parents are right-handed, this drops to around ten percent. However, some identical twins, who of course have the same genes, have different handedness.
Presenter: That’s really strange! Are there more male left-handers, or more female, or is it equal?
Janna: Twelve percent of men and eight percent of women are left-handed. This gives us the average figure of ten percent that I mentioned earlier.
Presenter: You said you were one of the lucky ten percent. Why "lucky"?
Janna: Many people believe that left-handers have special talents as musicians, artists, architects, and chess players. Studies suggest that we also have better mathematical skills, language skills, and ability to recognize emotions. Famous left-handers include Leonardo da Vinci, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Marie Curie, and Nicola Tesla.
Presenter: OK, but lots of other great artists like Picasso and Van Gogh were right-handed. Anyway, there must be some disadvantage to being left-handed, right?
Janna: There are. Many everyday tools are designed for right-handers, and left-handers find them difficult to use: scissors, can openers, vegetable peelers. It can also be hard for us to use doors, cash machines, and cameras with controls on the right. I should also say that in the past some left-handers were not allowed to use their left hands to write. But making them use their right hands might have led to delays in development and problems with language. That was a huge disadvantage.
Presenter: So, have left-handers always been around?
Janna: From the study of bones and tools, it looks like around ten percent of humans have been left-handed for five hundred thousand years!
Presenter: No way! That’s amazing. But why do we need left-handers?
Janna: In every society, there is both competition and cooperation. But these need to be in balance. A small number of left-handers is the result. Let me explain. In competition against enemies or in hunting, left-handedness gives an advantage because of the element of surprise. We’re not expecting someone to use their left hand, and we don’t know what to do or how to avoid an attack from this side. For example, in sports, fifty percent of baseball’s top hitters are left-handed. As long as left-handedness is unusual, it gives an advantage in competition.
Presenter: OK, that makes sense. But what about situations without that kind of physical interaction?
Janna: Well, we can see that in a game like golf, where there is no physical contact between players, only four percent of top golf players are left-handed. In activities that require cooperation between people, and in particular sharing tools, it’s not an advantage to be left-handed. Left-handers using right-handed tools may have more accidents, leading to more deaths and reducing their numbers.
Presenter: I see. So, what can we learn from studying left-handedness?
Janna: We can understand more about the evolution of our brains. Some scientists think that early language could have been mostly sign language. If the left hand was used for communication, then the right hand could be free for tool use. We can also understand more about how the left and right sides of the brain are organized and specialized and how they connect and communicate with each other. Scientists used to think that the hand you used the most was connected to which side of your brain was stronger. But many experts now doubt that this connection is so simple. Studying a range of left-handers will help us understand how the brain works in all people.
Presenter: What a fascinating area for research! I hope you’ll come back and tell us more.
Janna: I’d love to. Thanks for having me.

Source: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/left-handed. Accessed on August 23, 2021.