LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERSYOU’RE NOT ONE OF US
Aug. 7, 2026
Level: Intermediate (B1-B2)
Type of language: Business English
Tags: Behavior, Feelings and Emotions; Problems at Work; Human Resources (HR); Problems and Solutions; Ethics and Conduct; Business People; Business Ethics; Situation Based; Article Based; Useful Vocabulary; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old
Publication date: 08/07/2026
This lesson looks at the topic of discrimination. Students will read an article on the topic and listen to three people recount incidents where they were victims of discrimination. Exercises focus on reading and listening skills, related vocabulary, and offer opportunities for students to discuss questions on the topic with the aim of raising awareness and applying the topic to their own workplace. (by Joe Wilson)
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
- CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English.
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
- CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in British English.
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
Speaker 1: My job involves administration, so the fact that I’m a wheelchair user doesn’t stop me doing my job in any way at all. I joke that I save the company money by bringing my own chair with me to my desk. I notice a lot of things that people don’t realize are wrong. I get touched on the head and the shoulders a lot. I think it’s because I’m at the height where it’s easy for people to do that, but I’m not a child and I tell them so. I also see the surprise in people’s faces when I mention my husband and children, as though it is unusual for someone like me. I’ve also been forgotten in situations when we have a staff party and people say things like, ‘Oh we can just get a taxi home,’ without realizing that it’s not as easy for me to do that. I try not to let it annoy me, but it can be very frustrating.
Speaker 2: The first time I noticed anything was wrong was when I went to the bathroom one day at work and saw my own phone number written on the wall with a stupid message and my name. I quickly cleaned it off and I decided to change my phone number. I didn’t tell anyone about it because I was humiliated. But as a gay man, you learn that, unfortunately, these things happen sometimes. Then I started getting offensive messages on social media from a fake account, then several fake accounts. It was horrible because I knew it was someone at work, but I had no idea who. In the end I was forced to take the situation to HR. They didn’t find out who it was, but it did stop. I think whoever it was thought they were just having fun, but realized it was really serious when HR was involved.
Speaker 3: My area of expertise is design, and I’m very well-qualified. However, when it came to giving a presentation on the topic at a conference, I was asked by my manager to let one of the men in the department do it as they wanted to ‘make the right impression.’ It wasn’t difficult to understand what that meant when you consider I’m a hijab-wearing Muslim female. He even used the presentation that I had already prepared, and I had to explain a lot of it to him, as he has only been with the company for two years and doesn’t have any of the qualifications that I do. I was also told that if I wanted to attend the conference, that I would have to pay for my own travel there as I wasn’t going to be a presenter. They told me that they wanted to give younger members of staff experience in presenting, but I have never been given that opportunity in three years with the company. I’m planning to talk to my trade union representative about it, but I’m worried that I will have more problems in the office if I complain as it’s my own manager I’m being critical of.
Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/business-english/youre-not-one-of-us. Accessed on August 19, 2026. LinguaHouse.com © 2008–2026. All rights reserved.
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