Title: Savoir‑vivre guides in the past and today. Communication etiquette

Lesson plan elaborated by: Magdalena Trysińska

Topic:

Savoir‑vivre guides in the past and today.

Target group:

8th‑grade students or an eight‑grade elementary school.

Core curriculum

I. Literary and cultural education.

2. Receipt of cultural texts. Student:

1. searches for the necessary information in the text and cites relevant parts of journalistic, popular or scientific texts;

2. organises information depending on their function in the message.

II. Language education.

3. Language communication and language culture. Student:

1. understands what language politeness consists of and uses it in the statements;

III. Creating statements.

1. Elements of rhetoric. Student:

1. functionally uses rhetorical means and understands their impact on the recipient;

2. agrees with other people's views or polemicizes with them, substantively justifying their own opinion;

IV. Self‑study. Student:

6. develops skills of independent presentation of the results of his work;

7. develops the ability to think critically and formulate opinions.

The general aim of education:

On the basis of reading fragments of savoir‑vivre guides, the student reflects on the variability of the principles of good manners over a hundred years.

Key competencies:

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• social and civic competences.

Operational objectives

Student:

• understands the meaning of the words savoir‑vivre and bon‑ton ;

• creates principles of good behaviour in different situations;

• knows the social function of the principles of good manners;

• it distinguishes between polite and impolite behaviors;

• reads with understanding the old guides of good manners.

Teaching methods / techniques

• problematic: directed conversation, discussion;

• programmed: using a computer and e‑textbook;

• practical: subject exercises.

Forms of work:

• individual activity

• collective activity

• group activity

• activity in pairs

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher determines the purpose of the classes, which is to learn the principles of good manners, not only contemporary ones. He/she gives students the criteria for success.

Realization

1. The teacher asks students to create in pairs a list of ten linguistic and non‑linguistic behaviours, which, according to them, are unkind.

Then the students compare their proposal with the suggestions of the other people in the class. Together, they choose those that are the most common. They are discussing this topic.

2. The teacher displays dictionary definitions of the words bon‑ton and savoir‑vivre on the board. Students read definitions, indicate semantic differences.

3. The students read the information about the savoir‑vivre tutorials in the past and present in the e‑manual. Then they read a fragment of Mieczysław Rościszewski's guide on social habits.

4. Checking the level of understanding of the text. Students perform the ex. 3 in the abstract, which consists in indicating true and false sentences. Replies are justified by indicating the relevant parts of the text.

5. A common discussion on the words that are infused with children from an early age (exercise 4 in abstract).

6. The students read the next fragment of the old guide - Jan Kamyczek's Grzeczność na co dzień. Then in groups they create a list of cultural and non‑cultural topics for conversation at the Christmas table.

7. Students perform exercise 6 in abstract: they match the rules for train driving with illustration. Then, in groups, they create a fun catalog of rules in force during:

• travel by public transport (by bus, tram)

• shopping

• seance in the cinema

• meal in a restaurant or bar

(each group creates a directory for a different place)

Summary

1. At the end of the lesson, students individually create a ranking of good manners. They compare it with the proposal of the other people in the class. They discuss differences.

Homework

Which polite behaviours make you wonder, laugh or seem out of fashion? Prepare for a discussion on this topic. Make the notes with the arguments.

[homework refers to task 9 from e‑textbook, which should become the starting point of the next lesson]

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Savoir‑vivre guides in the past and today. Communication etiquette

Rules of good manners are associated with kindness, politeness, tactfulness, good behaviour and savoir‑vivre. They include a set of specific behaviour rules accepted by a specific community. In fact, politeness plays an important role in shaping interpersonal relations. That is why various savoir‑vivre guides have been written for a long time to give tips on how to be well‑mannered and kind towards other people. Are good manners important today? How do you recognise a well‑mannered person?

Savoir‑vivre guides are a collection of practical advices given on various occasions. They usually teach how to make friends, how to say goodbye when coming and leaving, how to behave properly at home or in public places (such as school, work, cafe, train, cinema or theatre), how to dress on a festive day, when to address someone as Mr and Mrs. Former guides are a reminder of previous good manners that have often ceased to be universally applicable.

In the first half of the 20th century, one of the important guides to good manners was the one entitled Social customs. A practical guide for ladies and gentlemen by Mieczysław Rościszewski. Political and social changes in Poland and Europe made it easier for the lower class to move up in society. The guide contains tips on how to behave properly at home, in a salon, theatre, shop, on the street, etc.

Jan Kamyczek, i.e. actually Janina Ipohorska, a journalist and painter writing under various pseudonyms, published Everyday etiquette in 1955. She defined etiquette as „a set of behaviours we all need to know to live in a community”. Read the excerpts from her book.