(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.)*
Some reasons why students seemed stimulated by this discussion:
1) Before reading this article, many students just assumed that parents affected us more than peers.
2) They seemed interested to hear about the relationship their classmates had with their parents and peers when they were younger.
3) They were surprised by the findings of the research in the article about how peers affect each other.
4) They enjoyed comparing, agreeing and disagreeing with their classmates about this controversial topic.
Here is the basis for this discussion: psychologist Judith Harris, in her book The Nurturing Assumption, discusses research which she believes shows that our actions, beliefs and preferences are influenced more by our peer than by our parents.
This and future discussion activities include four parts:
1) A one-page article usually including a brief summary of a high-interest research study.
2) Ten true-false comprehension questions.
3) Pre-Discussion Exercise in which students read and think about several questions about their own experiences about the topic.
4) Small-group discussions of the article in which each student is given a paper with different questions in the form of Student A, B or C.
Common Sense Teaching ESL 