Bougainville may be the world's next country

 

Bougainville may be the world's next country  

The process is under way for the possible introduction of a new member to the global family of nations. The people of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea have voted overwhelmingly for independence in a referendum. The vote was held on the island between the 23rd of November and the 7th of December. The vote was a non-binding referendum, which means the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government does not have to pass it into law. However, PNG gave the vote its full consent and should now consider acting on the result of the vote. Voters had two options - greater autonomy or full independence. Over 181,000 people cast their ballot and nearly 98 per cent of them voted in favour of independence.

Bougainville is the largest island of the PNG chain of islands. It is geographically part of the Solomon Islands archipelago and used to be known as the Republic of North Solomons. It has a population of around 250,000 people. Bougainvilleans started a fight to achieve their independence in the 1960s. This was a decade before Papua New Guinea was granted independence in 1975. Bougainville was declared part of PNG in 1976. This sparked the Bougainville Civil War between 1988–1998. Over 20,000 people lost their lives in that conflict. The Prime Minister of PNG said: "I ask for some time for the people of PNG to absorb and process this result." He said his government was committed to adhering to the poll's result.


3. MORE COUNTRIES: Students A strongly believe there should be more countries in the world; Students B strongly believe the opposite

4. NATIONS: What do you know about these nations? What would you like to know? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

What I Know

PNG

 

 

NZ

 

 

UAE

 

 

UK

 

 

USA

 

 

CAF

 

 

5. COUNTRY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "country". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. NATIONHOOD: Rank these with your partner. Put the most important things about nationhood at the top

  • currency
  • national anthem
  • border control
  • international sports teams
  • armed forces
  • foreign policy
  • passports
  • a seat at the UN

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1.

overwhelmingly

a.

Make a vote.

      2.

referendum

b.

Very great in amount.

      3.

non-binding

c.

The right or condition of self-government.

      4.

consent

d.

A vote by people in a country on a single political question which has been asked of them for a direct decision.

      5.

autonomy

e.

Permission for something to happen or agreement to do something.

      6.

ballot

f.

An agreement or promise that does not have an obligation to fulfill that agreement or promise.

      7.

cast

g.

A piece of paper on which people make their vote.

    Paragraph 2

      8.

archipelago

h.

A group of islands.

      9.

achieve

i.

Promised to follow a certain course or policy.

      10.

granted

j.

Successfully bring about or reach a desired objective, level, or result by effort, skill, or courage.

      11.

declared

k.

A long armed struggle or war.

      12.

sparked

l.

Agreed to give something or allow something requested to happen.

      13.

conflict

m.

Openly or formally asserted or announced.

      14.

committed

n.

Provided the thing that started for a dramatic event or process.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. The article said Bougainville would become a country next year.     T / F
  2. The referendum was two days long.     T / F
  3. PNG must now pass Bougainville's independence into law.     T / F
  4. In the vote, 98% of people voted for independence.     T / F
  5. Bougainville is part of the Solomon Islands archipelago.     T / F
  6. Bougainville has a population of a quarter of a million people.     T / F
  7. Bougainville suffered a decade-long civil war.     T / F
  8. PNG's prime minister said he would stick to the result of the poll.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

  1. under way
  2. held
  3. consent
  4. consider
  5. ballot
  6. part
  7. archipelago
  8. granted
  9. sparked
  10. adhering
  1. island chain
  2. think about
  3. ignited
  4. conducted
  5. sticking
  6. given
  7. in progress
  8. vote
  9. region
  10. agreement

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

  1. The process is under
  2. voted overwhelmingly for
  3. pass it into
  4. Over 181,000 people cast
  5. 98 per cent of them voted in
  6. part of the Solomon Islands
  7. Papua New Guinea was
  8. This sparked the
  9. 20,000 people lost
  10. committed to adhering to the
  1. granted independence
  2. favour
  3. poll's result
  4. their lives
  5. independence
  6. Bougainville Civil War
  7. way
  8. law
  9. archipelago
  10. their ballot

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

non-binding
options
under
favour
overwhelmingly
cast
family
consent

The process is (1) ____________ way for the possible introduction of a new member to the global (2) ____________ of nations. The people of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea have voted (3) ____________ for independence in a referendum. The vote was held on the island between the 23rd of November and the 7th of December. The vote was a (4) ____________ referendum, which means the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government does not have to pass it into law. However, PNG gave the vote its full (5) ____________ and should now consider acting on the result of the vote. Voters had two (6) ____________ - greater autonomy or full independence. Over 181,000 people (7) ____________ their ballot and nearly 98 per cent of them voted in (8) ____________ of independence.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

declared
achieve
absorb
sparked
adhering
archipelago
decade
conflict

Bougainville is the largest island of the PNG chain of islands. It is geographically part of the Solomon Islands (9) ____________ and used to be known as the Republic of North Solomons. It has a population of around 250,000 people. Bougainvilleans started a fight to (10) ____________ their independence in the 1960s. This was a (11) ____________ before Papua New Guinea was granted independence in 1975. Bougainville was (12) ____________ part of PNG in 1976. This (13) ____________ the Bougainville Civil War between 1988–1998. Over 20,000 people lost their lives in that (14) ____________. The Prime Minister of PNG said: "I ask for some time for the people of PNG to (15) ____________ and process this result." He said his government was committed to (16) ____________ to the poll's result.

Comprehension questions

  1. What did the article say Bougainville might become a member of?
  2. How long was the referendum?
  3. Why doesn't PNG have to pass the vote's result into law?
  4. What choice did people have besides full independence?
  5. What percentage of people in the referendum voted for independence?
  6. What archipelago is Bougainville a part of?
  7. What is the population of Bougainville?
  8. When did Papua New Guinea get its independence?
  9. What happened between 1988-1998?
  10. What does the PNG leader need to process the result of the vote?

Role play

Role  A – Passports
You think issuing passports is the most important part of being a country. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): a seat at the UN, national sports teams or border control.

Role  B – A Seat At The UN
You think a seat at the UN is the most important part of being a country. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): passports, national sports teams or border control.

Role  C – National Sports Teams
You think having national sports teams is the most important part of being a country. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): a seat at the UN, passports or border control.

Role  D – Border Control
You think border control is the most important part of being a country. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): a seat at the UN, national sports teams or passports.

Discussion - Bougainville

  1. What do you know about Papua New Guinea?
  2. What do you know about your country's independence?
  3. What regions of the world should get their independence?
  4. Why do countries not want to grant independence to their regions?
  5. Can the world have too many countries?
  6. Would independence for more regions bring peace?
  7. Should Papua New Guinea give independence to Bougainville?
  8. What advice do you have for the people of Bougainville?
  1. What do you know about Bougainville?
  2. What regions are fighting for independence today?
  3. What are the reasons for not giving a region independence?
  4. Which is better - independence or greater autonomy?
  5. Would you fight for independence?
  6. What was the biggest struggle for independence in history?
  7. What questions would you like to ask Bougainville's leader?

Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

The process is (1) ____ way for the possible introduction of a new member to the global family of nations. The people of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea have voted overwhelmingly (2) ____ independence in a referendum. The vote was (3) ____ on the island between the 23rd of November and the 7th of December. The vote was a non-binding referendum, which (4) ____ the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government does not have to pass it into law. However, PNG gave the vote its full (5) ____ and should now consider acting on the result of the vote. Voters had two options - greater autonomy or full independence. Over 181,000 people (6) ____ their ballot and nearly 98 per cent of them voted in favour of independence.

Bougainville is the largest island of the PNG (7) ____ of islands. It is geographically part of the Solomon Islands (8) ____ and used to be known as the Republic of North Solomons. It has a population of around 250,000 people. Bougainvilleans started a fight to achieve their independence in the 1960s. This was a (9) ____ before Papua New Guinea was granted independence in 1975. Bougainville was declared part of PNG in 1976. This (10) ____ the Bougainville Civil War between 1988–1998. Over 20,000 people lost their lives in (11) ____ conflict. The Prime Minister of PNG said: "I ask for some time for the people of PNG to absorb and process this result." He said his government was committed to (12) ____ to the poll's result.

Which of these words go in the above text?

  1. (a)     about     (b)     under     (c)     over     (d)     through    
  2. (a)     that     (b)     for     (c)     toward     (d)     over    
  3. (a)     handled     (b)     touched     (c)     grasped     (d)     held    
  4. (a)     meaning     (b)     means     (c)     meant     (d)     mean    
  5. (a)     indent     (b)     repent     (c)     invent     (d)     consent    
  6. (a)     vast     (b)     mast     (c)     cast     (d)     last    
  7. (a)     chain     (b)     link     (c)     lock     (d)     shackle    
  8. (a)     arpeggio     (b)     archangel     (c)     archipelago     (d)     archery    
  9. (a)     timing     (b)     timeline     (c)     century     (d)     decade    
  10. (a)     sparked     (b)     spanked     (c)     sparkled     (d)     specked    
  11. (a)     that     (b)     what     (c)     then     (d)     there    
  12. (a)     adhering     (b)     gluing     (c)     fastening     (d)     pasting

Spelling

Paragraph 1

  1. voted mnhlwrilyoveeg for independence
  2. a non-binding reeuefndrm
  3. PNG gave the vote its full cntseon
  4. greater motyouan
  5. Over 181,000 people cast their ollbat
  6. voted in vafuro of independence

Paragraph 2

  1. part of the Solomon Islands erioaglpcha
  2. This was a edcade before
  3. Bougainville was aeldcedr part of PNG
  4. sroabb and process this result
  5. He said his government was mdemcotti
  6. agdehinr to the poll's result

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