Brexit Time
How to Help Your ESL Students Understand Brexit
B Y G R A H A M D I X O N 17,010 views
You probably already know that Europe
suffered something of a political
earthquake on June 23, 2016.
Against expectations, a majority of British voters expressed a desire
to leave the European Union (EU), the association of 27 member
states to which Britain had belonged since 1973. As the first country
to vote leave the EU, Britain has set a startling precedent, and
various departments and organizations are now running to catch up.
The vote for ‘Brexit’ (a popular portmanteau or ‘word merger’ of
‘British’ and ‘Exit’) is a remarkably revealing moment in British
history, and is an instructive opportunity to look at modern British
life, the issue of federalism and closer relations between countries,
and to try to unpick just why the British public voted as they did.
This extended lesson plan is intended to help you understand what
happened, and to communicate the main points to your students.
Useful vocabulary is highlighted in bold. Resources and links are
included, and comments (preferably of a non-political nature!) are
very welcome.
7 Steps to Help Your ESL Students Understand Brexit
1. 1
The Background
The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, first
promised a referendum on Britain’s membership of the
EU in 2013. Although he himself, and many of his closest
colleagues, are pro-European and would have preferred
simply a renegotiated relationship with the EU, the ruling
Conservative party, of which he was leader, had been riddled
with division and infighting over the European question for
decades. Cameron saw the offer of an in/out referendum as
way to calm the euro-skeptic wing of his party and remove a
painful political irritant.
2. 2
Britain’s Problems with the EU
Show your students a map of Europe and ask them to
characterize Britain’s geographical position within
it. They might note that Britain appears to be on the edge of
the continent, separated from the remainder of the EU by the
English Channel and North Sea. The only other EU members
which are islands are Cyprus and Malta. This is significant,
and reflects a long-standing sense in which the British have
stood within Europe but apart from it in important ways.
Britain was the only combatant nation in Europe not occupied
by Nazi Germany, and even today, this and other historical
strands set Britain apart from her European allies. Your
students should understand that there has been a long
history of euro-skepticism which feeds off perceived major
differences in character and lifestyle, as well as centuries-old
disputes over sovereignty, fishing rights, ancient battles, royal
accession, and other (sometimes apparently trivial) cultural
matters.
3. 3
The Modern British Outlook
Any compendium of TV news interviews with British
voters during the run-up to the 2016 referendum will
provide ample evidence of just how frustrated some
people had become with the EU. It was seen
as monolithic, unresponsive, and above all bureaucratic.
In an echo of the famous complaint, “What have the Romans
ever done for us?” from Monty Pythons’s Life of Brian, the
public wondered just what meaningful and positive
contributions the EU had made to British life.
The referendum was, in many ways, an adjudication on the
rule of David Cameron as Prime Minister. His controversial
and deeply unpopular cuts to public services - a policy known
as ‘austerity’ - alienated and infuriated the working class in
particular. They believed that these cuts fomented inequality
and denied opportunities to those living in impoverished
areas. It is no accident, in my view, that some of the most
vehement ‘Leave’ votes were cast in areas blighted by
industrial decline, unemployment and poor education.
A central complaint was immigration. Have your students
evaluate the ethnic makeup of Britain, and research just how
many EU nationals live there. In many ways, Britain is a
place of contradictions - I write as someone who grew up in
the UK - and your students should be aware that, alongside
cherished values of tolerance and openness, there are
concerns that Britain is changing faster than its population
would like, and that migrants have failed to integrate. Many of
Britain’s major cities have seen very visible and wrenching
changes in demographics as migrants from the
Commonwealth of ex-Empire nations, first the Indian sub-
continent and Caribbean, Africa and Asia, and later also from
the EU, fundamentally altered the optics of the British high
street. New languages are spoken and new cultural trends
practiced, all while older ‘British’ traditions are on the wane.
Many ‘Leave’ voters have angrily refuted allegations of
racism, though the rhetoric of the Leave campaign
deliberately targeted those who believed Britain already
hosted too many migrants. Investigate this with your
students. What makes a person ‘British’, or ‘American’, or
‘Japanese? Is it their language, behavior, or attitudes? Or
simply the location of their birth? Can a migrant who gains
citizenship claim to be as much a citizen as someone who is
native-born?
Then, turn to immigration. Establish that immigration is driven
largely by economic concerns and the availability of suitable
jobs in the new country. Ask your students whether they
would consider living in a different country in order to earn a
better salary, even if the work was picking fruit, sorting
recycling, peeling vegetables, or any of the myriad, largely
low-paid jobs we now relate almost exclusively with migrants.
4. 4
The Campaign
The very definition of ‘hard-fought’, the campaign by
both sides to influence voter opinion in the lead-up to
the referendum dominated the media, as well as private
conversations and even church services. The ‘Leave’
campaign, headed most visibly by the Conservative MP (and
flamboyantly colorful character) Boris Johnson, made
extensive use of statistics and appeals to the emotions,
assuring British voters that the UK could flourish once the
shackles of EU membership were released. The ‘Remain’
campaign, lead by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, listed
the benefits of EU membership, but failed to make a lasting
emotional connection, or to convince voters that the EU could
play a positive role in their lives.
TV interviews are very revealing here, and are also an
excellent way to practice these concepts with your students.
Arrange pairwork or team exercises in which groups of voters
with different views are asked for their opinion on the EU.
Some might be pro-EU - they travel frequently, enjoy foreign
food, wine, music and culture, embrace federalism and a
closer economic and social union. Others might be anti-EU -
they oppose migration, would prefer that Britain makes its
own decisions, and believe that membership of the EU is an
expensive and unnecessary luxury.
5. 5
The Vote
Here’s the basic breakdown:
o 72.2% of all registered voters participated. This is close to a
record turnout for a British election of any kind.
o 51.89% voted to leave the EU but only 48.11% voted to
remain (0.08% of votes were spoiled or blank)
Remind your students that the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Island, to give the UK its formal title, is a
union of four partners: England, Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland (sometimes called Ulster). This is a good
time to point out that Ireland is a sovereign, independent
nation, and has been since 1922, when the British left, save
for continued rule in the six counties of Northern Ireland. Note
that, in many of your students’ first
languages, England, Great Britain (the UK without Northern
Ireland) and The United Kingdom are all the same word, so
take care.
An analysis of the vote itself is very revealing. By a surprising
majority, England voted to leave the EU, as did Wales.
However, Northern Ireland and Scotland did not, and this
immediately prompted fears of a constitutional crisis.
Scotland had voted to remain part of the UK as recently as
two years prior, rejecting calls for independence, and this
debate was swiftly renewed after the EU referendum. It is
now considered “highly likely”, in the words of Scottish
Nationalist politician Nicola Sturgeon, that Scotland will be
given a second opportunity to vote on leaving the UK, so that
it can remain part of the EU in the post-Brexit world.
6. 6
The Impact
It was anticipated by pollsters, politicians, media figures,
and virtually everyone in the days before the referendum
that the UK would vote to Remain. As it became obvious
that the British public was voting to Leave, the political
implications were swift. David Cameron, his vision for
remaining within Europe now in tatters, resigned and was
replaced by Theresa May. A new government department
was set up to make Brexit arrangements, and a two-year
clock began on negotiations with the EU to extricate the UK
from treaties, trade agreements and other trappings of its EU
membership.
Ask your students to visualize the concerns of the following
types of people as Britain prepares to leave the EU:
o A businessperson who is worried that reduced access to
European markets will hurt their bottom line
o An EU migrant worker who is worried they’ll be sent home
against their will
o A government minister who now has to roll back decades of
integration
o A leave voter who regrets their decision
o A remain voter who feels trapped in this new and unwelcome
reality
7. 7
Activities
The opportunities for reading, research, presentations,
debates and written work are numerous. Here are some
recommendations:
o Hold a TV roundtable discussion to examine the vote and its
implications.
o Write an op-ed piece, either from the point of view of a pro-
leave journalist who is elated at the result, or a pro-remain
writer who is horrified at what might come next.
o Run the referendum in your classroom. Give the Leave and
Remain teams the chance to make their points, and then hold
a free, anonymous vote.
o Investigate whether federal unions, in the style of the EU,
might work elsewhere around the world, especially where
your students come from. Could they envisage an ‘Asian EU’
for example, or a similar federation in South America?
In the coming months, we will learn just
what the future holds for Britain’s
relationship with the EU, but it is clear
that there is now no turning back from
this decision, and that an extraordinary
and unexpected precedent has been set.
https://youtu.be/RJy_bMKhlgw
