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C1 Advanced Economy, Jobs & Automation

TRADE-OFF CARDS: POLICY COMMITTEES

Master formal economic decision-making and policy justifications using advanced nominalisation.

Total Duration 30 minutes

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1. Rules of the Game

Standard Protocol

For Teachers

1 Divide the class into economic advisory committees of 3–4 students each.
2 Issue one Policy Card set and one blank Decision Sheet to each committee.
3 Strictly enforce the 5-step countdown timer (total duration: exactly 30 minutes).
4 Circulate during deliberations to award +1pt per accurate nominalisation structure.
5 Reference the Teacher Key to immediately catch and correct flawed nominal forms.

For Students

1 Examine the 6 Policy Cards, weighing projected benefits against systemic risks.
2 Debate within your committee to select exactly 3 policies and reject the other 3.
3 Draft 1 formal reason per chosen policy using required nominalisation forms.
4 Interrogate a rival committee during cross-examination to expose policy flaws.
5 Cast your vote for the most economically viable committee presentation.

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2. Timed Lesson Plan (30 Minutes Total)

5 Discrete Stages

Step 1

Form Committees & Analyse Cards

Read policies & note unit keywords

10m

Step 2

Debate & Select 3 Policies

Trade-off debate: discard 3, keep 3

Step 3

Complete Decision Sheet

Draft nominalised justifications

Step 4

Cross-Examination Round

Challenge rival committees

Step 5

Class Vote & Final Wrap-Up

Tally points & crown winner

🃏

3. Policy Cards (Economic Dossier)

Select 3 • Discard 3

Policy #1

🎓

State-Funded Worker Retraining

National lifelong skills upgrade vouchers

➕ Benefit

Upskilling the national workforce to rapidly boost industrial productivity.

➖ Risk

High public spending that triggers sovereign debt and broader fiscal stagnation.

Vocab: workforce • productivity • stagnation

Policy #2

🕒

32-Hour Shorter Working Week

4-day work model with no wage reduction

➕ Benefit

Marked reduction of burnout and stimulation of workplace innovation.

➖ Risk

Immediate employer pushback and long-term salary and wage stagnation.

Vocab: innovation • stagnation

Policy #3

🤖

Progressive Robot & AI Tax

Levy applied on automated machine labor

➕ Benefit

Deceleration of aggressive corporate automation to shield jobs.

➖ Risk

Incentivises firms to outsource digital infrastructure overseas.

Vocab: automation • outsource

Policy #4

💶

Universal Basic Income (UBI)

Guaranteed recurring income for every citizen

➕ Benefit

Eradication of precarious living conditions among low-income households.

➖ Risk

Suppresses the incentive for displaced adults to retrain and seek work.

Vocab: precarious • retrain

Policy #5

🏪

SME Tech Modernisation Subsidies

Direct state grants for local small enterprises

➕ Benefit

Averts sudden corporate closure and mass redundancy in provincial hubs.

➖ Risk

Artificial protection of zombie enterprises that undermines aggregate productivity.

Vocab: redundancy • productivity

Policy #6

📘

Compulsory AI & Tech Curriculum

Mandatory coding and AI engineering in K-12

➕ Benefit

Equips the next-generation workforce, preventing systemic displacement.

➖ Risk

Crowds out foundational humanities and causes tech capital disparities.

Vocab: workforce • displacement

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4. Official Committee Decision Sheet

Form C1-POL

Mandatory Grammar Task: Record your committee's 3 chosen policies. Provide exactly 1 formal justification sentence per policy. Each reason must contain at least one valid nominalisation (e.g., "the introduction of...", "the eradication of...") and at least one unit vocabulary term.

1 Policy Selection 1

____ (e.g. Card 1: State-Funded Worker Retraining)

Reason (Nominalisation + Vocab Required) ____ (e.g. The implementation of nationwide retraining will stimulate productivity and prevent long-term wage stagnation.)

2 Policy Selection 2

____ (e.g. Card 3: Progressive Robot & AI Tax)

Reason (Nominalisation + Vocab Required) ____ (e.g. The establishment of automated labor levies serves to halt the displacement of vulnerable manual workers.)

3 Policy Selection 3

____ (e.g. Card 4: Universal Basic Income (UBI))

Reason (Nominalisation + Vocab Required) ____ (e.g. The guarantee of an unconditional living wage ensures the eradication of precarious working contracts.)

🏆

5. Scoring Criteria & Assessment

Rubric

Grammar Precision +1 pt

Accurate Nominalisation

Awarded for each sound reason featuring a grammatically correct nominalised noun phrase (e.g. "the introduction of...", "the subsidisation of...").

Up to 3 pts per committee

Critical Cross-Ex +1 pt

Piercing Question

Awarded to a committee for every insightful question posed during Step 4 that exposes an economic vulnerability or trade-off risk in an opponent's plan.

Awarded dynamically by teacher

Peer Endorsement +3 pts

Democratic Majority Vote

Bonus awarded to the single committee whose balanced manifesto wins the anonymous secret-ballot class vote at the end of Step 5.

1 winning committee only

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6. Nominalisation Sentence Starters

Formal Academic Tone

Incorporate these C1 templates into your oral presentation and decision sheet:

Starter #1 • Preventing Displacement

"The implementation of [policy] will prevent the displacement of our local manufacturing workforce..."

Starter #2 • Mitigating Redundancy

"Our committee prioritises the subsidisation of small enterprises to avert widespread redundancy..."

Starter #3 • Countering Stagnation

"We strongly oppose the introduction of an aggressive reduction in hours due to the risk of wage stagnation..."

Starter #4 • Responding to Automation

"The acceleration of industrial automation necessitates the immediate retraining of technical personnel..."

Starter #5 • Addressing Precariousness

"Without the prompt provision of a universal social safety net, precarious gig employment will become ubiquitous..."

Starter #6 • Curbing Outsourcing

"The premature enactment of a heavy robot tax may inadvertently trigger the outsourcing of technological patents..."

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7. Teacher Key & Common Pitfalls

Facilitator Reference Only

Model Decision: Committee A

Cards 1, 3, 6

Strategy: Future-proofing through high-tech human capital & automation control.

1: "The widespread retraining of the industrial workforce elevates overall productivity."
3: "The imposition of a robot levy halts uncontrolled automation."
6: "The early integration of AI curricula halts systemic displacement."

Model Decision: Committee B

Cards 2, 4, 5

Strategy: Welfare-first, grassroots preservation & worker protection.

2: "The curtailment of working hours sparks innovation and mitigates burnout."
4: "The introduction of basic income shields precarious freelancers."
5: "The direct subsidisation of SMEs insulates communities from redundancy."

⚠️

Mistakes to Listen For (Erroneous Nominalisation)

"the automate of..."

✓ the automation of

"the subsidise of..."

✓ the subsidisation of

"the retrain of..."

✓ the retraining of

"the displace of..."

✓ the displacement of

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8. Classroom Variations & Extension

Differentiation

Tier 1: Easy

Scaffolded Word Bank

Provide an explicit whiteboard bank of pre-converted nominal forms: displacement, stagnation, subsidisation, productivity, automation.

Lower B2/C1 Bridge

Tier 2: Standard

Default Protocol

Run the standard 30-minute committee rules without additional lexical assistance. Enforce strict 1-to-1 nominalisation scoring.

Standard C1 Target

Tier 3: Hard

Strict Fiscal Cap

Introduce a €50B national debt limit: Choosing both Card 1 (Retraining) and Card 4 (UBI) incurs a severe -2pt fiscal deficit penalty.

C1+ / C2 Mastery

⚡

Fast Finishers

Written Counter-Brief

Any committee finishing ahead of the 10-minute deliberation mark must draft a 3-sentence formal critique denouncing one discarded policy.

+2 Extra Bonus Pts

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9. Closing Reflection Questions

Plenary Review

Deliberation Stalemate

Which policy trade-off caused the most intense disagreement within your committee, and what compromise was reached?

Focus: weighing cost vs. social security

Register & Authority

How did transforming ordinary verbs into formal nominalisations shift the persuasiveness and tone of your economic arguments?

Focus: bureaucratic register & concision

Real-World Efficacy

In the actual current macroeconomy, which single policy would most sustainably protect precarious workers from sudden automation?

Focus: long-term policy viability

TRADE-OFF CARDS: POLICY COMMITTEES

1. Rules of the Game

For Teachers

For Students

2. Timed Lesson Plan (30 Minutes Total)

Form Committees & Analyse Cards

Debate & Select 3 Policies

Complete Decision Sheet

Cross-Examination Round

Class Vote & Final Wrap-Up

3. Policy Cards (Economic Dossier)

State-Funded Worker Retraining

32-Hour Shorter Working Week

Progressive Robot & AI Tax

Universal Basic Income (UBI)

SME Tech Modernisation Subsidies

Compulsory AI & Tech Curriculum

4. Official Committee Decision Sheet

5. Scoring Criteria & Assessment

Accurate Nominalisation

Piercing Question

Democratic Majority Vote

6. Nominalisation Sentence Starters

7. Teacher Key & Common Pitfalls

Model Decision: Committee A

Model Decision: Committee B

Mistakes to Listen For (Erroneous Nominalisation)

8. Classroom Variations & Extension

Scaffolded Word Bank

Default Protocol

Strict Fiscal Cap

Written Counter-Brief

9. Closing Reflection Questions

Deliberation Stalemate

Register & Authority

Real-World Efficacy

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