Immigration Speaking Club

Immigration

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus (1849 1887)

“

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” 

Discussion

1. What are some of the different reasons people move to other countries?

2. Do you know anyone who ha s moved to a different country? Why did they move and where did

they move to? Do they like living there?

3. What problems do immigrants face in their new countries? How would you deal with these

problems if you were an immigrant?

4. What rights should new immigr ants have? Should they be able to work or vote, for example?

5. Are there many immigrants in your country? Where do they usually come from? Why do you

think they moved from their country? Have these immigrants integrated into society or do they

tend to segreg ate themselves? Do you know any of these immigrants personally

6. Would you say your country and its people are open and welcoming to immigrants?

7. How can society help immigrants settle?

8. Does immigration threaten local culture in anyway?

Vocabulary

• to immigrate (to) / migrate (to) (verb), immigration / migration (nouns) to move to another

country (immigration) or simply to move (migration).

• to emigrate (fro m) (verb) to move from a country.

• to deport (verb), deportation (noun) to expel a foreign person from a country.

• brain drain / hum an capital flight (noun) the emigration of highly skilled workers from a country

creating a skills shortage

• economic migrant / migrant worker (noun) someone who moves to another country in search of

better living standards.

• undocumented migrant (AmE) / illegal immigrant (BrE) / irregular migrant (UN term) (nouns)

a foreign person whose presence in a country is in violation of the immigration laws of that country.

Drag and Drop

1. Any immigrant found to have committed a crime will be ​

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immediately.

2. As Qatar only has a tiny number of Qatari citizens, its economy re lies heavily on ​

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who make up around 88% of the population.

3. Many African countries are suffering from ​ ​

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as wealthier nations

actively target their doctors and nurses to work in their healthcare systems

4. During the Potato Famine from 1845 to 1849, thousands of people ​

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from Ireland to

settle in the United States.

5. With the expansion of the EU into Eastern Europe, aro und 2 million people

​

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to the UK from these countries.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

deported

economic migrants

brain drain/human capital flight

emigrated

immigrated /migrated

Comprehension questions

1. Would you like to immigrate to a different country? If so, which country would you like to move

to and what would you do there?

2. Why do people emigrate from your country? Where do t hey usually go?

3. Which people should be deported from your country?

4. Could your country be suffering from brain drain How can countries prevent human capital

flight

5. Are economic migrants a problem, or are they a solution to problems?

6. Which places have a problem with illegal immigration? What would cause someone to become

an illegal immigrant? How do illegal immigrants e nter a country?

Conversation Questions

1. Which countries have strict immigration policies? Why do you think this is?

2. Do you think it's easy to immigrate to your country? Is it too easy?

3. Should your govern ment limit the number of people entering the country? If so, under what

circumstances? What requirements should there be for people who want to immigrate

4. Why are the people of some countries, such as in Europe or North America, so opposed to

immigration? Is immigration a problem?

5. Is immigration good or bad for the economy? What effect does it have on wages and the

employment rate ? Why might a country need lots of

6. Are immigrants more or less productive than the native born population?

7. Do you thi nk there is a connection between immigration and crime?

8. Should all immigration policies be scrapped in favour of free movement so people can mo ve to

any country they want? If this happened, what would be the result?

Immigration Conclusion Task

• The benefits of immigration.

• Any problems caused by immigration.

• What policies are n eeded to control immigration.