End of Course Assignment

Listening text
There have always been stories about animals that bring up children. One of the most famous is the story
of Romulus and Remus; the twin boys who were raised by a wolf. When the brothers grew up they
founded the city of Rome. While this is a legend, there are many modern stories about children being
raised by wolves, which are believed by many people. In an Indian jungle in 1867 a boy was found by
some hunters. They said he was living with wolves he was about six years old. He was named Dina and
went to live with humans, but he never learned to speak. The wolf-girls Kamala and Amala were also
Indian. Their story was reported by a priest who said the girls were discovered in 1920. Although this
story is widely believed, recent examinations of the account have cast doubt on it. It seems more likely
that the girls were autistic and had been rejected by their family.
There are also stories about human children who were cared for by other types of animal. In 1724 a boy of
about 12 was seen in the forest near Hanover. He was known as Wild Peter. It is unclear what kind of
animal Peter lived with, but he didn't eat meat; he ate tree bark, like deer. This is similar to the story of the
Syrian Gazelle Boy, who was spotted in the desert in 1946. The boy was reported to be living with a herd
of gazelles. He ran very fast on all fours and ate the same food as the gazelles. However, reports about
this child are inconsistent and there is no record of what happened to him.
Marina Chapman is from Colombia and is now about 65. She claims that when she was five she was
kidnapped and ended up living in the jungle with monkeys. After a few years she was rescued by hunters.
As there are no official records, her story can't be disproved, but her original family has never been found.
More recent stories are about children who were neglected by their parents and were looked after by
animals. There are videos on the internet of Oxana, a Ukrainian girl, who moves and behaves very much
like a dog. She was found in 1991 living with the dogs in her parents' backyard. Oxana's case is welldocumented and experts agree that for about five years she really lived with dogs.
Many other cases, however, may have little basis in reality. (about 2.5 minutes)
http://theweek.com/article/index/235216/6-children-raised-by-animals
http://listverse.com/2008/03/07/10-modern-cases-of-feral-children/
http://www.mnn.com/family/babies-pregnancy/photos/9-children-who-were-raised-by-animals/from-myth-to-reality
http://www.livescience.com/41590-feral-children.html
http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/232/wild_things_feral_children.html
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/apr/13/marina-chapman-monkeys
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2773433uid=3738032&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21103363115323

Imagine that this listening text was provided in your course book, or that you had recorded the
talk from the radio.
Remember, when selecting vocabulary to pre-teach, to look for phrases as well as individual
words. You should not pre-teach more than 12 items. You do not have to teach vocabulary by
standing in front of the class of telling students what the words mean. You could, for example,
use a matching activity (see Module 5
http://www.theteflacademy.com/elearning/mod/lesson/view.php?id=28&pageid=913 for an
example). You can use different techniques for different items.
You can use these pictures if you want to, but you do not have to. It would be useful (and more
interesting for students) if you include some visual materials when introducing the topic and/or
explaining vocabulary.
(Include a website address showing where you accessed any visual aids you use).

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End of Course Assignment

You can also use vocabulary practice activities you have found on the Internet or in teachers'
resource books, providing they fit in well with your lesson, but please provide a reference, even if
you have adapted the material.

Romulus and Remus

Gazelles

2015 TEFL Academy. All Rights reserved.