UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE COLOMBIA

DIRECCIÓN ACADÉMICA- SEDE BOGOTÁ

DIRECCIÓN NACIONAL de INNOVACIÓN

ACADÉMICA – DNIA

PROGRAMA de SEGUNDA LENGUA- PLE

 PROGRAMA DE SEGUNDA LENGUA- PLE

ENGLISH LEVEL II

SUBJECT CODE: 1000045

CONTENT: 6 UNITS
 UNIT 6
PERSONALITY
GOES A LONG
WAY*
Taken from ‘Pulp Fiction’ famous line*
WELCOME TO UNIT 6
In this unit you will learn to:
Recognize the importance of experiences on the development of personality.
Discuss how personality traits can be anticipated by people choices in everyday
actions.
SYLLABUS
OBJECTIVES
Students will recognize the importance of experiences on
the development of personality.
Students will discuss how personality traits can be
anticipated by people choices in everyday actions
Students will learn about famous alumni of the National
University of Colombia
Previous knowledge
Before completing the tasks in this unit, it is necessary to remember:
How to describe personalities.
How to share events that started in the past and they are unfinished.
How to narrate past events.
 Reading
Activity 1
Before reading / Classwork
Work in groups of 4 or 5 people. This is a fun thing to do! There are only 3
questions and the answers will surprise you. Do not cheat by looking up the
answers. The mind is like a parachute, it works best when it is open.
• Get a pencil and paper to write your answers.
• Answer each question in order, do not look ahead, and be honest. This is an
honesty questionnaire, which will tell you a lot about your true self.
1. Put the following 5 animals in the order of your preference.
· Cow · Tiger · Sheep · Horse · Pig
2. Write one word that describes each one of the following:
· Dog · Cat · Rat · Coffee · Sea
3. Think of someone, (who also knows you and is important to you), that you
can relate him or her to the following colours. Do not use the same person
twice.
· Yellow · Orange · Red · White · Green

Finished? Please be sure your answers are what you REALLY feel… Last chance…
Look at the interpretations below:
Question 1 – The order that you choose defines the priorities in your life.
· Cow: signifies CAREER · Tiger: signifies PRIDE · Sheep: signifies LOVE
· Horse: signifies FAMILY · Pig: signifies MONEY
Question 2 – Descriptions
· Your description of dog implies YOUR OWN PERSONALITY.
· Your description of cat implies THE PERSONALITY OF YOUR PARTNER.
· Your description of rat implies THE PERSONALITY OF YOUR ENEMIES.
· Your description of coffee is HOW YOU INTERPRET SEX.
· Your description of the sea implies YOUR OWN LIFE.
Question 3 – Colours
· Yellow: Someone you will never forget. · Orange: Someone you consider your
true friend.
· Red: Someone that you really love. · White: Your twin soul.
· Green: Someone that you will remember for the rest of your life.
Taken from: http://cultivatelife.com/pdf/funpersonalitytest.pdf
Activity 2
Classwork
• Compare your answers in the previous activity with your partners. Do you
agree with the results? Do you think they were accurate?
• Look at the question below and choose only ONE answer:
Our personality and our beliefs are mostly shaped by:
a. our family When giving your opinion or
when saying things that you
b. our environment while growing up really think, use expressions like:
c. our friends In my opinion,…
To be honest, …
d. our experiences. Frankly speaking, …
Discuss and justify your answer in groups.
Activity 3
Read carefully the following article and answer the questions below:
How our past experiences shape our behaviour and personality
October 28, 2014
By Hanan Parvez 
Our beliefs and needs are the strongest factors that govern our behaviour. Ultimately, it all comes
down to beliefs because a need is also a belief- a belief that we lack something. When we were born,
we were almost clean slate- ready to collect information from our environment and from beliefs based
on that information.

If you've carefully observed a child grow then you know what I’m talking about. A child absorbs
information from his/her environment so fast and at such a high rate that by age 6, thousands of
beliefs are already formed in their mind- beliefs that will help the kid interact with the world.
The core beliefs 
The beliefs we form in our childhood and early teens form our core beliefs. They are the strongest
factors that influence our personality. But that does not mean that we are stuck with them. They are
hard to change but not impossible. The beliefs that we form later on in life are comparatively less rigid
and can be changed without much effort.
Changing the beliefs

So, how do we go about changing our beliefs? The first step is to become conscious of the beliefs that
are shaping your personality. Once you've identified them, then you need to dig into your past and
understand why you formed these beliefs. This is the hard part. The process of formation of beliefs
happens unconsciously and that's why we feel powerless before them. But once we make the
unconscious conscious, we start gaining real power.
Identifying the beliefs that you want to change and understanding how you formed them is
enough for you to break free from their clutch and not let them control your behaviour.
Awareness is like a fire which melts away everything.
Try understanding it this way. Suppose your job performance was very bad this month and
your boss is disappointed in you. He wants you to make amends in the coming month. But he
doesn't give you any performance report and doesn't point out in any way what needs to be
fixed. Will you be able to fix anything if you don't know what went wrong? 

Absolutely not! You need to know what went wrong in order to fix it. In addition to that, you
need to know how and why it went wrong. Same is the case with human behaviour. Unless
you don't understand the underlying mechanism of your behaviour, you won't be able to
change it.
Some examples 
In order to illustrate how our past experiences (especially childhood) result in the formation of
beliefs that strongly affect our behaviour, let me give you a few examples… 
• A child who was abused forms a belief that he is less worthy than others because of the way he
was treated. So he is very likely to have a low self-esteem and live with shame for the rest of his
life. He may, therefore, become a shy person.
• The youngest child in a family receives a lot of attention from everyone around him and so he
develops a need to always be in the center of attention. As an adult, he may become a
very showy, successful or a famous person just to remain in the center of attention!
• A girl whose father abandoned her and her mother may form a belief that men cannot be
trusted. So, as an adult, she might find it very hard to trust any man and may have problems
forming an intimate relationship with a guy. She might end up sabotaging every relationship she
gets into without knowing why.
• A boy who always felt financially insecure as a child because his parents always worried about
money may develop a strong need to become rich. He may become very ambitious and
competitive. If he fails to meet his financial goals, he may become severely depressed.
• A kid who was bullied in school may develop a need to become strong and therefore, he might
become very interested in martial arts or bodybuilding. If you interviewed gym addicts, you’ll
find that most of them were either bullied as kids or were involved in a physical fight before.
Very few do it just to improve their body-image. 
Because of the experiences that people go through in life, they develop certain deep-seated
beliefs, needs and ways of thinking. In order to fulfill their needs, they develop certain personality
traits. They might not be aware why they have certain personality traits, but their mind is working
in the background continually seeking ways to satisfy its needs.
Contrary to popular belief, we can train ourselves to develop any kind of personality that we want.
You might like some of the personality traits that your past has bestowed upon you but you can
always change the ones you don't like by changing the beliefs that are associated with those traits.

Taken from: http://www.psychmechanics.com/2014/10/how-our-past-experiences-shape-our.html

Activity 3 .1
Do this activity in class.
Complete the table of the definitions of these terms according to the information
provided in the article.
Terms According to the article:
A need
Core beliefs
Steps to change our core beliefs 1.
2.
3.
Changing human behaviour
Activity 4
Read once again the article about personality and experiences and drag the
characteristics associated to each example of how our past experiences result in
the formation of beliefs that affect our behavior:
• believes he is less worthy than
others
• develops a need to always be in
A child who was • the center of attention
abused: • • may become a famous person
• • has a low self-esteem
• • lives with shame for the rest of
his life
The youngest child • • may become a very showy
in a family • person
• • may become a shy person
•
• receives a lot of attention
•
• may become a successful
person
 • may become very ambitious
and competitive
A girl whose father • • may have problems forming an
abandoned her and her • intimate relationship
mother • • might become very interested
• in martial arts or bodybuilding
A child whose parents • • believes men cannot be trusted
always worried about • • may become
money • severely depressed if he fails to
meet his financial goals
A kid who was bullied • • might find it very hard to trust
in school •
any man
• may develop a need to become
strong
• might sabotage every
relationship she gets into
• may develop a strong need to
become rich
A girl whose father • believes men cannot be
abandoned her and her trusted
mother • might find it very hard to
trust any man
• may have problems
forming an intimate
relationship
• might sabotage every
relationship she gets into
A child whose parents • may develop a strong
always worried about need to become rich
money • may become very
ambitious and competitive
• may become
severely depressed if he
fails to meet his financial
goals
A kid who was bullied • may develop a need to
in school become strong
• might become very
interested in martial arts
or bodybuilding
• may become very ambitious
and competitive
• may have problems forming an
intimate relationship
• might become very interested
in martial arts or bodybuilding
• believes men cannot be trusted
• may become
severely depressed if he fails to
meet his financial goals
• might find it very hard to trust
any man
• may develop a need to become
strong
• might sabotage every
relationship she gets into
• may develop a strong need to
become rich
Activity 5
Choose the right word to complete the conclusions of the article. Then, go back
to the article and compare your answers.

Because of the ___ (changes / experiences) that people go through in life, they
develop certain deep-seated beliefs, needs and ways of thinking. In order to __
(forget / fulfill) their needs, they develop certain personality traits. They might
not be aware why they have certain personality traits, but their mind is working
in the background continually seeking ways to satisfy its ___ (needs / beliefs).
(Contrary / According) __ to popular belief, we can train ourselves to develop
any kind of personality that we want. You might like some of the personality
traits that your past has given upon you but you can always change the ones
you don't like by changing the __ (behaviours / beliefs) that are associated with
those traits.
Activity 6
Class work
After reading the article, is there any trait in your personality that you can relate
to an event in the past? For example, you are shy because when you were a
child in the school they forced you to sing in front of people and you didn’t like it
and after that you think that people are always looking at you.
Write a small paragraph telling what happened to you. Then, read the paragraph
to your classmates. Work in groups of 4 or 5.
After listening to the stories:
Were they similar? Were they different?
 LISTENING
Activity 7
PRE- LISTENING
Classwork
Answer these questions:
• Do you have a Facebook account?
• What is your profile picture?
• What information in your profile is completely public? Why?
• Do you remember what pages or people you follow?
Activity 8
PRE- LISTENING
Classwork
• Look at the following makes of motorcycles and cars, and choose your favorite ones
(One car make and one motorcycle make)

• When you were a child, how did you like toys and characters like Barbie, Kent, Hello
Kitty, superheroes (Superman, Wonder Woman, and the like).
• It’s very common in China to see car seat covers with Hello Kitty, Barbie, or Kent
designs. How do you like that? Why do you think they do that?
• Do you think your answers and choices in the previous questions are related to your
personality? Yes/ No. Why?

Share your answers with your partners before doing the next activity.
Activity 9
Class work
Follow the link and listen carefully and enjoy your answers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xGsb9MSFgQ

After watching the video:

• How do you like the interpretations of the study from Cambridge University?
• Do you agree with them?
 WRITING
Activity 10
Follow the link and look at the fakebook page of Ciro Guerra, a famous National University Alumni.
https://www.classtools.net/FB/1986-k6i2iV

Now, read a brief paragraph summarizing the info contained in Ciro’s Fakebook page:
Ciro Guerra was born on February 6 th, 1981. He studied at the National University of
Colombia. He has directed several movies, including his famous ‘The Embrace of the Serpent’
in 2015. He directed ‘The Wind Journeys’ in 2009, and ‘Wandering Shadows’ in 2004.
His friends are Leo Di Caprio, Messi, Katy Perry, Will I.AM., Will Smith and Laura Restrepo,
among others.
In fact, he has been recently involved in a project with Leo Di Caprio and Katy Perry. In one of
his posts, Ciro mentioned he was in one of the locations of this project.
He has visited the US, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Russia and Cuba, among other
places.
He has read several books. His favourite ones are Don Quixote by Cervantes, 1984 by George
Orwell, 100 years of Solitude by Garcia Marquez, Harry Potter by JK Rowling, the Odyssey and
the Iliad by Homer.
Disclaimer: Taken from: https://www.classtools.net/FB/. In this website you can create fake Facebook profiles with academic purposes.
None of the information contained here is subject to verification. It was created with academic purposes and it does not represent any
official position by the National University of Colombia, Facebook, or any of the characters involved.
Activity 10.1
Follow the link and look at the fakebook page of Celso Roman, a famous National University
Alumni.
https://www.classtools.net/FB/1178-Y2PxnL
Now, read a brief paragraph summarizing the info contained in Celso’s Fakebook page. Complete
the paragraph by using the verb in brackets in the right form:
Celso Roman ____________(born) on November 6th, 1947. He ____________ (graduate) at the
National University of Colombia. He ____________ (write) several books, including his famous ‘The
Empire of the Five Moons’ in 1988. He ____________ (write) ‘The Things of the House’ in 1988, ‘The
Friends of the Man’ in 1978, and the short story ‘Better in the Mountain’ in 1978 too.
He ____________ (work) as a professor at National University of Colombia and at Universidad Jorge
Tadeo Lozano.
His friends ____________ (be) Manuel Patarroyo, Ciro Guerra, Mario Vargas Llosa and Santiago
Gamboa, among others. Also, he ____________ (be) friend of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Jairo
Anibal Niño.
He ____________ (visit) Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, China, Netherlands and Japan.
He ____________ (win) several awards and recognitions for his books. He ____________ (recently be)
awarded the ‘Golden Letter’ award in Netherlands.
He ____________ (read) several books. His favorite ones ____________ (be) The Catcher in the Rye
by Salinger, Ulysses by James Joyce, War and Peace by Tolstoi, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, In
Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust and Don Quixote by Cervantes.
Disclaimer: Taken from: https://www.classtools.net/FB/. In this website you can create fake Facebook profiles with academic purposes. None of the
information contained here is subject to verification. It was created with academic purposes and it does not represent any official position by the
National University of Colombia, Facebook, or any of the characters involved.
Activity 11
Pair work
a. Find information about famous alumni of the National University of Colombia.
b. Go to https://www.classtools.net/FB/home-page and create a fake Facebook
profile of a famous alumni of the University.
c. Make sure to pay attention to small details like places visited, likes, posts, etc.
Activity 12
Classwork
After creating the Fakebook profile, bring it to class and show it to your
classmates.
Discuss which ones were:
• The funniest
• The most interesting
• The most surprising
• The most creative
 CONGRATULATIONS!
You have finally completed the tasks in this unit.
Now you can:
Recognize the importance of experiences on the
development of personality.
Discuss how personality traits can be anticipated by
people choices in everyday actions.
CREDITS

• PLE COORDINATOR: Nohra Vargas, M.A. in ELT

Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
• ELT EDITOR: Fernando Alexander Calderón Velasco, M.A.
In Creative Writing
Professor for Explora UN Mundo and the Intensive English
Program
Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
SOURCES
Slides 10
Taken from: http://cultivatelife.com/pdf/funpersonalitytest.pdf

Slide 12, 13, 14

Taken from: http://www.psychmechanics.com/2014/10/how-our-past-experiences-shape-our.html

Slide 26
Taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xGsb9MSFgQ

Slide 27
Taken from: https://www.classtools.net/FB/1986-k6i2iV

Slide 28
Taken from: https://www.classtools.net/FB/1178-Y2PxnL

Slide 27
Visit: https://www.classtools.net/FB/home-page