Social Skills:

Passive, Assertive and Aggressive Behaviour

Webquest for 4º ESO

English as a Second Language

Introduction / Task / Process / Resources / Evaluation / Conclusion / Credits

Introduction

Human beings are gregarious. We live with other people and we interact with them. This isn’t always easy and sometimes problems arise.

We can react in three different ways:

Ø Ignoring the problem and trying not to face it.

When you ignore a problem and don’t face it, it isn’t solved and you end up feeling frustrated and annoyed (even with yourself!) You don’t defend your rights, opinions and feelings and your self-esteem usually suffers.

If you behave this way, you are being passive.

Ø Trying to solve the problem reasonably.

When you try to solve a problem in a sensible way, you try to reach an agreement, to reach a consensus. You stand up for your rights, feelings or opinions without ignoring those of the others.

If you behave this way, you are being assertive.

Ø With physical and/or verbal violence.

When you respond violently, you may feel you’ve won or lost but, in fact, there are neither winners nor losers in the end. This reaction usually provokes hatred. You defend your rights and opinions in an appropriate way, violating those of the other people.

If you behave this way, you are being aggressive.

TO BECOME MORE ASSERTIVE WE MUST:

ü Practise active listening.

ü Speak up and talk about ourselves without feeling embarrassed.

ü Understand how other people feel. (Feeling empathy)

ü Be able to come to fair agreements. (Seeking consensus when taking a decision)

ü Be able to say “no”

ü Face constructive criticism.

Task

At school you sometimes have problems with your classmate.

Decide which sort of problems you may come across and choose one. Then describe the situation.

Role play: Make two dialogues. In one of them, show how an assertive person faces the problem and, in the other one, show how an aggressive person would do it.

Process

1. You are going to work in pairs. Decide who you would like to be you partner.

2. One of you must play the part of an assertive person and the other the part of an aggressive person. Decide who will play each part or toss a coin.

3. Read the information on the following link/s about assertive or aggressive behaviour depending on the role you have.

4. Then, do the exercise in the link “Activity 1 Assertive” or “Activity 1 Aggressive”

Activity 1: Assertive Activity 1: Aggressive

5. Read the information about the sort of language an assertive person generally uses (in order to use it later or not).

6. Keep in mind that you not only use verbal language. Find out how you use non-verbal communication and how it can interfere when you are trying to solve a problem.

7. After that, do the exercise in the link “Activity 2”

Activity 2: Non-verbal Communication

8. Decide which sort of problems you may come across at school. Choose one and describe the situation.

9. Make two dialogues (one facing the problem assertively and the other facing it aggressively).

10. Act them out.

11. Finally write both dialogues down and hand them in.

Resources

Assertive or non-assertive behaviour

http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/improving_assertiveness.html

http://www.tufts.edu/hr/tips/assert.html

http://www.coun.uvic.ca/personal/assert.html

http://www.csusm.edu/caps/Assertiveness.html

Do you want to test…

…your personality?

http://psychologytoday.psychtests.com/tests/assertiveness_r_access.html

http://www.headinjury.com/assertquiz.htm

…your knowledge of body language?

http://www.youramazingbrain.org.uk/testyourself/default.htm

Evaluation

Marks to be given out of 10 à 5 for fluency and 5 for accuracy.

FLUENCY	MARKS	ACCURACY	MARKS
Task perfomed extremely well. Writing cohesive and well-organised. Appropriate style.	5	Correct use of a wide range of grammatical constructions and vocabulary studied throughout the year.	5
Task performed quite well. Organization clear and linking adequate for level.	4	A good range of grammatical constructions and vocabulary covered at this level, with few serious inaccuracies. Adequate lay out.	4
Task performed adequately. Writing sometimes disjointed or irrelevant.	3	An adequate range of grammatical constructions and vocabulary for this level. Inaccuracies and poor layout not causing serious misunderstanding.	3
Task performed inadequately. Writing often disjointed, confusing or irrelevant.	2	A small range of grammatical structure and vocabulary, inadequate for this level. Inaccuracies and poor layout hampering understanding.	2
Response totally inadequate and irrelevant to the task set.	1	Range of grammatical structure and vocabulary too small. Many serious inaccuracies.	1

Conclusion

Students will think about the different ways to face problems and hopefully will find out that the most effective way to solve them is having an assertive behaviour.

Credits

Desconócete a ti mismo. Manuel Güell & Joseph Muñoz. Ed. Piados.

1,000 Pictures for Teachers to Copy. Andrew Wright. Collins ELT.

Task

Process

Resources

The language of assertiveness

Assertive Skills. Non-verbal communication

Body Language

Politeness

Top 10 Tips for Being an Excellent Listener

Evaluation

MARKS

Conclusion

Credits