New citizens, good citizens

Level 3 Advanced
1

Key words

Write the words below next to the definitions.

citizenship
asylum

immigration
indigenous

integration
migrant

immigrant
diversity

1. _______________ The process in which people enter a country in order to live there permanently.
2. _______________ Someone who comes to live in a country from another country.
3. _______________ Someone who travels to another place or country in order to find work.
4. _______________ People who lived in a place for a very long time before others came to live there.
5. _______________ The legal right to be a citizen of a particular country.
6. _______________ The right to stay in a country, given by a government to protect someone who has escaped
from war or political trouble in their own country.
7. _______________ The process of becoming a full member of a group or society, and becoming involved

completely in its activities.

8. _______________ The fact that very different people or things exist within a group or place.

What do you think?

Which of these subjects would you expect to read about in a text on integration, citizenship and national
pride? Tick ( ) the subjects you think will appear in the text. Add a further suggestion of your own.

Anti-social behaviour

Pets

Your suggestion:

Personal savings

Voting

_____________________

Civic duty

Bank holidays

Extremism

Asylum claims

Council housing

Prisoners

English language skills

Bi-lingual schooling

A contract

Extended family

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NEWS LESSONS / New citizens, good citizens / Advanced

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

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Now read the text and check your answers.

New citizens, good citizens

Level 3 Advanced
investment into the UK, passing English tests,
demonstrating knowledge of the UK, undertaking
civic work and living in a law-abiding way.
A points system for citizenship would allow
credits to be deducted for anti-social behaviour,
fly-tipping or more serious criminal behaviour.

Rules to make migrants integrate

Ministers say citizenship should depend on good
behaviour, passing English tests and knowledge
of the UK.

This form of points system would be the basis

of a clearer relationship between the citizen
and the state. An easy to understand contract
such as this would incentivize integration and
demonstrate a clearer sense in which citizenship
and the rights that come with living in Britain
are earned.

Local government should also provide a

citizenship deal for newcomers, setting out their
responsibilities to be good neighbours, as well
as their access to English language training and
employment, say the ministers.

A life in Britain good neighbour contract

would be provided to all migrants from inside
and outside the EU, including those that stay
temporarily. The contract would be introduced
alongside identity cards. The ministers also
suggest councils might spend less on translation
services, and more on English language
teaching. Support cannot become dependency,
they say.

1 Government ministers want to introduce a

national British day to complete a citizenship
revolution that would also toughen rules for
migrants and try to instil community pride in
all 18-year-olds.
2 Under the new plans, every teenager in the UK
would be given a citizenship pack when they
became eligible to vote, and migrants would only
be able to become British citizens if they could
demonstrate good behaviour and a willingness
to integrate.
3 The national day, which could be a bank holiday,
would be loosely modelled on Australia Day. The
proposals come from the communities secretary,
Ruth Kelly, and the immigration minister, Liam
Byrne, who are also calling for more inclusive
and visible citizenship ceremonies for anyone
wanting to settle in the UK.
4 Some of the ideas floated by the two ministers
are likely to feature in the forthcoming report from
the Commission on Integration and Cohesion.
The themes have already been enthusiastically
embraced by the prime minister-in-waiting,
Gordon Brown.
5 Another idea is to improve links between
veterans and young people. The pack for
18-year-olds would set out information on
democracy, volunteering and civic duties such
as jury service. Student loan repayments could
be reduced in return for volunteering.
6 Mr Byrne and Ms Kelly argue that the current
settlement policy for new migrants is difficult to
understand and unclear. In future, full citizens
would need to accrue credits linked to time
spent in the country, bringing substantial new

10 The ministers warn there is a critical risk

that after 40 years in which diversity has
grown, Britains communities are no longer
looking outwards and celebrating what they
have in common. Instead, they are beginning
to look inwards, stressing their differences
and divisions.
11 The threat to a united sense of feeling British
comes both from Islamist extremism and also
groups like the British Nationalist Party. Ministers
argue that government has to acknowledge
and respond to the growing mood of English
nationalism.
12 We risk seeing a more divided society, more
suspicious of each other and a society less
capable of coming together around shared goals.
We need a stronger sense of why we live in a

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NEWS LESSONS / New citizens, good citizens / Advanced

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

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Patrick Wintour, political editor

and Alan Travis
June 5, 2007

New citizens, good citizens

Level 3 Advanced
common place and have a shared future. Mr
Byrne admitted that recent eastern European
migration had proved a shock to the system.
13 He said new migrants needed to do more to
help them understand British values and its way
of life. He added: We need to make it clearer
that citizenship isnt simply handed out, but is
something which is earned.
14 The ministers say a host of trends are pushing
Britons apart in the workplace, the family, the
media and new technology. They insist migration
has brought benefits, but say sometimes the
pace of change is rapid and destabilizing,
pointing out that by 2011, only 20% of Britains
workforce will be white, able-bodied men
under 45.

level of eastern European migration and the

foreign prisoners crisis has badly damaged
confidence in Britains asylum and immigration
system. He added, We have to be open and
candid about the choices we have. In the 21st
century we cant make big decisions in secret.
16 Mr Byrnes intervention follows the row ignited
last month by Margaret Hodges claim that new
migrants were getting priority for council housing
over indigenous residents.
Guardian News & Media 2007
First published in The Guardian, 5/6/07

15 In a speech to business leaders, Mr Byrne said

the new measures were needed because the
spike in asylum claims in 2000, the unpredicted

3 Comprehension check
According to the text, are these sentences True (T) or False (F)?

1. Britain has a national day, like Australia.

2. Migrants need to demonstrate good behaviour in order to vote in the UK.
3. The ministers want to encourage cooperation and understanding between the young and the old.
4. Law-abiding immigrants could gain points while anti-social and criminal immigrants could lose them.
5. There should be more English language lessons available for migrants, say the ministers.
6. Ministers think immigrants should learn to be more autonomous so that they dont have to depend

on translators and interpreters.

7. Immigrant groups are integrating into society better than they used to.
8. A feeling of British nationalism is increasing amongst indigenous people.
9. The recent number of immigrants arriving from eastern European countries has been higher than

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NEWS LESSONS / New citizens, good citizens / Advanced

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

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anyone expected.

New citizens, good citizens

Level 3 Advanced
4 Vocabulary 1: Collocations
Match the verbs on the left with the nouns on the right to make collocations from the text.
instil

links

improve

risk

accrue

pride

critical

credits

growing

future

divided

knowledge

demonstrate

mood

shared

society

Write example sentences for any of the collocations that are new to you. Use a dictionary or the Internet to
help you.

5 Vocabulary 2: Phrases
1. Match the halves of the phrases.
a shock

a row

eligible

of life

float

to the system

ignite

ideas

a way

to vote

2. Now complete the sentences using the phrases.

a. Are we trying to protect ________________ that no longer exists?
b. The committee are meeting again tomorrow to ________________.
c. His comments are going to ________________.
d. In the UK, people are ________________ from the age of eighteen.

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NEWS LESSONS / New citizens, good citizens / Advanced

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

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e. Arriving there in mid-winter will be a bit of ________________.

New citizens, good citizens

Level 3 Advanced
6 Discussion
Does your country require new immigrants to take a citizenship test?
What subjects would you include when writing questions for a citizenship test?
Is nationalism generally a good or a bad thing? Try to think of different instances where national pride is acceptable
or not acceptable.

7 Webquest

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NEWS LESSONS / New citizens, good citizens / Advanced

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

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Choose a country you would like to move to. Check out the immigration requirements for that country on the
Internet. Would you be able to move to the country of your choice without too many problems? In your opinion,
which would be the most difficult requirement to fulfil?